Chapter 7 #2
“There, there,” Pearly said, patting my hand.
“I see that your emotions are too close to the surface to try and speak. Finding love can be a terrifying thing, particularly when you don’t know how he feels.
” His sympathy face morphed into happy exuberance.
“And now here come the contestants with their creations!”
The camera panned over to the doorway where the line of men stood holding plates with their ‘creations.’ Did the angel hear that last part?
Mortified didn’t encapsulate the depths of humiliation I felt.
I wasn’t in love with him! I hated him! Obviously.
He killed my friend. So Mitt didn’t get to torture her.
My stomach twisted into knots, but I held onto my smile as Pearly White gestured Rafe to come over. The werewolf came with a cocky smirk, holding out a white plate with a black lump in the center. So he did cook it. Very, very well.
“Wow! That looks amazing!” I said brightly. Amazingly inedible.
Rafe smirked and then sniffed and rubbed his jaw. “Yeah. I made that,” he said all cocky.
My mind raced trying to think of something nice to say.
I had it! “It’s one of those Euro charred dishes that you peel out of the blackened crust to unveil the tender morsel inside.
Right?” I beamed brightly as I took the plate and used my claws to slash though the black and crumbling ash to the tiny bit of raw flesh in the middle.
So I’d be eating raw meat after all. Yay.
I reached towards the lump of red goo when a knife came down, slicing it neatly in the center.
“Allow me,” Richard said as he stabbed one half with his knife and popped it in his mouth.
I stared at him, shocked and appalled. “What are you doing?”
He swallowed and flashed me a smile. “Checking for poison, princess. Go ahead. Enjoy your…” He wrinkled his nose and gestured at the remaining lump of raw meat.
I stared at him, looked at Pearly White and his ebullient smile, like everything was going according to plan, and then Rafe who was glowering at the angel. I wasn’t going to cause a fuss and make this whole thing last longer than it had to.
“Right. Thank you.” I picked up the piece of raw meat and put it in my mouth.
Ew. It was raw, but still tasted like ashes.
“Mm,” I said as I chewed. I struggled to not show how much I wanted to gag, choked it down, and then flashed Rafe a smile.
“So unique. So raw and wild. Thank you for putting so much effort into this.”
He gave me a cocky smirk and then took my hand and pressed a kiss to my skin, adding tongue that left a trail of saliva. Werewolf saliva. Someone burn me. Would I have to kiss that tongue? Shudder.
Smile! Don’t show how close you are to vomiting! My smile teetered, but I held onto it with great will.
“And our next contestant, Monterose Fellicci, and his sugared masterpiece!” Pearly White declared.
While the camera panned, I hastily wiped my hand off on my dress. Now I had to burn the dress.
The fairy came over with exaggerated strides, chest puffed out, wings trailing sparkles as he held out a pile of sugar with nuts and berries sticking out. Wow.
“Allow me,” Richard said, taking a spoonful of the sugar stuff and putting it in his mouth. His reaction was a slight shudder before he gestured the sugar plate to me.
Monterose looked offended. “As if I could ever harm my precious blossom, but for the sake of your safety, we must take all precautions.” He dropped to his knees, holding the plate up, shoulders tilted so he could look at me over one of them, head cocked, eyes half-lidded, like he were about to break into a suicidal love song.
But he’d turned down doing another duet with me.
I smiled, took a spoonful of sugar with a raspberry, and put it in my mouth. Ugh. It was almost as bad as the werewolf’s. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, maybe if the sugar’s baked into something. I swallowed and beamed at the fairy while my stomach roiled.
A baking competition was the worst idea I’d ever had. This was going to kill me.
I managed to say, “Thank you. It’s absolutely remarkable how you captured the pure spirit of nuts and berries.” And nausea.
“And next we have Zander’s beautiful creation.” Pearly White gestured at the elf’s salad, only he’d baked it. Baked salad. I looked at the vile angel, hoping the gorgeous creature would eat a lot of it.
He gave me a slight brow raise while his blue eyes twinkled with amusement he didn’t show on his mouth, and then took a forkful, choked it down and then nodded. “Probably won’t kill you,” he murmured so only I could hear.
“Thank you,” I said, focusing my smile on the shy elf instead of the angel. I took a forkful of partially wilted, partially crunchy greens. Honestly, it wasn’t too bad. Not nearly as vile as the first two.
“So creative!” I said once I could speak. “So unique! With the fresh greens and crunch of baked kale.”
Pearly White cleared his throat. “And next up we have Banus Jones, our resident incubus, and his molten lava chocolate cake!”
It was raw batter until Banus lit it on fire. It didn’t burn long until Banus threw some alcohol on top, and then it whooshed into a good flame before dying out almost immediately.
We all stared at the blackened raw dough while Banus winced. “That’s not quite how it was supposed to go.”
“Glorious presentation,” Richard said arrogantly, then dipped a spoon into the mixture and raised it to his lips.
It touched his tongue and then he spat it out, glaring at the incubus.
His voice was ice and iron. Death and destruction.
“You tried to poison the princess. You’ll die for that.
” He drew his sword while his face started turning purple.
Banus raised his hands, stepping away. “I didn’t! I’m a pacifist! I haven’t killed for years, and I’m certainly not breaking my streak with a sweet, if rather silly female.”