All Celia wanted was to make tasty sandwiches for a friend's baby shower. When her cooking endeavors summon a demon in her kitchen, Celia thinks sending him back to his home will be the end of their story and that she'll be able to return to her mun...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I poked through a stack of books with my lips pursed and my brow furrowed. No one ever put things back in the correct place! Sometimes I wondered if they intentionally misplaced them. I let out a small sigh, gathered the books in a pile in my arms, then strode through the store to put them where they belonged. Mayar trotted alongside me while I tidied up the different sections of the store. Eventually, I made it back to my usual post and began rearranging the tins of handmade tea.
"Oh good, I was about to call you." David looked over at me and set down his pendulum. "Got a customer here asking about—"
"I'm lookin' for a cookbook, Dave here says you bought it." A woman with sharp features and a pixie cut crossed her arms at me. I did my best to focus on her and not the massive, glowing man standing behind her. The woman's glowing companion was bound by chains and had a bloodied blindfold across his eyes. A ring of light floated behind his back, sending sparkling rays skittering across the shop. He looked like he'd been beaten recently, judging by the bruising, and his shackles had dried blood around them.
I swallowed hard and looked the woman in the eye. "Not anymore. The recipes seriously sucked, so I got rid of it already."
"She's telling the truth..." The golden man leaned down to whisper by the woman's ear. Her gaze flicked to the side momentarily before looking back to me. "No...no she can't see me."
"Nothing...weird happened when you tried the recipes?" The woman narrowed her eyes at me.
"I'm hopeless in the kitchen." I shrugged. "Even if I was a decent cook, I don't think it'd have helped. Who puts chocolate, sriracha, and marshmallow on salmon anyway?"
"Ugh." The woman crossed her arms and huffed. I remained still as her glowing companion tiptoed over to me. With his back to the woman, he mouthed instructions to keep pretending. Once in range, he prodded my cheek a few times and chuckled, the corners of his mouth pulling into a small smile. "Hard to believe you're her grandkid. Must be so pissed to finally have had a dud show up in the family line!"
"A...dud?" I arched an eyebrow at her. That wasn't quite the words they'd used when they threw me out.
"You sure you're not a sorceress? I mean, working in a shop like this..." The woman frowned and peered around. "Why'd old Quinn sell a cookbook to an occult shop anyway?"
"I'm more curious why she wants it back. I've never known my grandmother to cook...anything. She always said that's what the servants are for." I shrugged, and the woman grimaced.
"Sounds like her alright." The woman raised her hands. "Whatever. Guess I'll try tracking the book down elsewhere. You said it had nasty recipes in it? Maybe someone lifted the real one then..."
The woman walked out of the shop and whipped out her cell phone, but her companion stayed inside. I had a feeling she'd instructed him to keep an eye on me.
