Mr. Wolfe, Llewellyn, J. [have you read this book .txt] 📗

and the A/C was holding up, but somehow things felt unbearable in the warehouse. The full moon was coming in just a few days and Wolfie became very tense in the final days before he finished an assignment.

"You can never have enough babies," Miguel responded. Trevor was the only one who laughed.

Wolfie pulled Ambrosio aside shortly after his exchange with Miguel and said, "I'm still worried about the white wall clock."

For a moment, Ambrosio had no idea what Wolfie was talking about, then he remembered. "You mean the one that went missing when we first started?"

"That's the one. I have no idea where it could have gone."

Ambrosio thought for a moment. He realized now why Wolfie cared so much. Ambrosio had actually been the first team member to enter the warehouse, the day before Wolfie officially took on the assignment. He'd posed as a worker putting the clock into the warehouse at Zara Finley's instruction.

The clock was actually an elaborate spy camera and it had cost Zara a fortune. Wolfie hated to have anything go missing on his watch. He hadn't been worried about the pixies showing up on the other cameras mounted in the workspace because humans couldn't see them. And besides, Ambrosio had been able to stop footage of the dress Adorabelle had torn. It had been mended and looked just like new.

"Maybe Zara took it out of there," Ambrosio said. "Maybe she thought the problem was solved and took it back for a refund."

"That's possible." Wolfie didn't look convinced. He hated the very idea that Zara would think he hadn't been in complete control of the assignment and had allowed something to be removed without his knowledge.

"I'll have Mireille ask Virginia," Ambrosio suggested. "She could ask her very casually."

"Good idea." Wolfie looked like he wanted to kiss him. Ambrosio wished he would.

* * * *

Two nights later, Ambrosio opened a bottle of wine as he prepared dinner for Wolfie. It was one of the best he had ever opened and after toasting his sister and husband, took his time savoring mouthfuls on the smooth and full-bodied 1999 Shafer cabernet sauvignon.

Their conversation flowed, laughter following in spite of the fact that the full moon was a day away and Wolfie's hair could no longer be shaved away effectively. Not to mention, the damned clock was still missing and Virginia had told Mireille she'd no idea what could have come of it.

When they sat down to dinner, Wolfie worked steadily through a New York-cut steak. He seemed very cheery in spite of his mounting stress. He stopped to sip his wine and leaned over to kiss Ambrosio. Mireille laughed. "You two make me sick."

Ambrosio poked his tongue at her. She'd just eaten some steak tartare. She preferred raw meat, just like Wolfie. Wolfie however needed all the sustenance he could get now that he was feeding two vampires.

"That Vez person is so irritating," Mireille suddenly said. "Always skulking around. Always asking questions."

Before either man could respond, the front doorbell rang. They each stared at one another.

"Nobody ever comes here," Wolfie suddenly whispered, his face ashen.

"Nobody," his husband agreed.

The three family members dropped their napkins and walked together to the front door.

They were surprised to see Miguel standing on the doorstep, a strange smile on his face.

"He knows everything," he said.

There was a deathly pause.

"Who does?" Wolfie asked, his tone light. But Ambrosio could feel his stiff rage.

Oh, God. Why now?

"Vez," Miguel said. From behind his back he produced a white clock and handed it to Wolfie. "He took this down and ripped it apart. He hid the camera in your car, Mr. Wolfe. He knows you're husbands. He knows you've lived a long time. He...he...knows you're vampires."

Another deathly silence, then Miguel said, "We went out for margaritas a couple of nights ago and he told me the whole thing. He left me and I followed him. I didn't really believe him but then I saw things on the video."

"He has a video?" A pale-looking Wolfie swayed slightly.

"I have it," Miguel said. "You can destroy it then nobody will ever know. I don't want to hurt you, I want to learn from you. I've received more love and respect from you, Mr. Wolfe, and Ambrosio, than I ever got from my whole family. I've never met anyone like either of you. And now I know why. You're immortal. You've seen it all. I mean, really seen it all. I couldn't buy an apprenticeship like this."

When nobody said anything, Miguel said, "I'm like Cinderfella. Please don't send me back to the pumpkins. Being with you all is better than being in ten thousand palaces. I will do anything you ask. I will even keep those mean little pixies in line."

"You can see them?" Ambrosio was stunned. Very few humans saw the pixies in action. The kid sure had a way with words. Ambrosio was moved by Miguel's speech. He knew the young man's sentiments were heartfelt.

"They tried to lure me into their union," Miguel said.

"Union?" Mireille, Wolfie and Ambrosio shouted as one.

Miguel shook his head. "I didn't know that their idea of a union meeting was belting down maple syrup and getting naked." He shot a hopeful glance at Mireille. "That stuff didn't do much for me, but I did like being trusted. I've never been in a union before. I don't suppose you would be interested in coming to one of those meetings? You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Anywhere."

"Really? " Mireille looked ecstatic. "Well! "

"Yes." Miguel nodded. "And your breath is like sweet wine, not stinky and yucky like those pixies." He suddenly frowned. "You'd think with all that maple syrup that they'd have nice breath."

Ambrosio couldn't believe it. They'd never had a human worker the pixies had liked. Maybe this was a sign that they should make Miguel one of them.

"Where is Vez now?" Wolfie asked,

"He's hiding in your backyard. He watches you at night. He's obsessed with Ambrosio."

"Oh, God." Mireille's hands flew to her