Wuthering Frights (23 page)

"There will be six different shipments of
Draoidheil
coming in at the same time in six different locations," Quillan started, alternating his glance between the two of us. "Melchior wants these first shipments to hit the streets in exactly two weeks."

"Two weeks!" I repeated, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach. "That gives us no time to prepare at all!"

"Where will the drop-offs be?" Christina asked, apparently unconcerned about the timeline.

"He wants drop-offs to occur here, in Moon, Sanctuary, Estuary and Haven. There will be two drop-off locations in Splendor, on the loading docks and the East side."

"There is no way we can do this ourselves," I said, shaking my head, while the anxiety bubbled in my stomach.

"Melchior realizes that," Quill responded patiently.

"Then all the traffickers will have to be involved?" I said, recognizing that the three of us were just going to play the parts of orchestrators now, rather than potion pushers.

"Yes," Quill said, his lips tight as he faced me. "We'll have to contact everyone in the know and plan it out."

"In two weeks?" I continued with a frown, shaking my head incredulously. "And the dupe? Will there be six of those as well? Because that will require more ANC staff than we currently have."

Quill shook his head. "No dupes. Melchior's orders are that the ANC can't find out about the
Draoidheil
at all."

"No dupe?" Christina started, but I interrupted her.

"Too late. The ANC already knows."

Both Quill and Christina gaped at me. Christina’s mouth hung wide open while Quill's brows knotted in the middle. Nope, there was no way either one of them had spilled the beans
to the ANC
, they both looked entirely too astounded.

"What the hell do you mean ‘they already know’?" Quill asked in a harsh tone of voice.

I took a deep breath. "We got an anonymous letter the other day."

"What did it say?" Christina asked as she crossed her arms against her chest.

"It didn't name the
Draoidheil
specifically,
but it did say an incredibly addictive potion was hitting the streets soon and to increase patrols. Knight is already on it." I didn't include the part about him keeping me off the case because of my alleged emotional imbalance.

"Who the hell could have?" Quill started and then shook his head, probably realizing anonymous meant anonymous.

"So we
are
going to need a dupe or six," I finished. "Unless Melchior wants Trey to sniff out the real stuff."

"Melchior doesn't want the
Draoidheil
in ANC hands," Quill said staunchly. "Period."

I threw my hands on my hips in exasperation and raised my voice. "Well, it doesn't sound like he has a choice." I took a deep breath, rubbing my temples because a headache was starting to form between them. "Besides, it's not like the ANC wouldn't bust it at some point anyway. Our track record is good."

Quill held his hands up. "I'm just the messenger."

"Well, we need to figure this out ASAP," I answered, still as pissed off as before. My father was delusional and I didn't feel like dealing with his maniacal fantasies in the exhausted state I was currently in. "Something's going to have to give because Trey is very good at what he does."

"I'll relay the information," Quill said, checking his watch. "I guess we're adjourned until then." Then he addressed both of us. "Tomorrow night?"

"If we need to figure this out in less than two weeks, yeah, tomorrow night," I answered begrudgingly as we started for the entrance of the building that led out to the parking lot.

The cold night air assaulted my cheek like a slap as I stepped into the moonlight, being careful not to trip over an old cement pylon.

"Have a good night," Christina said as she started for her Wrangler. "See you both tomorrow night."

"I'll call you tomorrow afternoon with a time," Quill answered, waving good-bye to her.

"Sounds good," she called back. "’Night, Dulcie."

"’Night," I said and reached into my pocket for the keys to the Mercedes as Quill and I watched her start the Wrangler and then drive away.

I glanced at Quill and sighed. "Let me guess, you need a ride home?"

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry to be an inconvenience, but someone had to get the Mercedes here."

"Yeah, yeah," I said as I unlocked the driver's door. Locating the button to unlock all the doors, I clicked it. Quill walked over to the passenger side and opened the door, seating himself as I did the same.

"Well, he definitely set you up," he said, sliding his hand across the tan leather interior. "This is one of the nicer rides I've been in and it drives like a dream."

I frowned at him, uninterested in the Mercedes for the moment. "I guess it beats the Ford Galaxy," I said absentmindedly.

"Uh, yeah," Quill answered as I turned the key in the ignition and felt the car hum beneath me. I buckled my seatbelt and put it in drive as I eyed my passenger.

"Where to?"

"South side of Splendor, Citrus Glen area."

I'd known that Quill had had to move after we discovered he was a potions importer, but I never knew where he moved to. Citrus Glen was one of the nicer areas in Splendor—a rural, but upscale area. "Nice," I said as I eyed the rearview mirror to make sure I wasn't going to hit anything while backing up.

"It's quiet," he answered indifferently and I could feel the penetration of his eyes on me. I glanced at him as he looked away, trying to pretend like he hadn't been staring at me.

I started back down the street that would take us away from the loading docks. Even though I was more than exhausted, the quiet in the car made me feel uncomfortable. "How come you never met Christina in any of your dealings with my father?" I asked as another thought occurred to me. "She said she's been working with Melchior for six years."

Quill shrugged. "Melchior has people all over the place who I don't know about."

I nodded, surprised by his answer, but accepting it at the same time. "Did you know she isn't in the ANC database at all?"

He nodded. "Lots of Melchior's people aren't."

"I guess that makes sense too," I said, stopping as the light turned red.

"Dulcie," Quillan started. He paused, as if there was something heavy on his mind and he was having difficulty finding exactly the right words
. "I don't know if you and Vander
were in a relationship, but I hope you realize it's going to have to end. Most of your connections will."

I was surprised by the subject change and felt a deep sadness inside at the thought of Knight and how our relationship had dissolved into something that barely even resembled a friendship. "Most of my connections will?" I repeated, swallowing hard as I thought about it. "Even my friendship with Trey
, Dia
and ... Sam?"

"Inevitably, they all do," he said, sounding resigned and tired.

I couldn't think about my relationship with Sam falling apart. It was just too painful to dwell on. "Things between Knight and me are already done," I said hollowly. "I guess you could say I had foresight."

Quillan nodded. "I hope you understand it's for the best."

My lips were tight. "I do."

A few minutes later, we pulled onto Peach Tree Drive and Quillan pointed to a two-story, Spanish-styled home.

"This is me," he said simply.

I pulled over and parked in front of his house, impressed with the large olive trees that graced the walkway up to the dark oak front door.

"Looks like you're doing well," I said with a raised brow and a smirk.

He didn't say anything, but opened the car door and stepped out. Then he leaned over, presumably to say good night. "Do you want to come in and see the place?"

I really didn't want to, but his eyes were hopeful and I guess I didn't want to disappoint him. I nodded and turned off the engine, stepping out of the car and closing the door behind me. The moonlight reflected off his blond hair, making him look like some sort of angel. I met him on the sidewalk and then followed him up the brick pathway to his front door. He took a few seconds to unlock it and then stepped inside, turning on the lights.

I looked around, walking from the entryway into the living room, and was pretty impressed with the wide open space. The Spanish tiled floors and exposed beams in the ceiling definitely lent a California feel to the house. The coffee table and entertainment center were made of what looked like a richly stained pine and Quill's large sofas were slip-covered in white. His living room looked like something out of a magazine.

Taking a deep breath, I turned around, about to tell him how much I liked his house, but was completely stunned when I found him standing directly in front of me. Before I could react, his mouth was on mine, his hands in
my hair. I was too shocked to respond for a second or two. But once I regained my wits, I pushed away from him, outrage billowing through me.

"What the fu …" I started, but he interrupted me.

"I'm sorry," he said, frowning with shame. "I don't ... I don't know why I did that. It just ... it just felt like old times again, Dulce."

I shook my head and took a few steps away from him. "Well, it's not old times and it never will be old times again," I sighed, rubbing my eyes. I wanted nothing more than to be in my bed, asleep. "I have to go."

"Dulcie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

I refused to look at him and, instead, started for the door. "Let's just pretend like this didn't happen," I said over my shoulder.

Before he could reply, I opened his front door and closed it behind me.

Thirteen

For the first time in five days, I slept like the dead. After leaving Quill, whose kiss filled my mind with confusion mixed with irritation, I came home, crawled into bed and didn't wake up until the next morning at seven a.m. sharp. I got a good stretch of six hours of sleep, which was more than I could have hoped for.