Wuthering Frights (28 page)

I was going after the most remote portal, one which was located off an old, single lane, fire road with nothing but cows and trees nearby. Once I hit the
street
, aptly titled FireHouse Road, I searched for the telltale sign of a white picket fence on one side, denoting a nearby farm, and an open lake on the other. I found it without issue and
pulled to the side of the road, steering the Ducati behind a large tree beside the lake. After I felt confident I was alone, I looked down at my portal watch.

The dial was spinning in circles, which meant it had picked up on the portal's energy. Now it was just a matter of dialing into the right location and then specifying the area in the Netherworld in which I wanted to arrive. I took a few steps toward the lake and noticed the dial starting to slow down, still making large loops around the face of the watch, but not nearly as quickly as it had before. I was on the right track. I continued forward, and the dial on my watch continued to slow. Once it stopped, so did I as I found myself facing the lake, the water’s edge only about two feet from mine.

The portal I wanted to connect with in the Netherworld was located on the third floor of the ANC building, down the hallway from Caressa's office. It was supposed to be located in the women's restroom, which seemed the perfect site, considering I'd have to adjust my wardrobe before delivering the arrangement.

I checked my watch again and took a step to the right, noticing the hour hand moving from twelve o'clock to one o'clock. I was almost there. It needed to be aligned with two o'clock. I took another step and the hand paused as the minute hand indicated thirty minutes. One-thirty. Another mini step brought the placement to one-forty-five. Another mini step and I was at two o'clock.

I reached my hand forward and felt the difference in the air immediately. The air in the portal was viscous, gel-like to the touch and balmy. Now was the moment of reckoning. I put my backpack on the ground, pulled my T-shirt over my head until I was standing in just my jeans, sneakers and bra. Then clutching the backpack in one hand and my T-shirt in the other, I leaped forward.

I was starting to get used to the feeling of portal travel, sort of like landing in a gigantic, warm gummy bear.
But
only a second later, you get shot out into a much colder atmosphere and have to take a deep breath to get your bearings straight. After experiencing exactly that, I took another big breath and found myself standing in the middle of a restroom.

Portal travel? No problem.

I could feel my idiotic wings sprouting from my back, only to
beg
i
n frantically beating a
s
I started to rise into the air. I lurched forward and grabbed hold of the sink with the hand that was also still clutching onto my T-shirt. I managed to station myself in place as I put the backpack in the basin before me. Then, while holding onto the sink with my other hand, I unzipped my backpack all the way and pulled out the bouquet. I propped it between the mirror and the faucet.  Then I unzipped the backpack, taking out the scissors and the ribbon. My wings had started to calm down so I carefully released the sink, testing myself to see if I was going to start floating again. Luckily for me, it seemed I was finally earthbound, my wings only beat
ing
every few seconds.

I continued to breathe in and breathe out slowly, trying to calm my wings to make them stop flapping entirely. After a few minutes, it seemed they got the point and lay dormant against my back. That was my cue. I picked up the ribbon and holding each end between my fingers, draped it over my neck, and pulled it down until it rested against my back at chest level. I pulled the ribbon tight against my wings, then I looped it over my neck again and tightened it a bit lower, making a crisscross sort of pattern along my back. Once I was convinced my wings couldn't break free of the pseudo prison, I tied the ribbon in a knot right above my breasts and trimmed the excess with the scissors. Then I pulled my T-shirt back over my head and carefully smoothed it down over my wings. Turning to glance at my profile in the mirror, my wings were small enough that they folded nicely beneath my shirt. Granted, they still appeared slightly lumpy, but lumpy I could handle. It was the flying I couldn't.

I grabbed the bouquet and retrieved the note from the backpack, folding it in half and then half again so it just fit in my palm. Then I wadded my backpack up into as tight a bundle as I could and jammed it into the corner of the restroom, pulling the silver trash bin in front to conceal it. Yes, I was concerned about leaving the vials of antidote in the restroom unattended, but I was more concerned with being caught and as part of that, being questioned and detained. I mean, I had bypassed the whole front desk, sign-in procedure
so it wasn't a stretch to imagine someone might have questions for me if I were caught
. 

Steeling my courage with a big breath, I pulled the restroom door open and started down the hallway, pleased that no one else seemed to be out and about. I held the bouquet up high, so that it partially concealed my face and started scouting the nameplates along the walls outside each office. I wasn't sure if Caressa's assistant, Al
ex, would be stationed outside Caressa's
office, but I hoped she wasn't. I was afraid that Alex might recognize me, even through my clown makeup. And if Alex did recognize me, I wasn't sure what she'd do.

When I was halfway down the hall, I noticed Caressa's nameplate on the wall, outside of an undersized office, the walls made of glass. She was sitting at her desk, eating lunch as far as I could tell. No one else was with her. I felt my heart start beating hopefully.

You're going to be fine, Dulcie,
I told myself.
It's now or never.

I knocked on the glass door and when Caressa glanced up from where she'd been poring over a magazine, she nodded her head, giving me silent affirmation to enter. I did and swallowed hard as I closed the door behind me.

"I've gotta delivery for Caressa Brandenburg," I said, making my voice sound high pitched and nasally. "Are you she?"

She placed what looked like a PB&J sandwich back on the brown paper sack beside the magazine and studied me suspiciously. "No one from the lobby alerted me that I had any deliveries. They just let you up here?"

"No one was there," I said, shrinking beneath her stringent gaze. "So I just let myself in." I frowned and offered her an apologetic smile. “Maybe whoever was manning the desk had to go to the bathroom," I added.

She shrugged and eyed the bouquet with unconcealed interest as I watched her. Caressa was a shape-shifter; she could shift into a cheetah, and overall had the look of a cat; it was evident in her eyes and high cheekbones. She was tall, probably five foot eight, with long brown, wavy hair and blond highlights. Her eyes were nearly the same shade of blue as Knight's. All told, Caressa Brandenburg was beautiful and intimidating as shit.

"Who are the flowers from?" she demanded, suspiciously.

I shook my head to say I didn't know and walked right up to her, handing her the arrangement. She studied me for a second or two and I could see recognition in her eyes, although it was clouded with confusion. She was trying to place me.

"I'm not at liberty to say," I replied, sounding like Mickey Mouse. Then I handed her the note.

She watched me curiously, but accepted the letter and unfolded it, honing in on the words. Her eyes twitched as she read it. Immediately, her expression dropped and she gulped hard. Then she suddenly seemed to recognize me. She said nothing, but simply looked down at the letter again and her expression changed from one of shock to appreciation. A huge smile plastered itself across her lips and she shook her head in apparent amusement.

"Wow, how sweet of him," she said, smiling up at me. "They're from the guy I'm seeing."

Immediately, I caught on to her. Obviously, it wasn't safe to talk in her office and she was playing into my game to throw off anyone who could be listening or watching us via a surveillance system. She apparently finished reading the letter because in a matter of seconds, she reached over and fed it into a paper shredder below her desk, destroying it per my request.

"Thank you for the delivery, they are lovely," she said, with an artificial smile. "I need to get some water for them," she added as she reached for a vase in the hutch behind her desk. When she stood up, I noticed the cast on her foot and then the crutches leaning against the wall behind her.

"Allow me," I said, reaching for the bouquet, but with my eyes, I asked her:
Where can we talk in private?

She handed me the vase and smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, we can fill
it
in the restroom just down the hall."

I simply nodded, figuring it made sense that the only place where cameras wouldn't be allowed would be the restroom. Apparently, there was a certain level of respect for privacy even in the Netherworld. I turned around, and with Caressa by my side, headed back down the hallway. When we reached the restroom, I held the door open for her and followed her inside. Before either of us said a word, I bent over and scanned under each stall for feet. There weren't any. We were alone.

Caressa reached over and turned on the water.

"Did you memorize the drop-off locations and times?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

She simply nodded. "I made sure I had everything stored in my mind before I destroyed your letter. Lucky for you I've got a photographic memory." She paused and took a deep breath, obviously displeased with the information. "Where did you get …" she started.

I shook my head. "We don't have time, and even if we did, I can't tell you. All I can tell you is that
this
is a dire situation. You need to get every ANC person you have in the know and at least three in each of the locations I specified in that letter. And …" I reached for the backpack which was still behind the trashcan. I fished inside it until I found the two vials of antidote and handed them to her. "Make sure everyone takes one of these prior to arriving at each destination. Otherwise they'll become addicts within seconds of the stuff being released into the air."

"How long will the antidote last?" she asked.

I wasn't exactly sure, so I just answered, "Long enough."

She nodded and accepted both vials, opening her jacket and placing them in a pocket beside her Op 6 which was holstered across her chest. "Are you sure that's the extent of the traffickers who will be at each location?" she asked. "I don't want to set my people up to be outmanned."

I shook my head. "As far as I know, but it would probably behoove you to plan for more, rather than less."

"And the Dryads? They can't survive for more than a few hours outside of the forest."

I nodded and sighed deeply. "That will also have to be part of the ANC’s job—to get the Dryads back safely."

She said nothing, but breathed in deeply and then nodded, as if approving of my plan to ensure the safety of the Dryads. Thank God. "He's responsible for this, isn't he?" she asked. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was referring to Melchior.

I didn't deny it, but neither did I confirm it; instead, I raised a subject far more important. "I need you to make sure Knight is as far away from Splendor as possible," I continued. "Once the
Draoidheil
comes through, his life will be in danger."

She glanced down at me with concern in her eyes. "Why?"

I shook my head. "I can't get into it. I've already stayed here too long. You just need to ensure that Knight is elsewhere—wherever he’s least likely to be found. And give him orders to leave Splendor today." After all, there were only two days remaining before the
Draoidheil
was scheduled to arrive, only two days remaining before the shit was really going to hit the fan.