“Which part?” Eden asked.
“All of it.” He looked back to where his mother had been standing before the archdemons had covered her body like a black blanket from Hell. “Now I know why she wanted me to go back to school. I was going to major in Archaeology. She probably wanted me to learn how to dig up more magical artifacts for her to use in the future like that diamond of hers. She was so insistent that I go.”
“And are you going to?” Eden asked.
He nodded. “I need time to think. After what I’ve seen…” He looked at both Eden and Darrak in turn. “I have a lot to think about.”
Eden stood up and went over to him to give him a hug. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Darrak tense, ready to spring if Malcolm did anything. But she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
“Good-bye, Eden,” he whispered. “And good luck to you.”
“I’m going to need it, right?”
He smiled and flicked another glance at the demon. “You will. No doubt about it.”
He didn’t hug Darrak. Eden wasn’t terribly surprised about that. He turned, without another word, and went to his car. A few moments later, gravel crunched as he drove away.
Eden turned to Darrak, surprised to see that he looked pissed off at her.
“What?”
He shook his head. “You weren’t supposed to use your new magic and now you’ve already used it as if it was a present you couldn’t wait until Christmas to unwrap.”
She put a hand on her hip. “I didn’t exactly have a choice.” “There’s always a choice. How do you feel?”
She thought about it. “I feel fine. Considering that a mini-apocalypse just went down in this playground of death and destruction.” She glanced with regret and more than a little grief at the empty pile of clothes marking the place where Selina had been killed.
“And when you channeled the magic—?”
“Like I said, I feel just fine. Maybe Selina was wrong. Maybe I can do it without anything bad happening.”
He pursed his lips and walked over to Selina’s clothes, reaching down to retrieve her gray-stoned necklace—which had turned snow white. Now that Selina was gone Eden figured that was its default setting. He brought it over and fastened the chain around her neck. The heavy pendant fell to her chest.
“Look.” His expression was grim.
She looked down to see the stone was slowly changing from unblemished white to a darker shade. Not as dark as Selina’s had been, though. Eden’s was a very light gray with some darker, marblelike veins running through it.
The current state of her compromised soul was now a lovely fashion accessory.
“Okay,” Eden said after a moment. “Maybe channeling the black magic did do a little something after all.”
“How can you sound so calm about this?”
“I don’t exactly have any choice here, do I?”
His lips thinned. “There’s still a choice, of course. We’ll contact someone with the Malleus directly and arrange an official exorcism by someone who—”
She slapped him.
“Ow!” He held a hand to his cheek, frowning. “What the hell was that for?”
“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. I guess I react with violence now when somebody says something outwardly stupid. I’ll try something different next time to mix it up.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s the only way.”
“No it’s not. We’ll find another way to break your curse.”
“Selina’s dead.”
“I know that.”
“You have less than a year to live if I’m possessing you.”
“I know that, too.”
“Then why won’t you consider exorcising—”
This time she kissed him. A bit less violent than slapping but no less dangerous. When she pulled away to see his shocked face, she poked a finger at him.
“I didn’t just tap into my nasty black cesspool of magic tonight so I could call up 1-800-Exorcist tomorrow.”
“Yeah, but—”
Another kiss. Longer this time. Eden grabbed hold of his plain black T-shirt to pull him closer. The night was cold and he felt very warm, despite the fact he wasn’t wearing a coat.
“Then why did you do it?” he asked gruffly when they parted again.
“Because I need you.”
He raised a dark eyebrow. “You need me for what?”
“You’re my resident expert on the supernatural. And Andy’s got a stack of cases involving werewolves and other… well, Others.”
He nodded. “Good reason. I can definitely help with that. It’s the least I can do.”
“And… and I also need you to help me deal with this.” She touched the grayish stone. “Selina promised to help me but now she’s gone.” Her voice caught. “She was a black witch but she wasn’t all bad. She could control it. Maybe there’s still hope for me.”
“There’s always hope.”
“You think so?”
He nodded. “If you’d asked me that a couple weeks ago I would have said no, but now I think there might be.”
“Even for a humanity-infused archdemon and a newly black witch?”
“Even for a couple of losers like that.” He exhaled. “I’ll figure out a way to break this curse.”
“Well, that would be good. I’m kind of counting on it.”
He touched her throat, stroking his thumb gently over where he’d nearly choked the life out of her. “I almost killed you.”
“But you didn’t. You were able to resist her even though she knew your true name.”
“Only because my bond to you is stronger than that. It was still a struggle, though. Thankfully, Pussy Galore arrived to save the day.”
“Our bond,” she repeated. “That growing addiction to each other you mentioned the other day.”
He nodded and stroked the long hair off her face. “For many reasons, it’s going to be difficult. Being with you all the time until we figure out a solution to our problem.”
She swallowed. “I know you wish it hadn’t happened—”
He kissed her this time. Just a quick one. “You really haven’t been paying attention.”
She was confused. “But you said—”
“I said nothing good had ever come of being with someone for me before. And I was right—you’re a black witch because of me.”
“You didn’t know.”
“No, I didn’t.” He exhaled, then met her eyes. “But it can never happen again between us.”
She was about to ask why, but then remembered what Selina had said. The spell she’d put on Darrak hadn’t been removed. If they ever made love again, Eden would lose more of her soul as her black magic increased.
“Oh,” she said after it sunk in. “So I guess we’re really going to be like brother and sister now, aren’t we?”
Darrak nodded, but drew his thumb over her bottom lip. “If the brother had incredibly inappropriate thoughts about his sister every minute of the day.” He managed a small smile. “It’s not going to be easy, but I won’t hurt you again no matter how hard it gets.” He cleared his throat. “You know. Literally.”
“You’re so noble.”
“Totally.”
She touched his hand. “And kissing?”
“Kissing is dangerous on many levels for us. It leads to other things.”
“Good point.” She forced herself to pull away from him and looked at the horizon to see the sun was slipping behind it as they spoke. A glance at Darrak’s now shadowed face confirmed he was beginning to show the strain of losing form. But as usual he was fighting it.
“It’s almost time,” he warned her.
She held up her hands. “We need some rules.”
He covered his stomach and hunched over a little. “Such as?”
“I’m going to dampen you when I need bathroom time.”
“Fine.”
“And no taking over my body to trip, slap, or punch people. And if I’m in danger of having a
nother experience like what happened with the foamy salt mouth, you’ll give me a better warning.”
“Understood. Anything else?”
She couldn’t think at the moment. “I’ll make up an alphabetized list.”
“I look forward to reading it.”
She frowned. “And one more thing—”
He kissed her again, hard on her lips. When he pulled away she touched her mouth, feeling passion swell inside her for him even though she really wished she didn’t feel that way. She forgot what she was going to say. “What was that for?”
“Just for the hell of it.”
He grinned, before the pain of fighting against losing form swept that expression away. The next moment he turned to black smoke before her very eyes, swirling around for a moment before he disappeared inside of her. She braced a hand against the nearest tree to support herself after the wave of pleasure weakened her knees.
“Damn,” she managed.
“You are both so screwed,” Leena commented from a dozen feet away. She had returned to human form and shakily pushed up from the ground.
“Oh, I know that,” Eden said. “And your point?”
“Just stating the obvious.”
“Thought you were leaving.”
“I thought so, too. But here I am.”
Eden swallowed. “Thanks for helping out.”
“I guess I’m in this up to my ass now. Maybe I’ll stay after all.”
Eden looked at her skeptically. “Let me guess. Nowhere else to go?”
Leena shrugged. “Sad, isn’t it?”
“Very.” She crossed her arms. “Well, I have to say you were right about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You make a kick-ass lasagna.”
Leena grinned. “I knew you’d like it.”
“Do you know how to cook anything else?”
“Are you asking me to move back in with you so I can feed you and protect you from that demon of yours?”
Eden touched her chest. She felt Darrak’s presence as he settled in for the night. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
“Sure he won’t.” She rolled her eyes. “But actually I was thinking more along the lines of a chaperone. No more hankypanky or you get more evil. Is that right?”
Maybe she should take out an ad in the daily newspaper. That way she could make sure everyone in the city knew about her magical sex issues.
“It’s not going to be a problem,” she said as firmly as she could.
Leena laughed out loud at that as she rubbed her hand against her head. She probably had a bump from hitting the tree earlier. “I heard the demon say that he loves you. So, yeah, it’s going to be a problem. A big one.”
Eden bit her bottom lip and waited for Darrak to respond to that, but all was quiet for the moment, other than the warm presence that let her know he was fully conscious and listening in.
Okay, so she was still possessed by an archdemon and former incubus. She’d been turned into a black witch who had to keep a rein on the magic now at her very fingertips for fear of losing her soul completely. The private investigation agency she owned 49 percent of had been inundated with supernatural clientele.
Was Darrak’s newfound humanity a permanent change? Or would the fiery, horned archdemon return in all his nasty, evil glory someday when she least expected it? And would they find a way to break the curse before it killed her in a year?
Would they be able to control their passion for each other, regrettable or not, so she didn’t lose another piece of her soul?
And… when he said he loved her, had he really meant it? “One problem at a time, okay?” Eden said, a bit shakily, after a long moment passed.
“Yes,” Darrak replied from inside of her. “One problem at a time.”
TWENTY-FIVE
“This is all the information I have on her.” Ben pushed the folder marked “Eden Riley” he’d taken from the precinct across the table.
“Thank you. Are you ready?”
Yes, he was. He was more ready than he’d ever been for anything in his life. He rolled up his sleeve and placed his arm down on the table, palm up.
A moment later the brand was pressed into his skin.
Scratch that. He wasn’t ready. Nobody could be ready for pain like this without any anesthetic. But he gritted his teeth and didn’t cry out. That wouldn’t have made a very good impression, would it?
He smelled something burning and he knew it was his own flesh. Instead of trying to push the pain away he embraced it. This was his christening into a new world—a world he’d never even imagined before today. He felt the power enter him along with the pain, imbuing him with the ability to sense the Otherworldly.
He’d seen a demon with his own eyes. It wasn’t something he’d ever forget. That demon had taken someone he cared about. He thought he might be able to love Eden. Despite his past and the troubles he’d had, he was willing to open his heart to her.
She was in danger. It was obvious. And he’d do anything it took to save her from that… monster.
He wasn’t able to save his fiancée—a woman he’d loved more than life itself. This would help to finally make up for that failure.
The brand was pulled away. He looked down at his charred flesh to see the circle enclosing the fleur-de-lis.
“Welcome to the Malleus,” the white-haired man across the table said. “We welcome you as a brother. All that we have is yours. And all that you have is ours. We together will defeat the evil that permeates this world, protecting the citizens who don’t realize what lurks in the shadows. Do you agree to this?”
“Yes,” Ben said firmly. He was concerned with protecting this world and the people who lived in it. Of course he was. But he was mostly concerned with Eden. He feared for her safety. For her very soul. “You told me that you had information about Eden, other than what’s in my files.”
“Yes. Eden shows signs of psychic ability, correct?”
He nodded. “I dismissed it originally, but I think it might be very real. And after what I’ve seen I know it’s possible.”
“It is. She gets that from her father.”
“Her father.” His arm hurt so much it made it hard to think. “She doesn’t know anything about her father. There’s nothing about him in her file.”
“No, there wouldn’t be. Her mother never told her anything. As far as Caroline Riley was concerned he was a brief fling. A man with no past or future.”
“Who is he?”
The white-haired man studied him as if gauging how ready Ben was to hear the truth. He was ready. No matter what it was.
“He’s an angel.”
Okay. He’d been wrong. He hadn’t been ready for that.
“An… an angel? Eden’s father is an angel? You’ve got to be kidding, right?”
The Malleus elder shook his head. “Eden Riley’s psychic abilities and her closeness to the magical world are due entirely to the fact that she is half human and half angel, making her what is termed a nephilim. It’s very rare, but not unheard of.”
“A… nephilim?”
“This is the power Eden has deep inside of her—mostly dormant until now—from which the demon draws his energy. It’s the reason he’s able to take corporeal form.”
Ben was stunned. “This is hard to believe.”
“But do you?”
He nodded firmly and brushed his fingers against the gold cross he wore around his neck. “Yes, I do. I believe.”
“Her involvement with this archdemon is very dangerous.”
Ben clutched the side of the table, the pain from his fresh brand forgotten. “I need to save her.”
“You will. But in the meantime, it won’t be long before the news of his daughter’s current situation will likely reach her father’s ears. And to know that she has been corrupted by an archdemon… well…”
“Well what?” Ben asked.
The Malleus elder smiled thinly. “There is going to be serious he
ll to pay.”
* * *
* * *
Turn the page for a special preview
of the next Living in Eden novel
by Michelle Rowen
SOMETHING WICKED
Coming soon from Berkley Sensation!
ONE
“Would you look at this place? Equal parts lust and desperation. It’s fantastic.”
Eden grimaced. She’d been trying to pay as little attention to Darrak as possible, but it wasn’t easy. The demon was very hard to ignore.
“It’s a single’s club,” she replied. “What did you expect?”
“This, of course. But it’s even better than I thought it would be.”
“You have a strange sense of what better is.”
A tall man holding a bottle of Corona tapped Eden on her shoulder. When she turned to look at him he leered approvingly at her. “Who are you talking to, sexy lady?”
She cleared her throat. “Nobody. Just talking to myself. I do that frequently now that I’ve stopped taking my medication.”
“Uh… okay.” He slowly backed away from her and went to hit on someone else. Someone sane.
Darrak snorted. “Busted.”
She felt her face redden. She had to remember that no one but her could see or hear Darrak at the moment. He was her demon. Her inner demon. After all, Eden Riley was the current cover girl for demonic possession.
This time she spoke under her breath so no one would hear. “I thought you said you were going to keep quiet once we got in here?”
“I lied. Besides, you need me to coach you through this, don’t you? I thought you said you’re a bit out of your element.”
He was right about that.
“Okay, so coach me. Now what should I do?”
“Walk over to the bar, order a drink, and scan the room. I know he’s around here somewhere. I just have to spot him.”
“You still haven’t told me how you found this guy. How were you able to contact anyone in your, uh, current condition?”
“I have my ways.”
The Demon in Me Page 31
