by Candy Crum
“You agreed because you wanted a child so badly, didn’t you?” I asked.
“My decision was clear. He told me that I had full control over my body and my choice and that he would allow me to forget ever meeting him if I said no. I had fully planned to. I loved your father and I could never do anything like that to him, but then he promised us a child. This child would rarely get sick and would never be sick enough to die. Death by injury would be much more difficult and our baby would heal faster, even if it took after me instead of him. This child would be smart, strong, and potentially powerful. He said that most of his kind were cold and cruel demons, but he only chose women that were pure of heart to mate with because he hoped that one of his offspring would make a change in the world someday. I think the rest of the story is obvious. I think you know the decision that I made.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said. “Why am I only hearing about this now? Did neither one of you think it was important for me to know that one of my parents isn’t biologically mine?”
“That was my decision,” Dad said. “Your mother didn’t make that choice without me being involved. I wanted a little one just as much as she did. I wanted someone to teach about cars and to do all the fun things that my dad did with me. I told her that I never wanted you to know that you weren’t biologically mine because that made no difference to me. You were absolutely mine. You still are, even with all the things that you’re going through. I don’t know what your biological father was, but I know that half of you is made up of him. He chose us because we’re good people and would raise you right. I have nothing but confidence that we did that. Now that we know you took after him, we need to try to find him.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” I asked. “We have no idea what he is and all we have is a name.”
“I’m sorry that I never asked more questions. All I knew was that I was guaranteed to get a baby. I didn’t care about anything else,” Mom said. “He said that his kind finds their offspring later if their powers come in. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s possible that you won’t have to look too far.”
There it was. Not only was I half-supernatural, but I also had siblings. Potentially a lot of them. I wondered if any of them were like me. Up until I was born, all his kids had been human. Since I never turned, it made sense that he would try again. I had to find my biological father to get the information that I needed. The first step, however, would be to get through what would certainly be a police investigation into what happened at my house. That should be incredibly interesting.
Chapter Seven
The first thing we did the next morning was have breakfast, soon followed by having a chat with police. As predicted, the cops showed up rather early on. They informed me that my friend, Will, had been found at my home on the porch with serious wounds. He’d reported that he’d been in my bed, tied up and beaten. He also said that someone had been killed there at some point during the debacle, judging by the brain matter that they found on the floor, but that they couldn’t find much otherwise. They had no idea where the body could have gone.
Good. Because they were staring at it. Having a conversation with it.
They asked me multiple questions, one of which was if I had any idea why something like that might have happened in my home. I told them that I believed that Jay was after me because I’d tried to convince Will to stop selling the drugs. When Jay found out that Will had told me all about his filthy little business, he wanted to see me killed or at least tortured.
The police suggested that I go into police protection because they were trying to gather enough information to get Jay arrested. They said that if he knew we’d talked to police that it could be bad for both of us. Somehow, I ended up agreeing to go down to the station to continue the discussion.
Will would be released at some point that day and he would also be at the station. It was still undecided if he was going to be sentenced or not, but he would be in custody for the time being.
When I walked into the building, I was met with a myriad of confusing scents. My nose was sharper than it used to be, but not quite sharp enough to sort things out, or perhaps I just hadn’t figured that out. I wasn’t sure. Regardless, there were so many things invading my senses that I felt like a dog walking through there. I smelled food, perfume and cologne, the bathrooms, papers, and more.
As we headed to the back of the station, where I assumed the interrogation rooms were, I saw a very familiar and delicious face. It was my dark prince. He looked just as yummy as he did the day before and his scent stuck out above all the rest. I wanted to say something as we passed, but I was praying that he didn’t see me. I had no idea how that little mind control thing worked. I didn’t know if seeing me would trigger the memory of what happened or not. I’d never ran into someone after I’d compelled them.
“Whoa,” a man said. I was stopped by a large hand wrapping around my wrist.
Damn it.
I turned to see my guy standing there, brows furrowed as he stared at me, holding on to my wrist.
“Have we met?” he asked.
I smiled nervously, having no idea how to handle the situation.
“No,” I said nervously. “I don’t think that we have.”
He smiled, his teeth beautiful and his medium brown eyes glistening in the light. “Oh,” he said. “You just look so familiar. Please forgive me. I’m Devon. Devon Andrews.”
Yes. I’m sure you are, baby.
I shook my head a little to clear my thoughts. I’d been doing that a lot lately. It seemed to be the only thing that helped.
“I’m Mia. Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Andrews, you might want to sit in on this,” the officer that had been escorting me back said.
What? No. I would love to spend more time with Officer Sexy Pants, but not like that. I did not want him anywhere near me out in the open where he could remember at any moment.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked. “He looks like he’s pretty busy. I’d hate to interrupt him for something so simple.”
The other officer spoke. “Andrews is drug enforcement. He would end up looking over your testimony and having to call you back anyway. This’ll save you some time.”
“I’d be happy to tag along,” Andrews said. “Officer Robins is right. I’d end up having to call you back out anyway. The severity of what happened…” he paused a moment. “Someone out there lost their life. Brutally at that. We have to do all we can to solve this. Any information you can give us on Jay and your involvement would be greatly appreciated.”
The men ushered us back to the interrogation room. They were both very kind. Officer Sexy Andrews offered me some iced water and I gladly took it. I’d been extremely dehydrated. I imagined that had a lot to do with losing a good part of my brain and blood.
Gross. I’m gross.
“First of all,” I said. “I’m not involved with Jay. I am, however, friends will Will. He is a very dear friend of mine and when I learned what trouble he’d gotten himself into, I freaked out. He’d been threatened once because he wasn’t selling enough. Jay threatened him by telling him that he’d hurt me. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough. Will told me that Jay doubled his supply and basically gave him an impossible time frame. I told Will that he absolutely was not to sell a single gram, ounce, or whatever it’s measured in and that we would figure out a plan. In a way, I’m kind of glad this happened. Maybe it knocked some sense into him. And now we have you guys.”
While I wasn’t lying for about ninety percent of that, I was still lying about my involvement. So, I did my best to keep my story as straight as possible.
“You said that yesterday you were with your parents?” Andrews asked.
With the tone that he was using, and the dominant position he was taking while ol’ Officer Robins took the beta, it was obvious that Andrews was going to be leading the discussion. Even with his dominance, he was kind and sweet and used a lot of smiles
to get his answers.
“My dad had something that he wanted to show me. He got a new old car and he wanted to show it off and tell me all about his plan. Instead of that, we spent the whole day revving the engine and annoying my mom while discussing our plan to fix it up. We haven’t done a project together in years, so I figured it was time,” I replied.
He smiled. “You like old cars?”
“Yes. I do. He and I used to work on them a lot when I was a kid.”
He smiled again. It was going incredibly well. We spoke for about an hour, going over everything that had happened the day before, my version of it anyway, which wasn’t too far from the truth. As we walked out, he held the door for all of us. Robins was the first one through and I was the last.
“How’s your head?” Andrews asked as I passed him.
My eyes widened as I turned to look him in the eye. He stood there staring down at me.
“What?” I asked.
“It took me a while,” he said. “First, preliminary reports came back that the blood and brain matter only shared partial human genes. That confused me. I couldn’t understand it, but I let it go because we had other evidence that we had to work on right then. I figured they’d learn more as they went along. I told them to run it again and that it was to stay confidential. The lab and I assumed that it was compromised somehow. I couldn’t imagine a supernatural being that not only got caught up in a small-town drug ring, but managed to get shot in the head, too. Then you walked in here today. As soon as I saw your face it all started coming back. First in pieces, like a dream that I was remembering, but the panic on your face just now tells me all I need to know.”
“Shit.” It was only one word, but that response encompassed everything that I had to say.
“I understand why you did what you did, why you lied.”
“But I didn’t lie,” I interrupted. “Everything I told you today was the truth, minus a few very small things, like me not being there. I didn’t do anything. I don’t understand anything, not even a little.”
“If you work with me, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Not that I’ll go blabbing anyway. I have no idea what you are or what you can do, but I’m sure it’s extensive,” he said. “I don’t need you pissed off at me.”
I had no idea what I was or what I could do either, but he didn’t need to know that.
“My point is: every road is a dead end. Sit down with me, talk to me, help me and I will do what I can to help you and your friend. I have nothing to offer you in return other than that, but if I can do something, just ask.”
“I don’t even know what help I can offer other than telling you the story from beginning to end. Other than that, I’m useless. I’m not involved more than I told you, but I’ll do my best because I want these bastards to pay for everything they’ve done and all the innocent people they’ve hurt. That will be payment enough. Along with your silence,” I said.
“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll call you tonight. Stay available. Unless you want to pull whatever that was again and try to manipulate me.”
I looked down. I wasn’t sure if I was embarrassed or frustrated. Regardless, it caused issues with him knowing. It went back to intelligence level. He was too smart for my limited gifts.
“No,” I said, sounding more like a spoiled child being chastised than a grown woman. “That’s all complicated, but no. I don’t.”
“Good,” he said. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Can’t wait,” I said under my breath as I walked away.
Chapter Eight
Lucky for me, something came up. Officer Andrews called me to tell me that he had other important business to take care of, so our little chat would have to wait until the following day. Unfortunately for me, the peaceful night had passed and the next day had arrived. The arrangement was on and I did not want to attend.
My house was still a crime scene, so I was forced to stay with my parents longer. It wasn’t an inconvenience, though. I always loved spending time with them. The only bad thing about it was not having my own things on hand. Also, my father hogs the TV. Jerk. That didn’t matter, though, because we decided to work on the car instead of being inside. My dad wanted to gut our one-day-fast-and-furious baby so we could rebuild it. It gave us an opportunity to talk more about my biological father and it gave me even more respect for my dad. He raised a child that wasn’t his own and I knew he’d die for me if he had to. Whoever my biological father was, I hoped that I could one day thank him for hand picking my wonderful parents. He did an amazing job.
We gathered a short list of parts we’d need for our project and went into town to get them. During said trip, Dad was having a hard time deciding if he wanted to rebuild the transmission or replace it entirely. He wanted to keep the one that was in it, but wasn’t sure if it would be possible. So, when we returned, we put aside the project that we had planned and dropped the transmission. Another trip into town, some lunch forced on us by Mom, and seven hours later, we had a good start on rebuilding it. That was one thing we’d never done together, so he was teaching as he went along. Naturally, we figured it would take a few days to do because of that, though from what he said, it can take a few days anyway.
When we were nearing the eight-hour mark, my phone rang. It was a private number. I had one hell of a time answering it due to all the oil and gunk all over my hands, but I managed.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hey. Where are you?” the familiar voice on the other side said.
“Oh shit!” It was Andrews. I’d totally gotten lost in the time. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be right there.”
“You forgot?” he asked. Judging by his voice he wasn’t nearly as amused by my tardiness as I was. “How far out are you?”
“I’m at my parents’ house. I was helping my dad rebuild a transmission,” I replied.
There was a pause. “I’ll come to you.” His voice sounded much lighter then.
“That’s not necessary,” I said. “Just let me clean up and I’ll be right there.”
“If you’re being serious about what you’re doing, then it’s going to take you at least an hour to shower and get all that oil off you. Also, if you’re telling the truth, I want to see this car.”
“Really?” I asked, a little shocked. Then again, I guess it wasn’t often you meet a girl that likes to rebuild old cars. “Suit yourself, but I warn you, my parents are super racist. Oh, no! Maybe we should just cancel the whole thing. I can meet you tomorrow. Or never, maybe. Whichever suits you best. Never works pretty good for me.”
“Mia!” my dad scolded.
Andrews laughed. “Nice try. Even if that were true, and it’s not, I’m not afraid. Maybe I’m racist, too. I’m not a big fan of marshmallows after all.”
“What? How can you not like marshmallows? They’re del… Wait… Did you just call me puffy? That’s not racist. That’s fattist.” I said, trying not to laugh.
“Fattist?” he asked.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I’m grasping at straws at this point,” I said.
“You’re an odd one, but you’re losing this one.”
“Okay. Maybe they aren’t that bad, but they are still pretty awful. You don’t know them like I do. Oh, my goodness. I can’t believe I turned out so normal. You better stay home,” I said.
“Mia!” my dad scolded again. “Stop that! Why would you say something so terrible?”
“Normal? You’re far from it. And no, I’m not talking about your extra gifts. Plus, I’ve met your incredibly sweet parents. Investigation, remember? It’s my job to meet and know everyone. Besides, I lost your number and called the only one that I could find. Your parents’. I talked to your mother a few moments ago, and she was so excited to hear from me that she invited me over for dinner.”
Damn it Mom. You and your kindness! How dare she be so sweet?
“So, you were planning to come over anyway? Fine,” I said. “Come on over then, Officer Dark Chocolate.”
“Hey... If I’m a marshmallow, then you can be yummy dark chocolate. Besides, how can I be professional when I think you’re soo-whoa…” I cut myself off.
Idiot.
My mouth always worked faster than my brain. Zero filter. I couldn’t help it, though. He was so beautiful and his scent… Ugh. He was overwhelming to all my senses.
He laughed. “I’m going to let that one go and guess you were going to say ‘professional’, despite the comment you made just before it.”
“Absolutely!” I said. “That’s totally the adjective that I was going to put there. Officer Dark Chocolate is super professional. Yep.”
“You’re ridiculous. I’ll see you soon,” he said before hanging up.
“Why do you say terrible things like that?” Dad asked.
“What? You usually enjoy my sarcastic and often-times rude sense of humor,” I said.
“Yes, I do. You are one of the funniest people I know. I like to take partial credit for that, but racism isn’t really something to joke about,” he said. “Besides, shouldn’t you be nice to him? Didn’t you say he knew about you? That’s dangerous ground to be walking on, baby girl.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, calm your pantaloons,” I said.
He looked at me incredulously. “Pantaloons?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Anyway, he will be here soon. He wants to talk to me about all this crap. I don’t know what to say or do. I say stupid things when I’m nervous.”
“Just relax. Let’s just work on the transmission. It’ll get you focusing on something else.”
“Or I could screw it up by not being able to pay much attention and you could die in a fiery crash,”
My dad just shook his head and walked away, a grin on his face.
Andrews showed up about twenty minutes later and he… looked… amazing. I, however, did not. I was a mess. Long hair thrown up in a messy bun, my tank top covered in grease, as was the rest of me. I smelled like I’d bathed in it.
