Page 14

Then H elena Had a Bril liant Idea

“H i, Scarlet,” Helena said a delayed moment later, turning off the water and rubbing her wet hands on her jeans. “Would you like somethin g to eat?”

That seemed to break the spell on the room. “Thanks” was murmured by all, and everyone filed out with excuses that they needed to return to this, that, or the other thing. Scarlet didn’t even try to heed them. She simply walked past and took the offered plate with the last sandwich on it from Helena. Then she went to the table and set it down as she assumed a seat, placing herself as elegantly in the chair as if she were in a five-star r estaurant.

Then she paused, a sad smile on her face. “That is so easy now. It used to be such a production to simply sit at a table.”

Then both women looked up at Rafferty, who had been in the middle of grabbing one of the chairs that had been pushed back so that he could pull it up to the table to join them.

He froze as he realized they were both staring at him, his stomach clenching.

“Come on, sit down,” Helena encouraged, tapping the bare space next to her. Then she turned to Scarlet and gestured at her plate. “What do y ou think?”

Scarlet refocused on the sandwich, hesitating as if looking for a fork or knife to eat it with, then slummed down her manners a bit and picked it up. She took a tentative bite, and when it didn’t burn her like acid, she took a b igger one.

After a few seconds of chewing, her eyes fluttered. “Oh my,” she said with food still in her mouth, with her fingers leaping to cover her societal faux pas. “This is d elicious.”

“I know, right?” Helena squealed, popping the last of her sandwich into her mouth.

“So you really are a chef?” Scarlet asked, taking a sip of the sparkling water. “You weren’t just a demon?”

“Rafferty was a chef, yes, when he was last alive,” Helena said, as if that were a natural occurrence, for a man to be alive centuries later than anyone else he had been born with. His girlfriend nudged him with her elbow to speak.

“I…”

“One thing is terribly clear that needs no further explanation,” Scarlet said, already halfway through her sandwich. “You are a most talented cook. This, the dinner party, and what was served at the Winter Rose Ball. Now that you have your second chance, are you going to do something with this gift? Would you like to see what my connections can find you? I know several high-end restaurants that would apprec iate you.”

“I…” Rafferty trailed off again, staring down at his plate. He had only one idea that excited him. “There is this underground … thing.”

“Underground?” Scarlet asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Does that have something to do with that business card I found?” Hel ena added.

“Eleanor,” Rafferty said, picturing the chef in her kitchen scrubs and her warrior’s smile. A different kind of hunger slid through him. “She is a chef who is trying to create a sort of…” He struggled for a moment, then related the idea to the only analogy he knew of. “Cooking show, but one she shows online. She does these fantastic cakes,” he added, his voice reflecting the awe he felt at the memory of her masterpiece. “She told me about this… competition. I don’t know much, but it soun ds … fun.”

He felt damn near predatory thinking about it. A battle of cooks. Not for the attention of a king, but then everyone in these times thought themselves kings a nd queens.

“And this is a thing?” Scarlet asked, looking to Helena for con firmation.

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but maybe we could check it out. Here. Let me go get my computer. I’ll be right back.” Standing up eagerly, she left without ano ther word.

Rafferty and Scarlet sat there awkwardly now that Helena had left the room.

“Have you got your new identifications yet?” Scarlet asked politely.

“He said he’d let us know.”

He thought they would lapse back into silence, but instead, she scooted her seat a little closer, leaning in to pitch her voice down. “You must excuse me, Mr. Lares.” She hesitated, her mouth opening and closing as if she couldn’t believe she was doing this. “Your existence as a demon. Tell me about it.”

He pulled back as much as she leaned forward. “You want me to tell you about what it is like in Hell?”

“I want to know how much my poor Yosef is suffering right now,” she said softly and fragilely.

And here it is, he thought to himself, realizing what she was really asking. None of her help was out of any goodness in her heart. “You want to know how to bring Yosef back,” he said in a low voice, his eyes ha lf-lidded.

“I… want to know if it is possible, yes,” she admitted, with equally fragile hope in her eyes.

“Up until recently I would have said no, not at all possible,” he said dryly. “But I know you would say I am lying.”

“Because here you sit,” she said.

“Because here I sit. And I have no idea ho w or why.”

Scarlet’s eyes narrowed, her shoulders squaring. “But you do have some theories.” It was a statement, not a question. She could see that he did. He could tell she was a formidable dealmaker.

He sighed and looked away. He supposed he was in her debt. While not bound by any outside forces, what this woman giveth, she could taketh away. And Helena would pay that price. But he also knew this woman wasn’t going to like what he had to say, so it was risky e ither way.

Fuck it.

“If he were on the brink of dying, something could be done. You could trade your life for his. It would take that much to pay the price of the imbalance to stop a death.”

“But he’s already dead,” she said, her voice cracking.

“Yes.”

“And the price w ould be…”

“It’s been attempted, as far as I know, but never succeeded. Not in the way you wish.”

She shook her head. “That makes no sense. Here you sit.” Her hand gestured frantical ly at him.

“Yes, here I sit. I…” Tension built at the back of his neck. He was so loathed to admit this. “I just don’t know why.”

“Is he a demon now? Because of wha t he did?”

Rafferty straightened in his chair. “If you wish me to tell you, I will tell you. But you will not like a ny of it.”

Scarlet’s jaw stiffened as she lifted her head imperiously. “What you have to say cannot be worse than what I am imagining in my head,” she declared.

He wasn’t going to argue about the validity of that statement.

“Yosef… is in pain now. Feeling all the emotions that a body insulates you from. There is no buffer now. And he is alone. Completely alone. No one is going to care for him or be safe for him. If he tries to reach out to the others, they will only take what little of him remains for th emselves.”

She pursed her eyebrows together hard. “But what are they taking?” she asked, fear in the undercurrent of her voice.

“First, they will take his memories. The good ones will be the most prized. They will have the most energy. If he can’t fight them off, they can consume him entirely until there is nothing left; nothing will remain of him. But if he figures out how to fight back, he’ll realize he needs to do the same to the others around him or everything he ever was will be gone forever.”

“And there is no way we can help him?” Scarlet asked, her voice cracking with her urgency to act. “Couldn’t we summon him, at least? Get him out of there and hold him here in creation.”

Rafferty gripped the edge of the table hard, keeping control of his own emotions. Bile kept threatening at the back of his throat. “His presence would slowly consume everything around him, corrupting the world as the price continues to eat at creation. He would also need to be bound to a living being here as an anchor, or creation will try to force him back.”

“What if we closed the circle? Minimize the damage?” she asked, her eyes darting back and forth as she thought hard about solving th e problem.

“That would only last as long as you, his summoner and anchor, hold out. It wouldn’t buy you time, it would lessen it. The circle cuts down the cost. He could eventually drag you back with hi m sooner.”

“Then I would go,” she said firmly, tears breaking ranks from her eyes. “Then he wouldn’t be alone.”

Rafferty shook his head. “It wouldn’t work like that. You would eventually try to consume each other, just to resist the pain. Whatever love you had for each other would be d estroyed.”

A strangled cry of pain escaped her. “My poor Yosef,” she cried, and pressed a fist against her mouth, thinking about the hopelessness of the situation.

They sat there quietly like that for several long minutes, each plagued by their thoughts. Rafferty had the passing thought that he wondered what was taking Helena so long, but then Scarlet lifted her head again, calmer now, her grief tucked back int o its box.

“I knew another demon once. An incubus,” Scarlet sudd enly said.

Rafferty smirked. So here it was, the answer he had been wondering. “Did you su mmon him?”

She shook her head as she took her napkin and dabbed at her wet face with it in a vain attempt to preserve her makeup. “No. My sister did. I watched as that thing ate her up from the inside out. When she died, my parents covered it all up and used their money and influence to bury the wh ole mess.”

“Then you know what I say is true, ” he said.

Scarlet nodded, her jaw stiffening again. “I also saw the things she did to him . My sister had always been a selfish, hateful bitch. And while I know it is thought to be wrong, I don’t know if I can fault him for what he did to her, considering what she took i n return.”

Rafferty didn’t need to hear more. He knew. Again, they sat in the heavy silence. While they did, he studied the grief hanging over Scarlet’s being as she stared off into memories.

“I never saw this part,” he said aloud, the words slipping from him like thieves stealing his thoughts.

“W hat part?”

It was too late to deflect his misspoken words. And he didn’t really wish to. Something was happening to him, something he hadn’t expected from anyone who wasn’t Helena. He gestured between them. “This. The hurt, the suffering. The grief. This is all demons do. Even if you were to call him back, he wouldn’t be your Yosef anymore, he may not even remember you, but he’ll tell you anything you want to hear, simply so he can consume you to alleviate his own suffering. And it won’t work. Nothing will ever alle viate it.”

Scarlet studied him a moment. “Is that what you did t o Helena?”

He didn’t get to answer that question, and he was gl ad for it.

Just then Helena returned carrying her computer.

“I found it, I’m mostly sure,” she said excitedly. “Here, look. This is a schedule of all the places where there is a food battle and, look, this is the next one.” She pointed to the screen, holding it out so that both of them could look. “It’s tomorrow, and see here, it’s near Cindy’s house in the far reaches of the suburbs. We can go, and I can check on her, too. It’s perfect!”

She looked between the tw o of them.

“Are you both alright?” she asked, finally reading the mood in the room.

“Yes, yes, my dear,” Scarlet said, fetching up her purse and standing. She then nodded to Rafferty. “Thank you f or lunch.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of that. By all rights she should have pressed him to repay his debt to her, but she didn’t even give him a knowing look as she left.

“Sorry that took so long. Was that really awkward? Did you guys talk about anything?” Helena asked, watching her boss leave, clearly sensing the mood , finally.

“No,” Rafferty said. “No, it’s fine. We ’re fine.”