“Ben, I’m so sorry,” she managed. “I don’t know why I did that.”
He still looked shocked. “Not much for kissing on the first date, I take it?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
No, she didn’t. She was currently fighting being embarrassed, mortified, and furious. Her brain felt as if it was about to explode.
The man she really liked—who liked her in return despite her awkward and foamy ways—tried to kiss her and she’d just belted him.
She tried to summon up something inside of her to explain it away in an amusing and endearing way, but came up blank. Ben’s gaze moved away from her and narrowed.
“Maybe you sensed someone else was nearby that you’d need to defend yourself against,” he said. “I don’t know how this psychic thing works exactly, but you never know.”
She frowned. What was he talking about? She looked over her shoulder. Malcolm stood a dozen feet behind her.
“Ms. Riley,” he said.
“Oh, great,” Darrak said inwardly. “Just what I need right now.”
Ben put his arm out and pushed Eden behind him. “What the hell do you want?”
“To talk.”
“I think I witnessed what you consider ‘talking’ yesterday. And you were doing it with your fists.”
Malcolm nodded. “I know what it must have looked like to you. But Eden herself knows there’s more to the story.”
“We need to get out of here now,” Darrak said.
She shook her head. “Leave me alone, Malcolm.”
“I can’t do that. Please, listen to me. I only ask for a minute of your time.”
It was strange. Malcolm didn’t sound confrontational or dangerous. In fact, he just looked like a skinny college kid out for a walk, not an exorcist who could recite Latin as easily as if it was his first language.
“So talk,” she said.
“I want to help you. Your situation is dire. Your life is in danger.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Ben growled.
“Doesn’t your friend know?” Malcolm asked.
Eden tensed. “I have everything under control. I never should have hired you and your mother. Please, just go away and leave me in peace.”
“You’ll never be in peace now.” Malcolm’s jaw clenched. “You’re in the grip of an evil being that needs to be destroyed. I don’t just work with my mother; I’ve also been newly recruited into the Malleus. It’s an organization that’s been around for hundreds of years. We protect the world from that which is unseen and misunderstood. The dark forces that secretly lurk in our society.”
Darrak swore under his breath. “The Malleus. There’s a term I haven’t heard in a long time.”
What did that mean? Eden hadn’t heard about anything like that before.
“You are talking nonsense,” Ben said. “Get the hell away from us or I’m going to arrest you for harassment.”
Malcolm’s eyes narrowed. “If you knew the truth, you wouldn’t stand in my way. In fact, you need to know all this so you can help protect Eden.”
Ben looked at Eden. “Let’s go.”
That sounded like a very good idea.
But Malcolm continued undeterred. “You can’t see the darkness that is corrupting her soul. If you care about her, you’ll let me do what I have to do to save her.”
“What are you, some kind of religious freak?”
“This is beyond religion. It’s beyond anything you’ve ever faced before. You think you’ve seen evil in the human crimes you deal with day to day?”
“I know I have,” Ben growled.
Malcolm shook his head. “You haven’t looked into the face of true darkness.”
“You are a kook from a cult and I want you to back the hell up right now.” His hand tightened on Eden’s waist as Malcolm drew nearer. “Eden wants nothing to do with you.”
“You don’t understand…”
Eden knew she had to get Ben away from Malcolm. Slapping him was one thing—something she might be forgiven for eventually. If he found out she was possessed by a demon, then all bets were off.
“… Eden is possessed by a demon,” Malcolm finished.
Well, damn.
TWELVE
“What the hell did you just say?” Ben snapped.
Malcolm stood under a streetlamp that lit up his young, angelic face. “Eden is possessed by a demon that will slowly but surely drain her life away in its single-minded need to survive on this realm of existence. It’s part of what the Malleus fights against. Demons and witches—the army of Lucifer himself.”
“She’s possessed by a demon,” Ben repeated incredulously. “I should lock you up right now so you don’t hurt yourself or anyone else.”
A flash of frustration came over Malcolm’s face and he looked directly at Eden. “Do you refuse my help?”
She’d seen what he considered help. Even though she was furious with Darrak at the moment, she didn’t want him to be exorcised. She’d get rid of the demon on her own terms. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“You would willingly assist a demon?” His expression darkened. “That makes you no better than the creature itself.”
“You need to—” she began, but Malcolm grabbed her throat and effortlessly pulled her away from Ben’s side.
What the hell? How strong was this kid?
“I will finish what I started with or without your help. I will save your soul.”
“Let go of her!” Ben snapped, and grabbed his arm, although despite being larger than Malcolm, he wasn’t able to budge the exorcist one inch.
Malcolm closed his eyes and began to speak in Latin again.
“Eden,” Darrak gasped. “You have to stop him.”
How was she supposed to stop him? His grip on her throat was so tight it was all she could focus on.
Then she gritted her teeth and glared at him, feeling a surge of anger fill her insides. She grabbed his arm and twisted it away from her. Malcolm yelped in pain and struck her with the back of his other hand, which hurt like hell but only helped the hot anger she was feeling burn away any other thought. Without thinking twice, she grabbed the front of his sweatshirt and shoved him as hard as she could.
He flew backward across the parking lot as if launched from a cannon and he hit a parked car, cracking the driver’s side window. He slumped to the ground unconscious.
She looked at Ben, who had been fumbling for his gun but had stopped in midfumble. He’d just watched her toss a grown man fifteen feet away from her as if he was no more than a rag doll. The same man he’d been unable to move.
“What the hell just happened?” he asked.
Good question.
“You’re stronger with me inside,” Darrak said. “It’s a protective measure in case someone tries to do us harm.”
Great. She was like a demonically enhanced Wonder Woman now. And how exactly was she supposed to explain that to Ben?
She licked her dry lips. “Ben, I—I don’t know how I managed to do that.”
“You had good leverage,” he replied. “That’s all.”
“Leave it to someone who’s not a true believer to draw their own acceptable conclusions,” Darrak said. “Despite that cross he wears around his neck, golden boy doesn’t want to know any of this exists. Even when he sees it right in front of his own eyes.”
“That makes two of us,” she muttered under her breath.
“Well, you might not want to believe it, but he flat out refuses to. There’s a difference.”
“You need to go home now,” Ben said. “We’ll have to grab dinner some other night.”
“What?” She was distracted, and she turned toward the cop.
“Go home, Eden. Get the restaurant to call you a taxi.” He moved toward Malcolm and looked at her over his shoulder. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Are you going to arrest him?”
Ben cleared his throat. “No, but I sure as hell plan to tell h
im when he wakes up that if he comes near you again he’s making a huge and regrettable mistake.”
She felt completely powerless. It wasn’t as if she really knew what to do in this situation. Malcolm knew that she was possessed. He wouldn’t give up. She’d seen it now.
“Do what he says,” Darrak said. “It’s the first thing he’s said tonight that I agree with.”
“Okay,” she said out loud. “And I’m… I’m sorry, Ben. For everything.”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”
“Now you’re just being nice.”
“I don’t do nice so well. But I do truthful great. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
She nodded. Ben didn’t make any move to come near her again. After the slapping incident she couldn’t very well blame him. Without another word, she left. The maître d’ called her a cab, and she took it back to her apartment.
She was quiet the whole way there. For that matter, so was Darrak, who hadn’t said a word since leaving the restaurant. But she knew he was still there. She could feel him.
Leena was curled up, in cat form, sleeping on the couch. She raised her furry head, blinked once, and went back to sleep.
Eden threw her keys on the kitchen counter and went directly to her room. She shut the door.
“I can’t deal with this,” she said out loud.
“Which part?” the demon replied.
“All of it. I’ve been trying to be patient, but this isn’t working.” She sniffed and realized with a sinking feeling that she was crying.
“Hey.” Darrak sounded disturbed by her outpouring of emotion. “It’s going to be fine. Really.”
She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. “No, it’s not. You’re ruining my life.”
“We’ll fix this.”
“Tell me how to dampen you.”
“Pardon me?”
“Tell me how to get some privacy from you. It’s the only thing that will help right now. I need to be alone.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Please.”
“Even if I wanted to tell you, I can’t. It goes against my nature to give someone power over me, even something small like dampening.”
She collapsed backward onto her bed. “I hate you.” “Harsh words, Eden. I think you should be focusing that hate toward Malcolm the exorcist. Not me.”
“I hate both of you.” She pushed the tears off her cheeks and sat up again, gathering a pillow against her chest and hugging it firmly. “What’s the Malleus, anyhow?”
“A bunch of assholes who banded together to make the lives of Others complete torture. Sometimes literally. They took their name from the Malleus Maleficarum—that’s Latin for ‘the hammer of witches’—which was the book used to prosecute and punish witches back in the day.”
“I thought you said you weren’t a walking encyclopedia.”
“Some things I know about firsthand without doing any extra research. The Malleus has been a pain in the Netherworld’s ass for ages—at least, for any of us who try hanging out on the human realm of existence for more than an hour or two.”
Her head hurt just trying to wrap itself around what he was saying. “So they were around during the Salem witch trials?”
“Among other human atrocities. Because, of course, those weren’t really witches they were executing. Not all of them, anyhow. They were regular women who pleaded for their lives right until their last breath. If the Malleus had come face-to-face with a powerful black witch they would have been the ones on fire. These men—because there are no women allowed in their exclusive gang—have no mercy for anyone they consider an enemy.”
A chill went down her spine. “And now they know about me.”
“Well, Malcolm does. Not sure if he’s told his new buddies yet. I get the feeling he wants to take care of this little problem all on his own. He wants to save your immortal soul.”
“Lucky me.”
“No, you’re definitely not lucky. I don’t want you at risk because of me. This asshole won’t leave you alone. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She crossed her arms. Shouldn’t he be more concerned with his own well-being? Darrak was what Malcolm was after. Not her.
She got up, walked into the bathroom, and started brushing her teeth. “Can’t somebody talk to the… the Malleus organization? Explain that all… Others or whatever, aren’t that bad?”
“A lot of Netherworld citizens are pretty bad, actually.”
She spit out a mouthful of toothpaste and looked in the mirror. “Define ‘pretty bad.’”
“Completely and unrepentantly evil.”
She paled. “Oh.” She’d started to believe that all demons might be like Darrak. But they weren’t. He was obviously the exception to the rule.
“So,” Darrak continued, “even if you did tell Malcolm that our situation is different, not to mention temporary, he’d never believe you. He’s obsessed now.”
He sounded disturbed by this again.
“Ben said he’d talk to him,” Eden said.
“I don’t have much confidence in that conversation.” His voice turned sour.
She clenched her fists at her sides as her thoughts turned to the earlier festivities. “I still can’t believe you slapped him.”
“Believe it.”
“You ruined everything.”
“Are we going to go over this again? Yes, I slapped him. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Don’t give me that. You easily could have helped yourself. It’s things like that that make me want you to go away and never come back.”
“I thought we were forging some sort of friendship here.”
She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We’re not friends.”
“But, Eden—”
“We’re not friends,” she said it louder. “And every time I forget about that little fact, you do something to remind me.”
“If I say I’m sorry, will you forgive me? Pretty please?”
She turned away from the mirror and crossed her arms. “No.”
“I know I wasn’t much help tonight.”
“I thought you wanted to help me get on Ben’s good side.”
“I thought I did.”
“So what happened?”
“I think I…” His voice in her head trailed off.
“You think you what?”
“I think I got jealous.”
“Jealous,” she repeated. Darrak was jealous? Of Ben?
“You looked all gorgeous and then you went out with another man and expected me to help you get lucky with a guy who seemingly can do no wrong in your eyes. Plus he’s got the dead girlfriend thing that makes him seem way more huggable or whatever. What can I say? I guess since we first met I’ve become a little… now I don’t want to use the word possessive , because that would make it seem like I’m trying to make a joke. But, okay, I was feeling possessive. What can I say?”
“Jealous,” she said again, still not believing her ears. “This is unbelievable.”
“All I know is that I despise Ben and I don’t think it’s just because I think he’s a bit of a trigger-happy meathead. I don’t know. I’ve quickly grown fond of you. Despite the fact that you hate my guts and sometimes you’re a bit of a bitch. I guess I find that oddly attractive.”
Her mind was blank. Out of everything Darrak could have said, this wasn’t it. And she had no idea how to react.
Wanting him to kiss her was one thing—something she knew was wrong. But now to find out he was fond of her? That he cared about her safety? That he worried about Malcolm coming after her?
She studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her dark reddish hair over her left shoulder and her face very pale now. Paler than usual.
“Look, I know you hate me,” Darrak said after a moment.
“Your friend, the one who thinks I’m your brother who’s escaped from a group home, is going to find the witch by tomorrow. I know he will. An
d then this will all be over.”
She grabbed a brush and absently ran it through her hair. “And what happens then? You go away?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is.” She said it as firmly as she could.
He was quiet for a moment. “I’ll do you a favor right now. I’m feeling drained from our run-in with Malcolm. Enough to let me fade for a bit. You can have your privacy and finish your supersecret bathroom routine. I just don’t know how long until I’m recharged and back.”
“Good,” she said quietly. “Don’t let me stop you.”
“Good night, Eden. And, just for the record, I’m not the least bit sorry for what happened earlier with golden boy. He’s not the right man for you and he definitely doesn’t deserve to kiss you.”
She was about to say something in reply to that, but before she could she actually felt Darrak’s presence fade away until there was nothing to indicate that the demon was still with her. It was like a weight had lifted. But it also left behind a chill when before she’d been warm inside.
“Good night,” she murmured even though she knew he couldn’t hear her anymore.
Stupid demon.
She wasn’t growing fond of him.
Not a chance. Considering how much he’d messed up her life that would be totally crazy. She’d be so glad when he was out of her life forever.
Holding onto that thought made everything much simpler.
———
If she’d had a menu of men to dream about, she probably would have chosen Ben. But, instead, she dreamed about the demon.
She dreamed that she was kissing him. Very passionately. And clinging onto him as though if she didn’t, he’d fade away to nothing but black smoke.
“Don’t leave,” she murmured against his mouth. “Stay with me.”
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Wow. This dream felt really real.
Like, really real.
She slid her fingers through his hair as she explored his lips thoroughly. She felt his body, hard against hers.
“Eden…” he whispered and his lips moved to brush against her throat for a few moments before he kissed her again. “You feel so good.”
He was wearing his black T-shirt and she wanted desperately to remove it so she could feel his hot skin against hers. She pulled it over his head, breaking off their kiss for a split second. His hands were under her nightshirt, sliding along her sides to grip the backs of her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist.