Something Wicked (48 page)

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?

He watched her curiously.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Eden cleared her throat and decided to focus on something else. Something a bit safer. “Andy, you seem rather chipper today.”

“I am chipper,” he confirmed.

“So . . . you’re okay with all of this? Everything that happened to you?”

He blinked. “You mean being bitten and mauled by a werewolf, infected with lycanthropy, and at risk of becoming a werewolf, myself?”

“That would pretty much cover it, yes.”

Andy pressed his palms against the edge of his desk and stood up from his chair. “I’ve decided it’s not going to happen to me.”

Eden frowned. “Not going to happen?”

“That’s right. It’s all about mind over matter. I don’t want to be a werewolf. Therefore, I won’t be one. Easy.”

Eden and Darrak exchanged a glance.

“Not sure it works that way, Andy,” Darrak said. “But if you just—”

Andy held up a hand. “Anyway, like you noticed, I’m feeling terrific today. Better than ever, actually. Nothing like a brush with death to make you really start to appreciate life.”

Terrific
, Eden thought with a sinking feeling.
He’s in complete denial.

It didn’t help that all of his wounds had healed, leaving no scars or marks behind. Denial would be much trickier with stitches, broken bones, and bite marks.

No, Andy had healed up perfectly. In fact, he looked younger than he had before. He could easily pass for forty now, instead of nearly fifty. His blond hair looked healthier. His skin was less lined—even when he smiled the wrinkles that used to fan out around his eyes had lessened significantly. His body looked fit and lean.

“You look good,” she admitted.

“I’ve never felt so good in my life. You know what this means, right?”

“That you’ve been infected with lycanthropy and you’re due to turn into a werewolf in two weeks?” Darrak asked, then glanced at a desk calendar. “Actually, make that twelve days.”

Andy’s expression tightened. “No. It means that we should go out and celebrate.”

“Celebrate?” Eden asked.

“The fact we’re all alive and well. The fact we’re together. Friends you can trust are few and far between.”

Eden glanced at Darrak. He hadn’t spoken about Theo, but she knew his friend’s death had hit him hard. Theo had killed Graham, so she wasn’t sorry he was gone, but she did empathize with Darrak’s pain.

“You’re right,” she said. “Friends are something to celebrate.”

“How about breakfast? I’ll treat. There’s that buffet around the corner I’ve been meaning to try. I’ve never been so hungry in my life, and Nancy’s coffee and donuts aren’t going to cut it this morning. Besides, she called in sick today so the coffee probably won’t even be as good as it normally is.”

Yeah
, Eden thought.
She’s recovering from nearly becoming a snack for a demon lord. That’s definitely worth using a sick day for.

“Sounds fantastic,” Darrak said. “Buffets are all you can eat?”

“They are.”

“Do they have chocolate donuts?”

“They might have some chocolate croissants, which, trust me, are even better.” Andy grabbed his coat from the rack and put it on. “Then we can discuss our case load. We’ve all been slacking this week so things are building up. A couple of fairy clients have been calling nonstop. Fairy folk are very persistent. Anyway, I’ll meet you outside.”

The bell on the door jingled as he left the office without giving them a chance to say anything in reply.

“Denial,” Darrak said.

“Big-time denial.”

“Twelve days till the next full moon.”

Eden nodded. “I have it circled on my calendar. And until then?”

“He should be okay. But you might want to invest in a leash and muzzle. Possibly some doggy treats.”

Eden smiled despite herself. “Great.”

As she turned toward the door to follow Andy, Darrak grabbed her wrist.

“Eden . . .” he began.

She looked up at him. “That’s my name.”

“When the wizard master gets back from his tropical vacation, we’ll talk to him. And we could also try summoning another demon to help—”

She shuddered. “No more demons.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“Lucas said there’s no way to break the curse. We’re stuck like this.”

“He’s been known to lie,” he said. “Demons tend to do that a lot.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that.”

The Malleus couldn’t help them, she’d already seen what they considered “help.” She hoped she’d never hear from Ben or Oliver or Sandy ever again, but she wasn’t holding her breath. She’d continue to be aware of anyone approaching her carrying a syringe full of tranquilizers.

She’d told Darrak what Lucas said about her not having a death sentence from his possession anymore. While he knew what he was drawing on was celestial energy, he was unaware that it was turning him more angelic with every passing day.

He wouldn’t like that very much.

All she knew for sure was that they’d keep looking for a way to break Darrak’s curse. Even if it took forever. After all, being immortal, she did have time on her side now.

Darrak drew closer to her until she could feel the warmth from his body. He was still extra-hot after his fire-filled brush with destruction yesterday.

He was pretty hot to begin with.

“Okay,” he said. “No more demons. Besides, they’d never understand what we have between us.”

She raised her eyebrows and looked up at him. “Oh? And what’s that?”

Darrak slid his arm around her, his hand coming to rest at the small of her back. His lips twitched into a wry smile. “Something that scares the hell right out of me.”

Eden couldn’t help but grin back at him—her personal demon, who was now just a little bit angel as well.

“That makes two of us,” she said.

Turn the page for a special preview
of the next Living in Eden novel

THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC

Coming soon from Berkley Sensation!

ONE

Eden was in big trouble.

From the moment she woke, she’d felt the unrequested tingle of magic moving down her arms and sparking off her fingertips. This was a problem. She didn’t allow herself to tap into her powers despite it being a constant itch for her. Magic—at least,
her
magic—came with dire consequences.

A cold trickle of perspiration slid down her spine as she hid her hands behind her back so Darrak wouldn’t notice. But it was only a matter of time. The demon was very observant.

“Okay,” Darrak said, sitting shirtless at the tiny dinette table in her tiny apartment, the daily newspaper spread out in front of him in a scatter of pages. “Here’s your horoscope for today. Ready to hear your ultimate fate?”

Eden cleared her throat. “Uh, sure.”

“Pisces. Sexy little fish girl.” He grinned at her as he absently raked his messy dark hair back from his forehead.

Nice to see that one of them was in a stellar mood this morning. She grudgingly smiled back at him. “That’s me.”

“Be prepared for a blast from the past as an old acquaintance wants to reconnect. Do what you can to accommodate them because your destinies are irreversibly intertwined. Also, buy more peanut butter since you’re completely out and it’s an important nutritional staple in your favorite demon’s diet.”

She nodded. “Let me take a wild guess here. You added the last part yourself.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

“I’ll put it on my grocery list.”

“Life is good.” He studied her for a moment before his grin began to fade. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all. Everything’s wonderful. Fabulous, in fact.”

“Overcompensating in your reply only leads me to believe that something is seriously wrong.” He stood up from the table, and the horoscope page fluttered to the carpeted floor. His brows drew together. “What’s bothering you?”

She was surprised how quickly he could switch from amusement over some silly human thing like a horoscope or a craving for peanut butter to deep concern for her well-being.

“It’s nothing. Really.” She forced another smile, and her gaze moved over his bare chest. “You need to get dressed. We have to leave for the office.”

Without any movement or visible concentration, black jersey material suddenly flowed over Darrak’s skin. Since he’d come into her life a month ago, she’d wanted to take him shopping at the mall, but other than the coat he occasionally wore—short sleeves here in Toronto in chilly November might be a tip-off that he was less than human—he magically conjured his own clothing, which solely consisted of black jeans and black T-shirts.

“I need to brush my teeth and then we can go.” She slid her hands into the pockets of her navy blue pants and turned away from him.

He caught her arm. “It’s your magic, isn’t it?”

She tensed. “My magic?”

“I can feel it, you know. Right now. It’s coming off you in waves.”

He was even more observant than she thought. “We need to get going.”

She shrugged away from him, then grabbed her purse hanging off the back of one of the dinette chairs so she could fish into it for her new BlackBerry. She didn’t want or need the fancy cell phone, but Andy McCoy, her partner at the investigation agency they co-owned, insisted they become more technically savvy now that their case load had increased. Triple-A had been on the brink of bankruptcy a month ago, but now it was busy enough for them to consider hiring extra help.