by Liz Schulte
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked softly, his eyes trailing the movement of my hand.
I closed my hand into a fist and placed it behind my back. He wasn’t going to distract me again. “Well, I need to get started. So…” I nodded toward the door.
He gave me a confused look. “What?”
“You can go.”
He laughed. “Are you kicking me out?”
“I was trying to, but you don’t seem to be moving.” I shook my head, unable to hold back a smile. “You know, you’re nothing like what I thought.”
His eyes narrowed. “You mean for a band geek?”
My grin widened. “No. That’s a tiny piece of what was unexpected about you. I don’t know. Until we started hanging out, I assumed you were…” I shrugged.
“What?”
I carefully watched his face. “Holden 2.0.”
His generally amused expression didn’t change, but his eyes were pleased. “As long as we’re making awkward confessions, I thought Baker was batshit crazy for going out with you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I get it now, though. You’re strangely sweet. And once you have the taste, it’s hard to not keep coming back.” He reached over and tucked a piece of hair that escaped my ponytail behind my ear. “For a snoopy busybody that is.”
“Well, this snoopy busybody has to get to work. Either make yourself useful or go to the front and stop distracting me.” I tied my apron around my waist.
He stood up and snagged Emery’s apron. The pink polka dots really stood out against black and leather. He pointed a finger at me the moment a smile broke out over my face. “If you laugh, I won’t help you.”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard. “How do you feel about cookies?”
“I can do it. Hit me.”
“Start with the sugar cookie dough.” I flipped my recipe book to the correct page and gave it to him.
I turned on music and we worked well together. Phoenix was precise and exacting, following the recipe to the letter. Before the dough went into the refrigerator, I tasted a small piece. “The texture’s perfect.”
He nodded. “I can read. Good to know.”
I laughed. “I always knew you could do it. If I had a gold star, I’d give it to you.” I was so tempted to snap a picture of him in the apron, but resisted since he was actually being helpful.
“My life is complete. What’s next?”
“Try the ranger cookies, Einstein.”
There was a light knock on the alley door.
Phoenix pulled a gun that I hadn’t even noticed he was carrying. “Are you expecting someone?”
Chapter 12
“No.”
Phoenix put a hand on my back and practically pushed me toward the door. “Demons don’t usually knock. Just relax.”
“I’m not worried about a demon. I’m worried about the innocent person you will probably end up shooting.”
“This is just in case I’m wrong.” There was another knock. He nodded at the door.
I opened it. Izzy swayed, despite being braced against the wall. She looked at me with red rimmed eyes and a quivering low lip. I could smell the alcohol on her from where I stood. “I’m starting to worry about you,” I told her.
“Are you going to judge me or let me in? The whole alley is spinning.” She squatted down resting her forehead against her knees. “It’s over,” she mumbled into her legs.
I glanced back at Phoenix who had already put the gun away, and I stepped outside, helping her up and walking her inside. If she threw up in my kitchen, we were going to have a serious talk in the morning.
“It always smells so good in here,” she said. Her eyes slowly focused on Phoenix beneath heavy eyelids. “Who’s that?”
I looked at Phoenix in his leather pants and pink and white polka-dotted apron. My mind went blank. How was I supposed to explain him?
“I’m the nightshift,” he said, coming to my rescue. “You don’t think she can make all that by herself, do you? I’m the real talent here, though she takes all the credit.”
Izzy giggled. “I like him. I like you. Who are you really?”
He smiled at her. “Who do you think I am?”
Izzy studied him. I could see the moment the lightbulb went off in her head. “This is a date,” she announced then hit my arm. “You’re on a date? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. What about Boone? I thought you liked him. You talk about him a lot.”
“Boone?” Phoenix asked.
“No, this isn’t a date and Boone has a girlfriend.” I caught Phoenix mouthing, “It’s a date,” to Izzy and I glared at him. “You were supposed to go home and talk to Kyle.”
All teasing and excitement vanished. Her face fell. “I did.”
My heart ached for her. She didn’t even have to say the words. I could see them written all over her. The talk didn’t go well. “Can you take her out front and make sure she sits?” I told Phoenix. “I’ll make coffee.”
I took my cupcakes out of the oven, put in another batch, then made coffee for Izzy. When I came out of the kitchen, Phoenix and Izzy were sitting at a table talking easily to one another. I handed each of them a cup and sat in an empty chair.
“Start at the beginning.”
“I went home after work like you told me to. Kyle acted like nothing happened. He didn’t ask why I was out all night. In fact, the only thing he even said was, ‘Should we order in?’ I told him I lied about the crush and—” She shook her head. “He said, ‘What crush?’ He didn’t even listen to me. I asked point blank if we were ever getting married and he shrugged. Shrugged. What am I supposed to do with that? It’s over. Can I move in with you?”
Part of me wanted Izzy to live with me, mainly for selfish reasons: we would have fun and I wouldn’t be lonely. But it wasn’t worth her life. However, I couldn’t say no. She wouldn’t have turned me down. I needed a better solution.
“Maggie,” she said, looking up.
“What about living here?” I blurted. It was the first and only thing that came to mind. She might not be completely safe here, but probably more so than she’d be at my house. Plus, it was a perfectly good unused apartment right over the bakery. “That way I don’t have to rent to a stranger and you don’t have to live in my neighborhood.”
“You don’t want to live with me?” Her eyes filled with fresh tears.
I looked at Phoenix for help, but he lounged back with a smirk. “Yeah, don’t you want to live with her, Maggie?”
“Of course, I want to live with you. We’d have an awesome time together, but, look. You would be doing me a favor taking the upstairs apartment. I’m not ready to sell Baker’s house yet, and it would never rent in the neighborhood it’s in. Plus, I work crazy hours so you would be there alone a lot at night and that can’t be safe. We’ll see each other more if you live here. It’s closer to your work and you can help me out in the store. It’s a really nice apartment.” I held my breath, waiting for her verdict.
She chewed a fingernail, eyes still glossy. “How big is it?”
“The same size as bakery.”
She shook her head. “I can’t afford it.”
I smiled. “I’ll give you a good deal. You can park your car at the house, though. I hadn’t figured out what I wanted to do with it, so it wasn’t like I was losing money. Just think about it. And of course you can stay with me until you decide what you want to do for sure. I think this might work out for the best. Like you said you have never lived alone. You might find that you really like it. But if you don’t, who knows.” I was being careful not to make any promises because it wasn’t like my situation was going to change.
Izzy hugged me. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
I hugged her back. Even if I couldn’t stay here forever, I was here now. “I have to check the oven.”
I slipped back into the kitchen, wiping a pink tear from my cheek as I went.
I pulled out the cupcakes and r
olled out Phoenix’s sugar cookie dough. I was in the process of making butterflies when Phoenix came back into the kitchen.
He sauntered toward the island with a smug expression. “How does it feel to be a hypocrite?”
“Excuse me?” I looked up.
“You’ve been nagging and lecturing me about lying to you. What did I just watch in there?”
“That’s different.”
He shook his head. “Just because you aren’t the one being lied to, doesn’t make it different.”
“I can’t tell her about all of this,” I hissed. “It’s dangerous. It will ruin her life just like it did mine.”
He smiled. “Exactly, so you understand. There is nothing wrong with not telling people everything. Now what are you doing to my cookies?”
I understood what he was trying to say. Maybe the lies he told me were as much for my protection as the ones I told Izzy, but I didn’t want him to protect me. Just like Boone didn’t want me to protect him. Oh …
****
A couple hours later, Phoenix was gone and Izzy had woken up, surprisingly sober. I had a feeling Phoenix had something to do with that, but I didn’t know how that was possible. She called in sick to work, saying she needed a mental health day, and helped Emery behind the counter, while I finished up the baking I wasn’t able to get to the night before.
When the last sheet of cookie bars went into the oven, I did something I’d been putting off far too long. I made the sign of the cross and mentally prayed that Olivia could come talk to me. Moments later, she appeared in the kitchen with her typical bright smile and kind eyes.
The moment she saw me the expression faded. “Are you okay?” she asked, her forehead creased with worry.
I shook my head—and spilled everything that I had been holding onto. She stood, silently listening to each word. When I finally finished my confession, I looked at her. “You can’t tell Holden any of this, right? Like church.”
She chuckled softly. “I’m not a priest. But if you don’t want me to tell him, I won’t.”
I nodded. “What should I do?”
Olivia closed her eyes and tilted her head like she was listening to something I couldn’t hear. “Obviously you have to get the people back from Holda.”
I nodded. I knew she’d be on board. Olivia had never met an enemy that could frighten her away from doing what was right.
“The problem is a goddess can’t be defeated in our world. You will have to go to her plane, but even there, in her world, she will be nearly undefeatable. You can’t win. That’s why you aren’t going to fight her. No one is.”
My mouth fell open. Out of everyone, Olivia was the only one I thought would understand. She couldn’t be telling me to do what I thought she was. “I’m not going to abandon them.”
She smiled. “Good. That’s what I hoped you’d say. Obviously, I can’t be involved. At least not technically. But since she isn’t of our world, I don’t know that balance matters much, do you think?”
“Uh…” How was I supposed to know that? I couldn’t even recognize a vampire. The idea that the world needed a balance between good and evil really didn’t factor into my day to day life.
“I don’t think so either,” she said apparently not actually caring what I thought or she was better at deciphering my feelings than I was. “So here’s what’s going to happen. When you find out where she will be, let me know. Whatever spell or magic she is using won’t work on me. I will distract her, while you enter her world and collect the people she has stolen. After you get them out and she returns, destroy the door. It’s her passage to this world. Without it, she can’t come back. At least for a while. It will take time to remake something like that.”
“That sounds simple enough,” I said slowly, waiting for the catch. The one where I had to sacrifice someone to destroy the door or something equally horrifying.
Olivia shook her head. “The plan sounds simple on the surface, but don’t be fooled. I don’t know what will happen in her world. You have to be ready for anything, which is the only thing that is actually impossible to be ready for. Also, you will be making an enemy with a goddess for life, and you’re going to live a really long time.”
Right. So I can save people in the short term, but have to worry about a goddess attacking me at some random point in the future. Again, no wonder people in the Abyss were loners. You were damned if you do, damned if you don’t. “That’s okay. At least it’s a plan—which is so much more than I had before.”
“As for the demon, you don’t need my help with that. You can handle her on your own.”
She had no idea how much I wished that was true. “No, I couldn’t. I tried. She was too strong.”
“Maggie, this is what you were built to do. The angel saw to that. You can defeat her. You can defeat probably any demon. You just have to let yourself. Figure out what’s holding you back. You are powerful whether or not you can see it yet. I can see it in you.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry to abandon you, but I really have to go. Do you feel better?”
I nodded.
She smiled. “Great. Let me know when you need me again.”
“Wait. What about the humans? I should cut them out, right?”
Olivia gave me a sympathetic look. “Humans can do amazing things. You did. Don’t underestimate people, Maggie, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. It was a hard lesson for me to learn, but sometimes you can’t save everyone and you have to let them follow their own path toward whatever danger they choose. But ultimately it’s up to you who you choose to surround yourself with. Don’t do anything rash. Just follow your heart. Sorry I have to run. Talk soon.” She vanished, leaving me thinking I really got screwed on this not being able to transport bit.
The rest of the morning flew by, however, and having Izzy there was actually working out great. I could spend more time in the kitchen and wasn’t completely tied to the store. I was even able to call in some supply orders.
I boxed up some cupcakes and cookies and took them across the street to Beeswax. Megan and Stephanie smiled and waved, but there were bags under Megan’s eyes. She looked like she hadn’t gotten a moment of sleep.
“How’s Boone?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him.”
Stephanie took Megan’s hand. “I just can’t imagine how hard this is for him.”
I could. I also understood why he didn’t want to talk to me. I had tried to call him a couple times, but it went straight to voice mail. “If you hear from him, let him know I have a plan. I’ll get her back.”
“Do you want me to call him when Holda shows back up?” Megan asked. “I called last night, just before I called you, but he must have been asleep.”
Everything in me went still. “You called Boone?”
“Yeah, he didn’t answer. I mean I didn’t know it was his house, but I tried to tell him. I ended up leaving a message.”
I let out a breath. If Megan had called him, why did he fly off the handle about me not calling? “It’s not your fault.”
Megan gave me a watery smile. “I should have tried harder.”
“You did everything you could,” Stephanie told her.
Megan wiped her finger beneath her eyes. “If you need anything, please let me know. I don’t care if Holda is a goddess. I’ll help.”
Olivia’s advice still echoed in my mind. I took a deep breath. If the witches wanted to help, I’d let them. I had a feeling I was going to need all the help I could get. I nodded. “I’m going into her dimension to get everyone back while she is distracted out here. I have someone to distract her, but I could probably use help inside and we’ll need to figure out how to destroy the door after she goes back in. I have no idea what I’ll find in her world and we might not make it back.”
Megan’s chin lifted. “I’ll be there.”
“Me too,” Stephanie said, though she looked less certain.
Two witches had t
o improve my odds. Now I just needed to talk Phoenix into helping, whether or not he wanted to. He was strong and he knew more about the Abyss and all of this than any of us. Besides, when going into a fight, it was always good to have someone a little devious on your side who wasn’t afraid to break the rules.
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.
Chapter 13
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?”
