Page 7 of Devils Don’t Deal

He smiled like a Cheshire cat. “I can work with unknown variables. May I offer you a solution to your problems that would dovetail perfectly with my own needs?”

I blinked at him. “Sure. Offer me the deal.” Making it sound like everyone was winning was doubtless his first step to a truly devastating scam.

He pursed his soft lips. “I dislike telling people what they need, but it would be better if we wrapped up business so we can have dinner.”

“Dinner?’

There was a gleam of the diabolical in his eyes before it vanished. “Are you shocked? I eat dinner, lunch, and breakfast. I also have tea in between.”

“You made it sound like we’d have dinner together.” I stared at him while he stared back.

He raised a brow. “Well, if you accept the deal, it would be convenient to eat while we discuss the further details.”

“Right. What’s the deal? Go ahead and tell me what I need. And what you need.” And then I’d probably have to accept it no matter how atrocious it was unless I wanted my dad to stay in a cage for the rest of his life. Which would be short.

“You need a place to live and work. You are truly good with customers, but where you shine is in your baking. I have a shop with an apartment above it that could be your bakery and home. It’s next to The Cat’s Pause. You went there for sushi yesterday after you went to jail. Isn’t Lieutenant Sato a delight?”

I blinked at him while my heart raced. He’d been watching me. And of course a devil would unbury all my secret, impossible dreams and use them to devour me. My whole life, as long as I could remember, I’d wanted to own a bakery and bake magical treats for everyone who was sad. “You want me to work in your bakery? What’s the catch?”

“There are several,” he said, offering me a soft smile. “I don’t want a bakery. What would I do with an adorable shop? No, I want a bad investment to finally turn a profit. The last person who had the shop used it as a cover for printing fake money. I want a wholesome shop that is absolutely respectable.”

“So you can use it for money laundering?”

He gave me a look of horror, all wide-eyed with a glint of amusement underneath. “No. You are a person who wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for your father. You personally wouldn’t make a deal with a devil. But here we are, so let’s make the best of the situation. I don’t like tormenting those who don’t deserve it. You truly do not deserve to be tormented.” He winced. “But there is one more catch included in this deal.”

I gripped the bench and nodded. “Right. What is it?”

“The rabbit. I’ll need you to take care of it while running a bakery. He doesn’t do much, just keep him fed and watered.”

I blinked at him. “You want me to keep a white rabbit with me while I run your bakery?”

“Your bakery with a plan to pay off your investor, me. Five years should do it.”

“Is this like a vampire rabbit or something?” There was no way this deal of having my own bakery would include a rabbit if it were normal.

He laughed, and it was like a magical rain of happiness plunking all over my skin. “No, my dear. He’s just judgmental.”

“Does he talk?”

His eyes sparkled with amusement. “No. At least not to me. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t seen him do any magic, but he wouldn’t still be alive if he wasn’t something.”

“That’s it? You want me to have a bakery and a rabbit?”

“Also dinners.”

I stared at him. “Is there any end to this deal?”

He smiled demurely. “Dinners with myself are required to both check on the rabbit and demonstrate our connection. You see, your nature is dynamic enough to cause quite a stir, and you’re going to use that to lure customers. The downside of being open about your goblin-fairy blood is that it will put you at risk of being bagged and tagged, sold for parts. Your father will help protect you, working as a guard in your shop with you, but it won’t be enough.”

I chewed on my lip as I considered. He’d let my dad out of the cage to be my guard? That was what I wanted. But dinners with the devil? It wasn’t like he was unpleasant to look at, but he was so dangerous. The rabbit was certainly worse than he made it sound. But having my own bakery? And in five years? My baking was the only thing I was truly confident about. If I could get people to try my baking, they’d keep coming back. And no one could fire me for being a goblin-fairy or not aesthetically thin enough if it was my own shop. To be honest about who I was? To not have to hide? And to have my dad with me?

I swallowed hard. “That sounds too good to be true.”

He smiled slightly. “You can have your father go over the contract if you’d like. He’s very clever. Of course, he would never want you to sign a deal with me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a devil. However, I’m also cursed to be sum-positive. And I don’t dislike you.”