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Evan swiped another cupcake. “Yes, yes, and yes. Vaughn was a little standoffish at first, but he’s started opening up. I noticed the other gargoyles in the council are a bit like Vaughn, so I think it might just be a gargoyle thing. Anyway, yes, we know what we’re going to be doing assignment-wise. Benjamin and his team are off on assignment next week, and we’ll be going out soon, but not with Frederick since his mate just had a baby. Well, One, since he’s a warlock.” Evan shook his head. “I don’t know why they can’t call them mates as well, but it is what it is.”
I smiled. Because they didn’t want to call them the same thing as everyone else, I guess. I actually didn’t know if that was the reason or not, but I knew they called their mates their One. I’d read everything I could about how things were in this realm. It was all still new to me, but I was thankful that I’d had the opportunity to come with Evan when he’d been chosen to join the council. I could have been left behind, but I was lucky that the fates that brought us here offered for me to come as well.
It was just me and Evan and had been for some time now, since I was in my early teenage years. Our parents went to visit another village one day and never returned. To this day, we still don’t know what happened to them. They had been searched for, but not only had they never arrived at the other village, but theywere nowhere to be found anywhere in a nearby radius. That had been eight years ago, and it had been just me and Evan since.
Did I miss my parents? Somewhat, but I didn’t remember them all that well anymore. Evan had been great to me, and he’d done everything for me that I needed. He’d finished raising me and had given me so much love that I never felt like I was missing out. We talked about our parents often at first, but over the years, that had slowly become less and less. There was only so much you could remember about a couple that had only been around in your life for a little over a decade.
“Are you all right?”
I blinked and then focused on Evan. “Yeah, I guess. I was thinking about everything,” I told him as I looked around the kitchen. I was in the house that Evan had been given when he joined the enforcers. It was so much larger than the little cottage we had lived in in our village. And it was great because Lukan lived on the other side of us on one side while Felix lived on the other.
“I know I’m pushing you, and maybe that’s wrong of me. Maybe I should just let you do your own thing and not push for you to be the one that opens the bakery.”
I shook my head. “No, I need a job. I’m not complaining, but I really do need to do something because you’re gone on and off, and I get bored.” I shrugged before continuing. “I can hang out with some of the other fae enforcers, but they do their own thing for the most part. They don’t really include me most of the time, which is understandable.” I saw Evan’s face change and immediately shook my head at him while holding my hands out. “It’s all right. They don’t have to include me. I’m not an enforcer, and I’m not mate to any of them. That’s why it’s a good thing you’re encouraging me. I need to be pushed.” I did. I knew it just as much as Evan did.
“I just want you to have an opportunity to do something that I know you love. You used to love working in the village’s bakery.” Evan glanced down at the counter before he looked back at me. “For a bit, I thought you were going to stay in our village and not come with me.”
My eyebrows lifted in surprise. “What? Why? You are everything, Evan, and I wasn’t even considering staying behind once I was offered to come. Why would I stay? There is nobody left in our village for me.” Most likely, I would never find my mate unless I managed to go traveling at some point. I already knew that none of the current enforcers or other employees at the council were my mate. That was frustrating, but there wasn’t anything I could do to change it.
“You left something you loved.”
I didn’t know why, but I just started laughing. It went on and on until I had tears running down my face. When I finally was able to stop, I swiped at my eyes and cheeks before looking at my brother. Was he serious?
“Ev, I am going to be doing the same thing here now. How is it any different? It’s just somewhere else. Obviously, the fates knew I would have this opportunity.” Why had I resisted? Maybe it was just that it was a lot all at once? I didn’t know for sure, but when I thought about it, even thinking about not taking this opportunity and running with it was dumb. “I’m going to do this, Evan. I need to. It’s going to be wonderful for me,” I told him.
Evan smiled at me. “Good. I’m happy to hear it.” Evan reached for another cupcake, and it disappeared in seconds. I smiled while shaking my head at him. That was at least the fourth one, and I was certain he was going to end up with an upset stomach if he didn’t eat something substantial soon.
I turned around and went back to the list in my notebook. I was trying to finalize what would be offered each day of the week. Since I didn’t have much help, only two other omegas whowere mated to someone on the mountain, but I’d not been told whom, I was going to be working a lot of hours. The council had offered me Mondays or Wednesdays off, and I was still deciding which I would prefer. I knew that even with the use of magic, I would need to have a day off. My body would need time to rest, and I would need time to do other things.
“What’s that?” Evan asked as he leaned over my shoulder.
“Basically, it’s a menu. I know I need to offer certain things every day.” I pointed to the plate of cupcakes that Evan had been eating. “Cupcakes and cookies, obviously. But what else should I offer daily? I’m not sure what all they like here? I’ve realized that some of the things we ate in our village aren’t things they have here.”
“True. Have you asked what they had before?” Evan picked up the notebook. “This is a lot, Ev. Are you sure that even with magic, you can handle all of this every day?”
“Is it too much?” I leaned closer to look at the notebook. “We did something similar to this in the bakery in our village.”
Evan shook his head and then sighed. “Sure. But there were four of you. Four of you with magic that could do all of this. This is a lot of magic for you to be using every day. And even if you only use magic to do half of these, it’s still a lot since you would have to make the other half like someone without magic.” Evan gave me a serious look. “You said you were going to have two others to help but don’t know who they are. Do they have magic?”
I shrugged. We all knew there were warlocks and other fae on the mountain, but yeah. I didn’t know who would be helping me. “I have no idea,” I replied. “I’m not even sure if they know how to bake.”
Evan took several deep breaths before he set the notebook down. “Well, I still say you should do it, but definitely cut the daily amount down by at least two-thirds.” I wanted to argue,but Evan knew it was coming and stopped me with a hand on my mouth. “Wait,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Just until you know what it’s going to be like. From what I’ve seen of the enforcers, they like things they can take with them. Cookies, small hand pies, rolls, things of that nature.”
I nodded. “I can do that.”
“Full cakes, full-sized pies, loaves of bread, things like that are what the mated enforcers are going to take home. Maybe have the ones that are going to be helping, have them work on those? I wouldn’t think you would need as many of those first thing in the morning.”
I nodded. I reached for the notebook, and after turning to a new page, I started taking notes. Evan had good ideas, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. “What else?” I asked once I had that jotted down.
Evan started laughing. “I’m not sure,” he said after he sobered up. “Maybe I should get you in with the council, and you can ask them what all is expected of you. I can’t believe they didn’t say anything.”
I nodded slowly, my mind going back to the very brief meeting I’d had with someone named Alistair. He was a warlock, and I knew he was very important to the council, but I didn’t think he was one of the created ones or anything.
“Umm…maybe they did?” I said, remembering a folder he had given me. “Be right back.” I thought I might have put it in my bedroom. I’d not really thought much about doing the organizing side of things. Baking? Absolutely. But I’d never really actually run a bakery before. I could bake and decorate and make things look pretty and delicious, but the other side had been something others had done in the bakery.
I found the folder on my bedside table and hurried back to the kitchen. Evan was sitting on a stool now, and when I held out the folder, he glared.
“What’s this?”
