Dining with Angels: Bits & Bites from the Demonica Universe Read online

  DINING

  WITH

  ANGELS

  Bits & Bites from the Demonica Universe

  Short Stories by New York Times Bestselling Author

  LARISSA IONE

  Recipes from USA Today Bestselling Author

  SUZANNE M. JOHNSON

  Dining With Angels

  Copyright 2018 Larissa Ione

  Recipes Copyright 2018 Suzanne McCollum Johnson

  ISBN: 978-1-948050-62-3

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  A Note From Larissa: Part 1

  I love food. Love it. In fact, when I travel I plan my itinerary around food and drink. Seriously. I watch shows like Delicious Destinations and keep a file of the restaurants and foods featured in each country and city. Then, along the way during my trip I make sure to stop at these places. I basically eat and drink my way through my vacations. I mean, sightseeing is a vital part of the experience, but give me a Yorkshire pub with locally brewed ale, a Belgian eatery with Flemish Carbonnade, or an Amsterdam restaurant serving poffertjes, and I’m in heaven.

  But as much as I love to eat, I’m not a big fan of cooking. My husband actually does most of it. He’s a real-life hero, I tell you.

  So given the way I glare at the oven, why in the world would I want to publish a cookbook?

  Check out the first sentence again: I. Love. Food. And to get good food, it’s sometimes necessary to prepare it. And, like most people, I have a day job—sure, as an author I at least get to work in my pajamas but I simply can’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. If I have to cook, I want to make dishes that are both easy and delicious.

  Emphasis on easy.

  I have a few trusted, simple, scrumptious recipes I love—some of which I’ve included in this book. But really, my talent is geared toward writing fiction, not whipping up homemade mayonnaise.

  Lucky for me—and for you—I have an incredible friend who also happens to be a celebrity cook. Confident, genuine, and bursting with Southern charm, Suzanne M. Johnson wields her culinary knowledge like the Grim Reaper wields his scythe. She’s utterly fearless in the kitchen! I adore her so much, in fact, that I named a heroine after her, a heroine who is also a fantastic cook with her own cooking show.

  I met Suzanne through her sister, Liz Berry, who has become a valued and irreplaceable part of my life, both personally and professionally. The intimate relationship between food, love, and friendship is always on the table when we get together with our buddies (special shout-out to the Beach Babes!) and at author and reader events.

  So when Liz suggested that Suzanne and I pair up for a cookbook that would combine my paranormal romance world with Suzanne’s culinary expertise, I didn’t hesitate. Nothing goes better together than love and food, after all.

  Except maybe love and beer. Or vampires and vampire slayers.

  So here we are, Suzanne and I, putting our heads and talents together to create pages of tasty recipes and short stories from the Demonica/ Lords of Deliverance world that will bring readers up to date on some of their favorite characters’ lives. And it makes sense, because food is something that brings everyone together. No matter your race, religion, culture (or species!), everyone eats. Food is something we all have in common. We can learn about each other over a meal (assuming you aren’t the meal.) We can expand our palates and our minds by trying new dishes. And we can express ourselves, our individuality, with food.

  Are you ready to dive in?

  Take my hand, friend, and let’s enter this foodie realm together. Your tastebuds will thank you...but your waistline might not!

  Love and hugs,

  Larissa

  A Note from Larissa: Part 2

  Readers of my Demonica and Lords of Deliverance series know that my books aren’t exactly...tame. Like many of the dishes in this book, my stories are spicy.

  I did, however, want to make Dining With Angels a little more family friendly. The problem is that many of my characters are underworld creatures, and demons don’t say, “golly gee.” They tend to be fond of curse words. So I tricked them. I let them think they could pop off as many F-words as they wanted to, but when they weren’t looking, I did a search-and-replace.

  Man, they are going to be floofing furious when they see what I did...

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Declan and Suzanne

  BREAKFAST FOOD/MORNING AFTER

  ~ Hair of the Hellhound ~ Spicy Sheoul Shrimp ~

  ~ Angel Food Cake French Toast ~ Loaded Grits in a Bacon Cup ~

  ~ Bloody Mary Pie ~ Pumpkin Spice Loaf with Spiced Icing ~

  ~ Egg in a Hell Hole Avocado Toast ~

  ~ Maple Sausage and Waffle Casserole ~

  ~ Breakfast Burrito ~

  Chapter 2

  Wraith and Serena

  ROMANTIC/SEXY FOOD

  ~ Grilled Oysters with Spicy Butter ~ Seafood Linguini ~

  ~ Stuffed Flank Steak ~ Red Devil’s Food Cake ~

  ~ Steak Bruschetta with Onion Jam ~

  ~ Bananas Foster Crème Brulee ~ Caprese Chicken with Balsamic Glaze ~

  Chapter 3

  Harvester and Reaver

  SPICY FOOD

  ~ Dark Chocolate Chipotle Brownies ~ Grilled Beef Skewers with Wasabi Aioli ~

  ~ White Chicken Chili ~ Gumbo ~

  ~ Zesty Lemon Mahi Mahi ~ Salsa with a Vengeance ~

  ~ Spicy Sticky Ribs ~

  Chapter 4

  Shade and Runa

  FAMILY FRIENDLY FOOD

  ~ Hell Frozen Over Smoothie Pops ~

  ~ Meatloaf and Monster Mash Cupcakes ~

  ~ Chicken Parmesan ~ Cauliflower Pizza ~

  ~ Seafood Platter ~ Fried Shrimp ~

  ~ Fried Catfish ~ Buttermilk Hush Hellhound Puppies ~

  ~ Beer Battered Fries ~

  Chapter 5

  Reseph and Jillian

  COMFORT FOOD

  ~ Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie ~ Cherry Hand Pies ~

  ~ Taco Spaghetti ~ Fried Mac and Cheese Bites ~

  ~ French Onion Soup ~ Soft Shell Crab BLT ~

  Chapter 6

  Ares and Cara

  CELEBRATION FOOD AND SNACKS

  ~ Goat Cheese Truffles ~ Seven Layer Greek Goddess ~

  ~ Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Figs ~

  ~ Mini Chicken Gyros with Easy Tzatziki ~ Pot Stickers ~

  ~ Blueberry Lemon Angel Food Cake Trifle ~ Caramel Pretzel Bites ~

  Chapter 7

  An Interview with Eidolon and Tayla

  WHEN DINING WITH DEMONS

  ~ Spaghetti all’Angeliciana ~

  ~ Strawberries with Black Pepper Balsamic Sauce ~

  RECIPES FROM THE UNDERWORLD

  ~ Beer Cheese Spread with Bite ~

  ~ Ghastbat (or Chicken) & Cheese Enchiladas with Green Chili & Sour Cream Sauce ~

  ~ Orecchiette with Hell Weed (or broccoli) and White Beans ~

  FOR THE HELL PETS

  ~ Cerby Snacks ~ Hellcat Bits ~

  ~ Hellhound Bites ~ Paw Balm ~

  About Larissa Ione

  About Suzann
e Johnson

  Also by Larissa Ione

  Also by Suzanne Johnson

  Declan and Suzanne

  Suzanne Burke smiled into the camera and held up a fork laden with a bite of her special Bloody Mary Pie.

  “And that is how you make a savory morning-after brunch your mate will never forget. Perfectly paired with a shot of cucumber-infused vodka or a zesty Hair of the Hellhound.” She took a bite and nearly moaned in ecstasy. She loved this dish, and happily, it was also one of Declan’s favorites. “Mmm. Spicy, tangy, and decadent. See you next time, when my special guests will be two real life angels. And remember, you can see all my past episodes and recipes on my YouTube channel. Just click the menu button to find the perfect dish for any occasion, whether you’re dining with angels, drinking with demons, or hanging with humans.” She gave an air-toast with the shot of vodka placed next to the pie. “Until next time, my friends. Blessings to all.”

  “Cut!”

  Suzanne breathed a sigh of relief as taping for her cable network cooking show, Angel in the Kitchen, ended.

  “That was your best episode to date.” Kimberly, Suzanne’s producer, gave her a thumbs up and handed her a stack of messages. “Most of these have been handled, including the request from your cookbook editor for an updated file for one of your recipes, but you’re going to want to address the top one yourself. It’s a message from your stepmom. She thought she dialed your cell phone but got the show line instead. Said it must be pregnancy brain. She was hoping you had a recipe for late-term morning sickness.”

  Suzanne’s stepmother, Lilliana, had been staying with Ares, first Horseman of the Apocalypse, and his wife, Cara, who was well into her third trimester of pregnancy and, according to Lilliana, she’d had a rough time of it. Odd, though, that Lilliana had claimed pregnancy brain, given that it was Cara who was pregnant. But then, Lilliana had been helping Cara for months—maybe she had sympathy brain.

  “Thanks, Kim.” Suzanne reached up and released her wavy brown hair from the ponytail she’d put it in while she’d cooked. “I’ll call her back when I get home.”

  Kim checked her watch. “Which, if you get moving, could be as soon as a few seconds.”

  “Nah. I’m going to flash to Dallas to see Declan first.”

  Belatedly she glanced around to make sure none of the human show crew were listening. Kim, a werewolf since she was bitten fifteen years ago, had tried to ensure that as many of their crew as possible were underworlders, but for various reasons, about half the crew were human, and only a handful of those were “in the know.” And because Suzanne’s father was controlling and paranoid, he’d insisted that she hire one of her siblings as her assistant-slash-bodyguard, as if Suzanne’s angelic powers weren’t enough to protect her.

  Plus she had Declan, and while he was, technically, human, he’d been...upgraded. Anyone trying to get to her would have to go through him and vice versa.

  “What’s he doing in Dallas?” Kim asked.

  “It’s where he works.”

  Kim’s brown eyes rolled behind her funky red horn-rimmed glasses. “Yes, I know that. You flash him back and forth to work with DART. But wasn’t he recently in Dallas to visit friends from his former job?”

  Declan had worked as a bodyguard for the Dallas-based McKay-Taggart office after serving in the military, and he kept in contact with many of his old buddies. Sometimes McKay-Taggart’s big boss, Ian, even consulted with Declan on some of their stranger cases, since Dec had earned a reputation of being the guy to call when shit got weird.

  “He needs to hang out with humans who don’t know the truth about us sometimes,” Suzanne said. “Between my family and his job with the Demonic Activity Response Team, I think he gets overwhelmed by immortals and underworlders.”

  “I get that,” Kim sighed. “It took me a while to adjust.”

  Suzanne completely understood. She herself had grown up believing she was human, and it had been a huge shock to learn she was Memitim, a class of earthbound angel bred to be a guardian of beings important to the fate of humanity. She no longer served in that capacity, but she was still in service to the forces of good.

  “How’d you finally do it?” she asked. “Adjust, I mean.”

  Kim shuffled the papers in her hands as she spoke. She was never idle. “I got new friends.”

  “You dumped all your human friends?”

  “Pretty much.” Kim nudged her glasses higher up her nose. “It’s too hard to lie, and it got to the point where I couldn’t talk about my problems with them because I couldn’t tell them the truth, you know?” She gave a wan smile. “It all worked out in the end. I miss my family, though.”

  “You dumped your family too?”

  “Oh, no. I went werewolf one night and ate them all.” When Suzanne gasped in horror, Kim laughed. “I’m kidding. Honey, you are so gullible. My family is alive and well and living in Connecticut. I see them all the time. Which, frankly, is too much.”

  Now, that, Suzanne definitely got. She loved her angelic family, but she had literally thousands of fellow Memitim siblings, several of whom hung out at her New York apartment, and her father was the Grim Reaper. Her family could definitely be...intense, and she didn’t blame Declan for needing a break now and then.

  Angel in the Kitchen’s assistant producer, Phillippa, waved to Kim, and she gave a “be right there,” gesture before turning back to Suzanne. “I’ll have some clips for you to approve later tonight. See you at the next prep meeting.”

  Suzanne grabbed her stuffed-to-capacity tote bag and looped the handles over her shoulder. “Sounds good. See you tomorrow.”

  Pulse pounding in anticipation of seeing Declan, she headed to her office, where she could safely dematerialize without anyone seeing. As she walked down the halls, past studio execs, crews from other shows, and even a couple of actors dressed in alien costumes, she marveled at how her life had turned out.

  She was married to the man of her dreams, she had a top-rated cooking show on a science fiction network, and her food was a “culinary marvel,” according to top critics who couldn’t explain why her dishes left people feeling exactly the way she said they would, whether it was happy, content, aroused, or energetic. They didn’t know that her angelic powers infused her recipes, nor were they aware that her show was a hit among underworlders who knew that the show’s premise of her being an angel who catered to vampires, demons, werewolves, and humans wasn’t fiction.

  There were so many ways she was blessed, and she couldn’t imagine anything better.

  Well, she could.

  But she didn’t see Declan giving up the dangers of his job anytime soon.

  * * * *

  “Declan!” Kynan Morgan shouted, his already deep voice, raspy from vocal cord damage taken during his military days, going even lower with urgency. “Kill it! Kill the damned demon now!”

  Declan shot his colleague a glare as he pivoted on the blood-slippery floor of the burned out factory and raised his gore-covered hatchet. “What the hell do you think I’m trying to do?”

  The demon, an ivory-skinned monster covered in oozing red spines, was swelling up like a puffer fish, and it was only a matter of seconds before it launched those poisonous spines like arrows at every one of the DART crew members fighting the nest of demons in the abandoned building.

  Feinting left, Declan barely avoided being eviscerated by the demon’s six-inch razor-sharp claws. His swing with the hatchet went wild, catching the beast at the base of its thorny tail instead of in its bare underbelly. Quickly, before the demon blew its spines, he activated the set of enchanted wings tattooed on his back. The swath of skin between his shoulder blades tingled as massive, nearly transparent wings shot skyward and lifted him into the air. The demon screamed in fury, leaping to catch him, but Declan went into a spinning dive, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat.

  With a shout of victory, he slammed the hatchet home, burying the blade between the beast’s crimson eyes
.

  Yes!

  “Dec! Watch out!”

  He didn’t have time to react. Something crunched into his face and knocked him out of the air. Pain exploded in his head and the world became a blur as he tumbled across the ground and slammed into a support pillar.

  “Shit!” Tayla’s shout pierced the ringing in Declan’s ears, and then she was kneeling next to him as he lay sprawled on the ground. “Hold still, buddy. We’ll get a healer to you.”

  “Alfargchgarayte.” He groaned, unsure what he’d said or even what he’d meant to say. Clearly, his jaw was broken, and if the throbbing agony in his cheek and skull was any indication, there were a lot of shattered bones in his head.

  He heard voices all around, some pained, some freaking out a little. This had been a big battle, the biggest one he’d been involved with since he’d learned the truth about the existence of demons. As a member of the secret, government-sanctioned Demonic Activity Response Team, he’d been investigating non-friendly underworld incursions into the human realm and had engaged in a lot of minor fights and skirmishes, but this one had taken the entire team by surprise. Good thing Kynan and Tayla, the big bosses who usually worked the Eastern Seaboard, had chosen today to accompany the Dallas unit on an investigation.

  “Declan?” His supervisor’s voice drifted down to him. “Dec?” Corey’s face hovered above his, her normally spiky blonde hair plastered against her skull by blood. Demon blood, he hoped. She tapped his shoulder. “Stay with us, Dec. Stay with us...”

  Her voice faded, and he welcomed the silence almost as much as he welcomed the pain-free blackness that swallowed him. His last thought before he lost consciousness was that Suzanne was never going to let this go...

  * * * *

  “Don’t worry,” Kynan said. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”