The Demon in Me (40 page)

She turned and her eyes widened with surprise. “You’re kidding me. Graham… Graham Davis?”

The attractive dark-haired man grinned at her. “You remember me.”

A matching smile blossomed on her face. “High school was only, oh, a dozen years ago.”

“Seems like two dozen sometimes.”

Darrak sighed internally. “Eden, you need to keep your attention on the room so I can spot my contact. Priorities, remember?”

Obviously the demon didn’t realize how long it had been since she’d seen Graham. It felt like forever. She had no idea why they hadn’t stayed in touch. After high school, Graham had gone backpacking in Europe, she’d gone off to university, and time had simply passed. Too bad, really. Graham had been one of her very best friends.

Graham’s gaze moved down the front of her. “You’re looking fantastic. Just as gorgeous as you were back in grade twelve.”

She grinned. “Right back at you. And that’s a great suit.”

Graham looked down at his gray Armani suit. “I dress to impress.”

“Eden…” Darrak said tightly. “I know we’re in a lustful, desperate singles club, but that’s no reason to let this guy hit on you.”

Darrak thought Graham was hitting on her? She tried not to smile at the thought. As attractive as Graham Davis was, and as good friends as they’d been back when they were teenagers, she and Graham had never hooked up and never would. It could have had a little something to do with Graham being gay.

But Darrak didn’t know that. Which would explain the jealous edge to his words.

The thought that another man’s potential interest would make Darrak immediately jealous, despite their mutually-agreed-to platonic partnership was… interesting.

But it only made things more complicated.

“You really shouldn’t be here, Eden,” Graham said.

That got her full attention. Maybe she misheard him. “I shouldn’t?”

He shook his head, taking a moment to scan their surroundings. “If you’re looking to meet someone new, there are better places than this to find someone. It’s dangerous here.”

She hadn’t expected that statement to come out of his mouth. “Doesn’t look all that dangerous to me. Besides, what are
you
doing here?” She raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t seem like your kind of singles club.”

His mouth curled up on one side. “No? You don’t think I can meet my future bride here?”

She smiled back at him. “Somehow, I doubt it.”

Graham’s grin widened. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s fate, us seeing each other again. Maybe I should leave my old life behind and you should marry me and we’ll have lots of gorgeous babies together.”

“I hate this guy,” Darrak said. “Eden, letting this blast from your past drool on you is not productive to our goal tonight. Let’s carry on, shall we?”

“Sounds like a perfect life,” she said to Graham. “Shall we set a date?”

Graham held the smile a moment longer before it faded at the edges. “Seriously though, I think you should take off. This place… I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s very wrong here.”

She frowned. “Which means what?”

“I’m doing a story on this club for the
Toronto Star
.”

“You’re a journalist? That’s so great. It’s what you wanted to be back in the day.”

He nodded. “Investigative journalist. And I’ve been investigating this club. There have been six women who’ve gone missing in the area, all of whom were regulars here since Luxuria opened for business last month. I feel like there might be a predator at work, and”—he shook his head—“I just have this strange hunch that it’s directly related to the club itself. Like somebody on the inside is choosing victims from those who come here looking for love.”

The thought made a chill run down her spine. “I haven’t heard anything about this. Are the police investigating, too?”

“The disappearances, yes. The club itself, no. The missing women are only loosely connected to this place and they don’t see the connection as keenly as I do. There’s nothing yet that ties it directly to the club aside from a gut feeling on my part. If I find anything to substantiate my hunch, this place will be shut down in a heartbeat.”

“So you’re telling me to be careful.”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.” Graham touched her arm. “Consider it a request from an old friend. Stay safe. Even though it’s a big, lonely city and it’s nice to find someone to be with, I figure it’s way better to be alone and alive than alone and dead.”

A chill went down Eden’s spine. “You think the women are dead?”

“That’s what I’m here to figure out and I’m not leaving until I do.” He cocked an eyebrow. “And, you know, if I win a journalism award along the way, then it’s all the better. It’s going to be a great story.”

Eden reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. “Here. Take this.”

He did and looked at it. “You’re a private investigator?”

“I… well, I own half of Triple-A Investigations. It’s just a small office on the outskirts of the city. I assist someone else, mostly, but what I’m saying is if you need some help, I’d be happy to pitch in any way I can.”

Graham smiled and tucked the card into the inner chest pocket of his jacket. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind. It was good seeing you again, Eden.”

“You, too. Good luck with the story.”

“I’ll take all the luck I can get.” He touched her face and shook his head. “Twelve years.”

“I know. And yet we still have that youthful glow.”

“I turned thirty last week. The glow is starting to fade a bit.” He laughed. “Let’s not make it so long next time, okay? Good friends—people you can really trust—they’re hard to find.”

“You have my card. We’ll do coffee and catch up?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Graham leaned over and gave Eden a quick kiss. She felt Darrak’s presence tense inside of her, even though the kiss was only one of friendship.

However… something else happened with the contact. A sensation of dread, of fear, of darkness swept over her. As soon as it was there, before she could grab hold of it and analyze what she’d just seen and felt, it was gone. That was how her psychic abilities usually were. Totally useless.

“I’ll give you a call tomorrow, Eden. Promise,” Graham said before moving off into the crowd, which seemed to swallow him whole in a scattering of light and mingling bodies.

“I hate that guy,” Darrak said. “Loathe him. And I can’t believe you let him kiss you. I almost made you slap him, but lucky for him he didn’t try to slip you the tongue. It’s obvious to me that he’s only after one thing from you and—”

“He’s gay,” Eden said simply.

“Oh.” There was a pause. “I totally knew that.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“No, actually I didn’t. Huh.”

“What do you think about the six missing women?” Eden asked quietly as she sipped on her glass of white wine and scanned the crowd looking for Darrak’s contact. She felt disturbed by what Graham had told her and from her strange psychic flash.

“All I know is it has nothing to do with us. But he’s right… sometimes people looking for love will find more than they bargain for. Places like this leave certain people exposed, willing victims driven by lust and desperation. Which, of course, is the vibe I feel here.”

“Which you approve of.”

“My incubus days are long behind me, but I still find it interesting how many of them are so quick to mistake lust for love in a desperate attempt not to be alone.”

She didn’t particularly like the reminder that Darrak had once been an incubus, a demon who fed off the sexual energy of humans. However, he’d been promoted to “archdemon,” which, actually, was much scarier. Luckily for her, he’d changed a lot since being cursed.

“I liked being alone,” she said. “I was perfectly content being alone before you arrived.”

“Were you?” Darrak’s tone turned amused again. “Or maybe I was the answer to your silent wish to have somebody in your bleak, lonely life. You’re much too attractive to be a spinster.”

“I think there’s a big difference between having a live-in boyfriend and being possessed by a demon who will slowly but surely drain me of all of my energy until I’m dead.”

She hadn’t meant for it to sound quite so blunt, but the fact was, if they didn’t find a solution to their problem, Darrak’s demonic presence would eventually kill her. She knew in the three-hundred-plus years he’d been cursed, he’d been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people he’d possessed. He told her because of this he’d tried his best to chose hosts that deserved death—murderers and other vile humans. But, still. Knowing she was possessed with someone who was essentially a metaphysical leech—even though he was a very attractive leech during daylight hours—didn’t help her rest easy at night.

“We’ll find a solution,” Darrak said firmly. “I swear we will.”

Eden downed the rest of her wine in one gulp, then dug into her purse to pay for it. “If you say so.”

“I do.” There was a pause. “And speaking of our solution, there he is.”

Darrak’s voice now held a thread of anxiety. This was important, after all. If they didn’t find an answer to their mutual problem… well, she may as well invest in a nice gravesite with a view and he’d be forced to find his next unwilling victim.

“Where?”

“Over by the dance floor. To the right. There’s a table with three blond women and the bald man staring at their breasts is the one we’re looking for.”

“Charming,” she said, keeping her voice low. “He’s human?”

“I think so. He’s the personal assistant to the local wizard master. He’s the one we really need to get to.”

“Wizard master?” she repeated skeptically. “What is this, Dungeons & Dragons?”

“That’s a game, right?”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t a game.”

No, it definitely wasn’t. Wizard master it was, then. “So what do I do?”

“Go over and say I sent you. He’ll know who I am and what you’re here for. The dress you’re wearing is just for him. He’s very fond of the ladies, as you can see, but he has a special place in his libido for redheads just like you. We’re golden. But if that little pervert touches you, I’ll probably rip his head off. Just an FYI. We’ll have to see how it goes.”

“Try to restrain yourself.”

“This is it, Eden. We’re close. I feel like this is going to be the solution to our mutual problem.”

“I sure hope you’re right.” Because otherwise they were out of options.

She slid off the chair and adjusted her skirt that had crept up higher on her thighs. Then she forced herself to be brave and cross the floor, keeping the average-looking human in sight just in case he tried to magically disappear. It could happen.

Only fifteen feet away now. Twelve. Ten.

“Wait a second,” Darrak said suddenly. “Eden, stop walking.”

She froze in place. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure. I thought I saw someone I recognized.”

“Who?”

“Look over toward the left, just a quick glance so I can check.”

She did what he asked, sweeping her eyes slowly across a sea of faces. “Who is it?”

The demon swore.

Eden waited, every muscle in her body now tense.

“We need to get out of here right now,” Darrak said tightly.

“But I thought you said we need to talk to the wizard master’s assistant.” She looked over at him laughing with the three women, oblivious to her. Only ten feet away. They were so close.

“No. This isn’t the right time. Leave, Eden. Now, before I make you.”

“But why are you—?”

The next moment, she found herself forcibly turned around toward the exit. If motivated enough, the demon was able to control her body—or parts of it, anyhow. Since Eden didn’t enjoy losing control of her bodily functions, so to speak, she’d set up rules that prohibited him from ever doing that. At the moment, though, instead of anger she felt panic well inside her at his unexpected reaction.

“Darrak—”

“I’m serious,” Darrak said. “You need to get us the hell out of here right now.”

There was something in his voice that made her decide not to argue any further. Eden began walking toward the door. She exited and put one foot in front of the other on her way to her car.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” she asked.

“I saw someone I used to know. Someone I haven’t seen for over three hundred years, since before I was cursed.”

“Who was it?” Her hand shook as she tried to get her key into the lock of her rusted Toyota.

“He’s an archdemon like me.”

Eden inhaled sharply. “Does he know you’re here?”

“I don’t know. But coincidences are usually fate giving us a kick in the ass. All I know is he’s dangerous. He wouldn’t know what happened to me with the curse. And he wouldn’t understand that I’m… well, I’m different than I used to be.”

This was shorthand for saying Darrak used to be demonically evil and now—thanks to being infused with humanity after possessing humans for hundreds of years—he wasn’t.

Which meant this other demon would be everything Darrak once was—powerful, destructive, scary, without conscience or empathy. Something she’d want to avoid in every way possible. “What would this demon do if he found out what happened to you?”

“I’m not sure.”

She shivered as she got in the car and turned the key in the ignition. “So this demon… he’s an old enemy of yours?”

“No,” Darrak said wryly. “Actually, he was my best friend.”