“Um,” I responded, but again lost the ability to form words.
“But I’m not going to,” he finished, dropping his hand. He glanced in the rearview mirror, then his side mirror, and finding the coast clear, pulled back onto the road, leaving another cloud of dust in his wake.
There was a definite sense of disappointment welling up within me. “Why?” I asked the obvious.
“Because I’ve got a team meeting to orchestrate,” he said with a lofty smile. Then without waiting for my response, he pressed a button on the steering wheel and said: “Dial Dia.” The sound of dialing filled the car as I tried to put a lid on the intense desire to jump him.
“You are such a tease,” I muttered to which he smiled a broader grin. The bastard was proud of himself!
“Unless you’re callin’ to tell me you’ve decided to take a ride on the goblin train, I’m not interested,” Dia’s voice rang out.
Dia, a somnogobelinus, was a specialized type of goblin who could influence people’s dreams. If that doesn’t sound especially impressive, Dia’s abilities allowed her to insert herself into people’s dreams and if she harmed or killed them during sleep, they would also die in real life. But, luckily for us, Dia was more interested in rescuing people. She headed the Association for Netherworld Creatures in a neighboring city of Moon and was also one of the board members (for lack of a better word) of our Resistance team.
The Resistance team comprised five Netherworld creatures who were specially chosen to help our former head, Christina, plan an attack against my father. But now Christina was no longer a viable leader because my father had subjected her to an illegal potion which forced her to divulge any and all information regarding The Resistance. As such, Knight was now in charge, and I was his second in command.
Knight chuckled. “I need everyone at the cabin, pronto.”
“Roger that,” Dia said with a hearty laugh. It was one of those contagious giggles where you can’t help but smile or laugh yourself.
“Everyone needs to arrive in less than twenty minutes,” Knight added with authority.
“I want Sam and Trey there as well,” I interrupted.
“Hi, girl,” Dia piped up. “Phew, I’m glad to know you’re with the Loki ’cause I was gettin’ worried.”
After my father tried to assassinate Knight and me, I had to go underground with a “friend” of mine named Bram. At the time, I didn’t know Bram was in cahoots with my father for the past couple of centuries. But, as with most Netherworld creatures living on Earth, Bram also wanted to renounce his ties to Melchior. According to Bram, he was now firmly entrenched in The Resistance camp.
“Hi, D,” I answered. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Amen ta that, sistah!” Dia said with a laugh. “Okay, Sam and Trey, I’m on it.”
Samantha White was my best friend and an incredibly gifted witch. She worked alongside me at the ANC and I considered her a devoted ally both to the ANC and to The Resistance. Trey also worked with me at the ANC as a fellow Regulator. He was a hobgoblin, who had the ability to see the past, present and the future in dream-like vignettes that had helped us crack many cases. Just as he was a boon to the ANC, I knew The Resistance could also benefit from his talents.
“And Quillan needs to be involved too,” I added, even as I realized my comment wouldn’t go over well with Knight.
Knight immediately shook his head, but I was steadfast in my belief that Quill should be part of our preparations to invade the Netherworld. “He was my father’s right-hand man, Knight,” I argued. “Quill knows the way my father thinks and without him, we’d be doing ourselves a huge disservice.”
“I don’t trust him,” Knight answered, his jaw tightly clenched. I noticed he refused to even glance my way and, instead, kept his eyes trained on the road ahead of us.
“Your fairy’s got a point,” Dia said. “Quill could help us, Knight.”
“And what if he still maintains ties to Melchior?” Knight demanded. “What then?”
“He has nothing to do with my father anymore,” I said in a soft voice, knowing Quillan was a sore subject where Knight was concerned. It wasn’t just because Quill once worked for my father, either. Quill had been my boss at the ANC before we discovered he was working for my father. And once upon a time, I’d even had a big crush on him, a crush which he’d returned and now made no attempts to hide. If the truth be told, I believed Knight was a little jealous over my friendship with Quill. “He took the tests of his loyalty to The Resistance just like everyone else did,” I argued. “And what’s more, he passed every single one of them.”
Knight swallowed hard, sighing deeply as his left eyebrow arched in what could only be described as a lack of enthusiasm. “Quillan too,” he said simply.
###
The “cabin” was a fitting name. Ensconced in myriad enormous, snow-decked Linden trees (which sort of look like poplars), the lodge was completely constructed from hewn logs. It took Knight and me about ten minutes to get here, during which time we traveled through three portals. Not surprisingly, we were the first to arrive.
I opened my door and shivered in the cold wintry air. “Where are we?” I asked, glancing around to find we were in the middle of basically nowhere. There wasn’t another cabin, house or lodge within view, just the refreshing smell of ice and earth permeating the otherwise still air. A few lone birds sang out dolefully, and the snow flurries dropped from the boughs overhead to find a final resting place on the ground.
Knight reached behind his seat and produced a black, down coat, which he handed to me. “Here, this will keep you warm.”
I accepted it eagerly and threw it on, zipping it up as I realized it was a woman’s coat and also my size. “Do you always carry around random women’s clothing?”
Knight chuckled. “I know your size, silly.” Then he looked me up and down appraisingly. “And, no, I don’t just carry random clothing around. I knew we’d be coming here.” He smiled from ear to ear. “I planned.”
“And where is here again?” I reminded him of my first question as I tried not to notice how his grin lit up his entire face.
“Southern Germany, in Bavaria,” Knight announced, almost proudly. “The town is Garmisch.”
I shook my head in wonder as I took in my surroundings again. It looked like we were at the base of the Alps, the mountains beyond the trees incredibly steep by anyone’s account. “Ten minutes to Germany. Portal travel is the way to go,” I said.
Knight laughed and started for the door to the lodge, unlocking it and opening it wide. From my viewpoint, I could make out dark wood floors and a fireplace that occupied one entire wall. Knight stepped over the threshold and faced the fireplace, as flames began to erupt in the firebox. Then he eyed me as if seeking praise for a job well done.
“Another of your Loki abilities?” I grumbled, sounding less than thrilled. It was an ongoing joke between the two of us—as a Loki, Knight had myriad abilities, abilities which he kept under lock and key. The only reason I knew he was capable of anything at all was because I simply stumbled upon them the more time we spent together. What number this latest ability was, I had no clue—I’d lost track a long time ago.
“Forged from the fires of Hades,” he answered with a self-impressed smile.
I was spared the need to respond when the sound of wheels crunching snow caught my attention. I turned around and watched Dia arriving in a scarlet red Cadillac Escalade, complete with spinning rims. I could hear the beat of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” blaring, even though the windows were all rolled up. Sam was sitting beside Dia and I could make out Trey and Quill in the backseat.
“The party can now officially start, y’all,” Dia shouted as she opened her door.
Dia is very tall and curvy with the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen. Her skin is the color of hot chocolate and paired with her fire-engine red snow jacket, she was a sight to behold.
“Dulce, you’re okay!” Sam said as she stepped out of the
car and hurried toward me, with Trey and Quill right behind her. Sam threw her arms around me and beamed happily. “It’s so good to see you.” She hugged me again. “I was so worried since no one heard from you and Knight couldn’t reach Bram.”
I started to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of another car pulling up. I turned and watched someone I didn’t recognize pull up in a silver Land Rover LR4. Sitting beside her was Erica Comacho. I didn’t know Erica well, but what I did know of her, I liked, even though our relationship hadn’t exactly begun on good terms. It was sort of hard not to like her because she was so closely related to me, ancestry-wise. As a nymph, she was separated from fairies by just a few branches in the evolution tree. Layman speaking, she was a distant cousin. Similar to fairies, nymphs also possessed magic, but only when they were in the natural environment because their magic came from natural elements. Given how natural this environment was, I imagined Erica was going to have a field day with her magic.
The driver killed the engine and opened the door, stepping outside. She was strikingly pretty and looked like she was in her late twenties. She wasn’t much taller than I was, maybe 5’3” if I had to guess. What sun there was lit up the caramel highlights in her otherwise brown hair which was maybe two inches past her shoulders. Her brown eyes had a sweetness to them and with her plump lips, she was definitely a looker. She was dressed in tightly fitting blue jeans and a tighter black sweater, both of which revealed her naturally curvaceous body. A pair of nude, platform peep-toe heels peeked out from beneath her jeans.
“MJ!” Knight called out from beside me as the woman faced him with a huge grin. They instantly threw their arms around one another as I was left wondering how in the hell they knew each other.
“It’s great to see you, Vander,” she said to him, once they’d separated.
Knight glanced at me and motioned for me to join them, so I walked over, trying to force jealous feelings from my gut. It would just have been so much easier if Knight decided to surround himself with women who were less than attractive. Really, was that too much to ask?
“Dulce, this is Rachel Wallace,” he said as he glanced back at his “friend” and smiled at her. “MJ, this is Dulcie O’Neil.”
Rachel extended her hand and smiled at me warmly. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she said with a grin. “It’s really great to finally meet you.”
“You too,” I said and forced a smile. “Though I’m not sure how you and Knight know each other?”
She started to color a bit and dropped her chin as if she was embarrassed.
“We used to date,” Knight answered as I felt my eyes widen and the jealousy that had been threatening me earlier suddenly amplified tenfold.
“Oh,” I said, not really knowing what else there was to say.
“That was a long time ago,” Rachel added quickly, as if to assure me that neither of them had feelings for one another anymore. Something which waited to be seen …
“Oh, I found MJ for you, Knight,” Erica said as she faced Knight with a smile.
“Thanks,” Knight said, before turning to face me. “MJ worked for me as a Regulator before I came to Splendor.”
Hmm, so I wasn’t the only employee he’d ever dated. Interesting. Not so much interesting, actually, as it was irritating.
“She was a very good Regulator so I thought it would behoove us to have her on our team,” he finished, obviously realizing it was important to explain exactly why he’d decided to include his ex-girlfriend.
“The more, the merrier, right?” I said with a forced smile. “So should I call you Rachel or MJ?” I asked, facing her.
She blushed. “Most people call me Rachel. MJ is just a nickname I’ve had since I was little.”
“Ah,” I said and nodded. “What does it stand for?”
“Minnie Jean,” she said with a quick smile.
Not wanting to focus on the fact that Knight and she had been close enough for him to refer to her using her nickname she’d had since she was a kid, I instead decided to focus on Erica as she took a deep breath and grinned broadly. Her red hair stood out in stark contrast to the snow-covered ground. The first two times I’d met her, her hair was aqua blue and then canary yellow. Today, it was still cutely bobbed and just as red as Dia’s jacket.
Erica closed her eyes and held her hands up on either side of her, inhaling deeply. When she opened her eyes again, they appeared to be backlit green. She opened her palms wide and a glowing white light appeared in each of them. The tail of the light seemed to push up from the snow-covered ground, through her palms, and shattered into a beautiful display of prismatic light. She threw her hands upward and the air suddenly responded with a deluge of falling snow. It landed on all of us and looking at the horizon, I realized it was snowing as far as I could see.
I glanced at Erica again and she dropped her hands as she smiled. “It’s good to be a nymph,” she said simply. Then she turned back to face the Durango and frowned. “Dude, Fagan, get a move on!” she called to the man still sitting in the backseat. What in the hell he’d been doing back there was anyone’s guess.
She faced me again and rolled her eyes as Fagan obediently opened the door and stepped outside. He appeared less than pleased when the snow starting dusting his head and shoulders. Fagan was a Drow, and just as his species dictated, he seemed forever in a bad mood, a scowl tightening his otherwise blasé features. Drows were in the same family as elves, but more like their grumpier cousins.
He took a few steps forward, looking austere but regal with his immense height (he was probably six feet, four inches, if I had to guess) and his navy blue sweater. He was incredibly skinny and the dark rings beneath his eyes along with his sallow complexion gave him the overall look of someone malnourished.
“Where the hell have you been?” Quill asked, grabbing my attention as he intercepted Sam and me. He grabbed both of my shoulders and I could see the pain in his eyes. Quillan Beaurigard was probably tied with the second most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes on. Tied only with Bram. First place was still reserved for Knight. Quill was tall, though not as tall as Knight, but his dark golden hair and amber eyes that matched the olive tone of his skin, definitely made him a looker.
“Hey,” Knight warned, glaring at Quill as he took a step forward. “Take your hands off her.”
“It’s fine,” I started, spearing them both with my less-than-thrilled expression.
“Do you really think I’d hurt her?” Quill asked, frowning at the Loki.
“Boys, boys, boys,” Dia interrupted. “There is plenty of the fairy to go around, so just cool yer britches.”
“She is so damn lucky,” Erica said to Dia, her eyes plastered on Knight. “What I would do with that much deliciousness all rolled into one hot ass Loki …”
“Get in line, honey,” Dia responded. “Right behind me.”
I just shook my head as I faced Sam and Quill again. “I’m fine,” I said, smiling apologetically. “I’ve been with Bram the last couple of days.”
“Whoever came up with the idea to leave you with Bram was a fucking moron,” Quill spat out, his gaze resting on Knight. I didn’t have the wherewithal to inform him that the idea wasn’t Knight’s but Bram’s. Apparently, Knight was also past the point of useless conversations because he didn’t say anything either. He merely eyed Quill with daggers.
“This sistah’s goin’ inside, y’all,” Dia sang out in her melodious voice. “I’m about ta freeze the diva outta me!”
TWO
“Nice digs,” Erica said as she glanced around the inside of the lodge and chomped on a piece of what smelled like strawberry bubble gum. She took a seat on one of two brown-and-grey upholstered chairs in the living room, while Fagan grabbed the matching chair beside her. Rachel sat on the arm of Erica’s chair, both of them obviously friends.
I shivered as a cold wind forced itself through the front door, wrapping its icy fingers around my body. Trey closed the door behind me as I looked
through the windows and noticed a dark grey sky attempting to obscure the otherwise snowy white horizon. The longer I watched, the darker it became until I realized dusk was already falling upon us. The flurries of snow increased and came down faster. I wasn’t sure if Erica might have somehow affected the natural progression of daylight with her little magical stunt that she’d performed earlier, but it definitely seemed like dusk had arrived too soon. Or maybe the incredibly shortened day had something to do with our traveling through portals? Either way, the daylight hadn’t lasted as long as it normally did.
Abandoning my curiosity as to why evening was fast approaching, I turned my attention to Knight. He was standing in front of the daunting floor-to-ceiling fireplace, leaning one beefy arm nonchalantly on the mantel while he waited for the rest of us to take our seats. Both sides of the enormous hearth were flanked by twin, knotty alder bookcases. Along with the two lounge chairs, there was also a tan leather couch placed in front of the fire, where Dia and Sam sat. Trey had already plopped himself on the hearth beside the fire, at Knight’s feet.
“Girl, there’s room here,” Dia sang out when it became apparent that I still hadn’t found a place to rest my butt. She made an exaggerated show of moving to the far end of the couch and patting the empty space between Sam and her encouragingly.
“Thanks, D,” I said with a smile as I took the proffered spot. Sensing someone behind me, I glanced up and noticed Quill. I gave him a quick but friendly smile but he didn’t return it. Instead, he just gazed at me, wearing an expression I couldn’t place.
“Christina sure knows how to live the high life,” Erica commented as she eyed her surroundings again before blowing an enormous pink bubble.
“You can say that again,” Rachel agreed.
“I own this place,” Knight corrected them. I couldn’t mask my surprise since I had no idea that Knight had even been to Germany, let alone bought a cabin (or was it termed a chalet?) here. The Loki cleared his throat, which I assumed was a sign that he wanted our meeting to commence.