Page 14 of Cookbooks and Demons

“Okay, that’s enough,” Rafferty said, waving his hand at her. “Get onwith it.”

Helena nodded, then lifted up the book and read the words of the spell one at a time backwards. She didn’t sense or smell anything, there was no shift like there had been before, but when she looked up, Raffertywas gone.

The world seemed so normal the next day. She got up, got ready for work, and even took the train—all normal, all the same. But she felt like she was only seeing it all for the first time.

Once the demon had been sent back to … where he had come from, and she had mopped up all the traces of the summoning with a mix of baking soda, lemon, vinegar, and allspice, for some reason, from the recipe the demon instructed her to use, she had been sure she would never fall asleep. After all, what had just happened had been terrifying, hadn’t it? It should have kept her up all night with worry and fear, knowing demons existed for sure and that she had made a dealwith one.

Instead, she fell asleep immediately upon her head hitting the pillow.

Sitting on the bench of the train, she stared out at the trees passing. The train was elevated in this section and zipped through the carefully pruned branches of the trees lining each side, making the light dance and sway within the car. The late fall colors and the gentle rocking added to the peace and fulfillment she enjoyed. She wasn’t sure anyone else felt it, but there was a connection inside her that seemed to permeate everything around her. She was alive and whole and safe. And happy. It made her feel like she floated as she got off the train and walked the three blocks to her office building, then up the eight floors to Scarlet Promotions, Inc.

“Well you look sunny today,” Yosef noted when Helena walked through the clear, tempered glass doors of the office.

He stood near the reception desk with a set of folders tucked under one arm, looking perfect in his business khaki pants with the soft violet shirt. They were the casual, warm colors everyone in Scarlet’s office wore as the boss tried to foster her “garden of talent.” Everything in the office itself reflected that theme. There were flowers and potted plants everywhere, even some hanging vines in planters interspersed among the natural, not fluorescent, lights. Everyone was allowed to wear business casual with as many colors as they desired unless there was a formal business meeting of some kind with outside clients. There were no cubicle walls to separate everyone, just open concept desks that switched between sitting and standing with a hand crank. Small tables of refreshments sat at every end. Lunch was also catered every day. When privacy was needed, there was a row of silent booths installed along the one wall with round, ship-portico windows set in the doors so those within could be seen, but not heard.

It was a little kumbaya, but as far as office cultures go, there were far, far worse, if the life section of most major newspapers were to be believed.She had only been there three years, and outside of two coffee shops and a short stint in a box chain bookstore after college, it was the only place she had ever worked professionally.

All of this was tucked back behind a long clear wall that cascaded in a magic waterfall fountain that made the moving colors beyond it shimmer and shimmy. Faces were hard to make out, but Helena realized that several of the blobby faces were looking through the wall at the little exchange happening in the reception foyer.

The first feeling of unease slid through Helena as she glanced from the watching eyes to Yosef. “Hi. What’s … going on?” she asked carefully.

He sniffed at her, breaking his neutral face as he thrust out the folders to her. “You’re in charge of the McCater account now.”

Helena stared at the folders before her. As one of five event coordinators, she would have been less shocked if he had presented her with the Oscar and Publishing Clearing House Check.

“You’re serious?” she asked breathlessly as she reached to take thefolders.

“Scarlet wanted to tell you herself, but she’s having a slow morning, so go over these, and she’ll meet with you at ten. Her office.”

“Alright, I’ll be there,” she agreed, hugging the files to her chest as happiness burned through her chest in happy little fireworks of joy.

Yosef nodded once and turned to walk around the waterfall wall to Scarlet’s office.

Helena exchanged a glance with the receptionist, the only true witness, who had been fielding calls the whole time. She excitedly gave Helena a dual thumbs up while continuing to talk to whoever was on the other end of the phone. Stunned, Helena allowed herself to grin back, and then moved to go around the glass waterfall wall.

“Congratulations!” the office erupted the second she cleared it, stunning her again into a standstill. Everyone there started clapping along with their cheers and more than a few people came forth to pat her on the back or giveher hugs.

“Couldn’t have happened to a better person.”

“You absolutely deserved this.”

“Invitemeto dinner next time!”

The cheers and well wishes followed her all the way to her desk, where she numbly dropped her purse and messenger bag, while not daring to let go of the precious folders she had been given. Finally, Yosef reappeared and chased everyone away and back to work. She set the folders down on the desk like they were holy relics and pressed her fingers to her lips. Everything she ever wanted.

“Thank you, Rafferty,” she whispered. He may have been a demon, but in this, he had beenan angel.

She hoped wherever he was, he couldhear her.

Chapter 9

But I StartedThinking…

“Do you think hellis real?”

“You’ve been thinking about it ever since we mentioned it at dinner the other night?” Cindy asked and Helena nodded. It seemed a strange topic to bring up on the sunny late afternoon at the outdoor café, probably one of the last for the year, but it had been weighing on Helena’s mind. It had been a week since getting her new projects, yet something in her newly perfected world felt off. So when Cindy had invited Helena for a belated celebratory dinner before the good doctor’s next shift at the hospital, Helena jumped at it. She needed to talk it out.

She hadn’t even meant to bring up the question, but there it was, like a smelly fish flopped on the table. She was just on the brink of taking the question back when Cindy waved her hand before she could speak.

---