Intertwining Destinies

Chapter 34

Dr. Emerald Bruttenholm sat bewildered in the rear compartment of a BPRD undercover garbage truck making its way to a faked waste disposal facility in New Jersey. The assigned agents maintained a silent grim watch over the still body of Prince Nuada, who had been laid out on a bench in the middle of the space. Herself guarded between two unknown men, she looked over at Hellboy and Liz seated on the opposite side. Wearing a deep scowl with his fists clenched on his knees, Hellboy avoided meeting her gaze. Liz glanced at her every now and then, but her eyes appeared to be clouded with questions. Leaning forward, she held her head in her hands.

Emerald tried to focus on the chain of events that had led to her being arrested along with Prince Nuada, who had suddenly gone into a deep slumber. The memory of their kiss made her heart beat faster, and she was glad that no one could see the blush creeping over her partially hidden face. She had surprised herself by making the first move. Having had very little experience of dating men, she felt a frisson of pride as she remembered how Nuada had brought her body close to his, and engulfed her mouth with his passionate lips. A jerk of the truck jostled her out of her lustful reverie. "Why am I thinking about that, when I'm facing bigger problems?" she moaned to herself.

Regarding Nuada's unconscious figure, she wondered what could have caused him to collapse. She had kissed men in the past, (although not many, her mind countered back) but they had never dropped on her as he'd done. When Hellboy had entered her house, he displayed no surprise at finding Nuada's body slumped on the couch. Director Manning, Abraham and a fourth agent had joined Hellboy to examine Nuada, and had seemed most satisfied. How could they have known that he would be there? And how did they know that they would find him in that condition? She considered whether the BPRD had put cameras inside her house, but ruled it out because the interior had appeared completely undisturbed, with no cleared patches in the thick dust that covered everything. The little wartcap must have certainly warned Nuada if there had been any strange persons inside the house during her absence. Her next thought led her to question if the BPRD had somehow dosed her home's water supply. "But I drank that tea, too. It would have blacked me out as well!" No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with an explanation for Nuada's collapse, or the Bureau's unexpected appearance at her home. She parted her fingers and peeked through the gaps. Hellboy was still looking angry. She reflected back on the scene that had occurred less than an hour ago.

Hellboy's sudden arrival on her doorstep had completely baffled her. And when he had grabbed Nuada roughly with his stone hand, she had tried to pull his arm away. That had been a mistake. Throwing Nuada's limp body back on the couch, he had rounded on her.

"How long have you been with this royal piece of shit?" he demanded angrily.

Emerald was too taken aback by his surly temper to form a reply.

"And how come you're dressed like him? Joined his side of the battle, have you?"

"No!" she cried. "What are you doing here? Why is the BPRD here?" In turn, she stared across the faces of Director Manning, Liz, Abraham and the strange agent.

"We're here doin' our job. Arresting his royal ass. He's given us enough trouble over the last two months."