Love Nip (12 page)

“I think Ezra has already replaced me
.” I looked over to see Riley talking with Robert, who was wearing a nice tux and even had his hair gelled down. He looked over at me and smiled.

“So what are you going to do?”
he asked.

“I’m not sure yet, I h
onestly don’t know what to do. He just told me the other day that he was staying human to be with me and now he’s spending time with Riley and taking her blood,” I rambled.

“I definitely saw that coming
.”

“W
hat do you mean?”

He shook his head
. “I didn’t mean about you. I only meant I can understand why they are getting closer. I mean, Riley is his maker and with them being married once before it doesn’t seem—”

“Whoa, whoa. What do you mean married?”

He looked at me confused. “I thought you knew. I’m sorry, Emily. I wouldn’t have said anything if I had known.”

I could feel the heat rising. I wondered if Robert had known all along. Maybe he figured that I wasn’t a good enough reason for Ezra to fight for his l
ife so he had to bring in the ex. What was worse, she opened up to me about his past but forgot to mention that little tidbit.

“It doesn’t matter, we
’re not the same anymore. I don’t know what he wants,” I stated sadly. I still cared for Ezra. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. But I couldn’t say out loud what tore at my heart. We were over.

“Can I cut in?” Robert asked
, smiling at me with pride. Axle kissed my cheek and walked off. “Emily you look exquisite.”

“Thanks
, Robert. You look good, too,” I complimented. We began to dance, as simple as it was it felt almost like a dream come true. All I had ever wanted growing up was to meet my dad and have a father-daughter dance with him.

“I know this isn’t the place
, but I wanted to speak to you about something,” Robert started.

“Ok
ay,” I said cautiously. I decided now wasn’t the time to bring up Ezra and Riley.

“I know I’ve left
questions unanswered and I apologize for that, but this I believe this may need to be said sooner rather than later,” he tried to explain.

“G
o on,” I encouraged.

“Growing up I’m sure you wondered why you never
had a monthly, uh phase like other girls?” he asked.

I was confused for about three seconds. Once it clicked my face became instantly
beet red.

“Seriously
, Robert, you’re going to explain this now?” I thought I would die of embarrassment.

“I don’t want you to assume incorrectly so I feel as if I should explain. You see our kind doesn’t procreate especially easily. You may not go th
rough what most women do each month but you can still … ah how should I put this?”

“Get knocked up?” I offered.

“No exactly my choice of words, but yes, you can bear children,” he explained.

“Well
, all right then. Anything else before I go kill myself?” I begged that he was not about to start his birds and bees discussion.

“There is one other thing I’ve wanted to tell you. This isn’t easy for me
,” Robert stated. He was having a hard time getting whatever was on his mind out. I couldn’t imagine anything else he would say to be more embarrassing that what we had just discussed.

“What?” I asked.

“Before I met your mother there was another woman that I courted. This was before I even knew what I was. Your grandmother and grandfather were very powerful people, but they kept me in the dark about my powers for a long time,” he explained.

“I did
n’t even think about you having parents. Are they still alive?” I asked.

“
Yes, they are, but that’s not what I’m trying to tell you.” He started to say something else, but I heard yelling close by that caught my attention.

“Robert
, we’ll talk later that’s Kimmy,” I explained and began walking away. I stopped next to Kimmy, who was pointing her finger at a man’s face and began talking way too loudly.

“Even if you were the last crayon in the box I’d use finger paints,”
she fussed, poking him in the chest.

“Kimmy, what is
going on?” I asked.

“Well
, if it isn’t the infamous Emily Sullivan,” the man stated in a thick British accent. I knew instantly I would hate him.

“And you are?” I snapped.

“The name is Andrew Stanfield.” He introduced himself as if I should have known his name. He looked mid-twenty’s with black spikey hair and bright aqua blue eyes. He was wearing a tux. I didn’t want to admit it, but he wasn’t terrible looking.

“Andrew here was telling me about the job you both are going for,” Kimmy sounded annoyed.

“What job?” I asked, facing Andrew.

“Ah, well if your father has not explained yet I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise,”
he stated with a big grin plastered on his face.

I stormed off and grabbed Robert by his jacket
, pulling him to the side where we couldn’t be heard.

“What is the job I just heard about from Andrew Stanfield?” I demanded.

He sighed. “I’m getting promoted.”

“That’s great, but that doesn’t answer my question
.”

“The agency wants me to transfer to the
Pentagon. That means my current position is up for grabs. You and Andrew Stanfield are the two applicants who are in the running,” he explained as he jammed his hands into his pockets. The action made him look much younger than what he already looked.

“What? I’m a nobody
, why would I even be considered?” I asked. In the eyes of the world I was just Robert Sullivan’s daughter who couldn’t do magic. No one knew about my powers.

“Due to recent events
—”

“You mean me turning Ezra human,” I offe
red. I wasn’t in the mood for games.

“Yes, that. I had to report it to the agency
, along with everything else you’ve done,” he stated, staring at the ground. I had never seen Robert look so vulnerable he always held his head high no matter what was going on.

“What things did you tell them?” I asked.

“Well, I informed them that you killed Damon. I also told them about the ice spell and about the candles on your birthday cake,” he explained, finally meeting my eyes.

“The candles were trick candles
. I don’t think that really constitutes magic,” I stated.

“Yes it was
, Emily. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to freak out, but Gavin couldn’t find trick candles so he and I performed a spell on regular candles so they could never be blown out. Yet you broke the spell with ease,” he explained.

“S
o you did the spell wrong, whatever. The point is why me? Gavin, Axle, or even Ezra would be perfect for the job. I’ve only been working for you for a little while. I’m still working on my first case.” I should have felt honored but I was scared. I couldn’t be left in charge, I didn’t know what I was doing. Not that I wanted to see Andrew get Robert’s job, but I was a worse applicant than he was. I was irresponsible and inexperienced.

“Trust me, you are perfect for the job. Plus
, this has nothing to do with me. Honestly, I was happy where I was at. I don’t want to move, especially now,” he said, letting the last comment linger. I knew what he meant, words were not needed. Even though we didn’t spend father-daughter time together outside of work it was nice to finally be able to be around each other.

“So, if I decide not to take the job
—” I started.

“Andr
ew Stanfield becomes your boss. He also will become Axle’s, Gavin’s, Ezra’s, Kimmy’s, even Riley’s boss,” he said, finishing my statement.

I thought about it for a minute. I wasn’t sure that I was up for the job if selected
, but I knew I needed to keep Andrew as far away as possible. I didn’t even know the guy, but my gut was screaming at me not to trust him.

“Fine,
if they offer me the position I’ll accept,” I stated finally.

Roberts face lit up like a Christma
s tree. He pulled me in, holding me in a tight embrace. I patted his back awkwardly.

“There is something I wanted to talk to you about,”
he said as he let me go.

“I thought that was it?” I asked curiously.

“No. I mean I did want to talk to you about that, but this is completely different,” he explained, fidgeting with his tie.

“T
ell me.”

“I, uh
… you know what, we can talk about this at another time. This is not the right place. You go enjoy the party,” he stuttered. Two sweat droplets beaded down his brow.

“Okay, s
ee you later,” I murmured, concerned. Whatever Robert wanted to talk about had to be serious. I was curious, but I figured he would tell me when he was ready. I turned to walk away when a face in the crowd made me stop. The man’s eyes were glued to me, and not in a romantic way, almost like he was calling me over. I began walking toward him and lost sight of the stranger.

“Hey, did you talk to Robert?” Kimmy popped into my line of sight.

“Yeah, apparently I am up for Robert’s job and so is your buddy Mr. Fancy pants,” I explained searching for the man. I couldn’t figure out where I knew him from and it was killing me.

“Are you looking for Axle? He’s by the bar talking with Riley,” Kimmy explained looking around with me.

“No, I’m not but geez, Riley is not satisfied with stealing one of my guys she needs them both?” I demanded. It sounded so bad when I said it aloud. I had picked Axle, but it was an automatic response to think of Ezra and me still together. 

“Yeah, you
should pick one and stick with him,” she said as she adjusted her necklace. 

“I did
pick one, I’m just too much of a coward to tell Ezra that it’s over,” I snapped.

“Whoa
, grumpy. What animal crawled up your pants and bit your butt?” she asked defensively.

I spotted the man nearby and his eyes caught my own. He walked through a
door marked exit. It was an obvious invitation to follow him.  “Sorry, I have to go,” I replied as I walked away.

The door swung open and led
into a long dark hallway. It was dimly lit with fake candles attached to the walls on either side. I began walking faster to catch up. My heels made it difficult, but there was no way I could go barefoot. It was dark, and there was no telling what was lurking on the floor. The hall ended at another set of doors. I pushed them open and was met by the cool, brisk night air. I looked around and spotted the mystery man nearby leaning against the brick wall with a smile on his face.

“I didn’t think you would come
.” He didn’t wear a tux like the rest of the men at the party; instead he had on a dress suit with a dark blue tie. His short brown hair went well with his light complexion and blue eyes.

“W
ho are you?” I asked, stepping closer. I knew we had not met before, but I couldn’t place his familiarity. My mind ran through places I had worked at.  I couldn’t come up with an explanation.

His smile faded
. “My name is Beck. I’m your brother.”

“You must be mistaken. I am an only child,” I explained. He couldn’t be serious. My mom would never be able to keep a secret that big from me.

“You just think you are because Robert has hidden my existence from you.”

“This can’t be true,” I denied the possibility. Robert was trying to tell me something earlier about courting another woman before my mother
, but this man looked to be about the same age as me. Maybe even younger.

“
Well believe whatever you want, that’s not why I’m here. I need to talk to you, but not here,” Beck explained, pushing his body off the wall and taking a few steps.

“What about?” I asked cautiously
.

“You and the werewolf are investigating a case involving the witch coven in Baton Rouge, correct?”
he asked as he took another step closer.

I began to feel nervous
. “How do you know about that?”

“It doesn’t matter, just meet me tomorrow at
noon, the park on Fifth Avenue,” he stated.

“Why should I trust you?” I needed to know what he k
new about the case, but I was risking my life just talking to him.

“N
oon at the park, and come alone.”

The door creaked opened and I turned around quickly to see A
xle step out. My heart skipped a beat; I had been caught. I turned back to Beck, but he had disappeared.