Authors: Michelle Rowen
Darrak cringed at the reminder. “It’s a fairly recent problem I’m dealing with.”
“This Eden.” Theo walked around him, checking out the stolen body. “More trouble than any woman is worth. And you were telling me you can’t even sleep with her to make it all worthwhile?”
“If I sleep with her again, it could destroy her further.”
“But you want to.”
“Duh. Of course. I’m not a monk.”
“And she wants you?”
“I’d like to think so. But we have a hands-off agreement.”
“Isn’t that special?”
Theo’s eyes glittered. He might be acting very polite, but he wasn’t in a stellar mood at the moment. Darrak knew he had to tread softly. He had to protect Eden. Being that Theo hated her, her body was currently at risk.
Maybe he should have killed the cop after all.
Oh well. Hindsight was 20/20.
Theo shook his head. “My, my, Darrak. This is a side of you I never thought I’d see. You were even more brutal than I was back in the day. The things you’re responsible for. Even I was disgusted by a few of them.”
Darrak shrugged. “I appreciate the compliment, but times change.”
He tensed as Theo clamped his hand down on his shoulder. “I want you to admit it to me.”
“What?”
Theo smiled. “If she was full-on evil, this would all be easier wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t have to be so preoccupied with saving her soul.”
Darrak couldn’t help but snort. “You might be right about that.”
Theo swallowed and took a step back. He braced his hands on his knees. “Not feeling well seeing you so broken like this. So pathetic. Makes me want to cry. Just a single tear. It’ll be very dramatic.”
Darrak glared at him. “You’re hilarious.”
Theo straightened up and flashed him a grin. “You’re lucky I like you, Darrak, or I might have to destroy you.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
That earned a laugh. “You go back and tuck your Girl Scout in for the night. Make sure she’s snug as a bug in a rug. Then drag her ass back here at noon so after Asmo does his thing, he can help you out of this vastly unfortunate situation you’ve gotten yourself into. Darrak the Good. Darrak the Self-Sacrificing. I only wish I had a camera to record this for posterity. Maybe upload it to YouTube. We’ll laugh about this one day when we’re eating the souls of virgins for breakfast.”
“Promise?” Darrak grumbled.
“Cross my heart. If I had one.” Then Theo took a step back and vanished behind a column of flame.
Show-off
, Darrak thought. He really did miss the ability to phase.
He felt ill by what had happened. Or rather, what
hadn’t
happened. He should have killed Ben without a second thought. But he’d had a second. And a third. And then a fourth. Even after Darrak let him go, the cop still threatened to end him. He was no further ahead.
But he hadn’t done it to gain brownie points. That was the problem. He’d spared Ben’s life because it was the . . . the . . .
. . . the
right thing to do.
Okay
, he thought,
so this is what nausea feels like, is it
?
The other revelation of the evening swirled around his thoughts.
Eden was a nephilim. How long had she known this, and why hadn’t she ever told him? What other secrets was his beautiful host keeping from him?
Seriously. Where was the trust?
TWENTY-ONE
There was a moment in the middle of Eden’s other wise dreamless sleep that she’d seen a brief, fuzzy glimpse of a nightclub—possibly Luxuria. And then—
poof!
—it was gone.
Weird.
She snuggled back down into the warm comfort of unconsciousness. Still, no dreams.
Later, when she woke, she pried open her eyelids fully, expecting to be lying in bed wearing her warm flannel jammies.
But, no. She wasn’t.
Instead, she realized that she was staring at her brightly lit reflection in her . . . bathroom mirror? Why was she in her bathroom? Standing up?
And—she looked down at herself—fully dressed, too?
Her eyes widened. “What the hell?”
“Good morning,” Darrak said from inside her.
“Morning?”
“Almost morning. Still night. Still dark. We have a few minutes till sunrise.”
“What’s going on, Darrak? Why am I dressed?”
“Feel free to get naked any time you like. Don’t mind me.”
She gritted her teeth, finally pulling herself out of her groggy just-woken-up state. “Don’t even tell me you borrowed my body again.”
“Then I won’t tell you that.”
Eden glared at her reflection, the anger rising up like a thermometer ready to pop. A strangled scream pushed past her vocal cords, and she actually hit the mirror. It didn’t break, but it hurt her hand.
“Do you want me to hate you?” she demanded.
“Sure. Feel free.”
“Fine. I hate you!”
How was she supposed to deal with this? How could she control someone who had so much control over her life? It was beyond unfair, and it made her feel completely powerless.
Eden turned from her reflection, but not before noting that her cheeks had grown redder, her eyes glossy, but she refused to shed even one tear about this. The digital clock on her nightstand told her it was 7:40 a.m. Almost sunrise.
She stormed out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to pour herself a big glass of orange juice that she quickly drained. Her morning “Florida sunshine” ritual didn’t make her feel the least bit better. She poured another one.
Great. She was thirsty as hell. What had Darrak been doing all night?
“Let me guess. Out visiting your BFF again?” she snapped, slamming the glass down on the kitchen counter.
“I was.”
“Any reason you didn’t tell me last night what your plans were?”
“Because I knew you’d make a big deal out of it. And look, I was right.”
He sounded sullen and oddly annoyed with her. And why was that? She was the one who should be pissed at him right now, not the other way around.
She rubbed her temples. “What did Theo want that was so damn important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”
“He wanted to give me a gift.”
“Wonderful. Flowers? Chocolates? Are you two the latest Netherworld power couple?” Sarcasm dripped.
“No,” Darrak said. “Actually he gave me your friend Ben Hanson and allowed me the chance to carve him up and watch him bleed to death.”
Eden froze, a breath caught in her throat. “And did you?”
There was a short pause. “What do
you
think I did?”
She’d begun to tremble, imagining Ben coming to a very unpleasant end. Darrak hated him. “I don’t know, so you better tell me right now.”
Darrak laughed humorlessly. “I gutted him, of course. You should have heard him scream. Like a little girl.”
She clutched her throat. It felt difficult to breathe all of a sudden. “Darrak—oh, my God—”
“He deserved it. Now that he’s with the Malleus, he’s only going to cause harm to others. I did everyone a favor, don’t you think? Besides, one less set of dimples won’t make the world stop turning on its axis.”
Eden squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to freak out. Darrak killed Ben? Just like that? With no conscience or guilt? She’d never known the real Darrak at all. It had all been a lie. He was horrible and sadistic and cruel and . . .
Her eyes snapped open. “Wait a minute. You’re . . . you’re lying to me, aren’t you?
Aren’t you
?”
“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific,” he said.
“About everything you just said to me. It’s a lie.” She felt the edge of the counter behind her. Currently it was the only thing helping to keep her on her feet.
“Well . . . Theo
did
give Ben to me as a present. He gave me the knife and everything.”
A shiver went down her spine. “But you didn’t kill him. I know you. You wouldn’t do it.”
“You know me, do you?” he said tightly. “You really think so?”
“Yes. I do. Despite our differences, despite everything that has happened up until now, I know you wouldn’t kill him.”
There was silence then, and it was enough to tell her she was right. The relief was so overwhelming she nearly collapsed to the floor.
Darrak didn’t kill Ben. Even when he’d been given the opportunity.
“Say it,” she said. She had to hear it out loud just to prove it to herself.
“What?”
“Say that you didn’t kill him.”
There was a sound of displeasure, like a grunt. “Fine. I didn’t kill him.”
“And you let him go.”
“Yes. I let him go,” he grumbled.
Relief continued to course through her. “I knew it.”
“It’s time,” he said.
“Time for wh—?”
Then she felt like someone had just punched her in the stomach, and she huffed out a long breath of thick black smoke. It had taken her by shock so much that she stood there, holding her hand over her stomach, and watched as Darrak began to take form right in front of her.
First there was a glimpse of pale, muscled limbs before they were covered by dark clothing that appeared as if by magic. It was magic. In less than a minute he’d taken solid form and stood there a few feet away staring at her.
He raked a hand through his dark hair. “You’re not usually conscious for that.”
No, she wasn’t. She’d only been awake one other time he’d taken form like that, and it was the first time she realized she was possessed. She’d managed to summon enough energy to force him out of her body.
“Where’s Ben now?” she asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’ll live.” He said it bitterly.
Eden couldn’t help herself. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not killing him.”
“There was a time I wouldn’t have hesitated.”
“But you did and that’s a good thing.”
“Debatable.” Darrak wasn’t hugging her back. In fact, he felt tense. “Isn’t Pussy Galore supposed to jump in right about now? Leena! Eden is actually touching me. You might want to stop her before things get out of control.”
Eden
was
touching him, wasn’t she? Her rage had quickly subsided and shifted into something else. Something strange and warm. Something that had her holding on to this hug of relief and gratitude for much longer than was polite.
She didn’t want to let go of him.
Her heart picked up its pace.
Darrak hadn’t killed Ben. This normally wouldn’t sound like a reason to get all soft and mushy toward someone—the fact that he’d decided against committing murder—but this morning it had affected her in a decidedly soft and mushy way.
She’d doubted him, but it had only been for a moment. Despite their problems, she did trust him down deep. And he’d come through for her.
Eden flattened her hands against the hard planes of his chest. Darrak smelled good this morning. He always smelled good to her—clean and warm and delicious. It wasn’t a cologne, it was just him. She leaned closer and inhaled, moving her nose greedily up toward his throat.