Page 7 of Cooking Up a Demon (Ghostlight Falls #5)

Chapter Seven

Seven

T urns out, I don’t have to worry about how people would react to Kallax. He opts to stay home and wash the dishes while I do the first of my errands. He promises to meet me at the bookstore by lunch with something to eat.

I remind him I didn’t summon him and I didn’t ask him to do those things, so he can’t steal days off my life. He makes a non-committal sound but doesn’t argue, so I take the win.

The grocery store is first. It’s fairly empty, and I’m able to get my supplies and get out without any issue.

I try to hit up the stationery store next, but have no luck finding it.

I was certain it was by the performing arts center, but there is just an empty lot there.

When I ask at the visitor center, the guy standing out front wearing giant wings tells me he hasn’t seen it yet today, but he’ll keep an eye out.

He gives me a bright smile, and I question my life choices that brought me to asking a guy cosplaying a dragon-man for directions.

I have better luck at Grim’s Bakery. I have a lovely chat with the green-tinged baker, who is happy to work with me on cookies to match the themes I’ve come up with for my book club. Plus, I put in a standing weekend order for a variety of cookies to be delivered to the bookstore.

Feeling satisfied, I get a mixed bag of pastries. I head next door to my bookstore. The door is locked, but the lights are on, so I assume Kallax is already there.

Instead, I look through the large windows to see the lawyer who handled Nonna’s estate - a short mousy man with watery blue eyes and faded brown hair. With him is a tall, handsome man with greying light brown hair and pale green eyes. He’s broad, fit, and wearing a deep, familiar scowl.

I make a mental note to change the locks on the store before pushing inside. The bell over the door rings, and both men turn to look at me. I throw my shoulders back and prepare myself for whatever this is.

“Where the hell have you been?” The tall man’s scowl impossibly deepens. I bite back a sigh.

“Working.” I cross to the checkout counter and place my pastry bag and purse down before turning to face the men straight on. “Hello Father.”

“We’ve been waiting here for almost an hour, Beatrix.” My dad’s voice is weary, as though talking to me is the hardest thing on the planet. And for him, it might actually be. “It’s a business day and you don’t seem to be in business.”

“I need a day off too, and the weekends are better business than Mondays are.” I don’t know why I’m explaining myself to him. He doesn’t care.

“I don’t see how you could possibly know that,” his voice dripping with disdain. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve only been open for three days.”

I could explain to him that I’ve gone through all of Nonna’s books of sales history and analyzed the best and worst days.

I could tell him about the many conversations I’ve had with other bookstore owners across the country who gave me advice on hours of operation.

I could even tell him I am mostly sticking to Nonna’s schedule, with some minor tweaks. None of it will matter.

“I see you’ve made some changes,” Rodney Miller, the lawyer, says. I’m not sure if he’s simply admiring the wide, bright space or trying to break the tension between me and my father. I’m about to thank him when he goes on. “It will make selling the building much easier.”

“I’m sorry, what?” I can’t have heard right.

“The tenant agreements may prove to be a problem, but I believe we can make a case to break the leases.”

I bite back a growl. There are two small, one-bedroom apartments located over the bookstore. Both of them rented out by my grandmother and have maintained their leases since I got to town. They are lovely people, and I can’t think of a single reason to break their leases.

“Hold up, I’m not selling anything.” I say, propping my hands on my hips and glaring the men down. I am eye to eye with the lawyer, but Dad has about six inches of height on me. It’s something he uses to intimidate me into getting his way.

Not this time.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Beatrix.” My father says, mirroring my position and looking down at me in the most condescending way possible. “You know nothing about what it takes to run a business. You’re isolated from your family, your friends. This is absurd.”

I don’t bother to remind him I lost all of my so-called friends when I broke up with my girlfriend six months ago after she slept with my boss.

I don’t bother to remind him I quit my job because my boss slept with my girlfriend.

I don’t even bother to point out he’s a shitty parent who I never see, even when I’m only a few miles away.

And since my mother is my father’s sycophant, I don’t have much of a relationship with her either.

“Absurd or not, I’m here and doing it.” I spread my arms wide to encompass the store with the nearly-empty shelves. It doesn’t look impressive at the moment, unless you know the shelves were full three days before.

“I’m sorry, I thought this had been discussed.” Mr. Miller says. “I was told you were interested in selling both the store and the house.”

“You were told wrong.” I keep my face impassive, even though I want to glare at them both. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t be foolish, Beatrix,” My father snaps. “You’re not qualified to do this. Do you even know the property values around here? We’ll sell the property, you can come home and stay with us until you can find a new apartment. I spoke to your employer and he’s happy to take you back.”

I stare at him in absolute shock. How dare he? How dare he think he can swoop in here and take my life away from me? I have worked hard for weeks to get the cabin and store into shape. And to assume I’d live with my parents and work for my cheating boss?

I want even an iota of the audacity of this man.

Before I can lay into him, the door to the back area opens. There’s only one person who could be back there, and my chest goes tight at the car crash level of disaster about to occur. Before I can shout out to stop him, Kallax is dipping down to work his horns out of the storage room door.

“What the Hell?” My father takes a step toward me. I don’t for one second think he means to protect me. He’s absolutely prepared to throw me at the demon so he can get away.

“Hell is right, mortal.” Kallax says in his incredibly deep, growling voice. The one I can feel vibrate through my entire body. “That’s precisely where you are going.”

My father gapes and sputters. Mr. Miller faints dead away and crashes to the ground. None of us pay attention to the prone lawyer.

“You dare insult my mate?” My eyes fly to Kallax, and my breath freezes in my chest.

Mate? Mate?!

There is no mating happening here. There is an annoying demon who won’t stop stealing my food and appearing at inconvenient times.

I scan my eyes down over his broad shoulders and torso, across the ridges of his abs, and settle on the knot of his lace fly leather pants. Okay, so maybe mating wouldn’t be the worst thing, but I have a feeling mate means a lot more to him than the gutter thoughts I’m having.

“Beatrix, what is this?” My father demands. His voice is shaky, and he’s not so steady on his feet at the moment. A small, terrible part of me revels in his fear. I even kind of understand it. While I’ve never been afraid of Kallax, he looks rather terrifying at the moment.

The red veins that blend into skin most of the time are simmering, giving him the appearance of lava under his deep charcoal skin. His black eyes are practically glowing. He’s risen to his full height, which puts the points of his horns only inches from the ceiling.

I realize I might have lost the plot when the only thought in my head about the demon facing down my father with a lawyer unconscious at my feet is that I’m going to be pissed if he scrapes the ceiling. Then again, he likes being useful, so he’d probably repair his own damage.

“You do not speak to her. You do not look at her. And after this day, you shall leave and never return.”

“I’m – you can’t just…” My father’s face turns bright red as he babbles before trailing into silent fuming. I’ve never seen him speechless before, and it’s kind of wonderful.

He turns to look at me again, demanding with his eyes to do something. I cross my arms under my breasts and shrug at him. He’s been a crappy father, and this move is so wildly over the line. I can’t imagine a world in which I will want to speak to him again.

“I can and I will. You contact her in any way, you return to this town, you cause her a moment of upset and I will drag you to Hell and tie you to the pyre myself.” Kallax crosses his large arms, mirroring my position, and glares at my father. “Now go, and don’t ever return.”

“Beatrix,” Father starts. I shake my head.

“There’s nothing left to be said.” I cross to the door and pull it open for him. “Goodbye, Father.”

My father steps over the prone lawyer and stomps across the floor and out the door without another word. I wait until he disappears from sight before I let the door close and I slump into myself.

The silence in the store is heavy, and I don’t know what to say.

The demon overstepped, but I can’t be mad about someone standing up for me.

Especially when I am so bad at standing up for myself.

A part of me is sad it’s come to this, but the way my father tried to manipulate and control my life is wildly inappropriate.

The fact he thought I would give into him says so much about me, and it’s not an image I like.

“Are you all right?” The demon’s voice is quiet. When I look up at him, the fire has gone out of his veins and he’s back to a solid charcoal grey.

“I guess?” I look to the lawyer on my floor. “I need to do something about him.”

The demon picks the unconscious man up and moves him outside to the sidewalk, where he drops him without ceremony or an iota of gentleness.

I hold the door open for him as he returns to the store. He waits until the door closes before he spins on me and grips my shoulders. His large hands practically swallow me up. “He is wrong. You are more than capable of doing anything you put your mind to.”

“How would you know?” I look up into his black eyes and wish he had all the answers. “You know nothing about me.”

The demon releases one arm and wraps a hand around the side of my neck. He uses his thumb to press my face upward until our eyes lock.

“I know enough. I know you’ve brought life back into this building almost entirely on your own.

I’ve seen the changes in the house and the book store.

You have a demon at your disposal and do not ask for help, but do it yourself.

That kind of hard work and dedication do not get squandered.

You are amazing, and you will not fail.”

Tears well in my eyes at Kallax’s praise.

I’ve never been good enough for anyone in my life.

I’m too plump and short to be the beauty queen daughter my mother wanted.

Too average of intelligence and unmotivated to matter to my business-driven father.

I’ve been cheated on, dumped, and found wanting by every partner I’ve ever had.

Fired, passed over, and generally mistreated by every employer.

I can’t think of a single time in my life someone thought I was good enough, capable enough. I’ve been questioning Nonna’s choice to leave everything to me since I got the notice. A part of me has been certain I will fail and end up back in Florida with nothing. A voice I’ve been smothering daily.

Kallax is right. I’ve worked hard. My first weekend was beyond my dreams. Maybe this isn’t what I planned for my life, but I feel good here. I feel good about the work I put into the store. I feel good about the people I’ve met and think I might even have friends here one day.

Kallax leans down until he is inches from me. His grip on the back of my neck tightens, and his expression goes fierce.

“Do you understand me, Bea? You will not fail.” His voice is as firm as it was when he was sending my father away. Determined. Demanding.

I reach up and grab his wrist, holding him in place. His skin hot beneath my hand. His grip tightens even more until it borders on pain.

For a brief moment, we stand as statues. And then I give in to the feeling welling up inside of me.

I tilt my head and press my mouth to his.