Michelle Rowen - That Old Black Magic

Satan’s smile disappeared.

Lucifer was still in there somewhere, and he knew exactly what he was doing. He was the one chosen for the job in the first place, after all. He’d wrangled this beast many times before.

With a last, soulless, black-eyed glare, Satan wrapped the huge, leathery wings around himself, and disappeared in a violent flash of fire.

He was gone.

That had been too damn close. Pun fully intended.

Darrak pulled Eden closer. The room was lit up by his own fire, the same hellfire from which he’d been created once upon a time. He controlled this fire, it was a part of him in this form, and it would do no damage unless he wanted it to.

He grabbed hold of Eden’s face, checking to make sure she was okay.

“Eden,” he rasped. “It is you? Is it really you?”

She nodded and threw her arms around him. “It’s me.”

“I thought I lost you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“That makes two of us. Only…” He swallowed. “There’s a problem.”

She pulled back. “What?”

“My form… I–I think this might be it. I might be stuck with this demonic visage for a while.”

Her gaze moved over Darrak’s fearsome face, along the curved horns. She touched his sharp cheekbones, ridged jaw, and down his heavily muscled arm until she entwined her fingers with his that were tipped in sharp talons.

“I can get used to it,” she said very seriously.

Darrak couldn’t help but grin, hoping she wouldn’t be too afraid of his razor-sharp teeth. “I’m just messing with you.”

He shifted back to human form.

She punched him in his arm. “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.”

She kissed him then, very hard on his much more kissable mouth. Considering that he thought he’d never be able to touch her again, it was quite possibly the best kiss they’d ever shared. He took the time to fully explore her mouth, before he kissed every inch of her face. Finally he felt her push against his chest.

He moved back a bit. “Let me guess. Your father is currently standing behind me about ready to unleash heavenly fury on me for defiling his beautiful daughter.”

“Pretty much.”

He turned to look at Daniel, who stood there, his white wings stretching out behind him.

Maybe he hadn’t escaped decimation after all.

This time Eden blocked Darrak. After everything they’d survived today, meeting her father was not going to be the end of everything. She wouldn’t let it.

Angels were powerful creatures.

Well, so was she. Even if she wasn’t a black witch anymore.

“Don’t even think about hurting him,” she growled.

Daniel shook his head. “Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Well… good.” She still wasn’t quite ready to breathe yet.

“You’re yourself again?” Darrak asked.

“I am.” Daniel nodded and cast a glance down at himself. “When Oliver Gale took over my body, I could still see and hear everything. I know you were willing to sacrifice yourself for Eden, and that you tried to save her from Lucifer.”

“I tried,” Darrak said. “Wasn’t all that successful.”

“You love her.”

Darrak looked at Eden. “Yes.”

Her heart swelled. “And I love him. I don’t care what anyone thinks. Including you.”

“Good,” Daniel said. “That will help you a great deal.”

Well, it was nice to have a vote of confidence for once.

Darrak slid his hand down her back. “Lucifer consumed the darkness in her. All of it. It sent him directly back to Hell, do not pass go.”

Daniel took in this information. “Are you sorry not to be the next Prince of Hell?”

Eden watched Darrak carefully for his response. It was a lot of power to give up, even if it meant dealing with that monster she’d just seen. It would have made Darrak one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

“Am I sorry?” Darrak repeated. “Nope. I might have wanted that once, but I’ve changed. A lot. I’m exactly where I want to be.”

“Good answer.” Daniel then looked at Eden. “And as for you, daughter—”

“Daughter, huh?” she said tightly. “I still don’t understand what happened with my mother and why you never acknowledged me.”

His handsome face grew serious. “I know it’s difficult to understand. And I wish I had a meaningful story for you, but you may be disappointed. When I met your mother, I was at the end of my job as a gatekeeper to one of the Netherworld entrances. Seven years of living in the human world. I was weak, and your mother was beautiful. That’s all it was. I’m sorry you felt abandoned, Eden, but I had no choice. My place was in Heaven from that point forward.”

He was right. That was a bit disappointing. She’d hoped for something a bit more magical than that even though she knew it hadn’t been more than a one-night stand for her mother. Why should it be anything else for her father? “So why did you visit me when I was just a little girl?”

“Because I’d just learned of your existence and had to check on your safety. There are those who’d like to use a nephilim for her power — just as Lucifer wanted to do.”

She laughed. “I’ve never had any power. A bit of psychic insight, but nothing very reliable.”

Daniel nodded. “There’s a very good reason for that. When I came here I was able to cloak that magic — from others and from you as well.”

Eden inhaled sharply, remembering what Lucas had told her about nephilim being cloaked to him. How only her black magic counterbalanced that and made him see what she was underneath. “So that’s why.”

“You’re ready now, Eden,” Daniel continued. “I can finally remove the cloaking from you once and for all.”

She hooked her arm through Darrak’s. He hadn’t said a word this whole time, letting her father speak uninterrupted. “What will happen to me then?”

“Your psychic insight will be more acute, more controllable. I think it will come in handy in your line of work — private investigator, right?” He smiled. “Also, when you were a black witch, you had the capacity for immortality. A nephilim isn’t truly immortal, but she is very long-lived and will retain her youth for as long as she breathes.”

A breath caught in her chest. “How long-lived?”

“Very. Consider it a pleasant bonus to being half-angel. Even if you never learned you were nephilim it wouldn’t have been much longer before you realized you were no longer aging.”

She’d lost her black magic that had given her so much power, given her the chance to live for a long time with Darrak. While she’d been glad to have it removed, she’d known it meant she was mortal again — helpless, fragile, and short-lived.

This… well, this was a wonderful gift her father had given her.

Then again, he did have nearly thirty birthdays to make up for.

Eden nodded, bracing herself for more pain. “Then go ahead and take away the cloaking. I’m ready.”

Daniel shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint, but I already did that the moment I woke up. You didn’t even feel it, did you?”

She didn’t. She felt no different at all. There was no pain, no discomfort, not even any sensation of morning sickness from before.

Eden put her hand over her stomach. “But the baby…”

“Don’t worry. She’s fine.”

Her heart pounded as she looked at Darrak.

He nodded and gave her a big grin as he hugged her against him. “She.”

A girl. They were going to have a daughter.

Darrak tensed against her, his gaze fixed on the angel. He watched Daniel as if waiting for her father to pull them apart.

But he didn’t. Instead Daniel reached his hand out. Darrak eyed it for a moment as though he was uncertain of what to do. Then he grasped hold of the angel’s hand and shook it.