Sam came to my apartment around midday, loaded with two shopping bags full of herbs, potions and other less appealing things like freeze dried bat wings, newt legs and sheep intestine. I watched her dump the contents of both bags onto my kitchen table and made a mental note to disinfect the area once she finished.
“Dulce, can you get some bowls and spoons? We’re going to need to mix up a few different concoctions.”
I nodded and threw open the cupboard doors. I gathered up three bowls-one small and orange, one Tupperware and one large blue one. All covered in a fine layer of dust.
Just as I finished rinsing them off, the doorbell rang, announcing Knight’s arrival. “Can you get that, Sam?” I asked, holding up the orange bowl as if to say my hands were occupied. “Check the peephole first,” I added. She threw me a smile. “A little paranoid?” “Better to be paranoid than taken by surprise.” “Who is it?” she called and peered through the peephole. “Hello tall, dark and handsome.” “Knight Vander,” he answered. “Happy?” she asked as her hand rested on the knob. I just nodded. Sam threw open the door with a large smile. “Hi, I’m Sam.”
I craned my neck as far as I could without actually moving from my position against the kitchen counter and watched Knight as he walked into the living room. He was dressed in dark jeans and a long sleeved black t-shirt. His hair looked freshly cut-the ends no longer curled up. His dark golden tan seemed to emit a light of its own.
He extended his hand toward Sam. “Pleased to meet you, Sam.”
Sam smiled and accepted his offered hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said in a soft voice.
Knight turned and caught me staring at him like a lovesick schoolgirl. “Dulcie,” he said, a grin breaking across his handsome face.
I muttered an unenthusiastic “hi” and busied myself with drying the bowls, which I’d already dried. I then retrieved two spoons and placed everything neatly on the kitchen table next to the hideous ingredients Sam had pulled from the shopping bags.
Knight neared the table and examined everything as if he were a health inspector. Apparently satisfied, he turned his attention to Trey who still slept on the couch. Knight approached him and picked up his hand, checking his pulse. “He’s not dead,” I started but was interrupted by Sam, who turned toward me and mouthed: “he’s hot.” I just shook my head. “Should we get started?” Knight asked.
Sam clapped her hands together like a cheerleader excited for the big game and took a step closer to him. “Well, I went to Harmony and got everything I could to break the spell.” She paused. “Are you a…witch too?”
Knight shook his head. “No…”
“He isn’t magical like us,” I blurted, then immediately wished I hadn’t sounded all of thirteen. Knight grinned, apparently taking no offense to my Tourette’s Syndrome moment.
“No, I’m not magical but I can tell whether something might break the spell on your friend. I thought I might be able to help you pick the right anti-potion.” “Okay, sure. If you don’t mind my asking, what are you?” Sam asked. “I’m a Loki.” Sam’s confusion was evident by her vacant expression. “He’s from the Netherworld,” I said. They don’t have Lokis here.” Was Lokis even the plural? Lokae? Knight didn’t correct me, so I just went with it.
“Oh,” Sam said, trying to quell her surprise. I knew she was bursting to ask him a million questions but, knowing Sam, she wanted to be polite. That, or she was intimidated by Knight. Probably the latter.
“What have you got?” Knight asked, facing the table with his arms crossed against his broad chest.
“I’ve got every herb you can think of. And I picked up a white tincture, an erasing potion and a PH 3 potion.”
Knight nodded like he understood what she was talking about. I couldn’t help but scoff-as if he knew! Although my magic allows me to create stuff with my fairy dust, I don’t know the first thing about potions. Unless you’re a witch or warlock, one who relies on creating magic rather than possessing magic, there’s really no reason to study potions. And Knight wasn’t a witch or warlock-he was a bullshitter.
And I was going to call him on it. “What do those potions do?” I asked, then noticed Sam about to respond. “Knight?”
He nodded at the challenge in my tone. “A white tincture will combat any colored potions and pull the strength from them, an erasing potion will erase whatever charm was put on your friend; and a PH 3 potion will negate any spells put on him by means of acid.”
Sam smiled; I didn’t. “Well done. You know your witchcraft,” she said, beaming at him like he was her star pupil.
I frowned and brought the bowls to Sam. She took them and handed one to Knight. “What do you think we should try first?” she asked him. “Maybe the tincture?” It didn’t go unnoticed that she didn’t ask me. But, hey, I didn’t feel sorry for myself. “You know this better than I do, Sam.” Knight responded, giving me a grin. Bastard. Sam laughed and started reaching for ingredients. Goddamn Knight for winning over my best friend.
“Well, I’m thinking that maybe the white tincture might work best. That way we can find out if any colored spells were used on Trey. From there, we can probably just use the erasing potion to break down the potency of whatever’s left,” Sam said.
“Sounds good to me,” Knight concurred.
“Yeah, me too,” I added, though they might as well have spoken Aramaic.
I leaned against the kitchen counter, thinking maybe I should go work on something else since I clearly wasn’t needed. Let the Bobsey Twins figure it out for themselves. Just as I was about to make my escape, Sam stopped me.
“Dulce, can you boil some water please?”
I nodded and watched her dump a quarter of the white tincture into the bowl. Then she broke off a piece of the bat’s wing, snapping it like a dried leaf. Yuck. She paused and glanced at me.
“Here, take this.” She handed me a lemon.
“What, are we making lemonade?”
“Cut it in half and once the water comes to a boil, squeeze the lemon into the water. Make sure you don’t get any seeds in it, though.”
I pulled out a knife and sliced the lemon in half. Then I pulled out the seeds. “What’s the lemon juice for?”
“It pulls all the impurities from the water and air so they don’t taint my spell,” Sam answered. I’d been half hoping her star pupil would answer. I just liked the sound of his voice-like deep, rumbling thunder.
“Oh,” I said and turned to watch the water boil.
Meanwhile, Sam and Knight continued to work together on the spell, laughing and comparing spell notes as if they were in a college biology class and about to dissect a frog.
The water started bubbling and grabbed my attention. I reached for the lemon half and squeezed it over the hissing water. The sharp scent of citrus wafted up in the steam. Is there a better smell than freshly squeezed lemon?
“Okay, the water’s boiling and I squeezed the lemon. Now what?”
Sam turned toward me, propping her hands on her hips. “Can you bring it here and carefully pour it in the bowl?” Then she faced Knight. “Would you get some of Trey’s hair?”
“Sure, Dulcie where are your scissors?”
I reached into my knife block and considered throwing them at him. Instead, I handed him the scissors. In return, he winked. Actually winked!
The smug jerk walked over to Trey and cut off a good tuft of hair. Knight then handed the tuft of hair to Sam, who set it on the table.
“Water, Dulce,” she said, and I realized I’d abandoned my post.
“Sorry,” I answered and approached them, the pot roiling and spitting. “Do you want me to start pouring now?” I asked, looking into the bowl. The white tincture looked like sand, and with the pieces of bat wing and frog guts, it looked like some weird foreign dish.
“Yeah, slowly,” Sam answered.
I poured. As soon as the water hit the tincture, it began bubbling and let off a huge puff of white smoke. The bat wing started bouncing, but the frog guts did nothing at all.
“Knight, could you add the hair, please?” Sam asked.
He nodded and dropped the tress of hair into the mixture. As soon as it hit the white stuff, the tincture turned blood red. Sam started stirring. The puff of smoke went from white to light pink to a deeper pink and finally turned into a fire engine red.
“Ah, they used a scarlet potion, did they?” Sam asked.
I felt like saying “yes”, but I said nothing at all. Better not to be thought a smart ass…or a dumb ass.
She continued to watch the potion, as if expecting it to do something else. After another ten seconds or so, she straightened her back and turned toward Knight and me with a triumphant smile. “What is it?” I asked. “They’ve just used a scarlet on him. That’s easy enough to break. Knight, would you mind handing me the erasing vial, please?” He handed it to her, and she pulled the cork from the bottle. “Dulce, do you have a measuring spoon?” I opened a drawer and sorted through it until I found a rusted teaspoon. “All I have is a teaspoon-sorry.” Sam frowned. “That’ll do. Can you soak it in lemon juice?”
I nodded and pulled a small saucer from the cupboard. I squeezed the remaining lemon half and then basted both sides of the old teaspoon. “Okay, now what?”
“Hand it to Knight, please.”
I did so and he held it over the bowl as Sam poured an exact teaspoon of the erasing potion into the spoon. It bubbled against the lemon juice and turned mint green.
“Dump it in,” Sam said.
Knight rotated his hand, and the mint green met up with the scarlet red. That’s when all hell broke loose. The scarlet liquid pulled up against the side of the bowl as if afraid to touch the tiny teaspoon of green.
“Dulcie!” Sam yelled. “Plastic wrap, quick!”
I lunged for the Saran wrap in the bottom drawer and threw it at her. Knight caught it and ripped off a piece of plastic while the potion in the bowl sloshed against the sides angrily. Knight wrapped the plastic on top of the bowl, and Sam sighed a breath of relief. The potion threw itself against the plastic and no longer afraid of being showered in Hades knew what, I leaned in to get a closer look.
The mint green erasing potion had left the scarlet white in its wake. Now it looked like a one-man army going to slay the river of red. It inched slowly toward the red, which had now completely thrown itself up against the opposite side of the bowl. The white liquid behind the green was placid, just sitting there happily. The green attacked the red, and in about four more seconds, the whole bowl was white and sitting patiently as if it had been lobotomized. “Hmm,” Sam said as she chewed her lip. “Hmm?” I asked. “Why doesn’t that sound good?” She shook her head. “I did everything I was supposed to. Now it should turn deep blue, but it’s still white.”
Knight and I leaned over the potion to inspect it, hoping to see a blue tint take over the pearly white. Nothing happened. Sam pulled off the plastic wrap and reached inside her bag again. She pulled a small piece of litmus paper out, which she plopped into the bowl. The color of the litmus didn’t change. “Something’s not right,” she said. Knight reached inside his pocket and produced a vial of beige powder. “What’s that?” I asked, wondering if I was the weird one because I didn’t happen to carry around random vials of potions. “Another test-to see if the reason Sam’s spell didn’t work is because something illegal was used on Trey.”
I nodded, mentally kicking myself. An illegal spell made perfect sense. All the facts in this case were revolving around the illegal potion trade so why wouldn’t the bastards have used something not available on the market?
Knight dropped a pinch of the beige powder into the bowl and long, white wisps of smoke circled up from the tincture like ghosts only to dissolve into the air. “It is an illegal,” Sam said in awe. “Am I right in thinking it’s a Sleeping Beauty?” Knight chuckled. “You’re right on the money, Sam.” “How are we going to break that?” I asked.
Sam smiled. “The only place they keep the anti-potion is at Headquarters. And you’re the only one with clearance to get in after hours, Dulce.”
I frowned. “If my clearance hasn’t already been revoked. And even if I can get through the front doors, you know I can’t access the vault.”
The vault was where all confiscated illegal potions evidence was stored until the Netherworld sent us potion-destroying cauldrons. Our cauldron shipment happened once a week. “I can get you in anywhere,” Knight said and handed me a white key-card. “If you have access, then why don’t you do it?” I asked archly. Knight shook his head. “Because I don’t want to alert anyone to my presence. You can come and go unsuspected.”
I glanced down at the card and thought about what they were asking me to do. “You do realize if I get caught, Quillan is going to be furious. This could mean I’m off the team for good. No one gets access to the vault; I don’t even think Quillan has access.”
Sam chewed her lip. “Maybe we should just call Quillan then?”
“No,” Knight interrupted. “This is still top secret. Dulcie, you have my permission to go after the anti-potion. If you have any issues, I’ll take it up with the Relations Office.”
###
When I showed up at Headquarters, the only person around was Elsie who was tasked with watching our prisoner, a drunk goblin named Ehling who wasn’t a stranger to Headquarters. At the moment, he was passed out on a wooden bench. Elsie glanced at me and didn’t seem too surprised to see me; sometimes I had to work late evenings so maybe she didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.
“Hi, Dulce, what brings you here?” she asked and settled the book she’d been reading on her lap.
I swallowed my palpitating heart and forced a smile. “I came to clear out some stuff from my desk.”
She nodded. “I think this whole situation is a load, if you ask me. You’re the best agent we’ve got. They’re shooting themselves in the foot.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Elsie, I appreciate that.” And the Hades honest truth was I did appreciate it. At least someone recognized the fact that I was good at what I did. Which only made me feel worse about lying to her.
I started down the hallway, pleased the vault was as far from Elsie as could be. As long as no one else was out and about, I’d be fine.
“If you need any help, just holler,” she called after me.
“Will do!”
I found my desk and shuffled around it, thinking I should pack some things so my being here didn’t look suspicious. Finding a small box on Trey’s desk, I emptied out his rubber band ball collection and started packing up my business card holder, a few pens and three coffee mugs. I left the box on my seat so I could grab it on my way out.
Then, eyeing my surroundings, I moved toward the vault, which was behind Quillan’s office and at the end of the hall. Grabbing a piece of blank paper, I scrunched it up and started for the vault, thinking maybe I could say I was looking for a wastebasket in which to toss the paper in case anyone noticed me. Course, why I wouldn’t have used my own trashcan was a good question, but one I didn’t want to bother with.
No one was around. Thank Hades.
The vault ran the length and height of one wall and now glared down at me, as though knowing I had no right to enter. I eyed the card scanner that would grant me access and pulled Knight’s key card from my pocket. Then I slipped it in with a silent prayer. The doors slid open and I grabbed the card, walking inside before the doors closed behind me.
I was in.
Once inside though, I didn’t know where to go. With a sigh, I glanced around, taking in the rows of unlabeled, white boxes sitting atop pine shelves. But I wasn’t about to start digging through those. Hoping my anti-potion would be easier to find, I headed for the back of the vault where I noticed multicolored vials sitting on the top shelf, contrasting against the dull steel of the vault wall.
Upon closer inspection, these vials were labeled and all were anti-potions-a good fifty or so. Great. Sam had told me the potion I was looking for was purple and called Dragonroot. I scanned the numerous titles: Whisker Remover, Au de Wort, Crabapple…finally I settled on a small, cylindrical vial holding what looked like grape juice. Grabbing a nearby bucket, I turned it over and standing on it, grabbed the vial. Even though the label was peeling off and difficult to read even up close, I could faintly make it out. Dragonroot -I was in business. I threw it in my pocket before turning around.
A loud thump came from behind me. My heart leapt into my throat. As I scurried off the bucket, one foot tripped over the other and I careened onto the floor. I pulled myself up and glanced around, looking for whatever had made the noise.
No one was in the room.
Even if no one was in the room, I’d made enough of a clatter when I’d fallen that Elsie would come investigating.
Then the noise sounded again and I jumped around. The row of anti-potions innocently stared back at me. I shook my head, when one of the potions, a bright pink powder in a test tube, jumped up and pounded itself against the steel wall. And there was my culprit- Megane, an anti potion that reacted to body heat. I must have been letting off a high temp when I’d been after the Dragonroot.
I fingered the Dragonroot in my pocket and started for the vault door. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a small closet-like room off the main hall of the vault; inside were more of those white boxes but beside the boxes were hundreds of clear bottles with long cylindrical necks and wide bottoms, like an I Dream of Jeanie bottle. It wasn’t so much the bottles that grabbed my interest as what was in them. A fluorescent green liquid and fluorescent green liquid could only mean one thing- Arsonflower. We’d busted a dealer with a house full of A rsonflower months ago and now the very same bust was sitting on the shelf like it was having the last laugh. I’d thought the Netherworld was better at getting rid of illegal potions than this! No wonder no one had access to the vault.
I turned on my heel, slipped the card in the reader, and hurried outside the doors as soon as they opened. Running to my desk, I grabbed Trey’s box. “Did you hear a noise?” Elsie asked. I glanced up and said a silent prayer of thanks that Elsie hadn’t found me leaving the vault. “No, I didn’t hear a thing.” She frowned but seconds later, a smile took control of her lips. “Hmm, oh well. Must be hearing things!” I started for the front door. “Night, Elsie.” She waved. “See you soon, I hope.”
###
Back at my apartment, Sam took the Dragonroot anti-potion and with an eye dropper, sucked up the liquid and released exactly three drops into the bowl of potion that was supposed to break Trey’s spell. As soon as the anti-potion interacted with the white substance, the white immediately turned into a sapphire blue and Sam beamed at me. I guess I’d done a good job. She removed the plastic wrap and shook the bowl a bit. “Okay, we’re good to go. The spell should be broken.” I glanced at Trey, who still looked as dead as he had before. “Are you sure?” “We need to put a dollop of this on the strongest of his pulse points,” Sam answered. “On his neck and wrists?” I asked. Knight nodded. “That should do.” Sam picked up the bowl and neared the comatose Trey. “Dulce, can you shift his head so I can get to his neck?”
I wasn’t exactly thrilled with touching Trey but I took hold of his neck and shifted it to the side while Sam reached her hand into the concoction and piled it atop his neck, getting his pulse point as well as his hair and the pillow below him. My pillow, I might add. “Why so much?” I asked. “Too much is better than not enough.”
Knight reached for Trey’s wrists and placed them palm up alongside his still body. Sam reached into her bowl for another scoop of white stuff and pasted. As soon as she finished whiting out both of his wrists, Trey’s eyes popped open like someone had flipped on his life switch. “You did it!” I said. “Sam,” Trey started, his eyes dilating. “What’s going on?” Sam took a seat next to him. “You were under a sleeping spell, Trey. I just managed to crack it.” He started to sit up, but Knight pushed him back into the couch. “You need to relax,” Knight said. Trey’s eyes traveled slowly to Knight. “Who are you?” he asked, his brow furrowing. “Dulcie’s cousin, Todd,” Knight said before anyone else could respond. My cousin? Todd? “I didn’t know Dulcie had a cousin,” Trey said, and sighed as if it took all his energy. “Do you know who did this to you?” Knight asked, apparently not thrilled with perpetuating his lie. “Try to remember, Trey,” Sam added.
Trey shook his head. “I don’t know. I just remember being at my place, and then I heard something and went to the living room to investigate…I can’t remember anything else.”
“Well, someone was trying to silence you,” I said, hoping that might trigger something.
Sam sighed. “We should probably call Quillan. He was working another important case today, otherwise he would’ve been here, Trey,” she finished. “I think Trey should still stay here with me,” I said. I guess I was feeling magnanimous again. Who knew how long it would last… Trey looked up at me, his expression quizzical. “You let me stay with you again?” I nodded. “Yeah. You’ve been here a couple of days.” “Wow. Thanks, Dulce, I didn’t know you actually liked me.” I shrugged. “You’re okay for a hobgoblin. Even if--”
Suddenly, Trey’s eyes rolled back into his head. He trembled violently as if a seven point earthquake was originating from his chest.
“What the hell?” I started, panic seizing me.
Sam grabbed his hand. “Trey! I think he’s having a vision.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Knight grabbed hold of Trey’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “Knight, what the hell are you…”
Knight took hold of my upper arm in an iron grasp. As soon as he touched me, I was flooded with emotions that weren’t my own.
I tried to pull against him, not understanding what the hell was going on. Before I could make any headway, my brain erupted into a fit of images, all flowing through my mind like a stack of pictures in the wind. I closed my eyes. The images stopped flying about and the more I focused, the more they fell into place, until I could actually piece together the scene before me.
It was Fabian’s store. And Fabian was still alive. It was like watching a home video-he was whistling as he unloaded a box full of potions. I tried to decipher if they were illegal potions but couldn’t get close enough to find out. Out of the darkness, something swooshed by. Fabian brought his head up, having seen it as well.
After finding nothing, he dropped his head and went back to unloading the inventory. Just like that, the something was on him. It moved light speed fast. Fabian fell against the floor and clawed at his assailant. A feeling of intense agony ricocheted up my body, starting at my legs and ending in my gut, the feeling of something tearing at my insides. I ignored the painful throbbing, knowing it wasn’t happening to me. It had happened to Fabian, and it was his pain I was feeling. Still, my knees went weak, and I collapsed against Knight, who held me up against him but wouldn’t release me-he wanted me to see this.
An image of a woman loomed before me, before Fabian. Her mouth was full of sharply pointed teeth-like a shark. Blood trailed down her mouth and contrasted against the pale flesh caught in her teeth. I felt my stomach turn. It was Fabian’s flesh. She’d eaten him! She’d eaten him while he was still alive. Just as she’d no doubt eaten Guy and Tad as well.
She laughed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then I recognized her. She was the tall redhead from Dagan’s club! The one wearing the tape. The one Dagan had seemed to be enjoying.
Holy Hades! Did Dagan know about her? Was Dagan even still alive?
The vision ended, and the room came into view. Knight released me. I tried to right myself, but I couldn’t move. He maneuvered me to the sofa next to Trey and sat me down. “What the hell was that?” I whispered. “I channeled Trey’s vision,” Knight responded. “Did you recognize her?” I nodded weakly. “Who?” Sam interrupted. “What the heck just happened?” I took in a deep breath and focused on her pale face. “We know who the creature is.”