Read Online Fairytale Ambrosia (The Knead to Know Series Book 2) by Liz Schulte - Free Book Online
Authors: Liz Schulte
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cheesecake ingredients. “Possibly nothing.” My tongue touched the corner of my mouth. “I just think there’s one operating in the city right now.”
“And you are staying out of it?”
“Maybe it’s this Valefor person. People started disappearing right at the same time she came looking for me. Seems connected.”
“It isn’t.” His voice was firm and final.
“Aha! So you admit you do know something about it,” I said. Phoenix smiled, shaking his head. “What does she want from me?”
He moved the stool from by the door and sat across from me. “Valefor is a demon, not a person. Saying her name gives her power, so stop saying it.”
“Tell me why she wants me.”
Phoenix tilted his head. “You tell me.”
That was precisely the issue. I didn’t have a clue. “I can’t think of anything I’ve done to draw attention to myself, but who knows? Maybe she has picked up on the people I have…” I still hadn’t thought of a nice way to say what I did to dark souls.
“Devoured? Sucked dry? Sampled like a buffet?”
“Thank you. Very descriptive. That. I have tried to be careful and follow Holden’s rules. I don’t hunt in the same place. I don’t take on groups. I don’t know what else I can do.” The whisk handle snapped in my hand. I tossed it in the trash and got another one.
“It happens. You can’t hide forever. She’s just one demon. She’ll move on or…” He trailed off with an unconcerned shrug.
“You said you would take care of it not even three hours ago, and now it’s not a big deal and this demon is just supposed to let it go? Are you kidding me?” I was trying not to panic, but taking care of a problem and ignoring a problem were two completely different things. She’d sent people to my business and to my home. Hoping she’d just go away on her own didn’t seem like a plan. I was going to get someone killed.
“I really don’t think there’s anything to take care of. Whatever got the bug up her ass will go away once she figures out who you are.” His voice was so calm I wanted to yell at him.
“But I’m nobody. I’m a half-vampire freak. Once she figures that out, she’ll just stop sending people to attack me and hire a sniper. I can be killed. The people around me can be killed. Damn it, Phoenix.”
Phoenix rolled his eyes. “You are Holden’s family. There isn’t a demon alive stupid enough to go after anyone connected to him or Olivia. You’re overreacting.”
I mentally counted to ten. Okay, yes, I was technically related to Holden, but he didn’t like me that much. Olivia was sweet and we were friends, but that didn’t mean either of them would get into a war over me. They had two little kids to worry about. I had to take care of myself. If Phoenix wasn’t going to handle Valefor, I’d have to do it myself.
Phoenix had a smug expression, like he lived in this magical world where he’d actually won this argument. “She most certainly isn’t stealing people’s youth. How do you even know someone’s doing that? I haven’t heard anything about it.”
“Chicago’s a big place.”
He gave me a serious look. “It’s my job to know. I would have heard something.”
As the regional leader of the jinn, Phoenix probably did have a pretty good idea of what was happening in and around the city. I added vanilla to the cheesecake batter. “I don’t actually know anyone’s youth is being taken. It’s just a working theory.”
“Ah.” He crossed his legs, obviously settling in. “Then enlighten me. Perhaps I’ll have some insight.”
He probably would, but I didn’t want him to know about Boone. It was bad enough that Holden knew. The last thing Boone needed in his life was jinn, especially one who would have no qualms about using him to his own advantage. “Two kids were taken from their bedrooms in the middle of the night by an old woman dressed in white. A door appeared, she came out of it and picked up the kids, then went back
“And you are staying out of it?”
“Maybe it’s this Valefor person. People started disappearing right at the same time she came looking for me. Seems connected.”
“It isn’t.” His voice was firm and final.
“Aha! So you admit you do know something about it,” I said. Phoenix smiled, shaking his head. “What does she want from me?”
He moved the stool from by the door and sat across from me. “Valefor is a demon, not a person. Saying her name gives her power, so stop saying it.”
“Tell me why she wants me.”
Phoenix tilted his head. “You tell me.”
That was precisely the issue. I didn’t have a clue. “I can’t think of anything I’ve done to draw attention to myself, but who knows? Maybe she has picked up on the people I have…” I still hadn’t thought of a nice way to say what I did to dark souls.
“Devoured? Sucked dry? Sampled like a buffet?”
“Thank you. Very descriptive. That. I have tried to be careful and follow Holden’s rules. I don’t hunt in the same place. I don’t take on groups. I don’t know what else I can do.” The whisk handle snapped in my hand. I tossed it in the trash and got another one.
“It happens. You can’t hide forever. She’s just one demon. She’ll move on or…” He trailed off with an unconcerned shrug.
“You said you would take care of it not even three hours ago, and now it’s not a big deal and this demon is just supposed to let it go? Are you kidding me?” I was trying not to panic, but taking care of a problem and ignoring a problem were two completely different things. She’d sent people to my business and to my home. Hoping she’d just go away on her own didn’t seem like a plan. I was going to get someone killed.
“I really don’t think there’s anything to take care of. Whatever got the bug up her ass will go away once she figures out who you are.” His voice was so calm I wanted to yell at him.
“But I’m nobody. I’m a half-vampire freak. Once she figures that out, she’ll just stop sending people to attack me and hire a sniper. I can be killed. The people around me can be killed. Damn it, Phoenix.”
Phoenix rolled his eyes. “You are Holden’s family. There isn’t a demon alive stupid enough to go after anyone connected to him or Olivia. You’re overreacting.”
I mentally counted to ten. Okay, yes, I was technically related to Holden, but he didn’t like me that much. Olivia was sweet and we were friends, but that didn’t mean either of them would get into a war over me. They had two little kids to worry about. I had to take care of myself. If Phoenix wasn’t going to handle Valefor, I’d have to do it myself.
Phoenix had a smug expression, like he lived in this magical world where he’d actually won this argument. “She most certainly isn’t stealing people’s youth. How do you even know someone’s doing that? I haven’t heard anything about it.”
“Chicago’s a big place.”
He gave me a serious look. “It’s my job to know. I would have heard something.”
As the regional leader of the jinn, Phoenix probably did have a pretty good idea of what was happening in and around the city. I added vanilla to the cheesecake batter. “I don’t actually know anyone’s youth is being taken. It’s just a working theory.”
“Ah.” He crossed his legs, obviously settling in. “Then enlighten me. Perhaps I’ll have some insight.”
He probably would, but I didn’t want him to know about Boone. It was bad enough that Holden knew. The last thing Boone needed in his life was jinn, especially one who would have no qualms about using him to his own advantage. “Two kids were taken from their bedrooms in the middle of the night by an old woman dressed in white. A door appeared, she came out of it and picked up the kids, then went back
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