Forcing my attention from the man to the situation, I decided to just be straight forward. "Deva mentioned you might know something about the recent troubles at the café," I said, watching his reaction closely.
"Maybe, maybe not." He shrugged noncommittally. "What's it to you?"
"Deva's our friend," Beth said. "We just want to help her."
"Right,friends." Robert sneered, stuffing another handful of chips into his mouth. "So where were you when she needed money for that stupid café, huh?"
I stared. “Didyouhelp her pay for the café?” I knew the answer, but his expression said it all.
His expression changed from surprised to annoyed. “She was always independent. Didn’t need anything from me.”
He was wrong. Shewasindependent, but only because she had to be, and she sure as heck needed a lot from him as her dad. Except, he failed her every single time.
“She’s done really well for herself,” I said, proud of her, and hating this man more with every word that left his mouth.
“Yeah, she’s done well enough. Well enough to start a whole business. Well enough to keep it up and running. But not well enough to help the man who raised him.”
Beth frowned, clearly taken aback by his hostility. "That's not why we're here."
If he kept talking though, we might just have to remind him of what a crappy job he did in raising his daughter. We might have to remind him that his wife was basically a single mother when she died. If he wanted to open that can of worms, I’d do it, even if it didn’t help our case, just so we could remind this little worm of where he stood in Deva’s life.
"Whatever," he said, apparently losing interest in the conversation. "You got any cash on you? I could use a little help myself."
"Um, no," I said, uncomfortably aware of the sudden tension in the room. "We're not here to give you money." I dove straight in "You see, there's this curse on the café."
The warlock snorted, something between disgust and humor. "That's what she gets for leaving me high and dry. Karma, am I right?" He chuckled darkly, and I had to remind myself that this man was, in fact, Deva's father, so I shouldn’t show him some real karma.
"Right," I said cautiously. "Anyway, we think someone might have put a curse on the place, and we were wondering if you might know anything about that."
"Of course, of course." He rubbed his hands together. "I'll tell you everything I know... for a price."
"Excuse me?" Beth asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Deva's been sending me a little money here and there. Not as much as I deserve, but some money," he said smugly, grabbing a beer can from the little table by the couch. "I assumed that's why you two were here. To hand over the cash."
Cash? I thought shedidn’thelp him. Wasn’t that what he’d said? Somehow, I suspected this guy had decided we’d make the perfect targets for a scam. We’d talk to Deva about this either way, but there was no chance he was getting any money from us.
I steeled my spine. "No, we're not here to give you money from Deva or us."
The energy in the room changed in an instant. Red-hot anger rolled off of the man in front of us. It was strong enough that I actually took a step back.
"She's always been a selfish brat," Robert spat, his face twisting into an ugly sneer. "Just like her mother. No wonder they left me behind. I'm better off without them anyway."
"Careful," I said, my patience wearing thin. "Deva is our friend, and she doesn't deserve to be talked about like that,"
"Friend?" He laughed cruelly, taking a swig of his beer. The smell of stale alcohol wafted over the sickening scent of cheap chips, making my stomach churn again. "I'll bet she's just using you two like she used me."
"Shut your mouth," I said. Anger bubbled up inside me like boiling water in a kettle. My fingers tingled with the power of karma, itching to unleash it on this miserable excuse for a father.
"Or what?" he taunted, tossing a greasy chip into his mouth and crunching noisily. "You gonna hit me?"
"Emma, don't," Beth warned, but I simply couldn't help myself. I focused on Robert, imagining all the awful things he'd done in his life, and let the power flow through me.
"Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" I said, releasing the energy in his direction. Nothing happened. No sudden flash of light, no electric shock, nothing. He didn't even flinch.
He laughed, clearly enjoying my failure. "Looks like your little parlor tricks don't work on me. Not a warlock of my caliber."
I reined in my fury. "We're just trying to figure out who cursed the café. If you KNOW anything, we could really use your help."
