“So,” she asks, flicking me a look, “this tricky Soul Wraith. Is it anything you’d like to talk about? Any reason for the blue smudge on your cheek?”
I laugh. “You’re observant as always, El. But no, not particularly. It was just another job.” My fingers trace shapes across the tabletop, a subconscious attempt to erase the unease tightening at my shoulders. I can’t stop recalling it.
The Soulreaper’s touch, so cold and jarring. The old woman’s final gasping breaths, before her soul was plucked from her chest.
“By the way,” I say, keeping my voice casual, “do you know who used to live in that run-down cottage, the one on the hill, overlooking Auxin Forest?”
“No idea. I can ask around the bakery if you’d like?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “I’m just being nosy.”
Elara wipes the tip of the piping bag with her finger and gives it a taste. “I don’t know how you do it. The grief. The tragedy. The malevolence.”
“You get used to it.” My gaze remains fixed on the table. A cupcake unexpectedly appears before me, and I can’t help but crack a smile. “I saw you infusing these. Are you trying to use your talents on me?”
“What’s wrong with a bit of warmth and joy after a long day?”
“You make a strong case…” I sink my teeth into thesoft, buttery cake, and there’s an instantaneous bloom of something warm and tingly in my chest.
The influence of Elara’s talents takes effect, bringing a smile to my face. It feels so real, so entirely undeserved. The Soulreaper, the old lady … they all melt away. I give in to the pull and let the happiness be.
“Mmm,” I mutter in between bites. “This is honestly so good. And I’m not just saying that because I’m riding a high.”
Elara bites her lip. “Do you think? I have an audition tomorrow at the bakery. If my cakes sell out, they’ll assign me a permanent spot in the main display case.”
I excitedly leap up from my seat. “Elara, this is huge!” I rush to her side, grasping her hands. Hers are so much softer and more delicate than mine. They’re a little clammy, too.
“Are you nervous?” I ask, sitting back down.
“Well, yeah, of course I’m nervous. This opportunity could change everything for me … for us.”
“And it will, El. Your cakes are irresistible.”
“Thanks. Although…” The smile on Elara’s face fades as she withdraws her hands and starts fiddling with her arrangement of cupcakes, each adorned with a perfect pink swirl and crowned with a teardrop berry. “It’ll be an added expense. I’ll have to pay for the ingredients myself – I can’t use the stuff at the bakery – and I’ll have to bake them at home, too, so there’s the extra cost of the electricity for the oven and for the lights. And I’d be renting the display space.”
“What? That’s ridiculous,” I protest. “You’ve been working at the bakery for nearly six Stellar Years. The least they can do is offer you one measly shelf.”
“I know it’s not fair, but that’s how it is.”
“Well, luckily for you…” I reach into my pocket and retrieve the money I earned at the Night Market, dropping it on to the table and sliding it towards her. I smile. “My dream is to see you open your own cake shop, El. If you become successful, I can quit my job and sit around all day eating cake.”
Tears glisten in Elara’s eyes. “Thank you,” she says, reaching for my hand and squeezing my knuckles. “I don’t deserve you.”
“True,” I say, grinning. “Which reminds me, I believe I still owe you a gift for your birthday yesterday.”
I present the starbliss zest.
“Talia, no, you shouldn’t have…” Elara grabs it with both hands, eyes shining as she opens the top of the shaker to release the aromatic spice within.
I catch the most fleeting whiff – a dance of sweetness, nuttiness and a hint of something sharp that teases my nostrils.
“Wow, I can’t believe you got me this. The bakery keeps theirs locked in a box. It must’ve been expensive?”
I ignore her question and add, “That’s not all I got you.”
Elara shakes her head when I retrieve the gold ring from my tunic. “No, that’s too much. Where did you get this?”
“It doesn’t matter where I got it. It’s for you.”
