by Amy Meredith
‘You have girlfriends? I mean girl problems?’ Eve asked, all thoughts of Jess sliding away. Am I over here as a gal pal? she wondered. Someone Mal can talk to about the girl he’s really crushing on? But that couldn’t be right. Who set a romantic table for two with candles and everything for a pal?
‘Yeah, I want some time alone with a girl so I can get to know her, and her phone keeps ringing,’ Mal answered.
Me, Eve thought. He was talking about me. Duh. ‘That’s a horrible problem. Fortunately, the girl’s phone is now dead,’ she told him. Mal was sitting so close. Were they finally going to have that first kiss? She angled her body towards his.
‘Good. Because I want to know everything about the girl. Even her opinion of brooches pinned on boots.’
Did he hear me and Jess talking in the hall this morning? Eve wondered, trying to remember what else they’d said. ‘How she tastes,’ Mal continued, grabbing Eve’s complete attention. ‘Everything.’ He leaned forward, just a little. It was going to happen. It was happening!
A faint pinging sound started up deep in the house. Eve pulled back. ‘I guess that means you’re needed in the kitchen.’
Mal let out a frustrated sigh. ‘I have to check the soufflé again. It should be ready to come out.’
‘Great,’ she said. She watched Mal until he was out of sight, then turned her attention to the garden. It was dusk now, which made the fairy lights look brighter. A big black bird flapped off its perch on the top of one of the open French doors. Eve hadn’t even noticed it there against the darkening sky. Then again, she probably wouldn’t have noticed if the house had caught fire with Mal sitting so close.
The bird flew over to a building that looked like a big stone beehive, easily big enough to walk inside. It disappeared into one of the holes in the building. Eve had a vague memory of her uncle from Louisiana having a building like that in his back yard. He called it a pigeonaire, but her mother had said most people called it a dovecote. The buildings were roosting places for doves or pigeons. Her uncle had kept homing pigeons as a hobby. He’d let Eve, at maybe age six, write a couple of notes to attach to the birds’ legs. She’d written notes to other birds, not really getting the point.
Curious, she headed out into the lovely garden to take a closer look. The dovecote was so cute. She could hear rustling and the sound of dozens of chattering birds. They’d clearly come home to roost for the evening.
Eve opened the door and stepped inside. Her nose instantly filled with the warm powdery scent of dozens of birds in a contained space. She realized that every niche in the dovecote held a bird. But something was wrong. The sounds. The birds should be softly cooing, but the sounds they were making were harsher than that. The birds were cawing.
She peered into a niche. Crows! They were huge black crows.
A memory snapped into place – Luke telling her and Jess that crows were attracted to the master demon. Eve let out an involuntary cry of alarm, spooking the birds. They instantly took flight, swirling around her in a black cloud, cawing, flapping, their sharp little claws almost close enough to cut into her flesh.
Eve threw her arms over her head and backed towards the door. Suddenly she knew why Luke and Jess had both tried to call her. They’d wanted to warn her. Warn her about Mal.
She felt the wall behind her and the doorknob digging into her back. She whipped round, threw open the door, plunged back out into the garden – and ran smack into Mal.
Mal.
The demon.
Chapter Twenty-four
Mal took Eve by the elbows to steady her. She just stared at him, trying to get her balance. What was he going to do to her?
‘The soufflé is ready,’ Mal said.
Eve blinked in surprise. He was a demon, and he was talking about a soufflé?
He doesn’t realize that I know what he is, Eve thought. The way for me to get out of here safely – and with my soul – is to finish the date like everything’s wonderful. With no goodnight kiss for Mal. No kiss of any type.
‘I wanted a closer look at the dovecote,’ she explained. ‘It’s so picturesque. It really adds to the landscaping. It makes me think of something that would be outside a medieval castle.’
‘Are you all right?’ Mal asked. ‘You look a little shaken.’
‘The birds were shaken,’ Eve answered. ‘I startled them when I walked in, and then I freaked out a little when they were flying around me cawing and flapping.’ She flapped her hands in front of her face.
‘Sounds like they were overcome by your beauty,’ Mal teased, giving his half-smile. If he’d said those words to her ten minutes ago, Eve’s stomach would have fluttered with lovely anticipation. Now it roiled. Mal was a demon, and he was flirting with her. It was disgusting.
Act like everything’s wonderful, Eve thought. Act like you were acting when the two of you were sitting on the chaise longue together. ‘And what about you?’ she asked Mal. ‘Are you overcome?’ She tried to keep her tone light and flirty, but her voice came out a little trembly. Maybe he hadn’t noticed.
Mal looped his arm around her shoulders. Eve could hardly believe she was able to tolerate his touch without flinching. ‘Are you looking for a compliment?’ he asked, guiding her back towards the house. ‘That’s my bad,’ he said before she could answer. ‘You shouldn’t have to hint. I should have told you how beautiful you looked the second you arrived.’
‘You definitely should have told me that right away,’ Eve joked, struggling to keep up the kind of banter she and Mal usually tossed around.
Mal laughed his low, husky laugh. It didn’t sound sexy to Eve any more. Neither did his low, husky voice. The laugh and the voice sounded like they should belong to a demon. So did that wood-smoke scent of his.
Except … that smell was nice. It had always been one of her favourite things about Mal, that delicious scent. And the fact that he was constantly rescuing her from bad things …
‘I guess, um, I should have complimented you too. You look great tonight,’ she said. The words felt way too natural, like she really believed Mal was handsome.
She cast a sidelong glance at him. Well, he was still handsome. Ridiculously handsome. Inhumanly handsome. But she shouldn’t find him handsome any more. She knew what was underneath that beautiful exterior. The heart of a soul-eating demon.
When they stepped through the open French doors and back into the house, Mal paused and turned to face her. Looking up into his eyes, she found it hard to believe he didn’t care about her. There was something in him that called to Eve, even now. She swayed towards him, overcome by attraction. She had to be wrong about Mal. She couldn’t feel this way about a demon. Could she?
Mal lowered his head. He hesitated with his lips a breath away from hers. I should probably be running, Eve thought. I should probably be shooting him full of lightning bolts.
But she found it hard to care about the ‘shoulds’. All that mattered was what she wanted, and the only thing in the world she wanted at that moment was to finally kiss Mal and keep on kissing him. For ever and ever and ever.
For ever and ever and ever – in hell! a little part of her brain screamed. Eve’s body gave an involuntary jerk. She stumbled away from Mal, free of his dark and sexy spell.
I have to stay free, she thought frantically. I have to stay away from him.
‘Eve,’ he said, reaching for her again.
Without thinking, Eve turned and ran. She had to get to the front door. She had to get out of this house. Eve ran as hard as she could. She didn’t hear Mal in pursuit.
She was going to make it. She had to make it. The door was only a few feet away. She locked her gaze on it – and suddenly realized that Mal was leaning against it, casually blocking the exit. How did he—? Was he even there a second before?
It didn’t matter. Eve had to find a way out of the house. She skidded to a stop, then backed up. Mal sauntered towards her. His dark eyes seemed to glow with fire. And he was grinning, a wider grin than
she’d ever seen on his face. He was enjoying her fear and panic. More than that, he was savouring it, continuing to move towards her slowly and without urgency.
Zap him, Eve ordered herself. Zap that hideous monster! She thrust out her hands, but they only emitted a few sparks that quickly died. Mal laughed at the sight of them, his mouth opening wider and wider as he bellowed with mirth. Just when Eve thought it was impossible for his mouth to stretch any further, a poisonous cloud of writhing black shadows erupted from his throat.
Eve gasped in horror as the shadows quickly encircled her. She could feel them twining around her legs, brushing against her face, tangling in her hair. She whirled round and scrambled up the staircase leading to the first floor, fighting against the sticky, heavy shadows trying to restrain her.
She’d worry about getting out of the house later. First she had to get away from Mal. The shadows stayed with her, enveloping her, as if they were her shroud, turning everything in her line of vision grey. You’ll never escape, the shadows whispered as she took the stairs two and three at a time. He’s too powerful. Give up, Eve. Give in to him.
From what she remembered, there was a balcony in one of the rooms at the end of the hall. A small stairway led down from the balcony to the patio that ran around the pool. If she could reach those stairs, she could find a way down to the beach and use that as her escape route.
Eve reached the first door at the end of the hall. She threw it open … and found herself staring at a brick wall. The shadows laughed as she shoved at the rough bricks. Never get out. Time to give up, they hissed.
That wasn’t going to happen. Eve tried the next door. Yes! She could see the balcony at the other end of the bedroom. She rushed over to the glass doors and out. The stairs were just as she remembered. She began to climb down.
You won’t ever escape him, the shadows told her. At their words, Eve realized she was going the wrong way. She was heading up instead of down towards the patio. She turned, but the stairs behind her had disappeared. There was nowhere to go except up. She ran and ran, the staircase taking her up in spirals.
As Eve took one tight turn after the other, the shadows felt heavier, heavier and stickier, around her body. It became harder to lift her feet high enough to move up to the next step. She noticed that she was still breathing in the wood-smoke smell. It was as strong as when she’d been right next to Mal. No, stronger. It was like the shadows were producing the odour, as if they were made of smoke. She risked a glance behind her, but didn’t see Mal. He’s coming, the shadows hissed. He’s never going to let you go. Give up. Rest. You want to rest.
Eve did want to rest, more than anything. But stopping meant losing her soul. She gripped the stair railings, using both hands to pull herself onward. Up, up, up. How far had she already come? Mal’s house was three storeys. She had to have gone further than that. She felt as if she’d been running for ever.
As last she spotted a blue door at the end of the staircase. Maybe it opened onto the roof. If it did, maybe she could find a way to climb down. Eve forced her shadow-wrapped legs up to the door, then fought to raise her heavy arms high enough to open it.
She used all her strength to shove against the door. It flew open, and Eve stumbled forward. She had to grab the door frame with both hands to stop herself from plunging into empty air. The door opened into nothingness. Far below – far, far, below – Eve could see a spot of sparkling aquamarine. It was the pool, but it was so distant it appeared to be just a tiny jewel.
Jump, the shadows suggested. There’s no other way out. Eve teetered, her toes seesawing up and down in the air. Jump. It’s easy.
It would be easy. And maybe even though she would die, her soul would survive. That was better than Mal sucking it out of her.
At that moment Jess’s face flashed into her mind. Then Luke’s. They’d tried to warn her. They would want her to fight.
Eve spun round, expecting to find the narrow spiral stairway behind her. Instead, she stood in an empty octagon-shaped room with eight closed doors. What horrors lay behind them, waiting for her? Eve peered at them through the veil of shadows writhing around her face.
‘Enough!’ Eve shouted, white-hot anger pulsing through her. ‘No more games, Mal. Where are you? This ends now!’
Mal stepped through the door directly opposite Eve. His infuriating half-smile was still on his face.
Eve clenched her hands into fists, and felt electricity crackle along her fingers. She smelled the odour of something being singed. Good. She hoped it was the shadows. They didn’t feel as heavy any more. Mal walked towards her, unconcerned, his smile turning to a smirk of amusement. Amuse this, Eve thought.
She shot her hands out in front of her, splaying her fingers wide. Ribbons of fire-edged lightning blasted at Mal, sending waves of heat through the room. He let out a yelp of surprise and tried to twist away. Too late. His body dissolved into a cloud of smoke. The shadows fell away.
I did it! I killed him! Eve realized she was still holding her arms straight out in front of her. She let out a breath, giving a sigh so deep it felt as if it started in her pink-painted toenails. Slowly she began to lower her arms. They were still vibrating from the power that had been racing through them. It felt as if her bones were humming.
Before her arms were halfway to her sides, the cloud of smoke – all that was left of Mal – swooped and twisted towards Eve. She flexed her fingers. Did she have enough of a charge left for a second blast? But before she could try to activate her lightning bolts, the smoky cloud thickened, coalesced, forming Mal’s body. He stood between her outstretched arms, his face inches away from hers.
Eve didn’t even have time to react before Mal had her wrists trapped in his hands. Without the shadows encasing her, her body felt so light. And so warm. Mal’s body was radiating heat into her, warming her exhausted limbs.
Mal’s eyes flashed with desire, deep black pools of pure need. He needed her.
And she wanted to move forward the few inches it would take to close the gap between them. She wanted to rest her head on his shoulder. More than anything, she wanted the feel of his lips on hers. She wanted that first kiss she’d been denied for so long.
Mal gave a knowing laugh, as if he could read her thoughts and liked them. Still grasping her wrists, he guided her arms around him, pulling their bodies tight together. The delicious scent of wood-smoke filled her as he lowered his mouth towards hers. Eve’s lips parted with desire.
Chapter Twenty-five
‘Eve, stop!’ Jess cried.
‘Get your slimy hands off her!’ Luke shouted.
They burst into the room, and the demonic spell broke instantly. Eve suddenly realized she was in the foyer of Mal’s house, not in some strange room hundreds of storeys up. Mal was the demon, and she’d almost kissed him.
‘Get out!’ Mal roared. He jerked towards Jess and Luke, releasing Eve.
‘Not a problem,’ Luke answered. ‘But Eve’s coming with us.’ He reached out for her. Eve took one step towards him, and then Mal began to laugh, spewing out the vile, twisting shadows again. They swooped towards Luke and Jess, circling them like a dark tornado. Once again, Eve heard the shadows whispering their horrible predictions and threats.
‘Don’t listen!’ Eve called.
Jess covered her ears with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. Her lips went white with strain.
‘When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won,’ Luke said. ‘When I despair—’
Eve realized he was chanting one of the Gandhi quotes they’d put in their report. She joined her voice with Luke’s: ‘I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won.’
The shadows darkened in places, darkened and thickened, forming bodies. The bodies transformed from shadow to flesh. Eve gasped, recognizing three of the guys who had attacked her outside Mal’s house. The one she’d turned to smoke was missing. The realization gave her a jolt of confidenc
e. The demon hadn’t recovered. She’d destroyed him with her power. Her power.
‘When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won,’ Luke and Eve chanted together.
Mal laughed again. The thugs now circling Luke and Jess laughed too. ‘Boy, you know nothing about history,’ Mal told Luke. ‘You’ve been alive for a blink. I’ve lived for thousands and thousands of years, and the “ways of truth and love” have always been defeated by my brethren and by me.’
Luke’s only answer was to continue repeating the quote, his eyes never leaving Mal. How could I have believed for even a moment that Luke was the demon? Eve thought. How could I have wanted Mal to kiss me? I was so wrong about both of them!
Raw fury filled her. Fury with Mal for the evil he had brought to her town, to her friends. And, even worse, fury at herself for being so deceived by him. Eve let out a shriek of rage. She flung her hands out. Bolts of pure fire – blue and white and orange – erupted from her fingertips.
The temperature in the room went volcanic. Eve’s hair crackled, flying out around her face. Mal whirled towards her.
But it was too late for him to react. The bolts of fire hit him in the chest, and he fell to his knees, coughing and retching. His shoulders heaved as he vomited up what looked like gobs of light – light in so many colours. Eve had to look away, the light was so brilliant.
As she turned, she saw one of the minions dissolve into a whirl of smoke … No, it wasn’t just one. All of them were disintegrating into dirty smears of air. The shadows, with their horrible whispering, disappeared.
He’s weakening. He has to be! Eve spun towards Mal, and saw him pushing himself to his feet. ‘You think to destroy me, girl?’ he rasped. ‘I command forty legions of demons.’
As he spoke, Eve concentrated on her power. There was some left, racing through her. She willed it to gather, and felt it begin to coalesce.
