“Uh . . . she’s actually a nephilim,” Theo offered. “Didn’t I mention that before? I could have sworn I did.”
Asmo’s eyebrows went up, and he took a big step back from her frozen form. “Ewww. Really? A nephilim? And she’s your host? Darrak, how do you stand it?”
Did this mean he’d leave Eden alone now? “I manage.”
Asmo literally gagged. It took him a few seconds to pull himself together. “Oh, gross.” He shuddered. “That’s what I sensed in you. Celestial energy.”
“In me?” He pointed to his chest.
“Uh, yeah.”
Theo drew closer. “What does that mean?”
“What it means is the deal’s off. All of it.” Asmo held his arms as if he was hugging himself. “Yuck. Celestial energy. I’ve never been this close to it before.”
“But, Asmo—” Darrak began.
“No. It’s over, you disgusting hybrid. I’ve never seen such a thing before in my entire existence. It sickens me.”
It took a lot to sicken the Lord of Lust. Darrak would have been honored if he thought it was a compliment. But, it wasn’t.
“What do you mean by hybrid?” he asked.
“You’ve changed,” Asmo said.
Darrak shook his head. “As soon as my curse is removed, I’ll go back to the way I was before. Sure, it hasn’t all gone smoothly, but there’s no reason for me to believe otherwise. Theo convinced me that I’m the same underneath. Hell is my only home. It’s where someone like me belongs. It’s the only place I belong.”
Asmo’s lips curled with disgust. “Nope. No longer. You’re not welcome there. Not like this. You’ll contaminate the atmosphere.”
What in the hell was he talking about?
Theo looked as confused as Darrak did.
But then realization came into both of their gazes at the exact same time.
Celestial energy. He’d been absorbing it from Eden. That’s what had been powerful enough to give him form after all these years when no other human had been able to do that for him. Why her soul had been the brightest and shiniest thing he’d ever seen and he’d gone to it like a moth to a flame.
He’d taken it into himself. It had helped heal and help him.
It had become a part of him.
Removing the curse wouldn’t change him, wouldn’t take away this humanity and emotion he felt.
It was just the way he was now.
“Oh, shit.” Darrak felt like he’d just been punched in the gut by the hand of God. Clarity was a bitch sometimes. When he composed himself enough, he looked at Theo. “Release Eden. I know you can do it.”
Theo looked at him with shock. “Uh . . . I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“Just do it,” he growled.
“Fine.” Theo flicked a wrist at Eden and she stumbled forward. Darrak caught her.
She gasped for breath and then threw her arms around him tightly. “I heard everything.”
He leaned back and looked down at her face. He wanted to hate her for doing this to him, for infecting him with this celestial energy. He’d known she was powerful, but she’d managed to destroy him without lifting a finger.
But Darrak couldn’t hate her. All he could do is feel relief that she was still all right.
It was all kinds of annoying.
Darrak looked at Asmo. “Will you break my curse?”
Asmo made a face. “Why would I ever want to do that, you weirdo?”
“To help us out.”
Asmo laughed so loud some would consider it a cackle. “Help you? Wow. That sounds like angel talk, loser. My advice to you, Darrak, is to kill this nephilim and find a new host. She’s going to drag you down. And I don’t mean to Hell.” He shuddered again. “I’m just really grossed out right now. I touched her ass and everything.”
“I’m sorry,” Theo said. “If I thought it would make a difference . . . uh . . .”
“Shut it.” Asmo paced back and forth, looking at each of them in turn. “I don’t want this body. I refuse to be in this one, and it’s not just because of the baldness, although, I must admit, that is a contributing factor to my decision. I need a perfect specimen and obviously that’s not going to be a human. I’m going to have to go demon for this. It’ll take a little more energy to burn out his insides, but I’m willing to make the effort.” He sighed. “I mean, I’m the Lord of Lust. How can anyone worship me if I don’t look the part?”
Darrak drew Eden closer to his side. He had a really bad feeling about this.
“We’ll find the perfect demon for you,” Theo said. “I promise.”
Asmo cocked his head, looking at Theo as if for the first time. “You know, you’re very pretty.”
“Pretty?” Theo’s expression soured. “I’m usually called ‘handsome’ or ‘extremely hot.’ But, okay. Thanks.”
“Pretty demon.” Asmo patted his face. “I want you.”
“I’ve, uh . . . always preferred women, but . . . I suppose I might be open to—” Theo gasped as a stream of black smoke exited Stanley’s mouth and entered his.
TWENTY-SIX
Stanley collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
The demon wheezed and braced himself on his thighs for a moment before straightening up. Then he slid his hands over his now-muscular chest and firm stomach. He reached behind his head and pulled the piece of leather out of his hair and shook it out.
“Way better!” Asmo said. “How absolutely yummy am I now?”
Darrak had a hard time talking at the moment. He kept his arm around Eden. Her fingernails dug into his arm to indicate her current level of stress.
“How can you possess another demon?” he managed. “I never knew that was even possible.”
“He’s on my staff. I might not have created him, but I can control him. Therefore his form is mine to do with as I please. Fun, right?”
“You need to let him go.” Darrak had his problems with Theo, but he couldn’t just turn his back on him now. Theo had tried to help break his curse. He’d stood by Darrak even when confused and dismayed by his behavior lately. As demons went, he was a true friend.
But Asmo didn’t let him go. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut and held his hands out to his sides. There suddenly was a sound similar to a furnace—a roaring blaze which finished after ten seconds with a sizzling sound.
Asmo opened up his eyes, which were filled with flames for a moment before they darkened to normal. Smoke wafted off his skin in wispy tendrils.
He grinned. “Too late. He’s gone.”
Darrak gaped at him. “What?”
“Remember what I said before about the shell and the yolk? It didn’t take as much energy as I thought it would to fry him up over easy and send him on his way.”
Theo was gone? Just like that?
That was impossible. He couldn’t be gone.
What was this emotion Darrak felt? It didn’t seem all that familiar to him.
It must have been . . . grief.
“Darrak . . .” Eden said quietly. “We need to get out of here. And we need to get all these people out of here, too.”
Asmo had decimated Theo like he was nothing but a body with no past and no future. A nobody to be discarded to make way for someone more important.
But Darrak still existed. He still had a future. And so did Eden.
Asmo placed a hand over his stomach. “I’m so hungry.”
Eden’s grip tightened on Darrak. “There’s a Greek place next door,” she suggested tightly.
“Oh, ha ha. Shut up, nephilim girl.” He shook his head. “Hey, you’re funny, too, Darrak.”
“I try.”
“If you weren’t tainted with celestial energy, I’d take you back to Hell to entertain me as my jester. I could make you wear funny clothes like an organ grinder’s monkey.”
Darrak summoned up enough strength to push his grief away and deal with the problem at hand. Theo might be gone, but he and Eden weren’t clear of this mess yet.
“I don’t come cheap. And I don’t wear little hats.”
Asmo studied him for a long moment. “While I’m in this body, I feel a strange bond toward you. Like we’re bosom buddies.”
“Super,” Darrak said dryly.
“I have an idea and I think it’s a good one. After I finish my meal”—Asmo nodded toward the lounge area filled with waiting human snacks—“I’ll kill your witch. You can possess this bald guy here,” he nudged the unconscious Stanley with his foot. “Then I’ll see if I can burn that celestial energy right out of you.”
“Darrak . . .” Eden whispered. “I’m open to suggestions on how you propose to get us out of here. My magic is strong, but—”
“You’re not using your magic,” he said. “There’s no guarantee you could defeat Asmo with it, anyhow.”
“But—”
Darrak shrugged away from her. “You’d do that for me, Asmo? You think it’s the only way I can be restored to my former self?”
Asmo shrugged his broad shoulders. “Dunno. Worth a try though, don’t you think?”
“Don’t listen to him,” Eden said sharply.
Darrak glared at her over his shoulder. “Would you stop nagging me for one minute? It’s really getting old.”
She gasped and her eyes widened with confusion.
“Uh-oh.” Asmo chuckled. “Looks like the angelic honeymoon is over. Always the way with relationships based entirely on lust. They start off with a bang and end with a whimper.”
“We definitely started off with a bang,” Darrak said.
Asmo smiled approvingly. “Now shall we make her whimper?”
Darrak looked at Eden, who gaped at him. He shook his head. “You had to have seen this coming, didn’t you? How can I possibly exist with celestial energy inside of me like this, changing me into this disgusting guilt-feeling, emotional drip?”
“You can’t, that’s how,” Asmo agreed.
“No, I can’t. I want to be who I was. I want to be a demon, fully and completely. And I want to rid myself of everything human that has weighed me down for all of this time.” Darrak’s eyes narrowed on Eden. “And that, I’m afraid, includes you.”
Eden shook her head, but it was barely noticeable. “Don’t do this. You’re better than this.”
“But that’s the problem,” Darrak said. “I don’t want to be better.”
There were tears in her eyes now, and she looked away.
“Going to use your black magic on me now?” he asked. “Maybe my true name so you can boss me around even more than normal?”
“Do you want me to?”
“You know what I want.”
Darrak noticed her hands were clenched into fists at her sides, but he didn’t feel any of her magic in the air yet. She was holding back.
She nodded. “You’re right. I know what you want. After all, you’ve drummed it into my head enough lately, haven’t you? You don’t want to feel this way; you hate it. You want to be a demon, evil to the core and able to go skinny dipping in the lake of fire every morning.”
He almost laughed. “Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?”
“I know you hate it here. You try to pretend that you don’t, but it’s obvious to me.” She rubbed a hand under her nose. “Fine. Then do it. Agree with Asmo. Let him kill me and go off and be a demon if that’s what you want so damned much.”
Was she testing him? Pushing him to see if he’d break now that he’d come so far?
She would be sorely disappointed, if that was the case.
“Okay, then. I agree,” he said firmly. Eden visibly paled as he said it.
“Hooray!” Asmo exclaimed. “So happy to hear it!”
Darrak realized the demon lord had dragged Nancy up off the lounge by her hair. She’d been released from whatever spell held her in place so she fought against him now.
“Oh, my God,” Nancy gasped. “What’s going on?”
“Yum.” Asmo sniffed up her neck. “No angel here, that’s for sure. I smell cinnamon and powdered sugar. This won’t take long, Darrak. I just need to reenergize a little bit first.”
He opened his mouth and began to inhale deeper. Nancy let out a frightened scream.
Darrak felt the air begin to energize. This time it was from Eden’s magic, not from Asmo’s. His gaze shot to her.
“We had a deal,” he said. “We shook on it and everything, remember?”
“I guess you’re not the only one who’s a liar in this relationship,” she snapped. Tears streaked down her cheeks. Looked like he’d managed to hurt his little nephilim-slash-black-witch’s feelings.
“Hold that thought for a sec, will you?” he said, and turned toward the body of his former friend. “Sorry, Asmo, looks like this really can’t wait any longer.”
Asmo stopped inhaling Nancy’s energy for a moment. “What can’t wait?”
“This.”
Darrak grabbed him by his long black hair and yanked him forcibly away from Nancy. He grasped the angelheart from his pocket and crammed it into the demon lord’s mouth, as far to the back of Asmo’s throat as he could. Then he held Asmo’s mouth shut, using every last ounce of his strength until he heard the demon gulp.
That was the sound he’d been hoping for.
It didn’t last long. Asmo broke his hold, and Darrak went flying backward and crashed onto a glass cocktail table, breaking it on impact.
Asmo touched his stomach. “What the heck did you just make me swallow?”
Darrak stayed where he was on the floor for a moment, amongst the shattered glass. “Diamonds are a demon’s best friend.”
Asmo gasped. “A—a diamond? That’s not even funny. What was the point?” After a second, he touched his chest. “Oh . . . okay, wait. That burns a little bit. It almost feels like . . . like . . .”
“Like angel juice, straight up?” Darrak slowly got to his feet. “Yeah, there’s a really good reason for that. You’ll find that having a body does have its downside. When you’re incorporeal, you can’t easily be hurt. But in a body—even a demonic one—well, that’s a whole other story.”
“Angels? I hate angels.” Asmo looked incredibly confused.
A fine white line appeared on his forehead, slowly snaking its way across his stolen skin. He touched it gingerly. Then another on his cheek and chin. The lines traveled down his throat and down his arms under the black shirt to his hands.
“What is this?” Asmo asked, looking down at himself. “What did you do to me? I thought you agreed to my plan?”
“Yeah, about that,” Darrak said. “I guess it’s not the first time I lied today. Sorry about that.”
“Do you want to be this way? You’re tainted. You’ll never be able to step foot in Hell again without drawing attention to yourself. You’ll be destroyed if you ever try.”
Darrak nodded. “One problem at a time.”
Everywhere the lines had appeared on Asmo’s skin, light began to pour through like cracks on the surface of a volcano. His eyes widened and light poured out from there as well. It didn’t take long before his entire body, stolen from Theo, was bathed in bright white light like a star about to go supernova.
“Get down,” Darrak yelled at Eden.
She didn’t hesitate. She scrambled to get behind the nearest leather armchair.
Darrak shielded his eyes. Even he was bothered by light this bright and pure.
There was a loud crackling sound, like a thunderbolt, and the next moment the light extinguished completely.
Something solid and heavy hit the floor with a thump. It was the black diamond. It lay exactly where Asmo had stood a moment before.
The demon lord had left the building. And the universe as well.
Stanley blinked, stretched, and pushed himself up off the floor. He peered around cautiously. “Did something major just go down here?”
“You could say that,” Darrak said. “Do me a favor and help get these people out of here, okay?”
The zombies were no longer zombielike
. They shifted and stretched as if they were coming out of a deep sleep. Otherwise, they all looked healthy enough, if a bit confused.
“Where’s Theo?” Stanley asked, turning around in a circle to check the rest of the club.
“Gone,” Darrak said simply.
“Oh.” Stanley nodded, as if he understood that gone truly meant gone for good. Then he ran over to Nancy and helped her up to her feet. They embraced.
Together they helped usher the trance-free regulars from Luxuria out of the club.
Darrak finally looked at Eden. She was staring at him with shock.
“What?” He shrugged. “You honestly thought I was going to let him kill you?”
“I didn’t think so.” She pushed her long hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ears. “But I . . . I didn’t know for sure.”
He nodded. He wasn’t surprised by that. What did he expect? That she’d give him the benefit of the doubt after how he’d been acting lately? All “when the curse is broken I’ll be evil again! Yippy!”?
Trust had to be earned. And he sure as hell hadn’t earned any from her.
Eden stared at him for a moment longer, then walked toward him. He wasn’t sure if he should expect a kiss or a slap. He got neither.
She leaned over and picked up the diamond and then turned to her left.
“You,” she said. She didn’t sound surprised.
Someone else was there. Darrak hadn’t even noticed him enter the club.
Lucas stood at the far end of the bar. “Hope you don’t mind that I followed you here. Missed most of the drama, but then again, the day is still young.”
His gaze moved to Darrak, and he saw it clearly in the Prince of Hell’s very human eyes.
He was going to be destroyed.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Eden hadn’t even gotten a chance to catch her breath and process everything that had happened. She’d been on the verge of using her magic to try to stop Asmodeus. She would have tried to stop Darrak as well, feeling he was lost to her.
But he’d been playing a game.
Something Wicked Page 29
