Page 30 of Cookbooks and Demons

“Hmm,” she cooed as she chewed, then took a second bite that got a bit of the yolk. The yolk inside was still runny, and it burst into her mouth with creamy goodness. She didn’t even mind the little bit of yolk that dribbled downher chin.

Rafferty’s eyes seemed to devour the sight of her eating as he watched her every move, but she didn’tmind it.

I’m getting better at understanding him. She contemplated the situation he was in. She couldn’t imagine what it had to be like to not be able to taste anything. What was letting him devour the memories of her food really going to do to her anyway? There was a second pieceof toast.

“Do you want to try this?” she asked, pushing the plate a little toward him to offer him the other piece.

“No, this is yours,” heinsisted.

“You looked starved,” she noted, though he really didn’t when he was in his human form. The emaciation of his demonic form was well hidden under the human skin. It was his eyes that looked so hungry.

“No,” he said firmly, pulling his folded hands toward his chest like he was turtling up. “I cannot feed off your memories at every meal you have. You won’t make it two weeks if wedo that.”

She mulled that over. “Okay, so then we gotta make it count. Is there anywhere in the city you would like to eat?”

That invoked an eyebrow raise. “Anywhere?”

“Well, sure. There are lots of great chefs in the city, and I need to do some tastings for work. Plus I think it’s more fun if you let someone else cook for you. You get to see what they would do differently and stuff.” She didn’t know how persuasive she really was being, but she kept smiling at him, hoping forthe best.

Rafferty flattened his hands onto the table while he thought hard. “I… I think I could do that,” he said carefully. A tremor of excitement cometed through his starlight eyes.

Helena smiled even brighter. “Great!” Then she eyed his caterer’s uniform. It was only then that she realized he had worn the same one every day that he had been in her presence. “Do you have anything else youcan wear?”

Chapter 17

Taking a Demon Shopping

The answer was no. Rafferty did not have anything else to wear, and both of them were reluctant to have him use demon magic to conjure anything more appropriate to go to a two or even three star restaurant. She’d rather justuse money.

“Come on. This is going to be fun,” she said, dragging Rafferty into the high-end outlet mall. The demon looked overwhelmed, but she kept a firm grip on his arm. As far as she could tell, as long as he stayed in his human form, no one seemed to really notice anything out of place about him. Not on the bus ride over there nor as people passed them in the mall itself.

Yet, Rafferty was stiff as a board, walking in a way that would have made the Tin Man look like Gumby. “That’s my favorite place.” She gestured toward the105thclothing store. “You can get really nice pieces for really low prices because they are just trying to move the inventory. We’ll go there first to get you something betterto wear…”

“This is a bad idea, and we should leave now,” Rafferty growled under his breath.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, smiling politely to a mother and child trying to get by as Rafferty came to a full stop next to a very leafy potted plant.

“I don’t… I don’t like…” he struggled to say.

“You don’t like what?” she pushed.

He dropped his voice even more, leaning forward to bring his breath to her ear. “I don’t like people.”

“Yeah, that’s obvious,” she said dryly, rollingher eyes.

“I mean, I never liked people. Not ever. It’s all too much.” He pivoted then, turning to head back the way they had come. “I can’t do this. I’m going.”

“Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. You’re fine. This is fine,” she soothed, running her hands down his arms. He rolled his eyes as he let her stop him, dragging him back to their semi-hiding spot. “Look, okay. I can appreciate that this is hard for you. I’m guessing you haven’t really gotten out very much in the last how many hundred years?”

“Three hundred fifty.”

“Right,” she confirmed, annoyed, butpushed on.

“And yes, usually people summon me into a kitchen or something. Definitely into their houses, and when they’re done, I’m dismissed,” heconceded.

“Okay, so … not a lot of crowd interactions. Completely understandable. But we can’t exactly go into a restaurant with you looking like you’re part of the staff, right?” she said, gesturing to his caterer’s outfit. Then she had an idea. “I bet I can find a store in this place that you would love.”

Rafferty looked around. “Look, I don’t really care about how I look. I never really liked clothes, okay? They were just something to keep on your body when it was cold and to keep the priests off your back. You know? Modesty and stuff. Moreor less.”

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