Page 106 of The Alpha and the Baker
“Pardon?”
“You saidwhenI lose. But you don’t know that yet,” I corrected. “The proper verbiage is ‘should’ I lose.”
“I see. We will correct that.”
She made another movement with her phone, but I reacted quickly enough to stomp down on the paper before it could retreat.
“Just one moment. We’d like to double-check the verbiage to make sure there are no other errors.”
The woman’s smirk fell, and I was beginning to wonder if they were finally thinking of me as a threat or just a human who was in way over her head. Either was fine with me, but the second one would certainly serve me better.
“Very well. Read all you please as we begin preparations.”
“Will do.”
And in a turn of events that I was sure nobody expected, several members of the Ramirez pack, including Sal, joined up with several members of the McCallister pack, including Cas, and we all read over the contract together while the fairies took over several of the competition kitchenettes and began summoning things from thin air.
It was distracting, to say the least. I tried my best to focus on the words on the page, but even when I narrowed my gaze to the scroll, I couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of satisfaction that there were nearly a dozen members of each pack all crowded around me and none of them were arguing. No, they were all working together, looking over the contract with a furious intensity that made my heart swell with happiness.
I knew I’d laid it on pretty thick during the competition, but I needed to set the stage appropriately. It was obvious to me that both Sal and Cas would much rather bury the hatchet than keep the needless tension going, but that it was such a matter-of-fact part of their life that subverting it seemed impossible.
So, I was just giving them the boost they needed.
And risking my entire life and identity for it. But whatever.
#WorthIt.
“Are we sure that’s all we wanna fix?” I asked after about a half-hour of all of us going over the contract several times.
“Oh! Have them add that we get to inspect their kitchenettes before they start baking, during, and right before presentation,” Keokuk said, leaning in between Penny and Polly. “I see them doing a lot o’ magic over there, and I don’t trust them one lick.”
“Good suggestion,” Cas said with a nod. “And also include that their ingredients all have to be from this realm and ones you would have access to as a human.”
“Oh yeah,” Sal agreed. “The last thing you want is them pulling in a cloud’s dream, or the tears of the last unicorn.”
That actually gave me pause, and I looked up from the paper. “Wait, they can do that?”
I was met by nearly a dozen simultaneous shrugs before Gammy McCallister answered with her signature half-shout. “They’re fairies. It’s what they do.”
Right. Good to know.
“Are we ready, then?”
“If you are,” Cas said, squeezing my shoulder, and I heard the subtext in his voice.If you can ever be ready for something like this.
And hoo boy, if I didn’t wholly agree. It was like I was standing at a cliff about to make a giant leap of faith, and I just had to hope there was something soft and pillowy waiting for me down below.
“I’m ready.” It was now or never.
“We have a few amendments we’d like to make to the contract,” I said as the fairy with the slicked-back hair approached me. “I don’t like how you interpreted some of my stipulations, and there is some double-speak in here that’s concerning.”
He looked disappointed, but the expression disappeared almost as quickly as it came. “Of course. By all means, what would you like us to amend?”
It wasn’t exactly fun or thrilling, but I went over every single point and watched as the text magically changed right in front of my eyes with a golden sparkle.
That took about another half hour, and by the time we were actually starting the most important event of my life, I’d already been awake for sixteen hours. Not exactly my best, but there was a reason I’d chugged energy drinks throughout the day. My liver and kidneys didn’t really like it, but they’dreallydislike it if Iended up losing to the fairies and becoming one of their thralls. Or whatever it is they did with those whose names and legacy they took.
After I read over the contract once again, there was nothing left to do but sign. I hesitated as the weight of the entire situation settled over me.
