Chapter 61
Fiona POV
The little bell above the café’s door rings as I enter. Billy waves from the table in the far corner, and I wave back before pointing at the menu. If I’m going to get through this little meeting, I need caffeine.
After getting so many messages from Billy, I finally agreed last night to meet him. Though, I have a feeling he’s hoping it will be about a relationship and not about the investigations I’ve sent him on.
I need that information more than I need a boyfriend, which again has me thinking of Nolan. I’ve yet to set up Nolan’s first blind date, but the file on my desk of women’s names and contact information has been weighing heavy on my mind since Nolan’s father gave it to me yesterday.
“It’s nice to see you,” Billy says as I sit across from him and sip my coffee. “I take it this is a formal meeting?”
Deciding not to lie or lead him on, I nod, “Yes, Billy. I just don’t think a relationship with you is going to work out. However, we could continue being friends if you want that.”
He smiles and nods before saying, “I understand. I’m sorry I wasn’t fully forthcoming to begin with.”
A pause of awkward silence stretches between us for a moment. I sip on my coffee as Billy clears his throat.
“I have news about the things you asked me to investigate,” he finally says. “First, I found information on the drug you were given in prison. After digging for about a week, I uncovered that the drug the prison uses has been in use for over thirty years.”
“Thirty? Was there a different drug before that?” I ask, confused. The prison system is much older than thirty years.
Billy shakes his head, “No. Before they used this drug, they implemented silver cages and chains to keep prisoners detained. Of course, a humanitarian group argued that this was inhumane, so they developed the suppressant drug they use now.”
I shiver, remembering the silver chains that were hanging from the walls in solitary confinement. The prison didn’t use them often, only if prisoners didn’t respond to the drug.
“Th-that still happens,” I mutter, remembering the screams that haunted my dreams for a while. One time when I was in confinement, I saw someone who’d been chained. He was screaming from the burning silver chains.
“It does? What do you… sorry,” Billy says quickly. “That didn’t happen to you, did it?”
“No.”
Like he can sense I don’t want to elaborate, Billy clears his throat and continues, “The drug is a mixture of Wolfsbane, Aconite, and Rhododendron. There are a few relaxing medicines in the mixture that were added to keep the three toxins from doing too much harm.”
Surprise fills me with this information. Wolfsbane, Aconite, and Rhododendron are the three worst toxins for a werewolf to be exposed to. They’re all, in high doses, lethal. It’s horrible that they’re putting all three in one drug and pumping it into people.
Then again, at the same time, the people they’re drugging are prisoners, so they’re probably not too worried about possibly killing them.
It’s sick.
“Thanks. I’ll see if I can find out how to counteract the drugs. Will you send me the detailed list of what’s in the mixture?”
“Of course,” Billy says. “I also have information on Andy.”
“What did you find? Please tell me you found something incriminating,” I tell him, thinking about the drugs Andy had slipped into my drink. “Andy is picking up the pace on his plans, and I still can’t figure out what he’s plotting.”
The only thing I can think of is that Andy is controlling what Chloe does in the Project and Proposal Department, but then again, there are so many issues popping up that I’m not sure if ‘control’ is a good word.
“Well, Andy has been in contact with a number of people, but I’ve noticed he’s been talking with Shane Williams, Chris Tanner, and Jameson Anders. The last one on the list is a doctor,” he informs me, laying a small paper down in front of me.
I don’t recognize any of the names, though.
“Do you have anymore information on the doctor? What hospital does he work in?” I ask, looking up at Billy.
“That’s the thing. Jameson Anders is not only a doctor but an herbalist as well. He was fired from the hospital he worked at because of unethical behavior and conduct,” he answers.
Andy has to be getting drugs or medicine from somewhere, and a rogue and unethical doctor would be the perfect place to acquire drugs. This information almost proves my suspicions. If he drugged me, then he’s probably dosing Chloe with something, just as I thought.
“Can you dig further into this doctor? Can you get his information and find out if he still has access to any drugs or illegal substances?”
“Leave it to me.”
Annoyed at myself for not being able to go against Nolan’s father, I type in the last bit of information about Nolan’s first blind date into his schedule. I know the moment he sees the date in the calendar, Nolan is not going to be happy.
The way my stomach flips with unease when I hit submit is frustrating. There’s not much I can do about it, but I still find myself standing and walking to Nolan’s office to warn him.
“Nolan, I need to—”
He pulls me into the office and pins me to the back of the door, his lips falling on mine and cutting me off.
The heat that instantly rushes through my body at his touch. When his hands settle on my hips, he jerks me toward him and wraps his arms around my body.
“Fuck, you always taste so good.”
“N-Nolan, we can’t do this right now,” I stutter, pulling back to look in his eyes. He needs to calm down. There’s ten people right outside that door, and I don’t want any of them to know what we’ve been doing.
The realization that we’ve been sneaking around a bit too much hits me, and I push a little harder. Sneaking around is beginning to feel wrong, somehow.
“You have a b-blind date,” I tell him, hating and loving the way his lips feel on my neck.
“I’d rather have you,” Nolan growls, and I gasp when his teeth softly scrape across my collar. “Tonight. In my bed.” He kisses my neck again, sending tingles of pleasure down my spine when he touches the place where he marked me.
I remember the pleasure from that night, but not the details.
Now, the mark is completely gone, but I can’t stop my mind from wondering what it would feel like for him to sink his teeth into me while I’m sober.
