Мишель Роуэн - The Demon in Me

“Can I talk to you for a moment before we begin, Eden?” Darrak asked. “In private?”

She swallowed past the stupid and inconvenient lump in her throat. “Of course.”

“Don’t take long,” Selina said tensely. “Time is money.” He led Eden over to an oak tree next to the small clearing — which she now realized, for the first time since she’d moved in last month, was a kids’ playground. She’d seen the area in passing as she went to her car, but had never explored further. A swing set, slide, and teeter-totter stood, unoccupied, a dozen feet away, shielded by a thatch of tall trees. Darrak stood with his arms crossed tightly in front of him.

“What?” Eden asked, and it actually came out sounding a lot harsher than she’d meant it to.

“I want you to know I didn’t mean for this to happen.” His handsome face was oddly expressionless.

The flat statement delivered in a monotone — was this supposed to be some sort of apology? — fell on the cool, late afternoon air. And it took that strange emotion inside of her and hardened it. In other words, he’d managed to officially piss her off.

“Oh?” she said. “And what exactly do you refer to? The original possession, throwing my life out of control? Or maybe draining me of energy on a regular basis and putting my life in danger? Scaring off a man who I really liked spending time with? Or was it neglecting to mention your sexual history and the fact that a meaningless roll in the hay with you might destroy my entire life?”

She was happy to see him wince a bit, and something resembling an emotion flickered in those currently flat blue eyes of his. “Meaningless, huh?”

Strange he’d pick up on that particular word in her rant. “Let’s just end this now, Darrak, and not try to pretend it was anything more important. After all, being an ex-incubus I’m sure you’ve got so many notches in your bedpost it’s… well, you probably needed to work at a bedpost factory to keep up with your past conquests.”

“No, you’re right. Of course. Meaningless.” He nodded with a firm motion of his head. “You need to make me a promise, though.”

She stifled an unpleasantly bitter laugh at that. “A promise? What might that be?”

“Don’t use any black magic in the future. Ever.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Eden’s jaw tensed and she looked away.

He drew closer, touched her chin and made her look up at him. “I can still see your soul if I concentrate hard enough. And it’s still as bright and shiny as the first time I saw you. I don’t want you to risk that by dipping into the magic inside you.”

“What if it’s really, really important?”

“Even then.”

The heat from his hand seared into her. It was hard not to remember how good those hands had felt on her body.

Meaningless.

She wished she really felt that way about it. About him. It would make everything way easier.

She batted his hand away and stepped back. “Well, that’s no thanks to you, is it?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Let’s not waste any more time with this. Time to finally say good-bye. You’re going to be gone soon. Back to Salem, or wherever.”

“Right. I… wanted to thank you, though.”

Her eyebrows raised. “Thank me?”

“For not exorcising me. For trusting me despite the things you’ve seen or heard.” He moved toward her again and took her face between his hands. “You’ll be better off without me. Just like Selina says.”

She looked into his eyes and hated to admit even to herself what she was feeling inside. She’d miss this demon. Even after everything she knew about him, everything she’d seen, and everything he’d done to her.

She’d miss him horribly.

No way , she thought, angry with herself. She wasn’t letting herself feel like this. She forced herself to step away from him, and his hand dropped back to his side.

“You’re right,” she said as evenly and coolly as she could. “I will be better off without you.”

“Eden—”

“Selina showed me the real truth about you. You’re a monster. You’ve ruined my life. I should have exorcised you when I had the chance, but I was too stupid. I regret everything that’s happened between us. Now, I just want you gone.”

She twisted the words into him like a knife. Darrak’s previously steady, unreadable gaze flickered as he looked away from her. Had she hurt his feelings?

Did an archdemon really have feelings? He’d claimed he now felt human emotions all too intensely. But she had no idea if that was really the truth or just more lies.

“Then let’s not waste another minute,” he said after a moment.

“Fine with me.”

“Good-bye, Eden.” He turned and walked back to Selina and the two of them entered the tree-shrouded playground.

Out of the corner of her eye, Eden spotted an uninvited guest lurking under a nearby car in the parking lot. A black cat that was trying to appear incognito.

Leena.

She ignored the shapeshifter, but couldn’t help but find it vaguely amusing. The cat wanted nothing to do with her or Darrak, but she was curious enough to stick around to see how things played out?

Selina led them into the small wooded area until they found a bare patch covered with fallen leaves.

“White witches practice nature magic,” she said wistfully. “I dabbled with that in the beginning, but now it’s not even an option for me. Black magic will destroy nature.”

“Vengeance isn’t gained very well with rosebuds and peach nectar,” Darrak said. “So what do I need to do?”

She eyed him. “Just stand there.”

“At your mercy, you mean.”

She smiled. “Just like old times.”

Darrak looked at Eden, but she didn’t meet his eyes. It was better that he thought she was mad at him, hated him, and wanted nothing to do with him.

Better for her , that is. It made it easier.

The sun was low in the sky. It wouldn’t be long before sunset. If this worked, Darrak wouldn’t have to possess her tonight.

His curse would be broken.

The thought was a relief, of course. Her feelings for the demon might be a total conflicting mess, but she didn’t want to be possessed by him. By anyone. Ever again.

“Are you ready?” Selina asked Darrak.

“I am.”

“Have to warn you, it’s not going to be a pleasure trip. For you, this is going to sting. A lot.”

“I can take it.”

“Then let’s do this.” She closed her eyes and held her arms up at her sides.

A moment later, Eden felt the energy begin to swirl in the open area they stood in, and small electric sparks flickered off the edges of the playground equipment. In response, her own magic began to wake up — a tingling inside, a growing power that was very difficult to ignore.

But she did ignore it.

She shivered, and it wasn’t just from the temperature; she drew her thin coat closer to her body, crossing her arms as she stood and watched the witch and the demon.

Selina opened her eyes. “ Darrakayiis , I use your true name to bind you where you stand.”

Darrak went rigid in place.

Tensely, Eden noticed Selina’s amulet darken a shade of gray as she began to channel her black magic for a specific purpose. It wasn’t until that moment, and the witch’s use of his full name, that she realized how much was currently at stake. Having it exist in theory to having it play out right in front of her were two separate things.

Selina now had the power to break Darrak’s curse or destroy him where he stood.

She then understood how much trust Darrak had put into the witch. He was now at her mercy much as he’d been three hundred years ago. The only difference was she was much more powerful now. Did Selina still hold a grudge? Would Eden really blame her if she did? Had she been lying before by saying she’d help?