Page 32 of Baking and Angels

“He’s human again, yes,” Helenaconfirmed.

“Demons do not have a heartbeat. They don’t have real bodies,” Scarlet continued, as if she hadn’t heard. Then she broke her own spell, taking a step back. “I willhelp you.”

She retrieved her purse and opened it to pull out a silvercellphone.

“Scarlet, what are you doing?” Helena asked.

“I know someone who can help us. We can get him a new identity and a back history. Birth certificate, credit history, the whole works. Though we can’t do it here. We will have to go to the office. You are free to leave,correct?”

Helena hesitated. “Uh, it’s been strongly implied that we should stay here, but I don’t think we’re being forced to.”

Scarlet nodded as she brought the mobile phone to her ear. “Lord, it’s been ages since I’ve had to do this for someone. I hope he will still answer this number.”

“But I don’t understand,” Helena said, completely flummoxed by her boss’s actions.

“Why are you doing this?” Rafferty asked.

Scarlet turned to look him full in the face, a confidence returning to her expression. A strength only inspired by purpose. “Redemption is a rare thing. It must be protected at all costs.”

Chapter 13

It’s Technically Not Illegal?

“Okay, I got what I need from you, just give me a couple of hours, and I will have this all sorted,” the friendly man, whose name they were not supposed to know, said as he lowered the digital camera he used to take Rafferty’s picture.

Shifting his feet, Rafferty rubbed his eyes against the afterburn ofthe flash.

“You alright?” Helena asked him, stepping beside him.

“I’ve… never had my picture taken before,” he said.

She smiled at him. “There are probably going to be a lot of firsts now,” she said. She glanced over at the nameless man who was helping them create a new identity for Rafferty, nibbling nervously at herlower lip.

“What is it?” Raffertyprompted.

“It’s just, I know this is technically not legal, but…”

“Oh, it’s legal,” the nameless man affirmed. “These documents will be perfectly legit once I process them. Don’t worry. My clients never have any troubles with these, I guarantee it. ” He switched to speaking Rafferty’s mother tongue to ask thequestion.

“” Rafferty asked in disgust.

The nameless man nodded. “You have a really good American accent. Props,” he said, and then he returned to the plastic cabinet he had rolled in when he had arrived in Scarlet’s office, opening the different drawers and pulling out the needed documents. “Okay, so work visa and US residence permit. Unless you want to be a naturalized citizen? Oh! Or I can make you a dual French and American citizen. I haven’t done one of those yet.”

He eagerly pulled out more documents, then paused. “Do I need a marriage certificateas well?”

He looked between Helena and Rafferty for that answer.

“Oh, uh. No, not…” Helena glanced at him, but Rafferty didn’t have a better answer than that. “Notjust yet.”

“Yeah, okay. No problem. You can always get one later. Or you can just, you know, get married, after I have these documents sorted and legitimized,” the nameless man said and returned his focus to the next steps. He went back to his prep, only to realize a second later that Helena and Rafferty were still standing there staring at him. “You need to go away now while I do this. Go get some lunch. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

Helena nodded, taking Rafferty’s hand to lead him out. That was their entire existence right now. Something happening, and she leading him through it. His personalguardian.

He couldn’t believe his luck. If this many good things had happened to him in his first life, he never would have taken Vassago’s original deal. Everything he needed was just happening for him.

Out in the main room of the office, Rafferty could see what an amazing place this once had been. He had seen a handful of offices before, but those had been taupe limbos all their own, with little squares to keep the workers in place and isolated. This room was beautiful, with the open workstations separated by vibrant plants instead of fabric-covered walls. A tall glass wall with water cascading down it protected the workers from the view of visitors inthe foyer.

But for all the signs of vibrancy in the room, it was half empty of the people that made it an office. So many of the desks were stripped of anything that made them personal and unique. To emphasize the emptiness, about every fourth desk did still have someone sitting at it. Amongst the remaining workers was a tense hush as they poured over job sites on their computers, looking for new employment, or played videos games while waiting for callbacks. They just didn’t seem to realize how luckytheyall were. They were alive, safe, and still being supported to do nothing. Like royals ornobility.

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