The Demon in Me (24 page)

“Darrak,” she said with a warning tone to her voice. “Back the hell off. Right now.”

A slow smile crept onto Darrak’s handsome face. He raised his hands and stepped back from the cop. “Of course, sis. Anything you say.”

“Maybe I should take off,” Ben said.

“That’s a great idea,” Darrak agreed.

Ben’s eyes narrowed. “Eden, I’ll be in touch soon. Maybe we can continue from where we left off. When there are fewer people in the room.”

She walked with him to the door. “That sounds really good. And, I’m sorry about Darrak. He’s very protective of me.”

“I can see that.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

Ben was focused now only on Eden. “Count on it.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers again. “Bye.”

He left with another look over his shoulder at her before he got into his car.

The phone rang and Andy picked it up.

Eden turned and cast a very unfriendly glare in the demon’s direction. “Could you have been any less friendly to him?”

He shrugged. “I could have killed him. That would have been much less friendly.”

“Darrak—”

“I can’t help it.”

“Sure you can. You just don’t even try.”

He focused on her completely, his jaw tense, and then he blew out a long breath. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“And I appreciate that, but I’d prefer if you stay out of my business.”

“The cop’s intentions are not pure. He wants to have sex with you. I can tell.”

“I’m actually counting on that.”

“You like him?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Are you in love with him?”

“Love?” she repeated. “Let’s not go overboard. I like him a lot and I want to go out with him again to see if there might be something between us in the future.”

A couple of days ago she was practically picking out her and Ben’s china pattern and now, even though Ben seemed to like her in return, her feelings had cooled toward him a bit. Why was that?

Damn.
It was Darrak, wasn’t it? He’d gotten under her skin—literally—even though she tried to fight it. And he was totally ruining her mental wedding registry with Ben.

Darrak looked at Andy when he hung up the phone. “What do you think about the cop?”

“Me?” Andy pointed at himself. “I don’t know. He seems nice enough. I have to agree with your sister, sport. You’re overreacting. Ben seems like a perfectly nice guy with a good job and I’d be willing to bet he doesn’t have three wives and a dozen kids hiding somewhere. Eden will be fine. And when you go back to your normal home I promise to keep an eye on her for you, okay?”

Darrak closed his eyes for a moment. “I am overreacting. What the hell is wrong with me? I don’t normally get this way. Like, ever.”

“You’re not taking your medication. It’s rough sometimes, kiddo.”

His eyes snapped open. “Let’s get something straight. I’m not slow. I don’t live in a special home. And if you call me
sport
,
buddy
,
chum
, or
kiddo
one more time you’re going to have to retrieve your Porsche from the bottom of Lake Ontario.”

Andy shot Eden a surprised look.

She gulped. A glance out the glass door showed that the sun was getting very low on the horizon. “Uh… we need to leave now. I have some things to take care of.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Andy said. “Uh… bye Darrak. Sorry for any, um, misunderstandings. If I don’t see you again, it was very nice to have met you.”

Darrak’s face was tight but he managed a smile. “Likewise.”

Eden grabbed her purse, and the demon, and they left the office. She was furious with him so she didn’t say anything as they got into her car and she pulled away from the parking lot.

“I’m sorry,” Darrak said after a few minutes had passed.

“No, you’re not.”

“I actually am. I don’t mean to hurt you. I can’t help the fact that I’m an asshole sometimes.”

“You’re not an asshole,” she said.

“I’m not?”

She sighed. “I know on some level you’re just trying to be helpful. I think your heart is in the right place.” She eyed him sideways. “You do have a heart, right? I felt it beating earlier.”

He hesitated. “Demon anatomy is a bit complicated.”

That was not the answer she’d hoped for. “Can I ask what’s the deal with the fire eyes?”

He frowned at her. “What?”

“Sometimes your eyes look as though they’re filled with flames. Usually when you’re mad or upset.”

“They do?”

“Yes. It’s kind of freaky.”

He blinked a couple of times. “It has to do with what I am, of course, and where I’m from. I’m not human and never was. My eyes—and every other part of me—were created in the Netherworld. Sometimes when I lose my concentration, it shows. Luckily I don’t lose all of my concentration when I get pissed off.”

“What would happen then?” She chewed her bottom lip as she waited for his response.

“It’s probably best you don’t think about it at all. Seriously.”

“Wouldn’t want to give myself nightmares, would I?”

“No, wouldn’t want that.” He cleared his throat. “I know having me and my eyeballs of fire suddenly thrust into your life is difficult for you. If I was human and you were the demon I’m sure I wouldn’t have handled it half as well.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence.” Her anger was quickly fading away. “So you hate Ben because you don’t want me to get hurt.”

“Essentially.”

Also the fact he’d admitted to the cop making him jealous. This was getting complicated. She flicked on the radio and then flicked it off before whatever song was playing even registered. “Would it be different if it was anyone else? What if I was dating Andy?”

“He’s too old for you.”

“He’s not even fifty yet.”

“Still.”

“You said you’re a thousand years old. Or more.”

He looked out the passenger side window. “I’m too old for you as well.”

That made her shut up for a moment. A long moment. And then, “Are you worried about seeing the witch tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

He turned to look at her. “The last time I saw her she destroyed my original body in a fit of rage. I would assume she thinks that she destroyed the rest of me as well. She won’t be happy to know that wasn’t the case.”

“What did you do to piss her off?” She couldn’t believe she hadn’t asked the question yet. It was kind of important.

“Did I have to do anything? She’s a black witch. They’re very mentally unstable. Every time they increase their power level or use their magic they lose more of their souls to the darkness.”

“I’d think as a demon you’d be all for that.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that what you still think about me?”

She clutched the steering wheel tighter as she made a left at a set of traffic lights. “I keep forgetting. You’re a
good
demon. You used to come here and find those nasties that had escaped Hell and bring them back. Did that happen a lot?”

He raked his hand through his dark hair. “More than you’d probably like to know about.”

“How do they escape?”

“There are gateways. Mystical back doors and cracks in the walls between worlds. There are beings who sense this and it’s their job to patch things up. Other beings are the gatekeepers and they keep watch in front of the largest openings.”

She swallowed hard. “
Beings?”

“Do you really want to know all about this?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Your head might explode.”

“It feels like it already has. But who are the beings who are the gatekeepers?”

He leaned back in his seat. “They’re usually angels who have volunteered to temporarily fall from their realm to protect humans from the things that go bump in the night. Some demons were assigned to work in a similar capacity, only from the other team.”

“Angels,” she said flatly.

“Yes.”

“I think I’m going to throw up.”

“You have a very sensitive stomach I’ve noticed. See? This is why I didn’t want to go into details. I’ve completely messed up your vision of the world around you.”

“Not messed it up so much as completely changed it forever. Did you work with the… the
angels
?”

He laughed out loud at that. “No. Angels have prejudices toward demons, for obvious reasons. They aren’t quite as open-minded as you might think.”

“They don’t believe a demon can be good?”

“To admit that would mean they’d have to believe an angel can be bad.”

A shiver went down her spine. “I guess that makes sense.” “Now, when I say I was a good demon, I’m not saying I was a Boy Scout. I wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

“I wouldn’t believe you if you said you were.”

She felt his attention firmly on her but didn’t look at him. Taking her attention off the road would be a bad thing, and the demon was so distracting in more ways than one.

“But you believe I’m not that bad?”

“Yes,” she said it without hesitation, then jumped a little when she felt his very warm hand take hers.

“Thank you,” he said. “That means more to me than you know.”

He didn’t let go of her hand and she didn’t try to pull away. “You’d better pull over,” Darrak suggested.

“Why?”

“Because it’s almost time.”

The streetlights flickered on as the sun continued to sink swiftly behind the horizon. She pulled the car off to the side of the road, shifting into park. He entwined his fingers with hers and it felt really good to be touching him. Too good.

“I know this part isn’t fun for either of us,” he said.

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.

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.