Eden did wish she hadn’t doubted him, but she had. And that was just the way it was.
It hadn’t been a fabulous week, to say the least.
“Is that it?” Lucas asked, nodding at the diamond.
She held it out to him. “Here you go, one black diamond delivered as per our agreement.”
He took it from her and held it in his palm as if weighing it.
“There’s a problem,” he said.
Yeah, she already knew that.
“Oh?” She feigned surprise anyhow.
“It’s already been used to destroy Asmodeus. I did manage to catch the last-minute fireworks to prove that the angelheart does indeed work as advertised. Certainly not a huge loss to the Netherworld. Never liked the guy. However, now it won’t work again. The power is gone. It’s only a pretty paperweight now, isn’t it?”
Eden glanced at Darrak. He stood watching their discussion, and he didn’t look as panicked as she felt, or fearful, or anything. No, he looked oddly calm.
Thanks for the support, she thought, wracking her mind to figure out what to do or say next.
Something Lucifer said came back to her then.
“You’re very lucky that I always hold true to the exact wording of my bargains.”
“Our deal was for the black diamond,” Eden said then, firmly. “You didn’t say the angelheart specifically. I’ve delivered the black diamond.”
Lucas looked at her without speaking for a while. It was uncomfortable. Eden willed herself to remain calm.
“Did I say the black diamond, not the angelheart?” he asked.
“I have a feeling you remember exactly what you said.”
“You’re right. I do.”
“And you said you always stick to the exact wording of your bargains.”
“I said that, too, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
Lucas’s lips curved. “Tricky, aren’t you?”
Eden didn’t feel very tricky. She was just doing what had to be done. “You will release my mother’s soul, right?”
He curled his fingers around the diamond and slipped it into the inner chest pocket of his jacket. “A deal’s a deal.”
“Thank you.” Eden finally allowed herself a measure of relief and braved another look at Darrak, before returning her attention to Lucas.
Lucas touched under her chin and brought her gaze up to meet his own. “I haven’t forgotten about the second part of our deal, either.”
“There’s a second part?” Darrak asked warily.
Lucas smiled. “Why, yes, there is.”
Hope sparked inside her chest. “That’s right. You’re going to help me and Darrak.”
“Well, I believe the exact words were that I would fix things and make it so Darrak no longer has to possess you. That is what you agreed to, remember?”
“Of course. But, I . . .” Eden felt a strange sinking sensation. “But, of course I meant that I wanted his curse to be broken so he could have his body back all the time and everyone would live happily ever after.”
“Right. Well, you should have been a bit more specific, then. But it’s your lucky day, Eden. I can make it so he no longer possesses you. I’d be happy to destroy him for you.”
Destroy him?
Lucas had called her tricky. She thought she’d gotten away with something—only giving him the black diamond, but making him stick to his deal to release her mother’s soul, but . . .
He was tricky, too. Although, that really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her.
“It’s okay, Eden,” Darrak said quietly. “This couldn’t have ended any other way.”
She could barely breathe. She moved as if in slow motion toward the spot where Darrak stood, but it was too late.
The next moment, Darrak convulsed and dropped to his knees. His face was strained, and when he looked up at her, his eyes were filled with agony before flames filled them. He was burning from the inside out.
“Don’t . . . come . . . near me,” he bit out. His entire body shuddered.
“You’re hurting him!” Eden yelled.
“That’s sort of the point,” Lucas said. He hadn’t even broken a sweat yet. “I’m returning him to his base parts. A bit of hellfire and some magic. Shouldn’t take too long.”
“You have to stop!”
“But this is what you wanted.”
“No, it’s not!”
“Then you really should have been more specific.”
Eden collapsed next to Darrak as he suffered this torture in near silence. She reached to touch his face but pulled her hand back the moment she made contact. His skin burned like fire.
“I’m sorry,” Darrak managed, before a tremor went through him. “I should have told you that Asmo killed the women. I should have told you about Graham. But I didn’t want you to try to get revenge. It was too dangerous.”
“Darrak—”
“Just don’t hate me.”
“Hate you? But, Darrak—”
The next moment he fell to his side. He wasn’t moving anymore. Amber flames burst through his skin to coat his entire body, and she scrambled back so she wouldn’t get burned.
“Almost done,” Lucas said. He sounded remarkably blasé about it.
She’d asked for this. She’d even made a deal with the devil to make this possible. In moments Darrak would be gone, and she wouldn’t have to put up with his lies and deceit and body stealing and energy draining. It would be over. Forever.
Be careful what you wish for.
“No,” she said softly.
“Pardon me?” Lucas asked.
“Stop this.”
“But you asked for it. I’m only doing what you wanted me to.”
She raised her gaze from Darrak’s body to Lucas’s deceptively warm brown eyes. “Don’t be a sore loser.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry you can’t use the angelheart to destroy your inner demon today. But hell if I’m going to let you destroy mine.”
Eden clenched her fists and felt black magic roll down her arms and into her hands. It was an ocean of power deep enough to drown someone in.
Lucas observed her carefully. “And what do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to destroy you,” she said matter-of-factly. “I might not have been able to destroy Asmodeus, but I have a feeling your current form is a little more breakable than his was. You didn’t create me like you did Darrak. You have no power over me.”
His lips thinned. “Killing a defenseless mortal with black magic will turn your soul jet-black,” he warned. “Even if that mortal happens to be me. Besides, it won’t even matter. I’ll just return to Hell.”
“Then I’ll follow you there and kill you again. Stop what you’re doing to Darrak right now or I swear I will. I don’t care what I have to do, I will hunt you down and send you to the Void once and for all. I have a feeling that would make everyone very happy.”
She meant every single word like she’d never meant anything before.
Lucas shook his head. “You’d do that? For him?” He nodded at the Darrak-shaped inferno ten feet away. “He’s a lesser demon. A nobody. And you’d give your soul to save something like that?”
Did Lucas really, truly feel that way about one of his creations? Was that all Darrak was? Sentient, soulless hellfire. A formerly evil monster now infected with a little bit of heaven. A demon who had no home or anyone who cared if he was destroyed forever.
“Yes,” she said. “I would. Now release him or I’ll prove it.”
She allowed the black magic to fill the rest of her body. It felt cool and brought with it the focus she needed. Still, a tear coursed down her right cheek. She didn’t bother to push it away.
With a thought, she made the long bar top next to her splinter down the middle, stopping right before the spot where Lucas stood. It didn’t go unnoticed.
He smiled, but it was tight. “That’s so adorable. I had no
idea you cared so deeply for him. Sad, but adorable.”
Eden moved toward him. Her hands were glowing—sparks of energy circled them waiting to be unleashed. Waiting to destroy.
The unfortunate thing was, none of this made Lucas flinch in the slightest. In fact, he looked vaguely bored with her display.
He sighed. “Fine, if he manages to survive this, you’re welcome to him. What’s left of him, anyhow. But don’t ever say I tried to go back on our deal, because I didn’t.”
Eden looked to see the flames surrounding Darrak extinguish as if a switch had been flicked. He didn’t move.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Don’t thank me. Not after what I’m about to tell you.” Lucas drew closer to her, unconcerned with the danger that might pose to his mortal body. “What I did? Or what I nearly did? That is the only way this will end for you.”
Her throat felt tight. “What do you mean?”
“The only way for this unfortunate situation to end is for you to die or Darrak to be exorcised. And anyone who tells you differently is lying.”
She shook her head. “There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t. However, I do have good news.”
She looked up at him, ready to grasp onto any possible flicker of hope. “What?”
“As a nephilim, you have endless celestial energy for him to draw on. It’s what sets you apart from his previous hosts. Darrak won’t kill you by possessing you. Only . . . I do wonder . . .”
Eden reeled from this piece of info. They’d been certain Darrak would drain her completely in no more than a year. “You wonder what?”
“How much of that heavenly drink he can lap up before my lesser demon turns into something else . . . something a bit more angelic.” Lucas laughed at Eden’s shock. “He’ll never be welcome home then.”
“He has a home,” Eden said firmly. “With me.”
He grasped her chin between his fingers. “I could have finished him, but I didn’t. This means you owe me one. You work for me now.”
“Great. Another shitty job with lousy pay. Just what I need.”
Lucas stroked his hand down the side of her face and something slid behind his gaze—a strange longing. “I haven’t touched an angel for a very long time.”
She pushed his hand away. “I’m not an angel.”
“Close enough.”
She didn’t wait a moment longer. She went to Darrak’s side. He was unconscious, but whole. The flames had all disappeared without leaving any marks. This time when she touched him, his skin was still hot—too hot—but it didn’t burn her.
“Darrak.” Eden smoothed the hair off his forehead. “Wake up. Please.”
“If he manages to survive this, you’re welcome to him.”
He might not survive. She might have been too slow to get Lucas to stop.
If what Lucas told her was true, their curse couldn’t be broken. Darrak would have to keep possessing Eden just as it had been between them up until now, but with no end in sight.
At one time, she would have resisted that idea. She liked to be alone. She didn’t want anyone to butt into her private business or her personal time. Trusting people was hard for her, it always had been. She didn’t ask for this situation with Darrak. It had been a mistake—a textbook example of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Being possessed by a demon was the stuff of horror movies.
Yes, it was all of that.
She still didn’t want to lose him. She’d only known Darrak a short time, but he’d come to mean everything to her. Absolutely everything.
His body began to shift to black smoke before solidifying again. That wasn’t a good sign. It meant that he’d lost so much energy that he was about to lose himself completely. He wouldn’t possess her again then; he would go directly to the Void—a place of nothingness. Death for demons.
Darrak took energy from her when he was nearly drained. He didn’t like to do it because he’d said her energy tasted too good and he was tempted not to stop. He didn’t want to drain her.
But if Lucas was right, he couldn’t drain her.
More celestial energy coming right up.
She leaned over and kissed him.
Take it, she thought. Please.
Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty came to mind. But only for a moment. After all, this wasn’t much of a fairy tale.
It took way too long, but she finally felt it. A slight draining sensation and the press of his lips as he began to kiss her back.
Darrak really needed her energy to survive what Lucas had done to him. And after using a bit of black magic in her showy display with the bar top, she really needed to kiss a demon.
Finally, his dark lashes flickered, and he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her leaning over him like Pamela Anderson on Baywatch. Relief and happiness flooded her senses.
“Eden . . .” he rasped. “Don’t tell me you . . . you used your black magic again.”
That was the first thing he had to say to her?
“A little,” she admitted. “But not much.”
“Bad girl.” His Adam’s apple shifted as he swallowed. “I feel like a marshmallow that’s been roasted over a campfire.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“Where’s Lucifer?” he asked.
She looked over at the bar. Lucas was gone.
“Not here,” she said.
“Too bad. Because I am so ready to kick his ass.”
She snorted softly. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Why did you stop him?” He wasn’t smiling.
“From destroying you?” Her chest felt tight. “That’s a stupid question.”
“Still . . . why? I’ve destroyed your life, lied to you, stolen your body, uh, et cetera, et cetera. Why didn’t you take this as the chance to finally get away from me once and for all?”
She stared down at him. “You really are pretty, but all kinds of stupid, aren’t you?”
“Eden—”
“Because . . .” She wiped a tear away and then touched his face. “Because . . . I love you, Darrak.”
His eyes widened and he struggled to sit up. He failed, but trying did count for something. “You love me?”
“Don’t get cocky.”
“Me? Well . . . I just—”
Eden bit her bottom lip. “You just need to be quiet and take more of my energy so you can get up off this nightclub floor. There are plenty of things to still deal with in my crazy new supernatural life, and I need your help with most of them. Obviously this is a partnership that I can’t just break at the first, or second, sign of trouble.”
Darrak looked up at her incredulously. “You love me.”
She touched his hotter-than-normal chest. “Yes.”
He placed his hand on top of hers. “If I didn’t feel like a roasted marshmallow right now, I might be very happy to hear that.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Because you already know how I feel . . .”
She covered his mouth before he said anything else. “Demons aren’t supposed to feel anything, remember?”
“Oh, right. Forgot about that for a moment. Guess it’s the streak of angel juice running through me now. Makes me say crazy things.”
Angel juice. She wondered if that celestial energy he’d been absorbing from her really would truly change him like Lucas had predicted. It already had changed him. The humanity he’d gained from his previous human hosts had stuck whether he wanted it or not. There was no going back now.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “Pretty crazy. Now shut up and suck out some more of my energy, demon, and then let’s get the hell out of here.”
Darrak shook his head and grinned at her. “You are such a sweet talker.”
She was. She really was.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Feeling drained after helping Darrak recover from their standoff with Theo, Asmodeus, and Lucifer, Eden slept through most of the afternoon. Thankfully, it was a
dreamless sleep. She’d banked up enough nightmares to last her for many years to come.
She had no official confirmation, but if Lucas held true to their deal, her mother’s soul had been released from Hell. It was a great relief.
You’re welcome, Mom, she thought. Now try your best to get into Heaven, okay? You’re on your own now.
Eden had woken at sunset only long enough for Darrak to possess her before she fell asleep again. It was beginning to feel like a natural part of her day—an oddly comfortable habit, despite its horror-movie trappings.
At the moment, she wasn’t complaining. She was just relieved that he was still around. More relieved than she ever would have guessed.
Then again, she did tell him she loved him.
She hadn’t been lying.
But love or not, having her privacy back one day was a goal she wasn’t ready to give up on yet. However, if it came at the risk of Darrak being exorcised and destroyed—
Well, she could probably get used to this living arrangement.
If she had to.
Triple-A was closed for business that day as Andy recovered from the werewolf attack. But Friday morning, it was back to business as usual.
Andy smiled brightly as they entered the office. “Good morning, my favorite employees.”
Eden eyed him cautiously. “You’re looking good, Andy.”
“Thank you! I feel good!”
“But we’re not your employees, remember?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, you know what I mean.”
“I’m your partner, and Darrak is, uh . . . he’s our consultant on all things supernatural.”
“Unpaid consultant,” Darrak added. “I work for donuts. Preferably untainted ones.”
Apart from what had happened with the lust elixir, Darrak had finally shared his theory with her about how the act of possession might trigger Selina’s black magic spell, but it wasn’t as much of an issue for her as it was for him. Eden felt that she was filled to the brim with black magic already and had a strong feeling that Selina’s spell would have no affect on her anymore. The damage was already done.
So did that mean she and Darrak could be together and not worry about the ramifications?
It was a definite possibility.
She glanced at him—this handsome, protective, celestial-energy-infused demon from Hell she’d admitted to being in love with. Not exactly the boy next door, was he?