The Demon in Me

  Selina smiled. “Go now. Before I tear out your intestines and stomp on them with my new Ferragamo pumps.”

  “Sure thing. If you do decide you need anything to eat or drink, just holler.” She sauntered away, happily oblivious to the threat of evisceration she’d just received.

  Selina turned to leave. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

  “No. Please, stay,” Eden said. “Darrak’s changed. Just like you.”

  She froze. “He’s nothing like me.”

  “Having to possess humans all of these years has infused him with humanity.”

  Her eyebrows raised. “Is that what you think has happened?”

  “It is,” Darrak confirmed.

  She raised an eyebrow. “I thought I sensed something oddly human about you. For a moment I thought it was simply residue from your recent and ill-advised horizontal romp with this girl.”

  “What makes you think we were horizontal?” Darrak’s lips twitched.

  She glared at him. “Do not make light of this.”

  Darrak’s grin widened at her outrage. “Don’t be jealous. It’s not becoming to a woman of your age.”

  “Jealous is the last thing I am right now.”

  “Look, Selina. Here it is. You summoned me years ago. You sucked all the energy out of me you could possibly get and left me an empty husk. Then you tried to destroy me completely.”

  “You were going to kill me. Do you deny that, demon?”

  His smile vanished. “Not for a moment. I don’t take kindly to being summoned and forced to do things against my will.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “Forced? You didn’t seem to mind my attentions at the time. In fact, you welcomed my body like the horny little ex-incubus you are.”

  Eden considered getting up to grab one of those blueberry scones Nancy mentioned. Anywhere to escape this extra-uncomfortable part of the conversation.

  Darrak’s blue eyes narrowed. “That was a long time ago, witch.”

  “If you hadn’t tried to kill me I wouldn’t have had to destroy you.”

  “You should have released me when you had the chance.”

  “But I didn’t. And here we are reliving the good old times in a place that serves pastries and cappuccino. Now what?”

  “Now you break my curse. You’ve changed. I’ve changed. We can both have a future here.”

  She eyed him for a moment. “Have you convinced this foolish woman that you’re in love with her?”

  He flicked a momentary glance at Eden, who was now anxiously watching their conversation like it was a supernatural-infused tennis game. “She has nothing to do with what happened between us.”

  “You honestly think that?” Selina sighed. “Eden, be very careful with him. I thought he loved me, too, once. But he didn’t.”

  “Can we please try to stay on subject here?” Eden said tightly, disturbed equally by the talk about love and destruction.

  His jaw was tight. “If you don’t break my curse, I will eventually drain the life completely out of Eden and she will die.”

  “Well aware of that. But why I should care?”

  “Because if you’re the nice self-help-book-writing witch you say you are, then you should care if someone lives or dies.”

  “I never said I was nice.” Selina touched her pendant. “I said I didn’t want to lose my soul completely to the darkness. And I would hate for someone else to have the same struggles I’ve had all these years. I would have warned you last night, Eden. But now it’s too late, isn’t it?”

  “What are you talking about?” Eden asked.

  Her eyes widened. “You really don’t know, do you?”

  “Know what?” She didn’t like the look on the witch’s face. Especially since it was directed at her.

  Selina turned to Darrak. “Can’t you even sense it? Are you that much of a fool?”

  Darrak frowned at her, confusion crossing his expression. He looked at Eden and searched her face until a glimmer of clarity came into his widening eyes. “It’s not possible.”

  “I sensed it the moment I got here,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “Damn you, Selina.” His jaw clenched. “This is all your fault, isn’t it?”

  The witch crossed her arms. “You only have yourself to blame.”

  Darrak’s expression looked like it might shatter. “I knew something bad would come of it because of what I am… but… I didn’t know what. Eden… I’m so sorry.”

  Eden felt so confused by whatever they were saying, it was like she’d walked into a foreign movie halfway through. “Can somebody please explain what the hell you’re talking about?”

  Selina finally sat down next to her. She took Eden’s hand in hers and squeezed it. “Last night when you spoke with me, I told you that I’d summoned the demon and done a spell so that he would give me enough power to become a black witch.”

  “I remember.”

  “That spell was never broken.”

  “And what does that mean?”

  “With this spell, a woman must willingly have sex with a demon in order to gain that power—the same dark magic I try not to use so I don’t destroy my soul completely. I summoned the demon specifically so I could have sex with him and become a black witch.”

  Every word burrowed into Eden’s brain. Everything Selina said started to connect and make sense—and then it hit her like a thunderbolt of clarity.

  Eden had willingly had sex with Darrak. Very willingly.

  “So this means…” she began.

  “You’re now a black witch as well.” Selina smiled without humor. “Welcome to the family.”

  TWENTY-ONE

  There was silence at the table. The coffee bar around them continued to buzz with activity. The warm smell of baked goods still pleasantly hung in the air. The cash register dinged as someone made a purchase.

  And Eden’s entire existence took a graceful swan dive into a swimming pool full of crap.

  “So, demon,” Selina continued, “if you’ve really changed as much as you’re trying to make me believe, it goes without saying that unless you decide you want to corrupt more of this poor woman’s soul, you can never touch her sexually again. Hope that won’t be a problem for you.”

  “Break the spell, Selina,” Darrak said darkly.

  “What about your curse?”

  “One thing at a time.”

  The amber glow she’d all but forgotten about when she and Darrak had been together physically…

  It was the magic settling over her, entering her, changing her. Making her into something different.

  Eden was a black witch because she’d had sex with Darrak.

  If Hell had created an STD, this would definitely be it.

  “What do I do now?” she asked, stunned.

  “Can you feel it?” Selina asked, searching her face. “The magic inside you now?”

  Eden shook her head. “I don’t feel anything.”

  “Concentrate.”

  She did. And she sensed a bit of that electricity she’d felt earlier. A warm flush of power permeating her skin. “I think I can feel it. And it feels kind of… good?”

  Darrak swore, gripped the edge of the table, and looked ready to tear it apart with his bare hands. “It’s not good. Nothing about this is good.”

  Selina looked at him skeptically. “You mean you had no idea this might happen?”

  “I—I didn’t know this would happen.”

  “But you thought something bad would happen, right? And yet you did it anyhow.” Selina shook her head. “Men. Always thinking about pleasure before practicality.”

  Eden looked blankly at the both of them.

  Selina laughed. “I can barely believe you’re the same archdemon I summoned. I’d think you’d be thrilled to have corrupted yet another human soul.”

  Flames entered his gaze. “You need to fix this.”

  Her smile disappeared. “I can’t. What’s happened to Eden isn’t a spell I can break.
It’s the result of a spell. Just like what happened to me.”

  Eden’s brain was flailing about, attempting to piece everything together and also trying very hard not to freak out over this life-altering avalanche of news. “So anyone Darrak would have—would have been with would become a black witch?”

  “My spell was specific to someone with my level of psychic ability.” Selina gave another one of those humorless smiles. “I guess we have more in common than I thought we did.”

  “Only I didn’t ask for the ability to do black magic. It really wasn’t on my list of must-haves this year.” There was an edge of barely restrained hysteria in her voice.

  Selina squeezed Eden’s numb hands tighter. “You haven’t used the magic inside of you yet. If you never use it, maybe that will keep your soul from any damage.”

  Eden tried to stay calm, but it was a losing battle. “I’m seriously going to be sick right now. Right here.”

  Selina curled her hand around her wrist and Eden felt a strange calming sensation move through her that helped settle her stomach.

  “Try to breathe,” the witch suggested. “I’ll put my book tour on hold for a few days and stay here in the city to help you. I feel a sisterly bond with you now.”

  A weak glimmer of hope moved through her in this otherwise hellish scenario. “You’d do that?”

  She nodded. “Just try to be in control of your emotions as much as you can. I do yoga daily and take frequent meditation breaks. Scented candles are also very soothing. Anger will automatically bring the dark magic to the surface where it becomes very tempting to use.” She touched her pendant. “As a black witch, our magic is at our fingertips in a way that makes it much easier to use than through books or verbally cast spells. It’s a lot like being a drug addict, actually. The only way to defeat the desire to use the black magic is to ignore it.”

  That didn’t sound very good at all. “And there’s no way for me to get rid of it?”

  “No. I’m sorry.”

  Eden gulped. “Are there any perks at all to this condition?”

  “Well, there is the chance to live forever.” Selina smiled. “Just make sure you move and change your name every ten years so people don’t realize you’re not aging. Botox can only account for so much, you know.”

  Eden looked at Darrak to see the demon was furious. Selina turned to him as well.

  “You’re upset over this,” she observed.

  “You’re brilliant.”

  “At me or at yourself?”

  “Both. This never should have happened. I should have known. Should have predicted it.”

  Selina cocked her head to the side. “Are you playing games, demon?”

  “I wish. Games are fun. This? Not so much.”

  She studied him for a moment longer. “The archdemon I summoned would never blame himself for something like this. You really have changed, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  Selina’s expression remained skeptical. “But that doesn’t mean it will last. You’re weakened right now. If you were to regain your power, these feelings will slip away and you’ll return to how you were before.”

  He shook his head. “I won’t.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I just do.”

  She pursed her full red lips. “If you were human once I might believe it. But you weren’t. So you need to stop acting so naïve.”

  Eden shakily took a sip of her now lukewarm hot chocolate. It slithered unpleasantly down her throat. “I don’t think he’s being naïve. I believe Darrak’s telling the truth.”

  “You think so, do you? After everything he’s done to you?” Selina’s green eyes flashed. “You need to see something. Now that we share this power inside us, I can share other things as well.” Her grip tightened on Eden’s wrist.

  “Wait, what are you—” But the next moment the words were ripped out of Eden’s mouth. The coffee shop shimmered away before her very eyes, and suddenly she was standing in the middle of a small grassy meadow surrounded by trees. It was night and a full moon hung heavily in the dark skies above.

  A cool breeze moved past her. She could smell pine needles and wildflowers.

  Where was she? What the hell was going on?

  “Release me,” a dark voice said from behind her. She spun around and gasped at what she saw.

  It was Darrak, in demon form. Tall, huge, and horned. Golden flames licked at the surface of his entire body, lighting the darkness around him, and he stood in the middle of a ring of white powder. His voice was harsh, raspy, and pissed off.

  “Release you? Why would I do that?” The words left her lips and she sounded like Selina. She was Selina. It was Selina’s memory she was currently sharing.

  “I’ve given you what you want.” Beneath the flames, she could see the demon’s lips curl. Inside the magic circle he couldn’t tempt her by shifting to his human form—a form she did find very tempting indeed. As a human she could pretend that he was only handsome and charming and irresistible, but he wasn’t. It was only an illusion. In the binding circle there was no hiding from what he truly was.

  “Release me, witch,” he said again. “Before I lose my patience with you completely.”

  She felt the magic simmering inside her. She’d taken everything she could from him and knew he was greatly weakened. But a weakened archdemon was still more powerful than a hundred regular humans. “I want revenge on the men who killed my sister. I command you to destroy them. Make them know a demon stripped the flesh from their bones.”

  He nodded once. “I will do as you say.”

  “You’re mine,” she reminded him. “Body and soul.”

  “I have no soul. But my body is yours to command.”

  “Do you love me?” she asked, surprised at the pathetically needy words spewing from her mouth. What happened to being strong and taking control of her life? It was why she wanted to become a black witch in the first place. But she had to know.

  He’d been quick to respond to her seduction. Each time they’d coupled during the days since his summoning her magic grew stronger—the dark power inside of her growing until she felt as if it would burst through her very skin. She was ashamed at how quickly she’d fallen in love with him, knowing what he was. It was so hard to remember his dark nature when he was in his appealing human form.

  “Do I love you?” he repeated. “You don’t want the answer to that.”

  But she did. “Tell me the truth. I command you to, Darrakayiis.”

  He flinched as she used the power of his true name against him. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again. It felt as if his fathomless gaze bore right into her very soul.

  “I am a demon, created from hellfire,” he said. “I bring pain and death to those who cross me. So, do I love you, witch, who has trapped me, forced me to give you Hell’s power, and commanded me to kill your enemies? Do I love you?” Those soulless eyes narrowed. “An archdemon cannot love anyone or anything. I will kill you the moment I’m able and you will feel my wrath much more acutely than you felt my body. I will taste your blood on my lips as I retrieve the power you’ve stolen from me from your darkening soul. And then I will leave you in pieces for the winds to scatter.”

  The cool breeze whipped the long dark hair back from her face as she stifled her fear at his cold threat. “A simple no would have been just fine.”

  “Then, no. I don’t love you.” His lips curled again. “However, I’m very fond of the weather tonight.”

  She looked down to see that the wind had blown some of her salt away, breaking the circle. Which meant that the archdemon was no longer trapped.

  Darrakayiis stepped out of the magic circle and he smiled, showing off razor-sharp teeth as black as the thick obsidian horns extending from his temples. “About that arrangement we had? And the tearing-you-apart thing I mentioned a moment ago? Let’s take care of that right now.”

  She scrambled backward, but not bef
ore his talons sliced shallowly into her throat and she felt the ooze of her warm blood.

  Darrakayiis’s terrifying smile widened. “I don’t mind a bit of a chase. Makes it more interesting, actually.”

  There was no reasoning with him now. She knew what he meant to do to her.

  Without another thought, she unleashed everything inside of her, every ounce of her new black magic. It was a power that scared her deeply, but she needed it and the destruction curse was at her fingertips in an instant. She watched the inky blackness wrap itself around the demon, pulling him away from her, dousing the hellfire that protected him, and trapping him in place as effectively as the circle of salt had.

  She focused that destructive magic—magic she knew was damaging her soul as well—and opened up to it completely. The archdemon screamed in pain as she decimated him, his body literally exploding into a ball of fire.

  And then it was all over.

  She collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, but alive. Ashes fell like snow all around her. It was all that remained from the demon’s body.

  But she’d paid dearly for her victory. The power inside her had only grown stronger from being used, and it was still ready at her fingertips. She was putting her soul in danger.

  But what was done couldn’t be undone.

  She touched the shallow wound at her throat and her hand came away bloody. It reminded her of what was important. There were still men with the blood of her sister on their hands who had to be dealt with—human, but as evil as any demon.

  She no longer had the archdemon to do her bidding, so she’d have to take care of them herself.

  It would be worth another piece of her soul to avenge her sister’s murder.

  Eden gasped as her consciousness slammed back into the café after her vision, and she looked at Selina with wide eyes.

  “Did you kill them?” she asked, breathlessly. “The men who killed your sister?”

  Her expression was unreadable. “Would you believe me if I said no?”

  “Probably not.”

  “What did you show her, witch?” Darrak asked harshly.

  Eden slowly turned to look at him. She hadn’t seen that side of Darrak before and it was everything she’d been afraid of. A living, breathing nightmare.