Page 11 of Cookbooks and Demons

“Like I said, I couldn’t stand it,” he said, an edge of growl in his voice.

It wasn’t directed at her, but she pursed her lips at it. “Thank you,”she said.

“Yeah,” he answered, sighing as he flipped the towel back over his gray shoulder and folded his arms across his chest, surveying the domain he had been master of until that moment. “Okay, I guess it’s time. How do you want todo this?”

A small, worried half-whimper escaped her throat.

He turned to her, his imposing form bearing down on her even from acrossthe room.

Then he sighed. “You don’t know how any of this works at all do you?”

Her throat had closed up, so she shook her head while tears burned at the bottom ofher eyes.

He sighed a second time and gestured a hand. Immediately his form changed, reverting back to a normal man’s with burning ethereal eyes. “Is that better?” he asked, obviouslyannoyed.

She nodded, swallowing her tears. It was better, even if only marginally because she still knew what he was underneath. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know how I did this, I don’t know what it all means, and I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t helped me—”

“Okay, okay. Calm down,” he said and gestured toward her dining room. “Let’s go sit down, and I’ll give you the full rundown on how this works.”

Chapter 7

The Best Cake Ever… I Think

Like a martyr walking to her execution, Helena crossed into her dining room and sat down. Only half an hour before, it had been filled with the laughter and conversation of herfriends.

But maybe that was a good way to go out? Her last night on earth had been lovely. Isn’t that what people most wished for?

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head to herself. This was not what she had wanted at all. She wanted to live.

A plate appeared before her, holding one of the pieces of cake. It was followed by a full glass of milk clunking onto the table. “Eat this. It’ll help you feel better,” the demon said, and he took the chair around the corner next to herand sat.

She eyed him and the cake with mistrust, even though she had already consumed a piece at dinner. He still wore the human face and clothes as he sat down. She hated to admit it, but that helped somewhat. Thinking of him as human made him less scary. But still, there had been two pieces left in the kitchen, and he didn’t have the otherwith him.

“Aren’t you going to have one?” she asked, picking up the fork on the plate but not intending to use it on the cake. Even if it was a pathetic weapon, and she didn’t even know if she had the will to use it that way, it was better than nothing. Would the tines even penetrate his skin if he attacked her?

“I can eat if you want me to, but it won’t taste like anything to me,” he stated matter-of-factly, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t look at her when he said that, instead letting his strange eyes drift off into the middle distance. With his human face on, he looked so… tired.

She furrowed her eyebrows. “It won’t taste like anything?” she repeated, incredulous. “But you were… oh.” Her eyebrows shot up as she put it together. “That’s why you had me tastingfor you.”

He nodded, but the long-seeing eyes had shifted to her cake, now filled with hunger.

“But how do you know if your food is good then?” she asked, glomming on to a safe question. After all, she didn’t taste everything.

“I can smell it,” he said in a low voice. “Chocolate, frying fish, buttery savor. I can smell all of it. But the second I put anything in my mouth, ashes.” He touched his lips with his fingers in a mockery of a chef’s kiss.

“That’s horrible,” Helena said, forking a bite of the chocolate into her mouth. It sat on her tongue, heavy with the prospect of it too turning to ash in her mouth. It didn’t. It remained the decadent symphony of flavor it had been from that first spoon lick. She hadn’t even realized she had started eating it, and already the plate was half gone.

“Yes,” the demon said, his eyes following her motions with the fork from plate to mouth and back. “It’s horrible, alright.” Then he blinked as if remembering himself. “Alright. So… based on what I’ve observed, I am guessing that you’ve never actually done any of this before?” He gestured at the kitchen. “The summoning and the paymentand all.”

“I’m still not sure how ithappened.”

He waved a hand. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’m going to tell you what you need to know to settle this.”

That raised her alarm bells again.“But how will I know it’s the truth, and you’re not trying to trick me or something?” she asked before wondering if asking such a thing would anger him. She had flashes of being tied to an old-fashioned spit and roasted with an apple in her mouth while the demon basted her with a paintbrush.

Instead, he just cocked one eyebrow at her. “You’re just going to have to trust me,” he said, amused. “And if you don’t ever do it again, everything should be fine.” He cleared his throat and repositioned in his seat. “Alright, what you need to understand is this: there are three things you can give a demon to pay for their services.” He ticked off three fingers. “The shorthand for it is mind, body, or soul. And before you freak out, it’s not what you think,” he warned, holding up a hand as Helena reacted tothe list.

He plowed on. “Body is the easy one—everyone knows it. We consume something from your body. I’m sure you’ve heard of blood sacrifices. It doesn’t have to be blood; it’s just the most sensationally known thing people offer. Soul is… well, really a misnomer. It’s life energy, usually taken from you via sex and is the go-to of most succubi or incubi. They’ve perfected getting the most outof that.”

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