Remember when I said that as Elsa, the way I reacted to everything had gotten more intense? Yeah, I wasn't kidding.

When the black cat lunged at me, hissing and ready to claw, I lifted my leg and swept it in a lethal arch. My boot connected with the side of its torso, raising it off the ground and throwing it into the wall on the right.

It went down with a loud mewling sound. Asmod's eyes went wide. Lilian gasped loudly.

“Miss Elsa, what was that for?!” she snapped at me.

“Self defense,” I said, planting my foot back on the ground and standing straight again.

Lilian rushed forward, lifted the cat into her arms and stroked her sore torso soothingly.

“It's just a cat, Grimly,” Asmod said, “She wasn't going to hurt you or anything.”

“Weren't you paying attention? When it came at me I saw blood in that thing's eye,” I said.

“She's just a poor, gentle creature,” Lily said, walking towards me with the cat in her arms. “Asmod said she was hungry. She probably wanted you to comfort her. Just look at that face.” She held the cat in front of me, stretching out her arms.

The red eyes glared at me fiercely, and the cat was baring her teeth again. Hiss!

I pursed my lips. “Yes. Gentle and helpless indeed.”

Lily gave me a sour look. “Madam Smokewell wanted us to pick up this poor creature as soon as we left our village. She probably cared about her a lot and was worried that the poor thing would be orphaned once she killed herself. She wants us to take care of her, Miss Elsa. This is part of Madam Smokewell's legacy.”

I grimaced. “I think you are giving her a lot more backstory than she deserves.”

“What's a backstory?” Asmod asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Nevermind.”

“No,” Lily said sternly. “You should apologize.”

“What?” I said. “To whom?”

“To Garnet.” Lily held up the cat again.

I scoffed. “Garnet? Really, she has a name now?”

“Grimly, you know Garnet doesn't deserve so much hate,” Asmod said, “Especially since the common folk already think of her kind as ill fortune.”

“Well, in this case, I side with common folk.” I crossed my arms.

“The common folk side with the Inquisition that wants to burn us. Would you still side with them?” Lily glared at me.

“Okay, calm down. You are blowing this out of proportion,” I said.

“Then why don't you be the better person and just apologize?” Asmod said.

“Even if you don't apologize, at least show that you mean no harm to her.” Lily brought the cat closer to me.

I frowned. “What do you want me to do?”

“Rub her back,” Lily said.

I cringed, quite visibly. I don't remember myself ever being too keen on animals in my previous life. But when the hair on my arms stood on end, I could tell that old Elsa might've shared my sentiments too.

I looked at Lily, then at Asmod. They both looked back at me, their faces obdurate. After a second, I rolled my eyes and raised my hand. I reluctantly reached for the cat's torso.

Before my fingers even touched her fur, her paw went up in the air and came down on the back of my hand in a nasty swipe.

I cried out in pain. “You piece of–”

“See, was it so difficult?” Lily said.

I gawked at her. “The damn thing scratched me!” I held up my hand with the three thin red lines, glowing against my skin.

“Well, you kicked her first. She is going to be scared of you, of course. But at least you held yourself back this time,” Asmod said.

Lily nodded. “Yes, at least she knows that you mean no harm anymore.”

I groaned and decided to shut up and let the topic slowly die. It had already gone for longer than I liked.

“You said she was hungry, right?” Lily looked at Asmod. “Why don't we feed her something?”

The short, bald man nodded. “Have you brought the letter Madam Smokewell left with you?”

I nodded and pulled out the letter from my vest. He took the piece of paper and pulled out the brush that was in the pouch on his hip. He made a few strokes with the red ink on the back of the letter, bold and elegant as calligraphy.

Then the symbol he had painted began to glow and then it disappeared. In its place more writing appeared on the previously blank surface of the page.

“When Smokewell came to drop by the package, she wanted me to enchant this piece of paper for her,” Asmod said, holding up the paper so we could see the back of the letter.

I could tell it was written in Smokewell's pretty cursive writing.

Sith Bread recipe for the cat.

Ingredients:

1 piece of Ghost Sage tree root

2 cups of water from the Moon pond

3 eggs from a one eyed rooster

1 cup of milk from a three legged goat

300 grams of refined flour

Crushed bones of a young vulture for seasoning

…

The ingredients were enough to give me a pause. I looked at Lily and felt reassured to see that she found this wierd too.

“I don't think bread is good for a cat's health,” she said, tapping her chin with a finger.

My jaw went slack. “That's the thing that worries you?”

“Yes, mostly it’s advised to not feed bread to a cat. Something like meat or milk would be good.” Lily nodded.

“But the recipe was left by Madam Smokewell,” Asmod said. “She would've given this a better thought, don't you think?”

“Am I the only one who thinks that this bread seems less like bread and more like an offering to a demon?” I said.

“No, Miss Elsa. Demons only accept apples as payment and offerings,” Lily said, “Did you forget that time when you and Madam Smokewell helped catch the demon burglar who had stolen all the apples from the demon realm?”

I swear, I was about to yank my hair out. “You know what? Forget it. Let's just make the damn bread and be done with it.”

“We'll have to get these ingredients first,” Asmod said, squinting at the page.

“Where are we supposed to get the three legged goat, one eyed rooster and vulture bone dust?” I said.

“I know a place where to get those and the refined flour,” Asmod said. “I’ll place an order. I’m more worried about the procedure of making the bread itself. It needs to be ready before midnight.”

I frowned again. This seemed even less like cat food now but I kept quiet this time. I'd already used more than enough energy on arguing about cat food.

“We'll get the tree root and the water then.” Lily shrugged. “It's only eight o'clock.”

The cat that was still in her arms nuzzled her chin, purring softly, as if happy at the mention of food.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said. “So where do we get those other ingredients now?”

“Lily and I stepped out into the streets to get the moon pond water and Ghost Sage root. Asmod was going to buy all the weird animal products and use the flour he had in his own pantry. He gave us the address to the people who could sell us the root and water. "But I won't be able to pay for this too," he said.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I gave him a gracious nod and said, "You're already spending more than we would've expected. We won't trouble you more."

"No, its not that I can't buy it for you." He hesitated before saying, "It's just that the folks that sell those thing ask for something more than money."

That had me intrigued. "Like what?"

"Souls."

They were the Malcolm family. Asmod told us they were exiles from somewhere and they'd brought an impossible amount of wealth along with them. That wealth had only grown bigger when they invested in businesses here. And they mainly invested in people like Asmod--those who were capable of using some magic. But their real business was doing favors to those in need. The kind of favors that the government couldn't do, especially the things the government wouldn't do.

Asmod drove us over to their mansion in his clunky little steam carriage and told us to wait while he talked to the guards at the big wrought iron gates at the front. Lily and I watched him from the backseat window. His chat with the guard went on for about five more minutes before they let us in.

"You have quite the reach don't you?" I said as his carriage rolled through the front entrance onto the gravel pathway ahead.

"I've traded with them before," he said.

"Don't tell me you've already given up your soul?"

He snorted. "God no. I'm not stupid. One other thing that the Malcolms trade with are favors. You go and ask them for something. If you don't want to part with your soul you can say that you owe them a job. Then they'll call you up when they need. You can't refuse them then."

"Sounds like a trap." Lily narrowed her eyes. "What if they ask you to give up your soul then?"

"You see, those are the terms of their contract," Asmod said. "They can't make you give up your souls unless you agree to give it up yourself. If you agree to do a job for them, a job is all they'll ask you to do."

"So, you are saying we should tell them that we'll do a job for them?" Lily asked.

"I mean, you can always part with your soul too. It's up to you." He hit the brakes on the carriage as we arrived at the massive porch at the front.

"I think we'll keep our souls for now. Right, Lily?" I nudged her.

The girl nodded in a heartbeat.

Asmod shrugged. "I mean, that deal has its benefits too. But as I said, it's your soul."

The tall front door of the mansion opened. Two muscular women walked down the porch steps and opened the carriage doors for us. They led us up to the door and were about to pat us down to see if we were hiding any weapons.

Before they could put their hands on us I pulled Asmod and Lilian aside. “I just want to make sure we are all on the same page,” I whispered to them. “We are here to get ingredients for cat food. Frickin’ cat food?!”

“Yes,” Lily and Asmod said in unison. Their faces were completely serious. For a second I was terrified.

“Guys,” I said gravely, “are we seriously ready to get involved with some super mobster family just for some cat food?!”

“Yes.” It was the same unified response, same serious looks.

I groaned and leaned back. “Let's just get this over with then.” I walked up to the woman who was waiting to whisk us.

The living room we entered was big enough to park two limousines. They'd made us take off our shoes, so I could feel just how soft the shag carpet was. A tall marble fountain was at the centre of the room. A circular couch was arranged around it. They asked us to sit down and wait for the twins, Anisa and Roderick Malcolm.

When the two arrived, I couldn't help myself from gaping at them. Both of them had shiny jet black hair, smooth brown skin and identical grey eyes with flecks of gold in them. And both of them were floating in the air.

At first I was stumped. Then my vision fizzled again and I saw their white wings. And their halos weren't green but golden. I remembered Asmod telling us on the way that the twins were exiles. I wondered if they were some kind of fallen angels.

I was certainly curious but not stupid enough to ask them outright. “Josie told us that Asmod was here,” Anisa said with a gentle smile. “So we didn't bother to get properly dressed.” Then she giggled. “Nor walk on the ground.”

I frowned. Anisa was wearing a flowing black dress of the finest silk I'd ever seen. Roderick was in a satin shirt and tuxedo trousers. This didn't qualify as ‘properly dressed’ in their lexicon? I was certainly a lot more stumped now.

“So Asmod,” Roderick said as he landed on the carpet in front of the short man. “What brings you here today?”

Anisa offered Asmod her hand. He touched the ring on her finger with his forehead.

“I have friends with me who seek your help. I hope my lord and lady don't mind?” Asmod asked.

The twins gave another gentle smile. Asmod introduced the both of us and told the twins about our reason for visiting.

“Hmm,” Anisa said, appraising Lily and I with inquisitive eyes, “Ghost Sage and the water from the moon pond. What do you need those for?” Even though her voice was gentle, the question still held authority.

“We have to prepare food for our cat. Those are one of the ingredients,” I said before I could stop myself. I regretted it as soon as I heard how stupid it sounded.

Roderick gave a chuckle that sounded like rain on a summer morning. “Quite the cat it must be and quite the food you are making,” he said. “But, you're in luck since we actually own a farm full of Ghost Sage trees and we have five moon ponds in our name.”

“We'll be happy to share but there's going to be a price.” Anisa said.

Lily nodded. “Mr. Asmod told us. We are ready to pay back by doing a job for you.”

Roderick smiled. “Wonderful.” He clapped his hands twice and two rather ancient looking scrolls appeared out of thin air. Our contracts. The writing on them was written in bold silver letters.

“Do make sure you read everything before signing,” Anisa said with a small smile.

“Do we sign it in blood?” I said as Lily and I reached out to pull the contract closer to read it better. It was only a half-joke, considering the situation I was in.

The twins laughed at my question. “You are a charming one, Miss Elsa,” Roderick said.

“We don't mind blood but for now you can use a simple quill and ink,” Anisa said.

I was about to say something to the twins when I heard Lily hiss next to me. I looked at her to see that she had her finger in her mouth. And there was a drop of blood on the contract in front of her.

My eyes went wide. Then something stung my finger. A drop of blood fell onto the page on the ‘sign here’ section.

Then in a blink of an eye, the contracts disappeared from our hands. “We are so glad you agreed to do business with us,” Anisa said, clasping her hands together.

“We'll summon you when we'll have a use for your talents,” Roderick said and they both whirled around and were ready to float away.

“Hey, wait, we didn't agree to anything!” I snapped. “We barely read the contracts fully.”

Anisa cocked her head, giving me a look of innocent puzzlement. “If you hadn't read it then why did you sign it?”

“That wasn't a sign. Something pricked our fingers. And a drop of blood fell on the page.” I glared.

“That counts as a signature as well,” Roderick said, giving the same innocent look as his sister. “We'd said we don't mind blood.”

“I feel like you are just trying to talk your way out of this, Miss Elsa,” Anisa said. “We are handing you over two of the most expensive supernatural products yet this is how you react to paying the price?”

Asmod spoke up before I could. “Forgive her, Madam Malcolm. This is her first time doing business.” He gave me a look of silent pleading.

One of the muscular guards, Josie, brought us two bottles full of silver liquid which seemed to be the water from the moon pond and something that I mistook for a greenish purple sweet potato at first, but it was just the Ghost Sage root. Lily took the items from the guard and looked at me with the same expression as Asmod. I rolled my eyes and huffed in frustration.

“I guess it was a pleasure doing business with you. Let's get going, Lily,” I said and turned to leave as well.

“Be prepared for your jobs when we summon you,” Roderick said as we stepped out.

****

Asmod drove us back to his Nook and led us up the stairs to his small apartment. All the furniture in his house was fairly short and all the cabinets were mounted low on the wall.

While we were about to start preparing the bread dough, the doorbell rang. Someone was dropping a delivery. Our other ingredients had arrived. Next we followed the exact recipe that Smokewell had left on the back of the letter.

First we had to mix the vulture bone dust with the refined flour. Next went the three eggs of the one eyed rooster and the three legged goat's milk. After whipping it to a thick consistency we had to crush the ghost sage root and mix it into the batter with the moon pond water. It thickened further. Then we put some yeast and baking powder. Lily rolled up her sleeves and kneaded the dough to a soft smoothness. We let it rest for thirty minutes before chucking it into the oven.

As we sat down at his small dining table, Asmod poured us all some ginger ale. The cat was in a corner, scratching an old blanket Asmod had thrown her. I frowned as I took a sip. “I still don't believe the contract that Malcolms made us sign was completely clean.”

“I told you,” Asmod said in a tired tone. “I've worked with them before. Yes, they do things that are against the law, but they play fair.” After a short pause he added, “in their own way.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “You sound rather uncertain.”

“I trust Mr. Asmod,” Lily said after a big sip from her ale. “Because Madam Smokewell trusted Mr. Asmod.”

Before I could say anything the cat hopped into my lap. I perked up and was ready to push her off when I saw the feline snuggling into my skirt. Lily smiled. “Aw, Garnet seems to like you now,” she said. “Probably because you showed you meant no harm earlier.”

I frowned again. “I think she likes my skirt more than me.”

“She'll grow on you,” Asmod said with a small smile.

I scoffed. But I couldn't deny, when she wasn't trying to scratch me, she was rather cute. I gave her a little pat on the head.

“Aww…” Asmod and Lily said in unison.

I rolled my eyes but said nothing.

Then there was a ding! “Oh, the bread is ready!” Lily gasped and rushed off to take it out of the oven.

She brought it over and laid it down on the table. The crust was pink and purple and flecks of bone dust were visible on it. I held back a grimace. “Are you really sure this thing is supposed to be eaten by the cat?” I said.

“Of course,” Lily said as she cut a few slices from the bread. “Why else would Madam Smokewell write the recipe?”

The cat hopped up on the table as soon as she saw the bread. She didn't waste any time to dig into her treat.

I rested my elbow on the table and propped my chin in my hand. “I mean, I really hope it is safe. We had to sign a shady contract to bake it.” I shrugged.

Lily yawned. I looked at the cuckoo clock on the wall. It was almost midnight.

“I guess we should start worrying about where we are going to sleep then?” I said, getting up from the chair.

“I have some spare mattresses. You can roll them out in the living room for the night. Tomorrow we'll find an actual place for you to live in,” Asmod said.

He waved a hand at me to follow him to take the mattresses from him. I got up and was almost out of the small dining room when another voice said, “What about me? You don't expect me to sleep on that raggedy blanket, do you?”

I paused. I looked back at Lily. She sat frozen by the table, eyes glued to the cat who sat next to the tray of half eaten bread. Soon, my eyes widened too.

“Don't just gape at me like that, answer me!” the cat snapped in a voice that my mind recognized as a familiar one.

Lily leaned close to the cat and said, “Madam Smokewell, is this really you?”