Page 8 of Baking and Angels

Rafferty flinched. “And you can’t touch her. You know she would never accept a deal from you,”he warned.

“Well, of course. She’s not an idiot,” Vassago chuckled, his implication clear.

Rafferty didn’t rise to the baiting. He only waited and smiled. Even though he said he wouldn’t make a deal with Vassago, they both knew that was a lie. It just needed to be therightdeal.

They stared at each other, smiling, until finally, Vassago shifted away, yielding to Rafferty first to study the scarred arm of the rocking chair. It was a kind of tactic to make the mark feel superior to the demon. A false sense.

“What I want is really simple. Peace,” Vassago finally said.

Rafferty furrowedhis brows.

“No, I mean it. I leave you alone. You leave me alone. You don’t tell anyone what you know about me. We go our separate ways, and that’s the end of it.”

Letting those words flow over him, Rafferty parsed them in his mind to try to find the flaw. “Define leave alone.”

“I will do no physical harm, exert no influence, and make no bargains with you and your little old soul, other than this bargain I’m making with you right now. I can take no action that would do either of you any mental harm either. No driving either of you insane. You’ll have to do that on your own. You will both be completely safe from me. You can just get on living your lives.”

“Not just us,” Rafferty added. “Her friends, too.”

Vassago’s eyes narrowed, then he let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m going to need specific names,” heconceded.

The demon was serious.

It also meant that Vassago feared what Rafferty’s knowledge could do to his chances of staying increation.

But Rafferty conceded. He didn’t have the stomach for this. The humans didn’t seem to be interested in sending him back, or even believing his story, but if they were going to let him, he would prefer to just be done with all of it. To live a life with Helena.

“Helena’s friends. Cindy, Charlie, Chris,” he said, reciting the names he knew for them, hoping it would be enough for Vassago. “AndScarlet.”

Vassago’s lips thinned at the mention of that name; his latest victim and the one most likely to want to make a deal with him to undo the damage caused.

“Fine. Agreed. I will extend my amnesty to those individuals as well. Satisfied?” Then Vassago cocked his head to one side. “And we speak of this agreement to no one.”

Rafferty was surprised that Vassago didn’t even try to haggle about Scarlet. He felt emboldened to push it. “And one additional condition. I can tell Helena about this deal,” Rafferty countered. “I won’t keep anything from her like that.”

The demon huffed through his nose. “Agreed. But just your old soul. Anyone elseyoutell voids the agreement.”

Only one step left. “These terms remain in effect as long as we both uphold them in letter and in spirit?”

Vassago returned a thin smile. This was all part of doing business as demons. It was impossible to craft a perfectly worded contract that couldn’t be loopholed and exploited eventually, so smart humans, or other demons, would bind contracts to the “spirit” of the meanings as well as the literal.

“I swear by my mind, body, and soul,” Vassago intoned.

“I swear by my mind, body, and soul,” Raffertyrepeated.

And just like that, itwas done.

Which was strange. There was no uncomfortable feeling of power creeping over Rafferty’s skin, but Vassago shivered. He could feel the power of thecontract.

Then his shoulders dropped a half in a semblance of relief. “Thank you, my boy. I’m glad we could come to an accord. And in the spirit of our old friendship, I’ll give you this. No other strings attached.” He pulled a spiral-bound book out of his pocket. It was uncanny to watch as the book was clearly bigger than the pocket and yet popped out of it all the same. Vassago dropped it onto the table with a definite thump.

Rafferty stared atthe cover.

It was Helena’s grandmother’scookbook.

Before he could lift his head to ask, Vassago moved to the door. “We’ve got our agreement. If we both keep it, you’ll never see me again. Have a good life,mon ami.”

And he left, leaving Rafferty alone inthe quiet.

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