Мишель Роуэн - The Demon in Me

“Please, Eden,” Darrak said again.

“Just shut up, will you?”

“No, I won’t shut up. Why won’t you just let yourself hate me once and for all? It will make this easier.”

“Easier for you or for me?”

“For both of us.”

“I don’t hate you,” she said.

“Could have fooled me.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was trying to do.”

“Exorcise me,” he said loud enough to get Rosa’s attention. She’d been speaking quietly with her son over by the swing set. “Let Malcolm do it. I won’t resist.”

Eden glared at him and felt tears burn at her eyes. So much for being all self-protective. Now that Selina was gone, it was the only way she could be rid of him for sure. She’d seen what he’d been capable of as an archdemon. And if he wasn’t exorcised, she’d be putting her own life at risk even more.

Rosa turned to Eden. “I can feel your power. It’s so fresh and untapped. Being a member of the Malleus gives one the ability to sense such things. But your power is not yet as vast as this creature’s.” She nudged Selina’s body with her shoe. “You see she’s already starting to disintegrate? That’s what happens to black witches when they die.”

And she was. Eden watched in shock as the witch’s body disappeared little by little, leaving only her clothes and accessories behind.

“We have some witches who have offered their services to the Malleus in return for their lives,” Rosa continued. “You may be an excellent candidate for this.”

“That’s real generous,” Eden replied tightly.

“Yes, it is. Everyone is prone to make mistakes in their lives. Offer up their souls to evil demons for vast power as you’ve done.” She shook her head. “It’s very sad, but not all that unheard of.”

She seemed so sure of herself and everything she said. How many years had she been a member of this group, killing witches and demons as easily as swatting flies?

“Darrak’s not evil,” Eden said and she sounded incredibly sure of that. More sure than she even thought she was.

Rosa pursed her lips as if she’d tasted something sour. “Step away from the demon and save yourself, dear.”

Eden shook her head. “Is this how you find your targets? You wait for people possessed or dealing with other supernatural issues to call you and you come out like glorified ghost busters?”

Rosa smiled. “All for the price of an ad in the Yellow Pages. Isn’t it great? However, it’s very rare I’ve come face-to-face with an archdemon. I don’t let opportunities like that pass me by, believe me.”

“As soon as you exorcise Darrak, you’ll kill me, won’t you?”

“No,” Malcolm said. “We won’t. I swear it on my own soul.”

Eden took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You, I believe. But your mother is another story. She wants to exorcise Darrak and then kill me. She won’t be happy until she does that.”

“You’re wrong,” Rosa said. “I don’t want to exorcise him.”

Well, that was a surprise. And a relief. Eden must have been even more convincing than she’d thought she was.

“You don’t?” Darrak’s voice was skeptical. “Then what the hell is this?”

“Like I said, it’s very rare I’ve encountered an archdemon. You’re the third I’ve ever faced.” She walked a slow circle around his prone form. He eyed her suspiciously. “So much power, although currently diluted, but you’ll do. Not quite as fearsome as you once were, are you?”

“I’ve been feeling a bit drained lately,” he admitted. “Perhaps I need a nice long vacation somewhere tropical. I’ll be sure to send you a postcard.”

She smiled as her gaze moved to Eden. “And you’ve become a black witch through sex magic since I first saw you. Very powerful and very potent.”

Honestly. Was Eden wearing a T-shirt that told the world that she and Darrak had been together? If she wasn’t currently frozen with fear and worry, she’d be embarrassed.

Rosa’s attention returned to the demon and she raised an eyebrow. “I would give a great deal to have that kind of magic at my fingertips.”

Darrak’s eyes narrowed. “Sorry, Rosa. You’re not exactly my type.”

She laughed. “Maybe twenty years ago.”

“No, not even then. Much as I seem to have a thing for crazy redheads, you’re the exception to the rule. So let me get this straight. You’re an upstanding, youth-mentoring member of the Malleus with a little bit of a lust for power, are you?”

“Lust is a deadly sin,” she said.

“No shit. So, you want me to make you into a black witch?”

“No, demon.” She smiled. “I want to put you into my diamond.”

She raised her cane and Eden’s eyes went to the two-inch-wide crystal on the top of it. Now that she was paying attention, Eden realized that it wasn’t totally clear. There was something inside of it. A barely noticeable thin swirling of… black smoke?

“What is that?” she asked, although she already had a good idea what it was.

She looked at the diamond affectionately. “These are the two other archdemons I mentioned a minute ago.”

What had Malcolm told her last night? That using salt was best to trap a demon, because they could be destroyed when the salt was smashed by whomever did the trapping. But a diamond…

It was next to impossible to break — the hardest substance on earth. And the demon couldn’t escape from it, either.

“Mother!” Malcolm sounded shocked. “I had no idea. You trapped them in the diamond? And that’s a real diamond? It’s huge.”

“Yes.” She brushed her fingers over it. “One hundred and eighty carats. Priceless. It was a present from a former mentor. He, too, had a similar diamond to this. But it takes three archdemons inside of it to do anything worthwhile — three is that very special magic number — a triad. And once I have the essence of Darrakayiis in here…” She shook her head and smiled widely. “There will be no other woman on earth as powerful as I will be.”

“Mother—”

“The magic I will be able to yield at my will.” Her voice turned excited. “I’ll be able to heal my frailties, become young again in body and mind. I will use this power to defeat the darkness, of course. And with it, I can walk between worlds — here, the Netherworld, and the Heavens — it will be as easy as walking into another room of a house. I will be a very powerful sorceress.”

“Just like a witch?” Malcolm breathed.

“No, of course not. Better than that. Purer than that. My magic will help others.”

“Help others?” Eden repeated, disgusted at what she was hearing. “You’re going to help others by using the power from three trapped archdemons? That doesn’t sound all that white and sparkly to me.”

Rosa turned a concerned gaze to her. “Sometimes it takes evil to defeat evil.”

“Then take me,” Darrak said firmly. “But leave Eden alone.”

“I would if I could.” Rosa exhaled. “But unfortunately, you’re still bound to her.”

Eden’s panicked gaze moved to the cane again. Two archdemons were in there swirling about. She’d seen Darrak in Selina’s vision. He was dangerous and deadly. How had Rosa managed to trap them?

She looked at Malcolm. “Help us.”

Even though the inner struggle he was feeling was plain on his face, he shook his head and took a step backward. “I can’t do that. My mother… she knows what she’s doing. I have to trust her judgment. There’s no other way.”

“Darrakayiis,” Rosa said in a commanding tone. “I need you to break your bonds with this witch. Show me your demon visage and kill her. Now.”

He changed form in an instant and he curled his amber-fire-covered hand around Eden’s throat before she had a chance to take even a step away from him. His sharp talons scratched dangerously against her jugular.