Free The Book Waitress Series Volume One by Deena Remiel

morning.” He sat down, too, whisked a napkin into the air, and laid it across his lap. She did the same. “I thought we’d go over ritual proceedings that involve only the two of us.”
    “What more do we need to review? Everything is in order for the boy. I know my part of the ceremony by heart as well as yours. What else is there?”
    “Try a strawberry. Maritha says they’re unusually sweet today.” He took one from his fruit cup and groaned his pleasure. “She’s right. These are sensational. Anyway, that part of the ceremony, you’re right. We’re ready. But we have the secondary ritual that we must conduct regarding the Marked One. It is an extraordinary convergence of events this year. We must make sure that we are ready for her sacrifice, as well. Master is expecting it. As Overlord, I must be sure you, my High Priestess, are prepared for your part in the ritual.”
    “Victor, this idea of yours about the Marked One, I wonder if it’s really necessary to go ahead with it. I mean, I’ve looked all through the old manuscripts and tablets, handbooks and liturgy, and I’ve found a scant line or two about it at most.”
    “Its obscurity doesn’t make it any less important than the other rituals. Just all the more intriguing to carry out and see what happens.”
    “It’s just one more person to go missing and bring old suspicions back when we’d laid them to rest years ago.”
    “I shall take that under advisement, my dear. Do try the fruit, my love.” He stood up and crouched beside her. Plucking a strawberry from her bowl, he teased her mouth with the tip. “And if you have some extra comp time saved up, maybe you could linger here and I can have you with my fruit.”
    She blushed and opened her mouth to accept his offering. He rubbed the strawberry around the edge of her lips before plunging it into her mouth. She bit down, closed her eyes, and moaned. Mere moments later, her eyes flew open and her moan turned into gasps. She grabbed the edge of the table with one hand and his shirt collar with the other, piercing him with the puzzled look he’d been anticipating all morning.
    “Whatever’s the matter, Nancy? You look like you’ve eaten poison. These are the best strawberries in town. Maybe you should spit it out if you don’t like it. You don’t need to be dramatic about it.”
    Convulsing in her chair, she foamed at the mouth, the whites of her eyes turned yellow, and her skin, ashen gray. Victor struggled but removed her hand from his shirt and stepped back to watch the ensuing deterioration of her body. She fell to the ground as her body continued to shake uncontrollably while burbling sounds escaped her blistered lips.
    He knelt down beside her, and with as much menace as a servant of Satan could contain in his voice, he spoke his own version of her last rites. “There can be only one Overlord and that would be me. Now you know what happens to those who try to usurp my reign. Your soul is not good enough for Heaven and not loyal enough for Hell. May your soul remain forever restless with nowhere to go and no one to hear your complaints.”
    Blood oozed out of her nose and ears as her eyes rolled back in her head. A blackening of her skin stole up and around her neck and face. And then, all was still.
    “Damn,” he muttered. “That wasn’t long and slow at all. I must’ve mislabeled the bottle. A short and sweet affair rather than an epic death. Oh well, what’s done is done. Maritha!”
    A short, gray-haired woman came scampering out and approached him. “Yes, Mr. Victor?”
    “Ah, here you are.” He stood up to regain his mammoth height, arms opened wide. “My dear, phenomenal breakfast this morning. You really outdid yourself. Those strawberries were divine!”
    She smiled proudly. “Thank you, Mr. Victor.”
    “You may clean up now. We’re finished here. Ask Bart to help with the, uh, heavier items. I don’t want you hurting yourself. A good chef is hard to find, you