Malice in Wonderland (12 page)

"So sounds like you guys nearly met your maker?" Erica piped up from across the room. Her hair was now canary yellow, but still short and bobbed, and still super cute. She had one of those faces and skin tones that could get away with just about any hair color.

"Hi to you too," Knight said, frowning at her in a playful sort of way.

"No need to get your feathers ruffled, handsome," she threw back with a knowing grin. "You know, I think you're the sexiest creature south of the Netherworld."

"Oh, here we go,"
Dia
muttered, but seconds later erupted into a giggle as she faced me. "That nymph's got it
somethin
' bad for your Loki,
Dulce
."

The Loki glanced over at me with the expression of "Yeah? So what are you planning on doing about it?" pasted on his face. I just frowned, facing Erica. "He's not my Loki, so have at it."

I didn't miss Knight's frown or the way his eyes narrowed in obvious offense. But there was something in his eyes that gave me
cause
for pause, something that hinted to the fact that my comment really bothered him—a lot. I felt a moment's twinge of guilt before I shook the feeling loose, irritated with myself. I mean, I never said I'd forgiven Knight for everything that transpired between us, and as far as I was concerned, I still hadn't forgiven him. Besides, it wasn't like I'd actually even had the time to think through my confusing thoughts
to
arrive at a decision regarding Knight anyway. Nope, it just became one of those subjects relegated to the back burner,
where it could boil and bubble
, just like every other subject that had the misfortune of being back-
burnered
in my overwhelmed mind.

"Loyalists were responsible for the near deaths of
Dulcie
and Knight," Christina started. She
faced
everyone in the room as she propped her hands on her hips, only to bring them to her head and clasp them behind her hair as she started pacing again. "I've called Henrietta to join us so she can tell us more."

"Who's Henrietta?" I whispered to
Dia
, getting dizzy
from
watching Christina mak
ing
the rounds of the room again.

"She's a witch,"
Dia
responded out of the corner of her mouth.

"No," I piped up, facing Christina as I felt myself
standin
g. "The only witch I trust is Sam."

"Henrietta is one of the best," Christina started as she stopped walking and turned to face me.

I adamantly shook my head. "If a witch is going to be involved in something that happened to me, I want that witch to be Sam. And while you're at it, Trey should be brought in as well, because he can be just as useful as Sam is."

Christina was quiet for a second or two before she nodded and picked up her cell phone, speed dialing someone. "I need Sam and Trey from Compound One." She was silent for a few seconds before she nodded. "Yes, they are to be brought through the portal to the library." She paused again. "Yes, standard security protocol." Then she hung up and faced us again. "They'll be here shortly."

I nodded and smiled as I imagined Sam's expression upon arriving at the security gates to this compound. I could just picture her repugnance when she found herself up close and personal with the
Magreew
.

###

I didn’t know if portal travel merely occurred from Point A to Point
B,
or if it also
meant manipulating
time; but within ten minutes, Sam and Trey walked through the double doors of the library. They were now facing all of us curiously and both of them seemed not only surprised, but concerned.

"
Dulce
?"
Sam asked as soon as she recognized me. "What's going on?"

I stood up and approached them both, putting my hands on each of their shoulders as soon as I reached them. "Everything is okay," I started, but frowned as I thought about the comment. "Well, as okay as can be expected, given the circumstances."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, eyeing me askance. Trey didn't mutter a word, and instead just focused on the people assembled in the room, as if memorizing their faces.

"Welcome to The Resistance," Christina said with a warm smile as she approached us.

"The Resistance," Trey echoed as he eyed everyone again and looked, for all intents and purposes, star struck.

"Then this is The Team?" Sam asked, glancing first at Christina and then at me before her eyes searched the room and landed on Dia. "
Dia
?"

"Hi, girl,"
Dia
called back with a little wave.

"I requested that you both come," I started as I led them to the center of the library where Knight stood up. He offered his chair to Sam, doing his best impersonation of a gentleman. Sam took the proffered seat and I took the empty one next to her. She glanced around, as if taking stock of the room, the fake books, the furniture, and everyone in it, before facing me again.

"Why do you need Trey and me?" she asked as she chewed on her lower lip. "And are you part of The Resistance too?"

"Yes, I am," I started, taking a deep breath as I tried to figure out where to begin. "Knight and I were nearly killed yesterday."

"Nearly killed?!" Sam exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"There was an explosion in the Denali that was meant to kill us, but failed to detonate in time," I said quickly, not wanting her to worry unnecessarily. I mean, Knight and I
were
still
alive...

"Oh my God," Sam cried, her mouth dropping open.

"We need for you to determine whether there were any potions involved in the explosion," Knight added, alternating his gaze between the two of us. It seemed his strength had finally returned as he was able to walk around unsupported. Good thing for me because my shoulder was still aching like a son of a bitch.

"Of course," Sam started, looking at me with her doe-eyes. Then she threw her arms around me and buried her face in my neck. I could feel the heat of her tears against my skin.

"I'm okay, Sam," I whispered as I patted her on the back, uncomfortable with being the center of everyone's attention. Some situations call for a little privacy and this was certainly one of them.

She looked up at me with watery eyes. "You were nearly killed,
Dulce
, that's far from being okay."

I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to say. Why?
Because Sam was right.
Things were far from okay. Things were more in the realm of super fucked up and probably quickly on their way to getting worse.                               

"Sam, can you detect any residual signature or anything else on this?" Knight asked as he held out a piece of debris from the Denali. Sam nodded and dragged her shirtsleeve across her nose as she tried to get herself in order. "Take as much time as you need," Knight added in a soft voice with an encouraging smile.

"The library has everything you might need," Christina said. "This is an alchemist's library," she finished.

Sam nodded and gave Christina a smile of thanks before reaching for the piece of metal in Knight's hand. She glanced down at it and sighed before taking her seat again and running her finger down the length of the cold metal. Searching the room, I noticed everyone had broken up into smaller groups and were making idle conversation, probably to allow Sam and me some privacy.

"I need a white out," Sam said, addressing me. I looked up at Knight in question, obviously not knowing enough of our location to even begin to try and find the tincture, which would announce whether or not a potion had been involved in the detonation of the Denali.

"White out, white out," Christina repeated as she scanned the myriad of bookless spines along the wall. "Aha," she called out as she pushed the spine of one very beaten-up book that was written in what appeared to be Latin. The book facade popped forward, revealing a shelf behind it. On the shelf were several vials of white powder. Christina reached for one of the vials and handed it to Knight, who then gave it to Sam.

Accepting it with a nod, she opened the vial, depositing a small mound directly onto the metal. Then she recapped the vial and spread the white powder across the surface of the metal as we all looked on in silent anticipation. The white powder began to bubble within seconds.

"Yep, it's charmed," Sam said with a sigh. She glanced up at Christina. "I need some
Renneen
One,
if you have it."

Christina nodded and started scanning the book spines again as Erica stood up and approached her, offering to help. Smiling in response, she and Erica started searching the bookcase on the opposite side of the room.

"Looks like we've got
Renneen
Two
," Erica called out. "But I don't see
Renneen
One
."

"Two will do," Sam answered.

Erica nodded and pushed against the book spine, which then plopped open, displaying a large chunk of what looked like butter. There was a small knife next to it and about four baggies beside the knife. Erica picked up the knife and cut a small slice of the stuff off, bagging it immediately. As soon as she dug the blade into the mound of buttery stuff, it began to ooze out a green liquid, almost as though it were bleeding.

Erica handed the bag to Sam and Sam opened it, smearing some of the buttery-like stuff against the piece of the Denali. The butter melted into the metal, which began to glow with a pinkish hue in the areas where the butter stuff dissolved into it.

"Looks like it could have been a
Maegon
bomb or possibly a
Jaffroodi
," Sam said. "It's definitely an illegal concoction, but I'm just not sure which one."

Knight nodded and approached her, his eyes on the metal. "
Maegon
or
Jaffroodi
could mean the difference between an East Coast Loyalist
or
a West Coast one. Can you be a little more specific?"

Sam paused for a second or two and eyed the piece of metal as she thought about Knight's question. Not finding an immediate answer, she turned to face Trey. "Trey, can I borrow you for a sec?"

"Sure thing," Trey answered, peeling
himself
off the wall where he'd been watching Erica. He smiled at her apologetically before trotting over to us. Glancing over at Erica, I just shook my head as I realized she was probably Trey's newest crush.

Once Trey reached Sam's side, she turned to face him. "Can you see if you get any feelings about this?" she asked, handing the piece of the Denali to Trey. "See if you can get any sort of hint as to where the potion might have come from."

He nodded and opened his palm as Sam dropped the twisted hunk of metal into his hand. Closing his fingers over it, he shut his eyes. His pupils began to race side to side behind his eyelids, like someone experiencing REM sleep.

"The potion definitely didn't originate on the East Coast," he said softly. "I'm not getting much from it, but I can tell you it's a
Maegon
."

"Then
it's
West Coast," Knight said, never pulling his eyes from Trey.

"Wait," Trey said as he held up his hand. "I'm sensing that it wasn't a potion on the black market, but a home concoction."

No one said anything; we all just waited to see if Trey was going to receive anything else about the strange potion. The fact that it was a home concoction was definitely an interesting point. It wasn't common to come across homemade potions. Why? Because illegal potions were relatively cheap and plentiful on the black market and what was more, they were highly dangerous to create. But going back to this particular potion, I chewed on the fact that it was apparently created in someone's backroom. The question was why?

After another few minutes, Trey shook his head and opened his eyes. "I got
nothin
' else," he said simply.

I faced Knight, only to find him already staring at me. "So?" I asked.

He cocked a brow and continued to study me before his sumptuous lips broke into a solid line, a sure indication that he was frustrated. "I'd bet my ass that someone we know is behind this; not some random Loyalist."

Christina stepped forward, as her eyes narrowed and her jaw grew tight. "Why?"

Knight pulled his gaze from me and faced her. "Someone had to know what car I was driving and more importantly, where the car was located. A
Maegon
potion won't keep long, which means that once he'd created the potion, the
perp
had maybe two hours to dust the Denali with it."

"How do you know the
perp
is a 'he'?" I asked.

Knight faced me and swallowed hard. "I don't." He took a deep breath. "But what I would bet my ass on is that it's ANC."