Well, he was right about that. If we were romantically involved and I found out about Quill’s ties to my father, I never would have forgiven him. “I guess we were doomed before we ever even started,” I said with a mirthless laugh.
Quill nodded, reflecting the same disheartened expression I gave him. “Yeah, we were.” Then he grew quiet as his eyes took on a faraway gaze, like he was recalling places, people and events now long gone. “Just having you in my life was enough for me then,” he said gently. “Because it had to be.” He nodded and the smile on his lips suggested he was still living in his memories. “Just being able to come by your apartment after work, or bring you dinner when you were sick filled me with so much happiness, Dulcie. Laughing with you about Trey, and working so closely together got me through the reality of the nightmare I was living. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had your friendship, or if you hadn’t entered my life. Now that I look back on it, you were everything to me, Dulce. You still are.” He sighed, but quickly smirked as if something amusing suddenly occurred to him. He glanced at me with a boyish twinkle in his eyes. “And when I found out you were writing a romance novel about me …”
“Holy Hades,” I said, trying to hide my embarrassed smile with my hand as I shook my head. The book was a romance novel about a pirate and his lady. I’d fashioned the character of the pirate after Quill, even using his real name in my word document, with the intention of changing it later. Well, as luck would have it, Quill happened to be over one day and the word document was up on my computer screen, so yep, you guessed it—he saw his name. I turned every shade of red then and even now, my cheeks flushed at the memory because the worst part was that the scene I was writing about him was an explicitly sexual one.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Quill said with a small laugh. “I was honored. I’m still honored to think you ever had romantic feelings for me, that you ever would have considered the things you wrote about … with me.”
“I definitely did, Quill,” I said, shaking my head, mortification still coloring my cheeks. “You don’t even know the half of it,” I finished, smiling up at him as thoughts about my writing career resurfaced in my mind. Yes, once upon a time, before all this shit with the Netherworld and my father hit the fan, I hoped to become a full-time author, and leave my days in law enforcement far behind me. My pirate romance novel didn’t get very far, though, so I ditched it. After putting the kibosh on the Quillan pirate book, I wrote one about Bram that managed to attract the attention of a huge literary agent in New York. Then this mess with my father and the Netherworld fell on my shoulders, and I hadn’t even thought about writing for the last month, at least.
If I survive this attack on my father, I promise to pick up where I left off in my writing career, I vowed, suddenly relishing my renewed sense of determination.
“No matter what happens tonight,” Quill continued, “I will be with you every step of the way, Dulce, and I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to make sure you’re safe.”
“Thank you, Quill, that means a lot to me,” I answered, glancing up at him while tears started in my eyes.
“Don’t get all emotional on me now,” Quill said with a chuckle as he wiped the pad of his index finger across my eyelids.
I took a deep breath and clenched my eyes shut, willing the tears back. If there was one thing I hated, it was crying with an audience. “I’m okay,” I said as I managed a quick smile.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Dulcie,” he whispered before pulling me into him, and kissing the top of my head. I wrapped my arms around him and felt his chin on the top of my head as he held me. His crisp, clean scent filled my nostrils and mind with nostalgia. It reminded me of the old days at the ANC, when things were substantially simpler than they were now. That was when the only dilemma that occupied my thoughts was whether it was wise to have a crush on my boss.
How far I’d come.
TEN
I wasn’t sure how Quill and Knight were feeling, but I sensed a cold numbness that welled up from deep within me, an overwhelming vacuum that consumed my entire being. I wondered if someone cut me, would I even feel it? In my newly vegetative state, all worries and fears of my impending future were banished from my head until my brain resembled a barren moonscape. And maybe it was a good thing that I felt emotionless at the prospect of ripping a portal opening into the air in order to confront my father, because who knew what that little task might entail? Death was the quick answer, but whose death? Now that was the clincher. Either way, the moment of reckoning was merely seconds away.
Those final seconds slipped through my fingers like cold honey, slow and painstakingly gluey, as if time itself didn’t want to pass. But pass it did, and I soon found myself preparing to rip the portal for Erica, Rachel and Sam to stage their mock surrender at the Netherworld airport. Amongst them were nine civilians who would play the parts of innocent victims.
“Good luck,” Knight said as he engulfed first Erica, then Rachel and then Sam in a bear hug. Erica just nodded, her meditative mood in complete contrast to her Hawaiian Punch-colored hair. Taking a deep breath, she faced her comrades. She studied them for a few seconds before turning back to us. A gentle wind whipped through her hair until the short strands splayed across her cheeks, looking as delicate as the gossamer threads of a spider web.
“We’re ready,” she said simply. I couldn’t help noticing her usually buoyant personality was definitely turned down a notch or two. In its place was a pensiveness I’d never witnessed in her before, not that I knew her that well but anyhoo … A general somberness remained hanging in the air, which wasn’t surprising, given the enormous question mark hovering over our heads with regard to our impending future.
“Dulce,” Sam said softly as I turned my attention from Erica to my best friend. It was as if I could suddenly see Sam for the first time. Was it because this could be the last time? Her beautiful, brown eyes were wider than usual and her skin appeared whiter, suggesting her nervousness. Her brown hair was pulled off her face in a low ponytail and she was wearing khaki pants and brown polo shirt. She looked more like a model for a Gap ad than a witch confronting an unknown future.
“You’re going to be just fine, Sam,” I said softly, grasping her arms. “No matter what happens, you just play dumb, okay? As far as you know, you’re surrendering to my father and that’s it.”
She nodded and I could see wet pools filling her eyes. “I’m not worried about me, Dulcie.”
“Don’t worry about me either,” I insisted, with a smile that hopefully conveyed a sense of calm and control. “I always come out on top; you know that,” I finished jokingly.
Sam smiled and a soft, sad laugh escaped her lips. But only seconds later, her lower lip began to tremble as the tears that were welling in her eyes only moments earlier overflowed and began coursing down her cheeks, soaking into her collar. I pulled her forward and wrapped my arms around her as she rested her cheek against my head because I was so damn short.
“You really do always come out on top,” she said with another bittersweet laugh. But the laugh was cut short by a sob.
“Don’t cry, Sam,” I whispered when her body began to shake slightly. “Everything is going to be fine, and in just a few hours’ time, we’ll all be reunited again like one big happy family. Except my asshole father will be in custody or, better yet, dead.” Obviously, I had no idea what I was talking about and a few hours sounded so optimistic as to be ridiculous, but I wasn’t good when it came to soothing people, so what else could I do?
Sam wiped her sleeve across her eyes, drying her tears before smiling again, her lower lip still trembling. “Good luck, Dulce, and make sure you keep those two at your side the entire time,” she motioned to Quill and Knight who were standing behind us.
“We’ll be like her shadows,” Quill said with a quick smile as he approached Sam and hugged her, whispering in her ear, “You’ll be fine.”
“Whateve
r happens with the rest of us,” Knight started, facing Sam, his expression serious. “You, MJ and Erica just play out the whole surrender thing; you got it?”
Sam nodded and I took a deep breath, feeling some relief at Knight’s words. It did sound promising that Sam, Rachel, Erica and their posse could just play at surrendering to Melchior’s forces if the rest of us failed in our attempts; but I couldn’t help worrying that my father would eventually realize it was feigned. As soon as he put together that all three attacks happened within minutes of one another, he’d know what we were up to. But, since that thought only managed to depress me, I decided to abandon it. After all, wasn’t it better to hope for the best, even if the best meant being blissfully ignorant?
“You take care of her,” Sam said to Knight as she inclined her head in my direction.
“I will guard her with my life,” Knight answered sternly, his eyes reinforcing the statement.
“Girl, you take care of yourself,” Dia piped up. She threw her arms around Sam and then followed suit with Erica and Rachel, who stood just behind her. After tears were shed and good-byes were exchanged by all, I held the portal ripper in my hand and followed Bram’s directions. As I pulled the device toward me, the air sliced open beneath my fingertips. It looked like I’d ripped clear through one landscape, revealing another. In a manner of speaking, that was exactly what happened. The ripper silently crossed the line between this dimension and the next, blasting a gust of frigid air against my skin in the process.
“No time to waste,” I said quickly. Erica nodded at Knight and me while Rachel offered us both a smile and the two simply stepped directly through the portal, and disappeared right in front of us. Three of the recruited civilians quickly followed them. Sam took a deep breath as she offered me a reassuring smile.
“I love you, Dulce,” she said softly.
“I love you too,” I whispered back and watched as she too disappeared into the Netherworld, just like that. One second she was beside me, and the next, she wasn’t. Refusing to dwell on my own emotions, I immediately turned the portal ripper upside-down and “stitched” up the opening to prevent any uninvited travelers from passing through. Once the portal was sutured together, I took a deep breath and thought whatever Sam’s fate, I’d just sent her straight into it.
Something inside me broke and all the bravado I’d put on for Sam’s benefit dissolved inside me. In no time, the rampart that held back my tears failed as an impenetrable wall and became more of an enthusiastic net.
“Dulce? You okay?” Knight asked, peering at me with concern.
My hands fisted involuntarily and my nails dug into my palms. “Yes, I’m fine,” I said, more to fortify myself than to answer him honestly. I took a deep breath and clenched my eyes shut tightly, insisting that I keep it together. I had to be strong—I couldn’t give in to my true feelings and collapse into a sobbing heap. If I did, I knew I wouldn’t be able to emerge from it. What I needed most now was a clarity of purpose that would allow me to operate like an automaton.
Get in and get out, I told myself. You need to be calm, cool and collected, not clouded by emotion.
I opened my eyes to find Quill and Knight staring at me. “I’m fine,” I repeated, this time with real authority and even a tinge of anger.
The surrender at the airport was currently underway. Now there were three more portals to rip and three more attacks to stage. Christina stepped forward, with Dia right behind her and one hundred of our soldiers along with one hundred fifty new recruits. They stood in rows of ten creatures across, twenty-five rows in total and looked like a marching band, minus the brass instruments. Instead, they all clutched black gas masks to protect them from the fumes of the Bregone swamp.
“Got your radio?” Knight asked Christina. He motioned to his black walkie-talkie, which he held up to prove his was present and accounted for.
“I do,” she answered quickly. Her huge smile suggested just how prepared she was for what was about to ensue. In her expression, I could read the weariness of all the trials and tribulations she’d endured fighting in the name of The Resistance. Everything she and Knight had prepared for was about to unfold, and no matter what the consequences, the twinkle in her eye promised that she intended to fight with sword, tooth and nail.
“Let’s do this!” she called out.
Knight chuckled and opened his arms wide. She fell into them and hugged him tightly. “Thank you for everything, Knightley,” she said softly while gazing up at him. Then pulling away, she took a deep breath before glancing over at me. “You got yourself a good one.”
I nodded with a quick smile first to her and then to Knight. “I know.”
“Girl, you be careful when you go after that excuse you have for a father,” Dia said with a great big grin and that Diva-esque thing she did with her neck. She wrapped her arms around me, suffocating me in the scent of one of Victoria’s Secret’s body lotions.
“I will, D, you be careful too,” I said softly. I could feel the frog returning to my throat as Dia released me. She smiled down at me as if she were my mom and it was my first day of school.
“Now don’t go doin’ anything heroic, you hear me? Just stay alive,” she said confidently, but I could see the trepidation looming in her eyes.
“No heroics for me.”
Dia nodded as I took in her bright red pants and purple shirt and hair that settled around her head in myriad sausage curls. With her flame-red lipstick and silvery eye shadow, she looked like she was headed to a dance club rather than an uncertain fate. I shook my head and laughed. “Always the diva.”
She nodded and offered me a raised-brow expression, rubbing her nails against her shiny shirt. “Girl, just ’cause you gotta fight, doesn’t mean you can’t do it lookin’ good.” Then she glanced down at herself and nodded. “Uh huh, an’ if it’s one thing I know how ta do, it’s lookin’ good.”
I just smiled at my friend and watched her approach Knight. She gave him the once-over while clicking her tongue against the top of her mouth. “Even when we’re headed off into some screwed-up battle, you still look like you should be warmin’ my bed,” she said with a shake of her head. “If we manage to survive this adventure, you’re rewardin’ this sistah with a kiss,” she finished. Then she inclined her head to me and added, “I’m just sayin’.”
Knight chuckled before looking at me curiously. “You’ve got my blessing on that,” I called back, honestly hopeful for Dia to get that kiss since it would mean our victory.
After everyone said their good-byes, Christina faced her soldiers and took a deep breath. “Masks on. Everyone needs to cross into the portal in formation, with all your artillery or magic at the ready.”
“That’s your go-ahead, Dulce,” Knight announced, indicating the portal ripper in my hand. I simply nodded as I strode confidently to the front of the assembled soldiers. They were busily covering their faces with the gas masks until they looked like a troop from the apocalypse. Holding the portal ripper out in front of me, I secured it in place while Christina stood off to one side of her soldiers and Dia the other. Christina nodded, her tacit permission to start ripping the opening to Squander Valley. I rotated myself around so my front was facing the gadget and I started backing up, slicing the air in front of me as I retreated. This task wasn’t as quick as the last one, since the portal had to be the width of ten men. But I prevailed, and once the portal was open, the soldiers proceeded immediately, disappearing instantly. After all of the soldiers crossed through, I watched Dia and Christina bring up the rear until they too, vanished into the ether. Without a second thought or word, I sewed up the portal just as I had after Sam’s group passed through.
“Fagan and Trey,” Knight summoned the Drow and the hobgoblin, who both stepped forward. Fagan looked like he always did—as though a permanent stick up his ass prohibited him from doing anything besides frowning. But I wasn’t concerned with Fagan. Instead, I faced Trey, someone who had been a loyal ally of mine for many ye
ars.
“You’re going to do fine, Trey,” I said softly with a smile. I clutched the portal ripper in my palm as he wrapped his pudgy arms around me.
“It’s you I’m worried about, Dulce,” he whispered against my ear. He pulled away from me, but wrapped my free hand in his own, his skin warm and clammy against mine. If not for the beads of perspiration starting along his hairline, I wouldn’t have realized how anxious he was because his hands were perpetually moist. He seemed reserved which was out of character for him. The same sense of foreboding and apprehension was taking hold of everyone.
“Whatever is going to happen will happen,” I said, and firmly believed my words, right down to the very depths of my soul. “I can’t change the outcome of the future so I’m not going to worry about it. Neither should you. Just do what you came to do. End of story.”
Trey nodded, but his eyes remained downcast and his shoulders sagged, telling me he didn’t exactly buy my derring-do. “You’re a survivor, Dulce, I know that. I’ll see you soon.” Then, turning to Knight and Quill, he simply nodded at each of them before facing forward. Fagan flanked the opposite side of the rectangular formation of the two hundred soldiers. I didn’t fail to notice that Fagan hadn’t bothered to say good-bye to anyone. Well, who knew? Maybe that was the better way to go.
Walking to the front of the soldiers, I ripped open the portal just as I’d done for Christina’s troop, and watched the rows of creatures stepping forward. They vanished through the portal that would take them to the second largest Netherworld Guard training base of Tipshaw. Once all had crossed through, I zipped up the portal opening with the ripper once again. Then I turned to face Knight, Quill and the forty-one remaining soldiers assigned on our mission to wipe out my father.