Fairytale Ambrosia

by Liz Schulte

  “Five, four, three,” he counted down slowly, his voice caressing my mind.

  I slid my fingers into his long-ish black hair and pulled him down, kissing him without reserve. Deep, slow pulls of dark energy clouded my judgment as his tongue caressed mine. The soft click of the door behind him barely registered as I backed him against it. He pulled me tighter against himself, his hands slipping beneath the back of my shirt, connecting with even more skin. He groaned, nipping at my lower lip.

  The timer went off and my eyes snapped open. I wrenched myself away and headed to the oven automatically, my lips kiss-swollen and my legs wobbly. My head was too cloudy to think about how big a mistake I was making. I opened the oven and reached in, grabbing both pans.

  Pain, instant searing pain, snapped me out of my fog. The pans burned away my flesh. I yelped, but didn’t drop them until they were over the counter. I tore my hands away, tears rolling down my cheeks—but the pain was already fading, and my skin was slowly returning to normal. Another benefit to being immortal—super healing.

  Phoenix was there, blue flames dancing in his eyes. “You should be more careful.”

  Whether he was talking about the kiss or the oven, I didn’t know. Both were equally dumb.

  “Reconsider the deal, Maggie. I can split this world wide open for you.”

  I ran my fingers over my lips. Maybe an arrangement with Phoenix wouldn’t be that bad. “What happened that night?”

  He shook his head, his dark flaming eyes not quite meeting mine. “Nothing.”

  “We both know that isn’t true.” I pressed my hand flat against his chest, itching for just one more pull.

  He gave a half laugh. “It’s entirely true. I took you inside and you fed until your heart was content, then I took you home. That was all. Nothing else happened.”

  Usually when I fed I just grabbed the demon or vampire or whatever, and as soon as I had skin-to-skin contact, I drained the soul. Phoenix, though, was my only jinni, and with him, it was never as easy as just taking his hand. Things always ended up much more intimate and connected on a deeper level. That night the effects of feeding stayed with me a lot longer than normal. A terrible thought made me want to cover my face. The image of me running around the bar kissing every evil person in sight wasn’t a pretty picture—even worse, what if I hadn’t stopped at making out? “Who did I feed on?”

  “A demon, and I assure you, he deserved it. You have nothing to feel guilty about. You shook his hand and didn’t let go. After that you were …effervescent. It was a good night.”

  How could everything have been so innocent? So easy? “And that’s it?” He nodded. “Then why is it a blank spot in my memory?”

  Phoenix shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  I pressed my lips together. He had to be lying. I hadn’t lost my memory any other feeding, except for my first time, but that was different. It had been a total gorging.

  “I should go,” Phoenix said, voice soft and his feet unmoving. “The offer is still on the table. It always will be.”

  “Why did you come?” I matched his tone, waiting for him to ask me to do whatever it was he needed that prompted him to renew his proposal.

  His dark eyes met mine. “Business has been good?”

  I nodded. He was so confusing. “What does tha—”

  He evaporated into a puff of black smoke.

  I’d finished off the baking for the day and was icing cupcakes by the time Emery arrived. She practically skipped through the alley door.

  “Good morning, boss,” she said, as she tied on her own pink polka-dotted apron. “Where do you want me?” She took in every last inch of the countertop covered with treats, eyes widening slightly. “How long have you been here?”

  “Too long,” I said with my own grin back. “Um, why don’t you load the cases? Everything is labeled. When you’re done with that, straighten up the café and run a towel over the tables. I’m going to finish up in here.”

  Emery slipped on a pair of disposable gloves and set straight to work, humming a song I didn’t recognize as she went. By the time I made it out of the kitchen, the entire shop smelled like homemade bread and it was nearly opening time, but all my dishes were washed and put away and all of the displays were set up perfectly. For once, I was ahead of the game.

  She stood on the customer side of the counter, inspecting the display case. “How does it look? Maybe we should put more of the Fairytale Ambrosia up here.” She pointed at the covered cake platter we used for free samples. “It’s new and people will probably want to try it.”

  “Perfect,” I said. I knew hiring her would be a good decision.

  Today was shaping up to be a great day. True to form, a steady flow of customers came through my doors. When the morning rush lessened to a more manageable stream, Emery took a coffee pot around, offering refills and chatting with the regulars who weren’t engrossed with something else.

  The bells chimed over the door as Boone came in. My stomach didn’t exactly flutter at the sight of him, but it wasn’t completely still either. Seeing Boone was often the highlight of my day. We were friends and he was ruggedly handsome and, well, we all needed someone to fantasize about. I waved at him and he nodded toward the kitchen, raising his eyebrows. I finished serving the two people in line before I asked Emery to take over the front.

  “How bad was it?” I asked, going through the door to the kitchen. Boone’s visions of the future ranged from trivialities like a person knocking over a glass of water to horrifically disturbing cases of murder and child kidnapping. Though he didn’t talk about it a lot, I could see his “gift” wasn’t easy on him and the bad premonitions haunted him.

  He pushed a hand through his dark blond hair. “I think it’s the same person who took the kids. It was a woman with silver hair, dressed all in white, but other than that, she didn’t look the same at all. I know it was her though.”

  “Tell me everything that happened. Was it another child?”

  He shook his head. “No. A woman was taken this time. Maybe twenty-five?”

  If the kidnapper was already grabbing a new person, that didn’t bode well for the missing kids. At least that was what I had gathered from years of television watching. “Do you think…I mean why is she taking someone else if she still has them?”

  He took my hand in his rough calloused fingers. “They’re still alive. I know it.”

  “How?” Feelings were great and all, but they weren’t proof. We needed more to go on. “If she’s taking someone else, there’s a reason.” Like she was hungry again, or the kids had served whatever purpose she needed them for.

  “She’s a collector.” He looked at me seriously, letting go of my hand. “I don’t get an evil feeling from her. Insanity, yes, but not evil. I don’t think she is trying to kill anyone. This time she’s grabbing a hotel maid from a parking garage, who’s only wearing one shoe. And she—the woman in white—looks completely different. She isn’t old anymore. Her hair is still silver, but her face is young. Her dress is long and satiny, with a high collar.”

  Could she have stolen the kids’ youth? Stranger things had happened. “Was there a door?”

  He nodded. “The housekeeper was walking toward her car, when the same door appeared and the woman stepped out. Then she…” He frowned.

  “What?”

  “She winked at me. How does she know I’m there?”

  There was so much in the Abyss that I still didn’t understand. I did know one thing, however. If whoever was doing this knew that Boone knew, he was probably in danger. I shook my head. There was nothing we could do about this woman. It would be the same as when the boy and girl went missing. Without knowing who or what this woman was, she was all but impossible to find. “Do you know anything else this time? Like did she do anything magical or out of the ordinary after she came out of the door?”

  His eyebrows knit together. “I don’t think so.”

  “Do you know which hotel? Was it on the maid
’s uniform? Did it happen in the day or night? How do you know it’s the same kidnapper?”

  Boone ran his hands through his hair again. “I don’t know. It’s frustrating. When I had the vision I was walking down the street and someone brushed up against me. By the time I snapped out of it, the person who caused the flash was long gone.” His earnest blue eyes met mine, begging me to believe him. “We have to find her, Maggie. I don’t know how many more chances we’ll have, and it isn’t like the police are equipped to deal with this. I can’t do it without you. I need you.”

  My shoulders sagged. So much for keeping my head down and minding my own business.

  Chapter 2

  “Maggie?” Emery stuck her head through the kitchen door. “There’s a guy out here to see you.”

  That was weird. I hardly ever had visitors unless it was a customer, but most of them didn’t ask for me by name. “Who is it?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. He’s really insistent that he has to talk to you. Please don’t make me talk to him again.” She whispered the last part. “He’s scary.”

  It could be Holden, but most women didn’t look at him and think scary as often as they looked at him and wanted to lose their panties. I glanced back at Boone. “You know I’ll help any way I can, but I have to handle this. I won’t be long.”

  He finally gave me his dimpled grin that was warmer than the sun. “Go take care of your customers. I’ll stop by tonight, if that works for you.”

  I grinned back. “Absolutely.”

  In the café, a large man stood in front of the counter, his bulky arms folded across his expansive chest, taking up enough space for at least two people. The other patrons had stopped what they were doing and stared at him, mouths agape. “Emery, could you see if anyone needs a refill?” I asked and she nodded. I straightened my shoulders and settled my face into a pleasantly blank customer service expression. “How may I help you?” I asked.

  “Maggie Edwards?” The high-pitched voice that came from his mouth wasn’t at all what I expected looking at him.

  I pressed my fingers to my lips to keep from smiling. “Yes?”

  He glowered down at me, obviously not fooled. “You haven’t been easy to find.” Thick, meaty fingers reached toward me and wrapped around my forearm. His soul wasn’t dark enough to feed on, not that I would do that in front of customers, but at least it told me he was probably human. “Valefor desires your presence.” He tried to pull me forward, but I resisted. He might have been four times my size, but vampire strength trumped a human’s any day. His eyes widened and he gave my arm another tug, but I stayed exactly where I had planted myself. I kept smiling, so the customers wouldn’t panic.

  I reached down and took hold of his forefinger, snapping it backward. He released me with a grunt, clutching his hand to his chest. “You have the wrong person. I don’t know a Valefor. However, while you are here, can I interest you in a ladyfinger?”

  His eyes blazed down at me with new understanding. “Tonight, or we’ll come back for you,” he said, tossing something red on the counter, then walking away, not giving his crooked finger a second glance.

  Emery came up and stood next to me, twirling a strand of hair around her finger nervously. “When he grabbed you, I almost called the police, but you totally kept your cool. What a creep. I hope he doesn’t come back anytime soon. Who was that?”

  I shook my head, still staring at the door. This definitely couldn’t happen again. Burly thugs coming in and out of my bakery wasn’t going to make it the relaxing, fun place I wanted it to be. “I have no idea.”

  “What did he want?” She grabbed his card off the counter. Her tiny nose scrunched as she read it. “What is Valefor?”

  That’s what I wanted to know. The blood red business card in her hand was the only clue I had. The name Valefor and an address were written in black ink. The last thing I needed was another mystery, but I couldn’t ignore this, not if they were showing up here, during business hours. I forced a smile, not wanting to worry Emery. “I have no idea. Bizarre, right? Maybe they want to order a cake.”

  She giggled. “People like that don’t eat cake.”

  I nodded. “Very true. Cookies then,” I said with a wink.

  She stopped twirling her hair and chuckled. “Obviously. That’s what the dark side always serves. You could be the official provider of delicious cookies too all evil institutions.” Her eyes flicked up to the clock. “I have to get to class. I didn’t want to leave you while he was here, but I guess it’s okay now. Do you want me to come back after I finish for the day?”

  On reflex I started to say no, but I stopped. Between Boone planning a return visit and getting ready to host the neighborhood watch meeting tonight, I could probably use all the help I could get. “Actually, that would be great. But only if you’re sure you have time. It’s completely up to you. I can manage.”

  “Cool. See you in a couple hours.” She waved as she left.

  It was well into the afternoon before the bakery was completely empty. When the tables were cleaned, I ducked back into the kitchen, propping the door open so I could hear if anyone came inside. If the after work rush was half as large as the morning rush, I wouldn’t have anything to send to the homeless shelter or to give to the people who came for the neighborhood watch meeting.

  I got out caramel, butter, cream, flour, and vanilla to make another couple batches of salted caramel butter bars, and my phone dinged. I glanced at the text from my best friend, Izzy. “Miss you. Let’s hang out. Drinks tonight at Callaghan’s.”

  Becoming a half vampire had put a huge dent in my social life. I didn’t have family—except Holden but that was still really new to me. My friends had always been a huge part of my identity. We spent holidays, birthdays, celebrations, and crushing defeats together. Then one day, I just dropped off the face of the earth, at least from their point of view. Slowly I was working my way back to something more normal, but it wasn’t easy because I was different now and there were things I couldn’t share without putting them in danger. Mainly, that vampires were real and I had very poor decision making skills.

  “Can’t tonight. Neighborhood watch,” I texted back.

  “Maggie, you promised,” she responded almost instantly.

  My promise that I would be around more was well intended, but not entirely realistic. Even with part-time help there was still so much to do. I sighed. I didn’t even sleep and there simply weren’t enough hours in a day. I needed to find the woman who was going to be kidnapped, so we could stop the person doing it before she went after Boone. Now, I also needed to figure out who Valefor was and why he wanted to see me. I had also committed to host the neighborhood watch meeting because I genuinely wanted to know my neighbors. Not to mention I still had hours of baking to do for tomorrow morning. Ugh. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but it would be quicker to agree then argue about it. Beside Izzy did have a point, I promised. “Drinks @ ten? Where?”

  “Callaghan’s. See you then.”

  While I made the bars, I considered the man who left the red card. There really needed to be a better way to know if people were supernatural or not. Like it would seriously help if they glowed or had horns or something, but sadly a lot of us looked the same as anyone else, myself included. I had blood red eyes, but those were easy enough to hide with contacts, as long as I kept using eye drops. Whatever or whoever this Valefor was, I would almost guarantee that it wasn’t human and definitely wasn’t interested in my baking skills.

  I couldn’t think of anything I had done recently to draw attention to myself, save the one night I couldn’t remember. That was the problem with being the only half-vampire. I didn’t just have to hide from humans. I actually needed to hide from everyone, because people would have questions or worse, ways to use me. Apart from the angel interfering with my transformation, I couldn’t tell anyone how or why she did it and what it all meant. And once I let myself start thinking too much about any of this stu
ff it was hard to breathe.

  The next problem was Boone’s vision. After the first one, I asked Olivia and Holden about the lady. The best Olivia could come up with was Baba Yaga, an old, extremely powerful witch who lived in the woods and liked to take small children, but that didn’t pan out. This new vision seemed just as hopeless on the surface. A lady in old-fashioned clothes could pretty much be anyone. Plus there were thousands of hotels. We couldn’t possibly cover all of them. What good were these stupid visions, if they didn’t give us anything solid to go on?

  ****

  Boone showed up just before Emery locked the front door and flipped the sign to closed—a full hour before our official closing time. We had completely sold out of everything I’d made in the morning and some of what I’d made that afternoon. She pulled the shades before collapsing in a chair. I brought her an ambrosia bar and a cup of coffee.

  “Where have you been hiding this? We could have sold it. Not that I’m complaining. Eating is my favorite perk of the job,” she said, taking a bite. “I don’t know how you do this, Maggie. Not only would I being falling asleep, but I’d probably go into a sugar coma.”

  I laughed. “It’s not that bad.”

  “Psssh. You were here all day and you must have come in during the middle of the night to get all of that baking done. Now you have to stay for the neighborhood watch meeting. You need more employees.”

  I shrugged. “I’m very energetic.” Which was truer than she could ever know. While I was literally half dead, I was also half alive and that living half fed the vampire half constantly. So basically, my energy was off the charts all the time. It was harder to sit still than to stay busy.

  “You probably could’ve made twice as much, and I bet we would have sold it all.”