CHAPTERTHREE
“This is amazing.What do you call it again?” Jane scooped a spoonful of the unconventional dessert into her mouth and closed her eyes.
Destiny smiled, her heart warming at her vampire friend’s reaction to her creation. “It’s calledsanguinaccio dolceor sweet blood pudding.”
“If Ethan had fed me this when he first turned me, I might’ve caught on to the whole blood-drinking thing a lot sooner. Mmm…” She took another bite and brushed her long, brown hair behind her shoulder.
“You’re supposed to make it with pig’s blood.” Destiny spooned a serving into a blue ceramic bowl and set it on the counter. “It took a while for Gaston to convince me to try it with human blood.”
The senior vampire drummed his fingers on the countertop. “And now it sells like warm pies?—”
“Hotcakes,” Jane said.
Gaston arched a brow. “Likehotcakesto the vampire community, does it not?”
“It does, and as long as I’m using bagged blood that’s been voluntarily donated, I don’t mind making it.” She pushed the bowl toward him.
“I will wait for my guest to arrive.”
“Okay.” Destiny returned the serving container to the fridge. “Where are Maeve and Ethan tonight?”
Gaston strolled toward a glass case filled with mini bundt cakes and tarts and peered at Destiny’s creations. “Maeve is tending to her bats at the sanctuary, and Ethan is crisping numerals at Jane’s club.”
“Crunching numbers,” she said around a mouthful of pudding. “He gets ornerier than a bear with its butt shaved when he’s balancing the books. I keep my distance during his monthly cycle.”
“Perhaps if you didn’t watch over his shoulder the entire time…” Gaston said.
“Meh. It’s fine.” Jane waved off his comment. “I’ll take care of him when he gets home. His stress melts away when Vlad the Impaler gets to do his thing.” She wiggled her eyebrows and took another bite of pudding. “What’s got your halo off-kilter, Destiny? You’re not your usual self.”
“Is it that obvious?” She wiped her hands on a towel before dishing up three slices of her famous demon-subduing angel food cake with strawberry sauce for an online order. “Where’s your friend, Gaston? Does he know how to get here?”
“He should behoppingin at any moment.” He smirked as if he’d just told a joke.
Jane laughed. “Hippity Hoppity. He’s on his way.”
Destiny cut her gaze between the vampires as they shared a laugh, but she didn’t dare ask what it was about. Knowing them, she probably didn’t want to know.
Gaston sat in a yellow chair at a lavender table, his black trench coat and boots contrasting with the pastels she’d decorated her bakery with. “After the Santa debacle, I can’t believe I allowed Jane to attend this reunion. Perhaps my better judgment is waning with my age.”
Jane rolled her eyes. “A girl makes one tiny mistake that almost ruins Christmas, and he’ll never let me live it down.” She plopped into the chair next to him. “I promise not to run him over. Easter won’t be ruined on my watch.”
“Easter?” Destiny tilted her head. “Is the friend you’re meeting the…?”
“The Easter Bunny?” Jane rubbed her palms together. “Yep. In the fluff.”
Destiny’s mouth dropped open. “Wow. That’s… How do you know him?”
Gaston waved a hand flippantly. “He’s a friend from the old days. I haven’t seen him in over one hundred years, so when he reached out, of course, I dropped everything to meet with him.”
“Hmm.” Destiny lowered her gaze. “Over one hundred years.” That sounded familiar.
She swiped open her phone to double-check the online order. “Oh, shoot. The angel food cake was supposed to be a go order.”
“I’ll help you box it up, and you can tell me your woes.” Jane glided behind the counter and picked up a plate. “Receive some help instead of giving it for a change.”
“These are trash. They’ll get soggy before the demons can eat them. I’ll have to put the sauce in a separate container.” She checked the order again. “I could have sworn it said they wanted to eat them here.”
“Maybe they changed it,” Jane said.
