It was scary, sure, but the sensation of actually being possessed by Darrak was anything but unpleasant.
“Don’t fight it this time,” she said. “And maybe it won’t hurt you.”
“But—”
“Trust me. I can take it.”
To say the least.
He nodded and looked into her eyes. “I’ll be with you tonight, of course, but I want you to know right now—now that I’m still here solidly beside you—that you need to be careful around Selina.”
“I will.”
“She’s dangerous.”
“Understood. I will be careful. I don’t want to be turned into a toad.”
“Well… you’d make a very cute toad.”
Toads weren’t cute. She waited for him to possess her, but nothing happened. “What are you waiting for?”
“I’m not waiting. I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
He was looking at her strangely. He reached over to twist a long piece of her hair between his fingers. She didn’t stop him even though she knew she probably should.
“Darrak—” she began, although she wasn’t sure what she was going to say next.
“I think I know why I hate golden boy so much.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because he gets to do this in the future.”
Darrak leaned forward and kissed her.
She hadn’t realized how much she wanted him to do that until he did it. She should want to kiss Ben, want to be with Ben. He liked her. He was normal and wonderful. He represented a solid future filled with potential happiness. But Darrak was… he was different. And so was his kiss, which was entirely too addictive.
When she went to touch him, though, her hands went right through his body that had turned to black smoke. She opened her eyes just as that smoke gathered over her and disappeared inside. It was a sudden reminder that he wasn’t a man… he was a demon.
She kept forgetting that important little fact.
SIXTEEN
An hour later, Eden stepped through the front doors of the bookstore. The first person she spotted was Nancy. The coffee shop barista was in the front row of an audience a few dozen strong. There was standing room only available in the area that had been cleared in the “Hot New Releases” section.
She also saw another familiar face. Vanessa the exotic dancer with bad taste in accountant boyfriends sat on the side opposite Nancy. She looked over at Eden and waved.
Eden waved back, feeling uncomfortable at having so many people there to see a dangerous curse-spewing three-hundred-year-old witch—even if the makeup in her headshots was spectacular.
She made a mental note to speak to Vanessa about the drifter otherwise known as Richard. By now, she figured that Fay had already taken care of her spousal issues. The fairy had sounded very determined on the phone.
“Are you nervous?” she asked. She sensed Darrak was. He hadn’t said much since he’d possessed her at sunset, but she felt his presence like an anxiety-filled weight on her chest.
“Yes,” he replied.
“It’ll be okay.”
“Of course it will. No worries at all.”
He didn’t sound convinced.
Eden joined the crowd and waited, listening to the mostly female audience chatting amongst themselves about how much they were looking forward to seeing Selina in person and how much her books had helped change their lives for the better.
There was no mention of black magic, eyes of newt, puppy dog tails, or anything else overtly malevolent.
That was a good sign.
A store employee approached the podium set up in front of the audience. “It’s our great pleasure to introduce internationally best-selling author Selina Shaw, the Love Witch. Please give her a warm welcome!”
The crowd burst into applause and Eden began to feel a growing nervousness as the woman in question appeared, dressed in a sparkly white, skintight dress. She had a white feather boa draped over her shoulders. The white of her outfit contrasted sharply with her black hair and green eyes. She looked exactly the same as she had on her website.
“Is that really her?” Eden asked breathlessly.
“It is.” Darrak’s voice was tight.
“Was she always that beautiful?”
“Yes.”
The one word answer brought forth an unexpected emotion from Eden. Was that jealousy she felt?
Jealousy at Darrak confirming that the witch who’d tried to destroy him three centuries ago was beautiful? How did that make any sense?
“Good evening, everyone.” Selina spoke into the microphone, smiling broadly at her audience. “Thank you so much for coming out tonight to see me.”
The applause swelled again.
“This is my latest book, Curse That Creep Right Out of Your Life. Anyone read it yet?”
More applause along with some enthusiastic “woo-hoos.”
“I’m impressed! That’s almost all of you and it only came out last week.”
“You’re the best, Selina!” a woman in the second row shouted out.
She pointed at the shouter. “So are you. Thank you. Really! This is great. Why don’t we start with some questions? Then I’ll roll into a short reading and then we can sign some copies of these for you all. Sound okay?”
The audience appeared to approve as a dozen hands shot up.
“Yes.” Selina pointed at a woman in the front row.
“Oh, this is so exciting,” the woman said, standing up. “I am a huge fan. A huge fan.”
Selina pulled the microphone off its stand. “I appreciate that more than you know. What’s your question?”
“What I want to know is if there’s a man in your life right now and if your books about female empowerment were inspired by somebody in your past.”
“Excellent questions. Yes, I am dating someone right now.” She smiled, showing off perfect white teeth. “Actually, scratch that. I’m dating a couple of guys. Why limit ourselves to just one?”
The audience howled with laughter.
“Do they know each other?” the question-asker asked.
“They do and frankly, I think sometimes they might like each other more than they like me if you know what I mean.” She winked as the crowd laughed again. “I try not to take my love life too seriously. There are so many other things in our lives that are important. I don’t believe the focus of anyone’s life should be a man. I mean, are we the focus of their lives?”
“Hell, no,” the woman replied firmly.
“There are some exceptions, of course,” Selina continued. “Very, very, very few exceptions. But all in all, what should we do with most men?”
She held the microphone out to the audience.
“Curse that creep!” was the unified reply.
“This may be the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my existence,” Darrak said. “And trust me, that’s saying something.”
Eden raised her eyebrows. It was like a cult. A white, sparkly, man-hating cult.
“As far as my past—” Selina smiled like the Cheshire Cat. “Has my heart been broken into a million pieces? Of course it has. Such heartbreak has made me the woman you see before you today. I’ve lived. I’ve loved. I’ve worked my magic on many men.”
“That’s an understatement,” Darrak said unpleasantly.
“One cannot come out of such a romantic history unscathed. But now I know what to do to protect my heart for all eternity and to help you do the same. A little white magic sprinkled through our lives today can save us picking up the pieces of our broken hearts in the future.”
“White magic?” Darrak scoffed. “If that’s what she thinks she does she’s living in a dream world.”
“Maybe she’s changed,” Eden countered quietly so no one other than Darrak could hear her.
“Not possible.”
But the longer Eden listened to what Selina Shaw had to say, the more she became a believer. And it wasn’t all about magic. Sure the
re were some cute little spells involving candles and flowers and meditative walks through nature, but there didn’t seem to be anything particularly evil about what the Love Witch was selling.
After the Q&A, Selina launched into a reading that only cemented Eden’s feelings about the author.
“She’s kind of awesome,” Eden said quietly, her arms crossed. “I don’t know what she was like in the past but I think she’s changed. She’ll help us if we ask her to.”
“Is that your psychic read at the moment?” He sounded sarcastic.
“I don’t need psychic abilities to tell me she’s changed. Don’t you think it’s possible at all?”
“She—” Darrak began and then was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. It’s possible, I guess. But unlikely. When I knew her—”
“That was a long time ago. I’m going to get her books. Just relax and let me talk to her.”
Despite Eden’s attempt to talk quietly to herself, a woman holding a stack of books gave her a strange look.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Darrak said. “Maybe we should leave.”
Eden got in the line. “No. Not yet. Just relax and let me handle this.”
“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She ignored the sensation of unease that flowed through her mostly from the demon. The line shuffled forward slowly. Selina sat behind a table draped in red fabric, piles of her books on either side of her. As readers reached her she spent a few moments talking to them, grasping their hands in hers and squeezing, a broad, friendly smile on her face. There wasn’t one moment when her friendly exterior slipped. Was it the real her? Or was she just a really good actress?
Finally Eden reached her. Selina looked up.
“Hi,” Eden squeaked. She hadn’t realized how nervous she was until she spoke.
“Hi there.” Selina reached forward and took her hand. She wore many rings on her fingers as well as a large gray-stoned pendant on a long gold chain that fell between her ample cleavage. “Thank you for coming to see me tonight.”
Eden searched for something casual to say in response. “I wish I’d known about you six months ago.”
Selina studied her. “When your fiancé was unfaithful to you?”
Eden’s eyes widened. “Wow, you’re good. How did you know that?”
“I’m the Love Witch, of course. I can tell these things just by touching your hand.” Then she frowned slightly and cocked her head to the side. “That’s strange…”
“Eden—” Darrak said quietly. “I think it’s time to go. Right now.”
“Silentium!” Selina’s voice rose and her grip on Eden’s hand grew very painful. She rose to her feet. “You dare bring that thing anywhere near me?”
Eden could barely breathe. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She looked around to see if somebody might help her but no one even looked in their direction. The lineup behind her continued to wait patiently. Browsers in other parts of the store kept browsing. People entered and left through the front doors by the cashier area.
She couldn’t feel Darrak’s presence anymore.
Selina stormed around to the other side of the table and grasped Eden’s upper arms before she could back away from the witch.
“Why can’t anyone see what’s going on?” Eden looked around again, panic welling in her chest. “Why can’t I feel…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want to say it out loud.
Darrak was right. She was dangerous. Evil. And Eden had gotten too close.
“Why can’t you feel the demon inside of you anymore?” Selina finished for her. “Because I just dampened his sorry ass.”
Eden opened her mouth to say something in reply, but nothing came out.
“I can’t believe this,” Selina said, starting to pace the small area in front of her signing table. “This is horrible. Absolutely horrible. All these years and he’s still existed? I should have known.” She turned to Eden and grabbed her shoulders to shake her. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” Eden managed.
“Yes!” She shook her head. “You poor, poor thing. I’m sorry if I scared you. You’ve obviously been through so much. But I’ve been able to dampen him. We have some time. I can get rid of him right now.”
“Wait a minute. What are you talking about?”
Selina exhaled shakily. “You’re possessed by a demon.”
“I know that.”
“I tried to destroy him three hundred years ago.”
Eden backed away from her a few steps. “I know that, too. You destroyed the body he had back then but not the rest of him. It’s why I’m here to see you tonight. You need to break the curse you put on him so he doesn’t have to possess me anymore.”
Selina’s mouth gaped open. “Break the curse.”
“That’s right.”
She touched her gray-stoned pendant. “I’m not breaking any curses. Don’t you understand? You’re possessed by a demon. From Hell. Why aren’t you more upset about that?”
“I finished freaking out the other day.” Eden wrung her hands. “You need to help us.”
“Help… us?” Selina repeated with shock and took a step forward. “You don’t seriously think that demon is your friend, do you?”
Eden took a step back. “Yes. He’s my friend.”
The witch looked very confused but then a slow clarity came into her eyes. “I think I see what’s going on here. You’re yet another woman who has been seduced and manipulated by a man. And not just any man—a demon.”
“You don’t know Darrak.”
“Darrak?” Selina rolled her eyes. “This is worse than I thought it was. And this was supposed to be a nice, relaxing signing. Okay, listen to me and I’ll take it really slow so you understand me. Demons are not the friends of humans. Ever. I don’t care what he’s told you. What’s your name, honey?”
Eden shook her head. This had gone badly enough as it was, she didn’t need this crazy witch knowing her name.
Selina sighed with exasperation, then closed her eyes, reaching out to touch Eden’s arm for a moment, before opening her eyes again. “Okay, Eden, let’s chat.”
“How—?” Eden shut her mouth. She knew how the witch knew her name. Because she was a witch. She might have been able to reach right down into Eden’s brain and scoop out the information.
“That’s right,” Selina said with a slight smile. “I can retrieve the info I’m looking for telepathically with a little effort. One of the bonuses of being me. And I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve got some interesting skills, yourself. A little bit psychic, are you?”
“A little bit. A very little bit.”
Selina studied her cautiously. “You remind me of myself when I was fully human. I could sense changes in the weather and tell when there would be a storm even if the skies were still blue. It was an ability one kept to themselves in my time for fear of repercussions.”
Eden glanced around at the lineup who continued to wait patiently as if there was nothing more interesting to pay attention to at the moment than the easy-listening music piping through the store’s audio system.
“I can imagine.”
Selina shook her head. “I don’t think you can. You have no idea what it was like back then. Now a woman can walk into a bookstore and buy a book about witchcraft or demonology and no one raises an eyebrow. But back then, if you were sexually active before marriage you might be considered one of Lucifer’s concubines.”
“But you became a black witch. You must have accepted it.”
Her expression went from wary to frigid. “The demon tells you many things, doesn’t he?”
“He…” Eden’s mouth was dry. “Can we just try to calm down. I don’t want any trouble here.”
“Then you shouldn’t have brought him here. Did he tell you why I became a black witch?”
“The subject hadn’t come up.”
“My abilities to predict the weather c
aught the attentions of men in my village. They decided I was a witch. Before I could be tried, I ran away and fell in with new friends who recognized my abilities before I even said a word about them. They taught me how to develop them and how to gain more. They had books of magic that I poured through, eager to learn everything I could. However, after I left, my sister was captured in my place, tried as a witch, and executed after weeks of torture. She didn’t have any special abilities at all. Her only crime was trying to protect me after I’d run away from home.” Her voice caught. “Try having that on your conscience for three centuries.”
It sounded so horrible that Eden could barely believe it. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It made me realize that men are the source of all evil and the only way to fight evil is with more of the same. Using the books of magic I learned how to summon a demon to give me the strength and power I wanted.”
Eden’s mouth was dry. She touched her chest. “This demon?”
“That’s right. I summoned the demon you call ‘Darrak’ and he helped turn me into a black witch. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“So he helped you,” Eden tried to reason.
Selina laughed. “Oh, that’s a very naïve way to put what he did to me, but I think it’s kind of cute, actually. Helped me. Sure. Let me guess… he’s told you things about himself, hasn’t he? Maybe that he’s harmless? That he’s decent and respectful to humans? An all-around wonderful guy?”
Eden really didn’t like the condescending way she said it. “It was his job to hunt down those who escaped from Hell and bring them back so they wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
That earned another humorless laugh. “Oh, that’s priceless. Yes, there are demons who are given such assignments, but trust me, your Darrak wasn’t one of them.”
Eden felt weak and light-headed as if she was about to faint at any moment and fall to the floor, taking a pyramid of Curse That Creep hardcovers with her.
“I’m not trying to be cruel,” Selina continued, noting her stricken expression. “Not too much, anyhow. And I’m not evil like I’m sure he’s told you I am. I want to help you. You’re in a bad place right now. I’d have to be blind not to see that.”