Even when he acted like a complete asshat, she cared. Absolutely crazy. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Yep, she was pathetic.
Kalli pulled from the embrace first. She turned to Serah and arched a brow, a knowing smile curving her lips.
Yeah right, she couldn’t read my mind. That expression said it all.
“If you scowl any harder, your face will stay like that forever.”
“Sorry, I was just thinking really hard.”
Kalli shrugged. “If you think any harder, diamonds are going to pop out of your ears.” She yanked at her skimpy lace corset and blew a giant pink bubble.
“Are you saying I have a brain full of coal?” Serah crossed her arms. Then again, sometimes she felt like it.
“Good point. Not a very good quip, huh? As much as you try to hide the fact, there is more in your brain than you realize.”
Kalli strode toward her and wrapped her arms around Serah, pulling her into a friendly embrace. “It’s perfectly all right to be attracted to him,” she whispered. “Just so you know, he’s attracted to you too.” She offered Serah a sly wink.
Yes, Kalli was much too shrewd for her own good.
With that, she pulled from their embrace. “Mind if I use your office? I know how all that poofing affects you.”
Serah nodded. Secretly, she wished Kalli would stay. She didn’t want to be alone with him. Part of him scared her. Part of him intrigued her, and, well, the other part of him—she’d seen where that had ended up.
So what if they were attracted to each other? So what if he kissed like a professional? So what if she was more than eager to jump his bones?
He’d been a mercenary. He’d battled for both sides. What’s not to say he wouldn’t switch sides? Maybe he was playing both sides right now? After all, hadn’t Balthazar said as much in the alley? That Matthias had upheld his part of the bargain?
And then there was Daniel with his always smiling disposition. Maybe they were working together?
“Thinking hard again?” Kalli asked, breaking her from her thoughts.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I’ll leave you to it then.” Kalli threw her hand up in a dismissive wave and strolled off toward the office, the door clicking shut behind her.
“Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Cover for me.”
“I wasn’t covering for you.” She crossed her arms in front of her. “I just didn’t think it was the right time to discuss it.”
Matthias nodded. “Well, thank you anyway.”
“Whatever,” she said, attempting to sound indifferent. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to start supper.”
Matthias blew out a breath and adjusted his shirt. Serah sighed. The naughty part of her wished it were still on the floor. “I need to talk to you about this, Serah.”
It was not the time or the place to have thoughts like that. And she definitely wasn’t ready to discuss his involvement in her kidnapping either.
Serah crossed her arms. “I’ve got other things to deal with right now. The TV show, remember?”
“As you wish.” He reached in his pocket and palmed his phone. “Rafael will be checking in soon anyway.” He swiped his finger across the touch screen. “I might just call him myself.”
“I’ll let you know when supper is ready. Maybe then we can talk.” She owed him that.
“Would you like me to get the pot at least?” Matthias offered a friendly smile. “I can’t have my shirt drenched again.”
“Fine, if you really want to.”
“Yes, I want to.”
“Knock yourself out.” She handed him the pot.
Matthias took the pot beneath his arm and filled it with water. He carried the pot across the kitchen and set it on the stove. “I’ll let you take care of the rest. You’ve seen what I can do to a kitchen.”
“Don’t remind me.” She reached for the knob to light the burner.
Matthias reached for her shoulder. “Serah, are you sure you don’t want to talk now?”
She stiffened. Part of her wanted to talk, but part of her still wanted to keep her distance. For crying out loud, could anything go easy once in a while?
“I’m not ready yet.”
Matthias nodded, turned, and headed toward the office.
She twisted the knob to increase the flame. With a deep sigh, she leaned against the counter and stared into the placid pot of water. If only those molecules knew what was going to happen to them in a matter of minutes. If it was anything like what was going through her heart right now, she really felt bad for that pot, especially when the water started to boil out of control.
It was better this way. It had to be.
Chapter 30
“Ye should gie him some haggis,” Farquhar said, his voice meowing in her ear. Serah adjusted the Bluetooth headset to turn down the volume.
“That’s just cruel.”
“Wha’s that sayin’? Don’t knock it if ye haven’t tried it.”
“I have tried it.”
“Wha’ever, lass.” Farquhar sighed. “Why did ye no invite me tae dinner?”
“I just assumed you and Inanna would be busy elsewhere.”
She stirred the sauce in the pan. She took a long breath, savoring the aroma of simmering tomatoes and spices. Her nose twitched. Something was off. She scanned the spices, spinning the rack. She never missed a spice before. Stupid Matthias. Now he was affecting her ability to cook.
She took a spoon and dipped it into the sauce. Maybe tasting it would help narrow the problem down. She brought the spoon to her lips.
Ick! She’d never tasted anything so vile in her life. The tomatoes had been fresh. Not a spot on them. Yet it tasted like rotten goat cheese.
She spit out the sauce. No effing way. She should have known Matthias was up to something. She reached for the knob to turn down the flame. It would not budge.
The flames burst from beneath the pot. A giant bubble burst, sending the stink up in the air. The rank odor of rancid Limburger cheese set her nostrils burning. The sauce continued to rumble and roil as the bubbles grew bigger. It was solidifying.
“My recipe didn’t call for this.”
She yanked open a drawer and grabbed the first implement she could. She gripped the shiny meat cleaver, ready to strike.
“Get the hell out of my kitchen,” she shouted, waving the cleaver in front of her.
A low, primitive growl was the demon’s response. He, she, or whatever it was, kept growing out of the pot, as thick plumes of black smoke swirled around it. The pot was like a magic lamp, but the genie coming out wasn’t so nice.
Two arms formed, the thick red sauce dripping onto her floor. Her sauce was indeed ruined.
“I said get the hell out.”
“I was invited,” the demon gurgled out, its head popping up like a bubble. “I don’t have to leave.”
And from what she remembered, the Infernati made their own rules anyway. And who exactly invited this freak? Matthias? Daniel? Kalli? Nah, Kalli had better taste than that.
“Wha’ is wrang?” Farquie’s Sottish burr rang urgency in her ear.
In all her excitement, she forgot the imp was on the phone. “I got a problem with the sauce.”
“Wha’ kind o’ problem?”
“It’s attacking me.”
“Wha’?”
The demon in the pot spewed hot sauce from its mouth, spraying her in the face. With a deep sardonic roar of laughter, the demonic marinara man leapt from the pot and lunged for her.
“It’s a demon,” she breathed.
The demon lashed out its hand, more sauce spraying in every direction.
Serah managed to duck to the ground and roll across the floor. With a quick leap up, she pulled open a drawer and yanked out another tool. Gripping the spatula tight in one hand, the cleaver in the other, she somersaulted across the checkered floor and jumped to her feet.
“Where�
�s yer bodyguard?” Farquhar asked in her ear. Thank goodness she still had reception.
“I kicked him out of the kitchen,” she managed in between ragged breaths.
“Inanna an’ Ah are on our way.”
She wouldn’t risk her friends’ lives. “No. I have it under control. Stay there.”
“Ye sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll call you right back.” She clicked the end button and stuffed the phone in her pocket.
With fluidity she didn’t know she possessed, she snapped back her arm and let the meat cleaver fly. It cut clean through the demon’s saucy head, slicing it into two. More sauce spewed across the room.
“Got you now you demonic pile of crap.”
The demonic roar of laughter echoed—quite literally—throughout the kitchen. What the hell? Serah glanced upwards, her heart plummeting. The sauce separated, and two equally menacing demons formed from the ooze.
Things aren’t ever that easy.
“Arrgh!” the twin demons bellowed in unison. Their fangs glinted with menace. Serah had never seen fangs that long and sharp. What kind of demons were these things? Then again, she didn’t have time to figure that out. She had to defend herself. Talk about a kitchen nightmare.
“There’s more where that came from.” Serah launched the silver-plated spatula right between one of demon’s glowing red eyes.
It dodged to the right, the spatula barely scraping its ear. Throwing back its head, it let out a deep chortle. The other demon joined in, lunging at her. This was getting worse by the minute. She had to do something.
“You will die!” it growled out. More sauce swirled, its body fully regenerating. It slashed out its hand, snagging her by the ankle. More demonic laughter rang in her ears as it pulled her toward the pot. What was it going to do, boil her to death? The other demon grabbed her other leg, helping its twin drag her across the checkered floor.
Oh, God. She really had to do something now. But how?
She couldn’t let this self-replicating demon win. It was bad enough it had already ruined her prize-winning sauce. She gripped the legs of the buffet with all her strength. No way was she giving up that easily.
Then she heard it. The door flew open. A warm gust blew into the room. Had Matthias found a way to break the demon code and enter somewhere he wasn’t welcome? She sure hoped he had.
“Let go ov her!” the rich feminine accent sang through the air. Edie?
“Edie!” Serah shouted, fear creeping through her veins. “Get out!”
“No! You need help.” Her tone remained calm, yet strangely assertive. “Zee demons must be stopped.”
“How do you know—”
“Zere iz no time for talk. Use zee necklace.”
Serah blinked. She knew about the necklace? What was she? She craned her neck for a glance at her sous-chef.
Edie threw her hands in the air, a giant ball forming between her palms. She closed her eyes. Cloaked in a flowing purple toga instead of her usual chef’s jacket, she threw her head back. Her red hair swirled around her face. Warmth emanated from her body. She’d felt that warmth once before. When she met Minerva.
Another goddess? No freaking way! Then again, she didn’t have time to contemplate it. She needed to vanquish these pesky demons.
“Use it!” Edie implored. “Now!” With that, she threw the giant ball of violet energy at the demon on the right. It howled and screamed, then burst into a million pieces of light and vanishing with a loud burst of air. Edie fell back and crumpled to the ground.
Serah had no choice but comply. She allowed her own warmth to pool around her neck and spread through the rest of her body. She looked down. The diamonds in her necklace sparkled and glowed. What was going on?
The locket continued to radiate, the heat and energy coursing through her entire body. Her head pounded and her toes tingled.
Close your eyes, someone whispered in her head.
Serah wasn’t in a position to argue, so she squeezed her eyes shut.
Harness the power. Control it.
How in the hell did she do that? It wasn’t like she’d done yoga or anything to become one with her inner chi. She’d have better luck milking a billy goat.
The answer is in your heart. She didn’t have time for this cryptic shit. She needed to kick some Infernati ass. Why did everything have to be so danged confusing?
She kept her eyes closed. In her heart, huh? Fancy that particular organ thumped wildly against her rib cage. She took a deep breath. With that, she concentrated on her heart. She visualized all the warmth of her body surrounding it, pouring energy into it. Confidence pounded its way through her veins. She kicked out her foot, sending the demon reeling back.
The demon grunted and righted itself. Wiping some trickling red sauce from its brow, it hunched low.
“Die, Pure-Blood bitch!”
“Uh, no thank you.”
“Arrgh!” It lunged forward again.
Serah dove to the left, slamming against the side of the buffet. Adrenaline pumped through her body, her pain at the back of her thoughts. She didn’t need a bodyguard after all. She was doing fine all by herself.
“Ha. Ha. Ha! Got you now.” The walking mound of marinara spread his slimy lips into a mocking grin. Slithering along the ground, it reached out and grabbed Serah by her shoulders and turned her to face it.
Heart still pounding and full of energy, Serah stood her ground. Feet firmly planted to the floor, she stood tall.
“Isn’t that pot a little small for both of us?”
“Where you’re going, size doesn’t matter.”
She knew what she had to do. It was time to trust her heart. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Oh, yes you are, and I’m going to take you there.”
She squared her shoulders. “No, I’m not.” With that, she closed her eyes. She sent all her heart-energy shooting through her body, right to where the locket rested on her collar. She threw her head back and let the energy rush through her.
“Aggggh!” the demon gurgled. “What have you done?”
She opened her eyes. The sauce-man flailed its arms as flames lashed out from beneath it. It lunged forward in a last-ditch attempt to take her to hell with it.
Serah spun out of his grasp and snatched another sharp knife from the counter.
“I’m pretty sure I just vanquished your ass. See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya.” She sent the knife flying, lodging deep in the demon’s chest.
“Bitch,” it garbled out. With that, it burst, sending marinara sauce spraying across the kitchen walls.
She slumped against the counter, tightly gripping the edge. What in the hell had just happened? She turned toward the counter and rushed toward Edie. Leaning down, she brushed a wisp of hair from her cheek. She hoped she wasn’t dead. Then again, if she was a goddess, Edie was probably immortal.
“Are you okay?”
Edie murmured, her eyelids fluttering open. She reached up, and brushed a fingertip across Serah’s chin. “Oui! Now that you are safe.”
“What goddess are you?”
Edie sat up and stretched out her arms. “You should know. I’m a good cook.”
“I thought Bacchus was a guy.”
Edie rolled her eyes. “He’s the god of wine. I am the goddess of food.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m not that well-known.” Her sigh turned into a smile. “Not that I shouldn’t be. I’ve helped so many famous chefs achieve their lifelong goals.”
“Well?”
“Edesia’s my name. Food is my game.” She stood up, allowing her garments to billow about her. “I’m not supposed to be here. I just wanted to make sure you remained safe. I owed it to your grandmother—to you!”
Her grandmother was a blessed woman, in more ways than one. “So, you’re the goddess of food?”
“Oui! I am!” Edie smiled. “But you do not need much help with that.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“You’re welcome.”
&n
bsp; A loud pounding echoed on the door. Matthias’s voice boomed. “Serah! Are you okay? Let me in!”
“I must go. Matthias, he is a good man. He will take care of you.” With that, Edie spun around, allowing the warm mists to envelop her. A loud pop echoed in the air and then she was gone.
Serah flew backward from the percussion, only to find herself caught by two very muscular arms. Her head crashed back against more muscles. The familiar scent of ginger and spice wafted to her nose. Matthias. Had he seen Edie?
“Edie,” she murmured.
“Edie isn’t here.” A gentle hand swept a blob of sauce from her cheek. He took her into his arms and cradled her against his chest. Fingers laced into her hair, stroking her neck. Maybe Edie was right.
Letting out a deep sigh, she snuggled up against his hard, muscled chest. “I’m just going to order a pizza instead,” she whispered, as the events of the ordeal finally took their toll.
Chapter 31
“What the hell?” Serah mumbled, rubbing her temples. She groaned as she fought to open her eyes.
“Shh,” Matthias whispered, pressing a warm cloth to her forehead. He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and dabbed away some rancid sauce.
“The demon,” she moaned. She attempted to pull herself up. “Edie.”
Matthias placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Edie isn’t here.”
“Goddess—Edesia.”
“Shh,” Matthias murmured. His breath hitched. “Goddess? Another one?”
She forced her eyes open, grabbing Matthias’s shoulder. “You did it, didn’t you?”
Matthias’s gaze narrowed. He stepped away from her. “No. If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead already.” He turned to the window. “And I sure as hell wouldn’t have had another demon do the job.”
He did have a point. He was a trained mercenary. He knew how to kill. But he had also kidnapped her. What’s not to say he wasn’t still working for the Infernati?
Then again Edie had said he was a good man. She was a goddess. Weren’t goddesses all-knowing? And why did she want it kept a secret? She shook her head. After a year of all this weirdness, she knew better than to question things.
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