Page 54 of Baking and Angels

But as he approached the judging table, he saw Vassago whispering something in the ear of the judging official. He retreated as soon as he reached her, offeringhis tray.

“I’m sorry, sir, but apparently you’ve been disqualified,” she said, only to shrink back as the room erupted into screams and boos. “The challenge in the event was to use… was to use a toaster oven and this dish…” she tried to explain, but the room wouldn’t let her.

“His toaster oven was broken!” Eleanor shouted, coming up beside him, again to his defense. “What the fuck was he supposed to do?”

“But the rules state…” the judge said, clearly unprepared for this level ofpushback.

“What’s the point of the rules if they aren’t fair!” someone else shouted.

“This is rigged!”

“What was the wholepoint…!”

And more shouts echoed in the gym’s space, drowning out any individual words.

At last, the judge took Rafferty’s tray in shaking hands, cowering from him as if he had been the one who had been shouting. “Look, we’ll take it, but we’re going to have to discuss this…” And then she retreated away after setting down the tray with the rest of the entries, to the huddling group of green shirts nearby.

With nothing else to do, Rafferty turned to Eleanor. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to defend me.”

She huffed as she recrossed her arms. “I want to win, but not like this,” she scowled. “And besides, I’m the one that encouraged you to participate, and then they go pull this shit? What the ever-loving…”

“Are you alright?” Helena asked, cutting off Eleanor’s color to hug him.

“Yes, I’malright.”

“What is going on?” Cindy asked, joining them as well.

“They are deciding my fate,” he said, and somehow, he didn’t feel sour about it. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Helena’s waist and squeezed. “Thank you. For being here for me.”

Chapter 21

Helena Had

a Plan

“So what is this?” Cindy asked as she brought the cup to her nose to smellthe brew.

“Uh, nothing,” Helena tried to cover. She leaned over to Cindy holding an open thermos to show her friend. An open thermos she hadn’t had a few minutes ago.

Dammit, Helena,he thought, as he realized she had used her power to create it and her poignantly avoiding his gaze was the confirmation of it.

“I just brought you some tea. I got the recipe from my grandmother’s old church cookbook, like I said. It’s supposed to be good for anxiety and stuff. I thought it would be fun to try and that maybe some old witch medicine mighthelp you.”

“I mean it smells good, even cold,” Cindy conceded, then brought the cup that made up the top of the thermos to her lips and took a sip. “Though I really just feel better having gotten out of my parent’s house.”

“Yeah, I’m glad I brought this thermos of it, but I was going to make it for you fresh at the house,” Helena lied.

She glanced over at Rafferty, who sat on the other side of her on the bench, feeling calm in the cool air of the train station platform. There were very few people around on the open-air platform. Most other passengers waited inside the small train station fieldhouse where there was heat and abathroom.

Helena nudged his arm to offer him some of her tea as well, but he refused it.

“I’m good,” he said, his arms lying limp on his lap. He felt tired, but it was a good kind of tired. A triumphant tired. He knew he should be upset with her spending her power to make them some of that don’t-be-depressed tea from before, but he just couldn’t. His emotions were all wrung out after the competition.

Cindy glanced at him, shaking her head. “I still think we should have fought harder,” she said over her cup rim.

“With your mom?” Helena asked.

“No! At the competition.”

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