Chapter 10 #3
His eyes darkened. “I tried to find her. It’s been so long that surely she’s realized that it’s better to have a whole soul instead of a dead heart, but she’s impossible to find.
So I went on that show, the wedding show, hoping that she’d see me and trade back, or try to kill me, but she didn’t.
” He shrugged. “It was a long shot. This is actually a much better result,” he said, rubbing the rabbit between the ears and giving it a soft smile.
“You know, Divinity wouldn’t get out of your cake box for weeks and weeks before we met you.
Wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t do anything but curl up like the most miserable creature in existence.
So, when your father came to me for a loan, I accepted his offer, smelling you and your cake on him.
The rabbit knew it could thrive on your love, so we decided to take you if we could.
” His eyes glimmered. “You are so very sweet, Miss Charles.”
His silky voice sent a shiver over my skin while I swallowed hard and tried not to have a heart attack. “Okay. So now what? Your soul is happy. Can you stick it in your chest so it doesn’t get sick again? Can I have a new deal that’s just the shop and profits and not cuddling your soul?”
He straightened up and took a step back. “The deal is done. If you wish to cage the rabbit and be free from the energy exchange, that’s entirely up to you.”
I looked down at the glowing soul snuggling me and looking sweet and innocent like he would never bite me or devour a psycho killer.
“But it was dying without my love.” I looked up at the devil, feeling weird and off kilter, like I’d been stabbed and kept alive by a devil’s kiss. “You were dying without my love.”
His eyes widened briefly before his expression became indolent and bored. “I was. Your love single-handedly brought my half-soul back to life. If you continue to give me your strength and life, I will have to reciprocate.” His face said indifferent, but my skin prickled.
Was he talking about kissing me? That would be bad. Far too distracting when I had a bakery to run and a heart to keep intact. “You can make me dinner,” I said in a rush.
He blinked at me. “Pardon?”
“I feed you love, you feed me potatoes. Also other real vegetables. A fairy-goblin can’t live on baked goods alone.
I mean, I absolutely can, but it’s not ideal.
If I’m going to keep snuggling your soul, I need to keep up my strength.
Dinners can include you making them. Surely you can slip a little magical energy in while you do it. ”
He hesitated then gave me the slightest nod. “Indeed. It isn’t my nature to cook energy into things, that’s your talent, but I will do my best to return your strength to you.”
“Perfect! All right. You can go now while I rest.”
He raised a brow. “Can I? In that case, I’ll take Divinity,” he said, voice low, then my warm, comforting, silky rabbit was taken away from me, leaving me feeling more miserably alone than I had in ages. Since my mom died.
“Leave him,” I whispered, because if I didn’t have my rabbit to cuddle, I’d probably burst into tears, and there was no way that wouldn’t kill my stomach considering what shaking my head had done.
The warm weight returned to my side, and I put my hand over it, catching the devil’s fingers in the process. I didn’t let go of him or the rabbit, just held on tight.
“I’ve never had such a devoted caretaker for my soul. Miss Prudence would never have cuddled a rabbit.”
I sniffed and kept holding onto his fingers. “Miss Prudence probably wasn’t a fairy-goblin.”
For a moment, he was quiet then his hand shifted until we were holding hands, legitimately two people clinging to each other. “No, she was mostly an angel.”
My heart beat faster while I held onto him, and he held back, almost as tight. “Angels shouldn’t make deals with devils.”
He gave me a soft smile, eyes like melting caramels. “Neither should fairy-goblins. You were right about releasing the Lady of the Wild Woods. I should’ve hunted her down immediately, with or without a deal. I’ll never do such a thing again.”
The glow of being told I was right shouldn’t have affected me, but it did. I wanted to hold his hand forever. “Why did the goblins want her released? Why did they want me so much in the first place?”
His eyes flickered with shifting flames. “I can’t imagine anyone not wanting you,” he murmured.
Gulp. “Stop it. You don’t want me.”
“That’s right. We agreed that I needed your love, not wanted it,” he said with eyes like pools of deepest aching.
Um. “Is this seduction? That’s not part of the deal,” I said weakly.
He studied me with a very still expression on his face.
“You’re right, that’s not part of the deal.
” He slid his hand out of mine despite how tightly I was holding on, gave me a slight incline of his head, then left the room, walking out briskly, forked tail flicking, leaving me alone with his soul and no hand.
I looked down at Divinity, who met my gaze with bright eyes.
“Are you really his soul? Is that how you devoured that lady? Did you eat all of her or are there pieces still floating around that I don’t want to know about?
Also, how can I go back to the bakery after that happened?
I’m a target because you’re a target. You’re his weakness, and I’m your strength, particularly after I’ve gotten addicted to having a fluffy bunny with me all the time. You’re really soft.”
He stared back at me.
“I’m going to sleep now. Stop looking so cute.
” I tugged him up and kissed his head then held him close under my chin while I inhaled his scent.
Toffee? Now even the rabbit was too delicious.
Life was way too confusing. Upside down was right side up; everything was topsy turvy.
But at least my first day in the bakery had been profitable.