“Why would I want to do something like that? So you can escape? You’re trapped at the moment, but you should probably know that I’m immune to being possessed.”
The drifter narrowed her heavily made-up eyes.
“That’s right,” Malcolm continued. “I know what you are. Although, it did help that I’ve been listening in on your conversation.”
“Please. Give me a break. What are you, eighteen years old?”
Malcolm scowled. “I’m twenty-one.”
“You’re just a child. Do you have any idea how long I’ve existed? I strongly suggest you leave me to my business right now or you’re going to regret it.”
Malcolm’s gaze finally flicked to Eden’s. “This woman is under my protection. So that makes this my business.”
Eden was surprised at this news. When did this happen? Not that she was complaining.
“Your protection?” Eden said aloud.
“Unless you’d prefer to deal with this creature on your own.”
She shook her head violently. “No, no. A little help would be fantastic, actually.”
“Can you please hold this for a moment?”
He handed Eden the knife and she stared at it with surprise before curling her fingers around the hilt.
Malcolm had given her a weapon? Had she missed a memo? Since when was he so trusting and helpful when it came to her?
Maybe Rosa had had a talk with him recently about his manners.
“No knife?” the drifter asked, almost bored. “Then whatever are you going to do with me, child?”
“Like I said before, I’m not a child.” Malcolm pulled a chain out from underneath his shirt. On the end of it was a rough, thumb-sized colorless crystal.
The drifter’s eyes widened. “Don’t even think about it.”
“I’m going to do more than think about it.”
The drifter looked frantically to her left and right, her blond hair tossing about. “Let’s talk about this.”
“Let’s not.”
“You son of a bitch—”
“My mother has nothing to do with this.” Malcolm smiled thinly. “Not today, anyway.” He began to speak Latin.
Eden clutched the knife and took a few steps back from him. Latin made her nervous. She knew what it could do. Nothing happened for a full minute, but the drifter’s expression continued to get more and more distraught, her breathing erratic. Vanessa began to shake.
He really was an exorcist. Rosa would be very proud.
“No,” the drifter managed. “Please stop!”
But Malcolm didn’t stop. He looked so determined that Eden was sure an earthquake wouldn’t stop him.
The drifter screamed, but it wasn’t any ordinary scream. It was high-pitched and inhuman. The sound reverberated around them and a stream of dark blue smoke exited from the girl’s mouth. Malcolm held up the crystal at arm’s length and the smoke went directly toward it as if it was a magnet and disappeared. The crystal turned blue and appeared to swirl and glow with energy.
The former host for the drifter staggered forward.
“What in the hell just happened?” she said, before she clutched at a support beam. The next moment she collapsed to her knees and passed out completely.
Eden held a hand to her mouth. “Is she—”
“She’ll be fine.”
“But she’s—”
“She’ll be fine,” he said again, firmly.
She turned her attention toward the crystal. “Is the drifter in there now?”
“Yes.”
“Can it escape?”
He nodded. “It can. This is a very weak prison. It wouldn’t take very long for it to figure out how.”
Leaning against her car was the only thing currently keeping her upright. “So what are you going to do?”
“This.” Malcolm bent over and placed the crystal on the ground. Then, without another word, he brought his thick-soled black boot down on it, crushing the shard into dust. There was a blinding flash of blue light. “It can be destroyed when it’s inside of a crystal by whomever trapped it. However, if the crystal is destroyed by someone else, the drifter or demon could still escape.” He turned to her and she noticed that his brow was now covered in sweat. He smiled. “Although, I suggest you never use a diamond. They’re nearly impossible to smash. This was a sodium chloride crystal. Or, in other words, a big piece of rock salt. Are you okay?”
She was finding it hard to breathe. “I’m… I’m okay now. Thank you for stopping her. Or him. Or whatever it was.”
“You’re very welcome.” He moved toward her but she held the knife up in front of her.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Malcolm stopped in his tracks. “I know you won’t believe this, but I mean you no harm.”
“Sure you don’t.”
“Why would I have just saved you if I wanted to hurt you?” He tilted his head to the side and frowned. “I don’t sense the demon anymore. Where is he?”
“He’s gone.”
“Where did he go?”
“Maybe I had him exorcised.”
He shook his head, any humor leaving his expression. “You’re in way over your head, Eden. Please let me help you.”
Help her? Why did she find that extremely hard to believe? But it had to be true. He’d just saved her life.
A rush of emotion came over her. “I think I do need help.” He nodded. “The demon must be destroyed. Do you see that now?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Was he right? Did she need to let him help her get rid of Darrak once and for all? Even though Selina had offered to help, she didn’t trust the witch. Did that mean she trusted Malcolm? He did seem rather… earnest. He felt he was doing the right thing. That’s why he helped Rosa with her exorcisms. That’s why he was a member of the Malleus.
“Can you get rid of him right now?” she asked. The words actually hurt to speak.
He shook his head. “With my skill level, he’s too deep for me to touch him, even with your permission. Drifters are much easier to destroy than demons. For my exorcism ritual to work, the demon must be conscious and present. You have to be completely willing to rid yourself of him. You can’t fight me once it begins or you’ll be risking your own safety. Are you ready to do that?”
Eden clenched her jaw. Was she ready? She didn’t know. Which probably meant she wasn’t ready.
“You’ll be glad once this evil is finally removed from your body.” Malcolm’s words were firm.
“You can sense he’s evil? And you’re absolutely sure?”
He frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
She shook her head. “I… I was told there were good demons. That it’s possible for them to not all be evil.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
She felt a wave of shock and a smidgen of hope at that unexpected confirmation. “It is?”
He nodded. “Some demons were once human and sold their souls for some agreed upon price. They become demons when they die, but there is the humanity that remains within them that occasionally compels them to seek redemption. Is the demon you’re possessed with a former human?”
Her heart sank. “No. He told me he was created in the Netherworld. He was an archdemon.”
Malcolm’s lips thinned. “An archdemon?”
She nodded.
“I had no idea he was that powerful.” His voice sounded hollow and she could hear fear there now. “We’re lucky he hasn’t done any more harm to you. An archdemon—they don’t travel to the human world often. But when they do it usually ends very badly for anyone or anything that crosses their path.” He exhaled shakily. “Has the demon told you his true name yet? That might be helpful.”
“He…” she began, but then closed her mouth. “He refuses to tell me.”
It wasn’t a lie. Darrak hadn’t told her. She’d found out his true name from Selina. So why wasn’t she telling Malcolm?
She still needed time to sort
through everything in her head. And now that Malcolm couldn’t exorcise him right away, she’d have that time.
“I need to consult with my mentor in the Malleus. Now that I know we’re dealing with an archdemon, that might change how we proceed.” Malcolm shoved his hand into his coat pocket before pulling something out. “Take this. You can reach me at that number at all hours.”
The card had Malcolm’s name and a phone number in simple black type.
“What’s this?” she asked, pointing to a small emblem of a fleur-de-lis.
“It’s the mark of the Malleus.” He rolled up his left sleeve to show her his forearm that bore a similar symbol. “It’s a brand. When we’re accepted into the Malleus, it’s given to us—and with this mark and the ritual that accompanies it, we’re given insight to be able to sense demonic activity and the presence of evil.”
The wound looked fresh still. Pink. It was the fleur-de-lis enclosed in a circle, about three inches in diameter.
“Did it hurt?” she asked.
“Like hell.” He grinned at her. “But it was a cleansing pain.”
“If you say so.”
“Take this as well.” He pressed another crystal in her hand. “It will help protect you from your demon. Call me if there are any problems at all. I will contact you once I speak to my mentor and learn how best to deal with an archdemon. Is that acceptable?”
Was it acceptable? That was a very good question.
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Then, good night. And be safe.” He turned and walked swiftly out of the parking lot.
After a moment went by, Vanessa stirred on the ground before blinking her blue eyes open. She sat up and rubbed her forehead. “Where am I?”
“You fell and hit your head,” Eden said, gripping the piece of salt in her hand before slipping it in her pocket and Malcolm’s card into her purse. “But it’s going to be all right now.”
Yeah, right.
———
By the time Eden dropped Vanessa off at her place and returned to her apartment she was kicking herself for not asking Malcolm to come back with her. Not that she had a habit of luring twenty-one-year-old boys back to her home, but it might have been a good idea tonight for safety reasons.
It felt completely insane for her to be thinking she needed to be afraid of Darrak. After all, he’d been nothing but protective of her so far. That was the most difficult thing about this. She couldn’t rationalize how he could be one way with her and yet be something she had to be afraid of.
But he was a demon. There was no doubt about that. And demons, according to both Selina and Malcolm, were evil. Full stop.
Was there another explanation? Or did she need to get rid of him by any means possible as soon as she could?
After all, the piece of salt in her pocket definitely wasn’t for making margaritas.
She closed the door, locked it, and pressed up against it, her fearful gaze moving through her small apartment as if looking for a definite sign of what she should do next.
Leena, in cat form, jumped down off the couch and came over toward her, batting Eden’s leg with her head. “Mrroww?”
The concerned-sounding meow helped the rush of emotion she’d been holding back for hours surge forward. Eden burst into tears.
It only took a couple of moments for Leena to morph into human form and Eden felt her hand on her shoulder. “Let me guess. Bad night?”
Eden continued to blubber uncontrollably. “The worst.”
“You need something to eat?”
“I don’t think that’s going to help very much.” She sat down heavily on a dinette chair.
“What’s the problem?”
Eden took in a shaky breath. “I’m possessed by a demon.”
“No shit. Didn’t we already know that?”
Eden chewed on her thumbnail—a nervous habit she thought she’d given up long ago. “He’d convinced me that he was a good demon—”
“There are no good demons.”
“Sure. Now you tell me.”
Leena sat down across the small table from her. “Didn’t know you had to be told. Everything that comes out of the Netherworld is some form of evil. That’s the way it’s always been and it gives balance to the universe. There can’t be good without evil. There can’t be day without night. There can’t be chocolate without vanilla. Et cetera.”
Eden blinked at her and rubbed her tears away. “You know about this sort of thing?’
She nodded. “I know more about a lot of things than I wish I did, to tell you the truth. I knew the moment I saw that demon that he was no good.”
“How did you know that?”
“Mostly because he’s a demon.”
“But he healed me when you scratched me. And he’s been really helpful. And he’s a pain in the ass but he hasn’t done anything really horrible. And he… he doesn’t seem evil to me.”
Leena frowned. “Are you in love with him?”
Eden’s eyebrows went up. “What?”
“I can’t think of any reason why you’d be defending him like this if there weren’t feelings involved. And just before you say yes or no, just know that demons are well-known for manipulating the feelings of humans and using them against the human in question to get them to do what they want.”
“I know that.”
“Then if you know that and you’re still defending this dude, then you’re seriously screwed.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Eden tried very hard not to think about the times when she’d felt close to Darrak, despite what he was. When she’d woken up in his arms. When they’d kissed. When she’d called him her guardian angel. “I’m going to have him exorcised.”
“Where is he right now?”
“He’s been dampened.” She quickly told Leena about what happened with Selina.
Her eyes widened. “The Love Witch is a real witch? That is so cool.”
“You think she was telling me the truth?”
“She’s the Love Witch. Of course she was. Summoning an incubus to make her into a black witch back in the Salem witch trial days… that’s pretty powerful stuff. She should sell the movie rights for that. I’d go see it.”
Eden twisted a finger absently through her long hair. “It’s got to be powerful. I mean, even with proper instructions, summoning an archdemon sounds dangerous.”
“Summoning a what?” The pleasant, curious look fell from Leena’s face.
“An archdemon. It’s apparently a really powerful demon who answers only to Lucifer and—”
“Oh, I know what an archdemon is. And you’re saying that tall, dark, and gruesome is an arch?”
Eden nodded.
Leena gave her a frozen smile. “And I am out of here.”
“What?”
She stood up. “It’s been fun. I made a lasagna like I said I would. It’s in the fridge. Help yourself. Well, since I used your ingredients it’s legally yours anyhow. There’s a Caesar salad in there, too. And you might get your cable bill later and find out that I’ve been watching a lot of pay-per-view movies. Like, a lot of them. I’ll send you a check… some time soon. Thanks for letting me stay here.”
She walked to the door.
Eden blocked her. “Wait. You can’t leave.”
“Oh, but I can.”
The panic that had subsided a little rose again. “I need you here.”
“Why? You don’t even know me. And you didn’t want me to be here in the first place.”
“I thought you were hiding from some people.”
Leena physically pushed past Eden to get to the door. “I am. And I can hide somewhere else that doesn’t have an archdemon in residence. In fact, I think I’d prefer it that way.”
“Don’t go.”
Leena laughed short and bitterly. “You have no damn idea how much trouble you’re in, do you? And I’m sorry if it seems like I’m being selfish. Well, I am. But if I found out a nuclear bomb was about to go off in t
he town I was living in, I wouldn’t think twice about getting the hell out of there as fast as I could.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Wish I was.” She shivered. “I’ve seen demons, Eden. I’ve seen them in their demon form—none of this human-looking pretty exterior.”
“So he does look different,” Eden breathed. “I knew it.”
“Oh hell yeah, he looks different. Demons have two… the word used is visages. A human visage and their demon one they have to wear like a uniform when they go see the big boss downstairs. And the demon visage can be pretty goddamned scary. I had nightmares for weeks after I ran into my last one who wasn’t wearing his human visage at the time. Like something out of a horror movie. There was slime involved.”
“Slime?” Eden yelped.
Leena crossed her arms tightly, her expression one of disgust. “Yeah. Not pleasant, believe me. Sure he was hot as hell in his human form, but that didn’t exactly erase the other form from my mind. And he wasn’t even an archdemon.”
Eden’s mind reeled, trying to process this latest influx of info. “So what’s the difference?”
“Power. An archdemon can level an entire city if they have a mind to with so-called natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, fires, or tornados. These things aren’t always caused by archs, but they’ve had a hand in some of the worst things to ever hit humans in the past—mostly for their own amusement. And they try to one-up each other. They want to be closer to Lucifer—closer to the top. They hunger for power. It’s all they want.”
Eden chewed her bottom lip so hard she thought she might break the skin. “But there are demons who can be redeemed—ones who used to be human.”
“Never heard of that before.” Leena studied Eden’s face. “Are you seriously coming to his defense right now? You need to send him back to Hell.”
“I’m going to.” She was. Malcolm would contact her tomorrow, she was sure of it.
“I’m outie. Bye, now!” Leena grabbed the doorknob.
“Please don’t leave.” Eden hated the pleading tone in her voice.
“I’m sorry. I need to protect myself first.” Leena did have the grace to look guilty about her decision as she looked over her shoulder at Eden. “I’ll check back in a few days to see if you’re still alive. Good luck!”