That meant he was working on it. My sense of relief was short-lived and soon disappeared. The human market was probably where Melchior ultimately wanted to lay claim. There were far more humans in existence than Netherworld creatures, so he had to look at them like unmilked cash cows.

It seemed every time I turned around, I sunk deeper and deeper into the quagmire known as the illegal potions trade. If I thought I was up to my neck before, now I was up to my eyes and it was becoming increasingly difficult to invent a way out. But I still hadn't given up. I wouldn't give up now, knowing Draoidheil was on its way. I had to prevent this; somehow, I had to stop Melchior. But the question was how?

"Perhaps you would care to see a demonstration of the potency of Draoidheil?" my father asked. He said it with such ease and nonchalance, like we were on a field trip and he was going to show us how to pan for gold.

"Okay," Christina said nervously, her eyes suddenly going wide as she probably wondered if she'd just offered herself as a guinea pig.

My father smiled at her warmly and shook his head, as if to say, "Calm down and relax." Then he picked up the headset to his phone and dialed. His secretary answered almost immediately.

"Barbara? Will you come in for a moment?" he asked, sounding casual, but matter-of-fact.

"Of course," she answered in a chirpy voice as Melchior hung up.

Then he picked up the vial of white pills and emptied them into his palm, taking out one before replacing the others. He brought the pill to his tongue and swallowed it in an instant, turning to face the three of us. "Now would be a good time to take yours."

I'd nearly forgotten the white pill I clutched in my hand. For a split second, I thought the pill might be something entirely different than an antidote; and maybe this was some sort of setup. But after witnessing my father swallowing his and confident that I wanted nothing to do with the Draoidheil, I swallowed mine, hoping for the best. With last minute panic, I glanced at Quill and Christina, and relaxed a little after noticing they had both taken theirs.

At the sound of a hesitant knock on the door, I saw Barbara poke her head in. She was a redhead with a plain, non-descript prettiness about her face-like with the right makeup she might even be considered beautiful.

"Come in," my father greeted her warmly. I watched as she closed the door behind her and approached us, smiling curiously before settling her gaze on my father. She was probably in her mid thirties and maybe five foot six, if I had to guess. She was dressed conservatively in a slim fitting, two-piece grey skirt suit, but it was still obvious that she had a good figure.

She approached my father and then paused, as if awaiting his instruction. He simply pulled out the vial of Draoidheil and handed it to her as my stomach dropped. It just seemed so wrong that he'd lured his trusting secretary to be his test subject. Why that should have surprised me was curious since there was really nothing redeeming about my father at all ... A sobering thought.

"We are researching new scents," he started, sounding like he was the chairman for a perfumery. "Our panel seems to agree upon this one." He paused. "We thought we'd ask your opinion."

I desperately wanted to stop her from reaching for the vial, but I knew I couldn't. Instead, I stood there with my heart lodged in my throat and watched her bring the vial to her nose and sniff it. At first nothing happened. Her face appeared to go blank, and I thought maybe she hadn't gotten the scent of anything. She started to move the vial toward her nose again, as if she needed another sniff, when the Draoidheil appeared to have hit her.

She sort of hobbled back a few steps, at which time Melchior grabbed the vial from her, to stop her from spilling it. Then a momentary look of bewilderment pasted itself across her pale face. She closed her eyes as a huge smile widened her mouth. When she opened her eyes again, she focused on Melchior and her pupils were dilated.

She definitely looked like she was on something.

"Melchior," she said in soft voice, closing the gap between them. She took one of his hands in hers while running the fingers of her other hand through his hair. At that moment, it was pretty obvious what she most desired-my father.

Yuck in a basket.

My father seemed slightly uncomfortable, although not surprised by her display of affection. He eyed the three of us almost apologetically before taking control of the situation and turning it into a show-and-tell again. He smiled at Barbara, something she must have taken as an invitation because she suddenly tried to kiss him. He pulled away.

"What do you most desire, Barbara?" he goaded her, obviously still trying to prove a point.

"You," she responded automatically. "You've always known that. I just never imagined you'd ever give in to your feelings for me."

He looked at us again, holding Barbara's wrists to keep her at arm's length. "The Draoidheil makes you believe that whatever you most desire is yours," he said to the three of us. He focused on Barbara again. "Case in point."

"Point taken," I grumbled, hating that Barbara's secret was being so blatantly flaunted in front of people she didn't even know. I couldn't imagine how mortified she'd be if she had any idea what she was saying and doing at the moment. Hopefully, the Draoidheil would mess with her memory. When my father made no move to end his little show, I attempted to. "I think we've seen enough," I said, trying to sound calm and even-keeled. "Give her the antidote ... please."

Melchior said nothing. He merely nodded and shook the vial of pills over his palm, before selecting one pill and handing it to Barbara. She stopped attempting to s.e.xually hara.s.s him and eyed the pill curiously, making no motion to put it in her mouth.

"Swallow it," my father said abruptly.

Barbara dutifully placed the pill on her tongue, and a second or so later, swallowed. I a.s.sumed it would take the antidote at least a few minutes to work, depending on how long it took to reach her bloodstream, but I was wrong. Almost instantly, her demeanor changed, the lovelorn look in her eyes was replaced with perplexity as she glanced around the room in utter confusion.

"Do you feel well?" Melchior asked, studying her in a detached, clinical sort of way. I felt extremely sorry for her, knowing that she was in love with my father who was incapable of loving another person. Of that, I was convinced; he was entirely too much in love with himself.

She faced him and shook her head, bringing her hand to her cheeks then her forehead. "It's strange but I feel a bit flushed, I'm not sure why."

"Perhaps you should leave early today, Barbara," Melchior said, patting her back as he escorted her to the door. "Sit down at your desk for a while before you drive, though, will you?"

She nodded obediently as he closed the door behind her. He faced us again and slapped his hands together like he'd just proven his thesis. "Any questions?" he asked.

I didn't say anything. I was afraid that if I started, I wouldn't be able to stop. I saw Quillan simply shake his head, with the look of defeat on his face. Christina was the only one of us who seemed at all interested, and although she didn't have any questions, this new project seemed to excite her, all the same.

"If you don't mind showing yourselves out, I still have important business that demands my attention," my father said. He returned to his gargantuan desk, took a seat and faced his computer as we started for the door. None of us said a word as we traipsed down the hallway to the bank of elevators. Even our ride down was silent. Once we reached the lobby, I cleared my throat and Quillan sighed.

"Guess we're going to have our work cut out for us with this Snake Oil stuff," Christina said. She offered me a tentative smile as we walked out of my father's building and headed for the portal to return to Splendor.

"I'd say so," Quill said, his tone of voice sounding somewhat reserved as he glanced at me for the third time since leaving Melchior's office. Knowing Quill as well as I did, I would have bet money that he was fretting over how I was taking everything that had just happened. He had to know I was reeling at the moment, anger and shock churning in my stomach.

Somehow, I imagined my father had to have been getting perverse pleasure out of being able to bend me to his will just like that. Well, he could think whatever the h.e.l.l he wanted to think, but we were definitely not "like father, like daughter." No, I was now even more determined than before to find a way out of this and what was more, I was arriving at the realization that the only way out of this mess was in going after the mastermind, himself.

"Are you headed to Splendor?" Christina asked Quill, interrupting my train of thought. We'd arrived in the parking lot of the ANC Headquarters. Apparently, this time the portal was at the far end of the parking lot, just beside the dumpsters.

I couldn't help but notice Christina was avoiding me, probably sensing my temper was about to blow. I tried to at least partially mask my foul mood, not wanting Christina to suspect I was less than thrilled to be a player in this team. Why? Well, first and foremost-I had to think of Knight. And I also didn't think it would be a good thing for Christina to know I was only working for my father because I had to. Yep, better to keep that under wraps. The less my father's people knew about me, the better.

"Yes, both Dulcie and I are headed to Splendor. You?" Quill responded.

Christina nodded and the sound of her heels tapping against the concrete grabbed my attention. I glanced down and noticed she had tattoos of purple and green hummingbirds on the tops of both of her feet. It made sense-fairies were supposed to be the "children of nature," and most of us were naturally attracted to flora and fauna, hummingbirds always a fairy favorite. I guess I'd just missed the boat where all things nature were concerned.

"I live in Sanct.i.ty, but given recent events, I think I might stay in Splendor for a while so we can discuss a plan moving forward," she answered as she pulled her incredibly long hair into a ponytail, offering me a glimpse of her ears. As fairies, Christina's and my ears came to points at the top. Hers, by the look of them, however, weren't as pointy as mine. Something which made my mood even better.

Scolding myself for comparing ears (and even more irritated that mine came up short), I forced my thoughts back to her last comment, something suddenly occurring to me. "You live in Sanct.i.ty?" I asked, turning to face her. Sanct.i.ty was the next town over from Splendor, maybe twenty or thirty minutes away.

Christina smiled sweetly, merely nodding. Quill stopped walking and checked his portal compa.s.s watch, I a.s.sume, to ensure that we were still going the right way. Apparently, we were because he proceeded forward again, Christina and I in tow.

"I've never seen you before," I said finally, pulling my attention from Quill and narrowing my eyes at her. "And I'm pretty sure the ANC records only itemize Zara, the hooker, and I as the sum total of the local fairy population." All Netherworld creatures that lived on Earth had dossiers in the ANC which specified the type of creature they were, how they earned a living and where they lived. It was the easiest way to keep track of them. And I wasn't bluffing-Christina didn't exist in the ANC database, as far as I knew. I definitely would have remembered another fairy living nearby.

She eyed me with surprise. "Ah, that's right! Your father mentioned that a member of his entourage worked in the Splendor ANC. That must be you." Her smile broadened. "Very smart of him, placing his own people in the enemy's lair." Then she laughed. All I managed was a half-a.s.sed laugh-giggle that came out more like a grunt, but sounded worse still, like a burp.

"Yeah, smart," I managed, wanting to direct her to the question at hand. I raised my brows at her in impatience when it didn't seem she had anything more to offer. "So you managed to avoid ANC profiling?"

She simply smiled again. "I, um, stay beneath the ANC radar," she said simply.

"Interesting," I admitted, studying her pointedly. "And why is that?"

The look she gave me combined with the smile that was still on her lips told me she was hiding something. Something big. And that's when I zeroed in on her little game. She was tough, strong and smart. But she didn't want anyone to know that. She exploited her beauty and femininity in a way that got men to doubt her, finding her nothing more than a pretty face. Well, unluckily for her, I didn't possess a p.e.n.i.s. And since my father had deliberately placed her on this task force, I a.s.sumed he saw through her game as well. That or maybe he was enamored of her, which, come to think of it, could very well have been the case. Either way, she was someone I had to watch.

"One of the benefits of knowing your father," she finished simply.

I said nothing more but just nodded.

"Should we regroup in a few hours?" Quill asked, eyeing us both, although his eyes rested on me.

I looked down at my newly acquired compa.s.s watch and noticed it was nearly five a.m. Yep, another night without any sleep. Great, just great. "I can't," I said, rubbing my eyes, wondering when I was going to get a decent night of sleep. "I'm due at the ANC in three hours."

"Ah, I forgot," Quill admitted before smiling apologetically. "Let's resume discussions later. I'll call you both tonight."

I just nodded as Christina whipped her cell phone out to exchange numbers with Quill. All I could think about was getting home and crawling into bed so I could at least get two hours of shuteye before I was due in the office.

I was thirty minutes late when I arrived at the ANC. After parking as quickly as I could, I pulled my helmet off, and cradling it beneath my arm, hurried up the ramp to the double doors. I'd overslept ... as in right through my bedside alarm, one which rang shrilly. Yep, I was that tired.

Stepping through the double doors, I waved to Elsie before hightailing it down the hallway, pausing to say h.e.l.lo to Sam on the way. When I reached my desk, I noticed Trey was already at his. 'Course that really wasn't much of a surprise because Trey was always at least a half an hour early every day. He considered work a social outlet.

"Hey, Dulce," he said, looking up at me from where he'd been picking at his cuticles.

"Morning, Trey," I replied, remembering I hadn't gotten back to him about the Star Wars Convention. "Oh, about that convention ..." I started.

He glanced up at me, his eyes wide. "Yeah?"

I cleared my throat, feeling like the queen of all a.s.sholes. "I don't think I'll be able to make it."

"Oh," he said, dropping his gaze to his ample lap.

"I just have so much going on right now, Trey," I continued, feeling like I needed to make him understand. "I really wanted to go though."

"Nah, it's cool," he said with a disenchanted smile. "There's always others."

"Okay," I said, hoping I sounded sincere although the truth of the matter was that spending a day with Storm Troopers, R2D2 and Ewoks wasn't my idea of fun. "Thanks for the invite though."

He nodded and seemed a little dejected as he focused on the cuticle of his left thumb. Apparently recalling something, he glanced up at me again. "Big guy was looking for you earlier," he said with a whisper of a smile. "And just a warning, don't p.i.s.s him off 'cause he's not in a good mood."

"Great," I said, not ready to deal with Knight and his foul mood. I dropped my helmet on the table and left my backpack on my chair as I started toward Knight's office.

"Hey, Dulce," Trey called out behind me.

I turned around to face him. "Yeah?"

"Everything good with you?" he asked, studying me carefully, as if looking for a clue in my posture.

I felt my stomach drop as I realized I had to do a better job of appearing normal, as in not stressed out. The last thing I needed was everyone getting concerned about me. At the thought, I was suddenly consumed with exhaustion. This double life was getting to be too much, taking too large a toll on me. I needed to tell Quill that I had to have a night off so I could catch up on my sleep. "Yeah, I'm fine, Trey," I said softly. "Just been really busy."

"Okay," Trey said and smiled at me encouragingly. "Just wanted to check on you."

I didn't say anything more, but turned around again and started for Knight's office. When I reached it, I noticed the door was closed. I could see him reclining in his chair with his long legs up on his desk as he chastised someone over the phone. He spied me through the slats of his blinds and motioned for me to enter. I opened the door and walked in, sitting down in the chair directly in front of him.

At the sight of him, I felt my stomach tighten into a knot, which worked its way up my esophagus and into my throat until I almost couldn't breathe. Hot Hades, he was just so gorgeous. I wasn't sure where my libido had been the last few days, probably hibernating given recent events, but facing Knight now, it was back in full force. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off his incredibly broad shoulders, or the shapely swells of his muscular thighs.

"I don't give a s.h.i.t, just make it happen," he said into the phone, his tone heightened. I tried not to gulp too loudly as my gaze worked its way up his remarkable body to his even more incredible face. His eyes were on me, sharp and hungry. Or maybe I was just imagining that last bit.

"I don't care what it takes," he said in a steely firm voice, letting his legs slide off the top of his desk. They were loud when they hit the floor. He leaned forward, resting on his elbows, never taking his eyes from mine. "I want those sons of b.i.t.c.hes tried in our system, not theirs." Then he shook his head and scrunched his brows together, in obvious irritation. "Just do it and don't call me back until you have good news. I have to go, I have someone in my office." He was quiet for a few more seconds. "Call me tomorrow," he said before hanging up.

"You wanted to see me?" I piped up, my voice sounding antsy and rushed.

"You're late," he said with an undisguised frown.

I dropped my eyes to the carpet and started fidgeting with the zipper on my jacket, only then realizing it was d.a.m.n hot in Knight's office. I took off the jacket, fully aware that Knight's eyes were glued on me the entire time. If anything, it just made my body temperature increase. I had to remind myself that I was Dulcie O'Neil and therefore, shouldn't be nervous and definitely shouldn't be fidgeting. I faced Knight with a renewed sense of self and held my jaw tight. "I overslept."

"I see," he said, narrowing his eyes, apparently dissatisfied with my att.i.tude. "Don't be late again. Consider this warning number one."

I gave him a replica of the p.i.s.sed off expression he was giving me. "Noted."

He glared at me for another few seconds before exhaling and quickly dropping it. "I want you to compile all the bios of every known potions trafficker through Splendor, Haven, Sanct.i.ty, Estuary and Moon," he ordered as I felt anxiety working up my spine.

What in the h.e.l.l would have prompted him to request this information? "Why? I mean, what do you need it for?"

He sighed and sounded exasperated, like he didn't want any questions. Well, too bad for him because I was anything but a yes-man, er yes-woman. "We received a tip this morning that a new street potion will be hitting the black market soon and I want to cover all my bases."

I think my heart actually stopped for at least two seconds. Maybe more. "A ... a what?" I asked, in a whisper soft voice.

"A tip," he said, shaking his head like he couldn't understand why was I asking so many questions.

"From whom?" I persisted, hoping the rapid pulse in my neck wouldn't give away my worry that I was about to p.i.s.s myself.

"Anonymous," he answered, eyeing me inquisitively, and picking up a pencil that had been lying on his desk. He started drumming the eraser end against his desk, making a sound almost as maddening as nails on a chalkboard. "Where were you last night?"

I felt my cheeks color and dropped my gaze to the floor before forcing my eyes back to his. I just sucked at lying. "Why?"

He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Got the tip last night. I called you and came by, but you weren't around."

I gulped air, hoping he couldn't read me as I wished I could lie more convincingly. "I, uh, had plans."

His eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. "I see." Then he stood up and started for his door, opening it extra wide as if to let me know he was finished interrogating me. "I need those bios by lunch," he said sternly as I stood up and started for the door.

"I understand," I answered simply.

"Trey and I are going to run some reconnaissance later today. That's why I need the bios before lunch."

And the only reason he'd mentioned that was because he wanted to make sure I knew he'd asked Trey along for this mission, instead of me. I said nothing although I was burning inside. Knight was more than aware that paperwork wasn't my forte and, more so, that I hated it. It was something Elsie usually did or if she weren't around, Trey. But I held my head high, refusing to give in to him. Instead, I faced him squarely. "I'll have them to you by lunchtime."

Knight said nothing, but stared at me as if trying to read me. Uncomfortable with his scrutiny, I returned to my desk.

Eleven.