Wuthering Frights (32 page)

"I never knew why I was released," I admitted. "But it's true that Caressa never took me to the portal. Instead, I told her what my plan was where you were concerned and she allowed me to escape." Knight shot me a disingenuous glance, but I wasn't about to let him deny me my explanation. "Then I went to my father's office and I demanded that he release you. And of course, once he realized he had me right where he wanted me, I ended up in this mess."

Knight shook his head. "Do you really expect me to believe that trite shit? Fuck, Dulcie, I'm not going to buy into your soap opera."

"Yes, I expect you to believe it because it's true!" I screamed at him, trying to find some way that I could prove I wasn’t lying. But as much as I racked my brain, I couldn't think of anything that would clear me of this blame. Nothing tangible, anyway. I glanced outside my window, realizing that Knight had driven straight through Splendor and was now merging onto the freeway, headed toward Haven. As I stared out at the darkness, something occurred to me. "Knight, if my father wanted you dead so badly, and I was his liaison, why would I have fought so hard to spare your life? If he really wanted you dead, he had you exactly where he wanted you when you were in the Netherworld. You admitted as much yourself."

Knight inhaled deeply and frowned at me, clearly not convinced with this fact. "Because he realized my connections to The Resistance, something you've already demonstrated you also knew about. So he informed you to sink your claws into me even deeper than you already had, in order to find out all you could about The Resistance so Melchior could shut it down."

I realized I'd made a big mistake in admitting I knew about The Resistance. I ransacked my mind, trying to think of something else that didn't ring true, of something else that could help me in my quest to prove my innocence. "If nothing I've said is true, why did you just catch Baron trying to kill me?" I asked. I knew I was reaching, but I had to go for it anyway. "If I was really working for my father, do you think Baron would have come after me, calling me a back-stabbing bitch?"

Knight frowned. "I didn't hear him call you anything and furthermore, he wasn't trying to kill you," he said. Then he shook his head like I was a great big idiot. "And I think it's pretty obvious what he was after, just seizing a good opportunity to go for it."

"Okay, then what of Trey?" I demanded, playing every card I could.

"What of Trey?" Knight repeated.

"Don't you think if I'd been working for my father this entire time
,
that Trey would have picked up on it since he's a sensitive?"

Knigh
t shook his head. "Your father'
s obvi
ously creative, exemplified by the fact that he forced the Dryads on this little
Draoidheil
mission to throw off Trey and others like him. It's not a stretch to imagine he'd been doing something similar all along where you're concerned."

I felt like crying as I realized all my defenses were failing. There really wasn't anything concrete that I could use to prove to Knight that he totally had me pegged incorrectly.

"And speaking of coworkers, is Sam in on this too or did you pull the wool over her eyes also?"

I glared at him. "Sam has nothing to do with th
is! She'
s completely innocent!"

He
shook his head. "Nice that you're even lying to your best friend."

I sighed, long and hard, trying to salvage a shred of something that would prove my innocence but my mind was a blank.
"Everything you believe about me isn't true, Knight," I whispered, my voice sounding grainy as tears filled my eyes. "And everything I said to you while we were in prison was the truth. Every last word."

Knight chuckled humorlessly. "The only one of us who was telling the truth was me ... Something which was blatantly demonstrated when you broke up with me as soon as we returned to Splendor. And then to really rub salt in my wounds, you started dating Bram."

"I did that to protect you, Knight," I threw back at him. "And I'm not dating Bram and never have been. I broke things off with you because I didn't want you to find out that I was working for my father.
"
I briefly considered telling him about my visit to Bram's and how I'd told Bram everything I was now telling Knight but I didn't imagine that would hold any weight because there wasn't any solid proof in it. And, furthermore, I didn't imagine Knight would appreciate the reminder of Bram when the vampire was obviously a sore subject.
"I broke up with you only because I wanted to put some distance between us to keep you safe, Knight. That was my only intention."

He
gave me a look which I’ll never forget—his eyes had never appeared so furious, so livid. His nostrils flared as he breathed in and out and I could see his racing heart rate in the pulse thumping in his neck. "I don't want to hear another fucking word from you, got it?”

I shook my head, refusing to be shut down. "I'm the one who told the ANC about this whole thing to begin with," I yelled at him, my voice shaking. "I went to Caressa and I told her everything about the
Draoidheil
delivery, as well as every drop-off location. The only reason you aren't addicted to the shit now is because I gave her vials of antidote and told her to make sure all of you took it." I didn't even want to think about Caressa not delivering on her promise to ensure that Knight was kept far away from Splendor. Somehow, I didn’t blame Caressa for it, as much as I did Knight's iron will, and his insistence on doing whatever the hell he chose to.

He shook his head and glared at me. "Funny, but when Caressa notified the ANC about the deliveries happening tonight, she failed to mention that any of it had come from you."

And that was because she'd kept her word to me by not associating my name with the information. I was tired and at the point now where I'd exhausted any further means to prove my innocence in all of this. I didn’t know how to prove Knight wrong anymore. I suddenly felt my fatigue gaining on me and gazed out the window, watching the scenery blur by, wishing things were drastically different.

"Where are you taking me, anyway?" I asked, in a defeated tone.

"To jail," he answered quickly.

I felt my stomach drop at the thought, but I knew he wasn't taking me to the holding cells in the ANC of Splendor because we'd passed them already. "What jail?" I demanded.

He didn't spare me a glance. "One you don't know about, and one where I can ensure your father will never find you."

Something which was fine by me because I wasn't sure what would happen if or when my father found me. I had to imagine, though, that it wouldn't be a happy homecoming. I said nothing else, as I tried to find a comfortable position. Having my hands clasped behind my back, it seemed comfort was too much to ask. Instead, I focused on the confusion of my own thoughts. I just couldn't understand how things had turned ugly so quickly between Knight and me. Only weeks ago, we'd confessed our undying love for one another, and now he seemed to hate me.

From the corner of my eye, I watched Knight reach for the CD player as he turned the volume up and Pearl Jam's "Deep" filled the SUV in a rich harmony of guitar and drums. The fury of the song seemed to match my mood and I would have bet it matched Knight's as well, only for different reasons. I turned my head even farther away from him, not wanting him to see the tears that were sliding down my cheeks.

I closed my eyes, and scolded myself, telling myself to stop crying. I would find a way out of this and my vehicle was Caressa. Somehow I had to get in touch with her because I knew she'd set Knight straight. Only she could tell him about my release from prison and how she'd been charged with escorting me to the portal. Only she could admit that she really released me to go after my father in order to ensure Knight's safety. And, after that, she could tell Knight that I really was the one who
'd
spilled the beans about the
Draoidheil
delivery.

I heard Knight turn up the volume as the words of the song sunk into me:
And she doesn't like the view, she doesn't like the view but he sinks himself deep ...

"Tell me one thing," Knight started, suddenly turning to face me, his voice almost lost in the song. I
looked up at him
expectantly, hoping the tears were no longer visible on my cheeks. "When Bram's inside you, is it my face you imagine?"

"You son of a bitch," I spat out at him, shaking my head, and forcing my gaze away from his. I
slammed
my eyes shut, not wanting to lose control of my tears. I would not cry in front of him!

I'd just never seen this side of Knight before—an icy cold, calculating side. And I wanted to hate him for believing I was ever capable of something so horrendous and awful. I wanted to hate him for not being able to see clearly, for obstructing his own vision. But there was something within me that refused to allow me to hate him, something that wouldn't permit me to throw in the towel.

I would make him see the truth. I would make him realize the picture he was trying to paint of me was entirely wrong.

And I would make him eat his words.

Eighteen

Knight suddenly pulled the Denali over to the side of the road and I had to balance myself against my seat to keep the side of my head from hitting the window. The uneven ground caused my teeth to chatter in my head, and when he hit the brakes to keep us from plowing into an enormous oak tree, I was grateful he'd seat-belted me in.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked with a confused frown.

He didn't respond, but put the Denali in park, not even bothering to look at me. Instead, he threw his door open, leaving the engine on and jumped down to the ground. The SUV beeped angrily at him, warning him the door was open. I couldn't say I was really paying much attention to the incessant beeping though. Instead, I watched as Knight jogged around the front of the Denali. The headlights illuminated his incredibly broad build and the ample swell of his biceps.  I was suddenly overcome with fear, remembering the time when Knight and I first met and I tried to fight him. I lost because fairy magic was useless against Lokis. Taking in his impressive physique now, I found myself hoping I wouldn't have to go up against him again.

He yanked my door open and released my seat belt, refusing to so much as look at me. Instead, his lips were a tight line as he grabbed me by my waist and lifted me down. I shivered in the cold night air and worried for a minute that he was going to leave me out here. I glanced around to figure out just where "here" was. I couldn't say I'd been keeping track of where we'd been going because my mind was so consumed by our most recent conversation. As I looked around myself now, I realized we were in the middle of nowhere with rolling fields of untouched land on either side of us, brightened by the beams of the full moon. A few gnarled oak trees dotted the horizon, the lights of the nearest city far in the distance.  The only sound to interrupt the otherwise still air was the chirping of the crickets.