Fairytale Ambrosia (The Knead to Know Series Book 2) (13 page)

I jogged across the street and was about to go back inside Knead to Know, when I heard crying in the alley. It was daylight so it wasn’t Valefor. The person sounded young. “Hello?” I said, walking around the dumpster. “Are you ok—”

Something hit me hard from behind with a loud crack. Everything went black.

My mouth was dry. So dry. It was the first thing I noticed when I woke up. And my mouth didn’t get dry anymore, since I never drank or ate anything. It took a moment to realize I had a wad of cloth jammed between my teeth and tied around my head.

The room was vaguely familiar. The curving bar was stark white and sort of glowing. Soft panels covered in white cloth made up the walls. Everything else was black, including the floor and ceiling. I couldn’t place when I had been there, until Valefor walked into the room in a skintight black suit and red spike heels that perfectly matched her lipstick and eyes.

“Did you believe a little daylight could save you,” she said, jamming her long red fingernail underneath my chin and forcing me to look up. “Not when I really want something. Like you.” She pulled her fingernail out of my flesh and examined the blood on it before licking it clean.

“Your blood burns in my mouth. Why is that? What are you?”

I blinked at her. I couldn’t talk even if I wanted to, which I didn’t. Gagging someone before questioning them wasn’t the brightest move.

She snapped her fingers and the gag disappeared. “What are you?”

“Human,” I said with a fake cough.

She hit me. Her clawed hand, slicing across my chest, laying it open. I gasped and uttered a small cry as pain flooded me and blood washed over me. But just as it always did, the skin reconnected and bonded back together like it had never been touched. She watched the wound heal. “Try again. What are you and why have you made a deal with the jinn when you could work for me?”

Anger spiked in me. I wanted to spew threats at the bitch, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere… “I will never work for someone like you.”

She ran her talon threw my hair. “It will happen, one way or the other. Why not cut out the middle man?”

Was she trying to rile me up, or were we finally coming to the crux of Phoenix’s deal? “What middle man?”

She laughed, sending terrifying chills down my spine. She continued to run the razor-like claw lightly over my skin, barely cutting it open just to let it heal. It hurt like hell and set my nerves on edge. “You don’t know. What a sweet little pet you are.” She ran her fingers along my cheek. “The deal I made with the jinn. They kill my enemies and I give them information on a world that has abandoned and betrayed me to this cesspool. You were better than I dreamed possible. Once I knew why he brought you, I was thrilled. Four demons without a mark. Without a fight. The perfect killing machine.”

“I thought—what about your lover?”

She waved my words off. “I have reconsidered. When Phoenix explained, I understood. You were an audition. He’s replaceable. You aren’t. You are a gem.”

An internal struggle roared to life inside of me. I wouldn’t put what she was saying past Phoenix, but I also didn’t want to believe it. Regardless though, he didn’t have any control over me. He could make any promise he wanted to any demon and that didn’t mean I would follow through. “There isn’t a single offer you could make that would get me to work with you.”

She met my eyes. “You will or I will flay the flesh from your bones and feed it to you as fast as you can heal for the rest of eternity.”

I didn’t flinch at the graphic mental image of that. “I’m going to get untied and when I do, I will put your sick and twisted soul to rest for the last time,” I said. I hated bullies. Every time she hurt me would just strengthen my resolve to kill her.

“I’d like to see that,” Phoenix’s voice carried across the room. Valefor looked away from me for a moment, and I began to work my hands, trying to break the ties. “I thought you understood me, Valefor. Maggie is under my protection. You can’t have her.”

“If you didn’t want to share, you shouldn’t have paraded her in front of me, jinni. Now I believe I will keep her and kill you.”

Phoenix strolled further into the room, not looking at me, his hands in his pockets. “She’s not easy to handle. You really don’t want her. She’s in constant need of pep talks.”

“Then perhaps I should kill her.” Her hand flew out in a smooth arc and sliced across my neck. “To save you the hassle.”

I choked, blood gurgling in my throat. It felt like I was drowning.

“Amazing little human, isn’t she? Watch how her skin stitches itself back together. I wonder how much she could survive. Don’t you want to find out?”

Other than his jaw tightening, he didn’t react.

“You’re boring. I remember when your kind used to be fun. Why are you here?”

He edged closer to me. “I’m here for the girl. Touching her is breaking the terms of your contract with me. You need to be very sure this is what you want to do. You won’t be the first or last demon I kill.”

Valefor’s lip curled. “And if keep her, do you honestly believe you can hurt me? Where is your weapon? Where is your backup? What are you going to do?”

“I think you have failed to grasp exactly how personal this is for me.” He moved past her and bent over me, pressing his lips to mine as he slipped a small knife into my hand. He kissed me once more, enticing me to take a pull off of him before he broke away. “But if you decide to keep her and kill me, obviously there is nothing I can do to stop you. Holden will undoubtedly kill you, but you already knew that.”

I started sawing at the bonds around my wrists.

Valefor ran her tongue over her lips, and kept her eyes trained on Phoenix. “Have you tasted her blood? It burns with life.”

He smiled. “If you like that, you should try kissing her. It’s like being struck by lightning over and over again.”

The demon’s eyes brightened with desire, and she brushed him out of her way. She pressed her lips painfully hard against mine, her breath catching. The rope around my right hand finally loosened, and I stabbed the knife into her ear, holding her mouth against mine—and I stole every last bit of her darkness.

The arm of the chair snapped off beneath the pull of my left arm, and I let Valefor fall to the ground at my feet. Power coursed through me. I felt wonderful, like I could do anything or defeat anyone. Including a goddess.

Phoenix took my hand and led me toward the red door. Before we went outside, he shrugged off his coat and handed it to me. “You might cause a scene if you go out like that.”

I looked down at myself. My skin might have healed, but the shirt was in shreds and red with blood. I pulled it off the rest of the way and handed it to him before I put on his long black coat. “You lied. You promised to tell me the truth and you lied again,” I said. “You wanted me to work for them. Holden didn’t know about any of this, did he?”

“No, he didn’t know anything. But you were never going to work for her. You would have worked for me. And only me. That night
was
an audition, Maggie. I needed to see what you could do and how much potential you have. You can accomplish so much more than I ever imagined. You took out Valefor with a kiss. We could change the whole face of this city without ever starting a war.”

I stared at my hand in his and pulled it away, shaking my head. “Valefor wasn’t hiding. She was in the club the whole time.”

“I know. I needed her to come after you and she took the bait. You were supposed to kill her when she attacked you in the alley, but you didn’t. I think it was because you never got a good grip on her, or maybe more intimate contact is necessary for more powerful beings. I don’t know. But I never intended for her deal to go through. I have no desire to work with the demons again, but without something special, something like you, eventually we’ll have to.”

I stopped. “You were there in the alley?”

“I haven’t left your side.”

Anger licked at the edges of my many, many emotions. “Were you planning on stepping in, or were you going to let her kill me.”

He shook his head. “It wouldn’t come to that. I told you, your survival matters to me.”

He was just as bad as she was. “Because I’m useful.”

“Not just that. It’s more than that.”

I shook my head. Why did I keep setting myself up for hurt? “Well, I’m glad it all worked out for you.” I struggled to not let my anger get the better of me. “Now you get to do something for me. You are going to help me defeat Holda. You used me; I get to use you.”

He crossed his arms. “It’s suicide.”

“Then I’m done with you. Stay away from me. Keep your people away from me. Either you help me or you leave me alone.” I walked away, head high, body well within control after feeding as deeply as I had.

I wasn’t going to be a pawn on anyone’s chessboard. Not anymore.

****

Izzy waved from behind the counter as I came in. Considering the night she had, she looked rested and relaxed. Though I struggled with the idea of her and Kyle apart, maybe it was exactly what she needed, especially when he treated her like that. I hadn’t seen her this happy in a while.

I smiled and waved, lingering by the door. As soon as the last person in line left, I flipped the closed sign, locked the door, and dropped into a chair. I rested my head on the table, enjoying the sensation of tiredness that I usually didn’t have.

Izzy came and sat down next to me. “I can see why you do this now.”

I turned my head so I could see her.

Her eyes twinkled in her wide face. “Where did you disappear to? I had so much fun today. I’ve worked in an office so long I’ve forgotten what it’s like not to have every minute of your life planned or dictated by scheduled meetings. You know, we could try to set up some interviews to promote Knead to Know, and attract patronage from a greater area. Oh, and catering. If we can increase the traffic you already have coming into the store, within five years I bet you could open a second location.”

I laughed. “Can you also get about ten more hours in a day? Emery is only part-time. All the rest of the time, I have to bake or cover the front. If we increase traffic, we’ll sell out by noon.”

“What about Hotty McTattoo? Could he pull a few more hours and stay through the morning shift?”

“I don’t think he’s going to work out,” I said.

“What about me? I could be a partner. I’m not much of a baker, but I can help decorate cupcakes and cookies and run the café and do your public relations. Set up the catering business.”

I could see the benefit in her proposal and having the extra help would be great. “Are you just talking or is this something you’re seriously considering? There are no late mornings.”

Her head swiveled as she looked around the room, obviously still riding a euphoric wave. “I think I am. Why don’t we both sleep on it and talk tomorrow? Deal?”

I shook her hand, still not sitting up.

“Did Phoenix find you? He came in about an hour ago, looking for you.”

I nodded. “He found me.”

“He seemed nice and kind of crazy about you last night. How have I not heard about him before now? You obviously know each other well and the way he looks at you . . . I want to be looked at like that. He’s definitely not your usual type though, but maybe that’s a good thing to get out of your comfort zone.”

I closed my eyes, letting my neck and shoulders relax. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say? I want the gory details. I want to know how you met him, how long you’ve been seeing him, and, more importantly, what he did to tick you off?” She kicked me lightly. “You never used to be this secretive.”

I laughed, pushing myself back to an upright position. “He knew Baker. We’re not in any way dating. And I’m pretty certain he has never spoken a word of truth in his entire life, especially when the words are directed to me. I don’t think he even likes me very much. He just likes what he thinks I can do for him.”

She grimaced. “Yikes.”

Maybe I was a hypocrite, but while I might have had to lie to Izzy about a few things to keep her safe, I didn’t use her.

“I know I just met him last night, but guys like that don’t wear frilly aprons, stay up all night, and listen to a girl’s drunk best friend complain about people he has never met unless he really likes the girl. And like I said . . . when he looked at you, especially when you weren’t looking at him, well, I wish Kyle had ever looked at me like that.”

She obviously still had her drunk goggles on, if she saw him look at me as anything more than a prize he could win and sell to the highest bidder. “I think you’re romanticizing him.”

“And I think this is about Baker and not about him.” Izzy’s hands fidgeted in her lap the way they always did when she was worried whatever she said was going to cause a confrontation. “Your relationship with Baker wasn’t perfect.”

I could feel my mouth tighten at the mention of Baker. This wasn’t about him. “I know.”

“Do you? Because to listen to you talk about him now, it sounds a little like he walked on water. I mean no offense, I know he died and that was beyond tragic, but, Maggie, don’t you remember how it was? He never told you anything about himself. He didn’t introduce you to anyone he knew. You spent most of your time with him, obsessed with the idea he was hiding a wife and kids.”

“He wasn’t,” I said.