The Demon in Me (13 page)

“What? Oh, more questions?”

“I’m just getting warmed up.”

“Some demons were once humans. Others were fallen angels. And others were created as demons from the energy of the Netherworld itself—hellfire, actually. I fit into the latter category.”

He was created from hellfire? That was so strange she couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around it. “You sound very human.”

“From you, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You fit in. No one would ever guess what you really are.”

“See, you’re saying that with the thought that demons are completely different than humans. We’re not all that different. You need to forget about everything you’ve ever believed.”

“Easier said than done.” She swallowed. “You have powers, though. Powers of conjuring up clothes that otherwise could be bought at Old Navy or the Gap. Anything else?”

“I used to have a few tricks up my sleeve. But maintaining form seems to currently take up all my energy.”

“So what could you do?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Lots of fun things.”

“Such as?”

He sighed. “Maybe some new clothes would be a good idea. We can pick you up some new hand towels while we’re at it. You said there’s a mall around here?”

Was he trying to change the subject? “Darrak, we need to—”

His body suddenly tensed and he inhaled sharply. “He’s here.”

She frowned. “Who’s here?”

Darrak’s eyes widened and he craned his head to the right. Another car was gaining on them, moving right up until it was only inches from her bumper.

“Who the hell is that?” she said out loud.

Darrak didn’t answer, but he reached out to clutch her forearm hard enough to hurt.

The pursuing car swerved into the lane to her left and quickly gained until they were side by side. Eden struggled to keep the car on the road.

Palms sweating, she looked out the passenger side window past Darrak to see who the maniac driver was.

Her eyes locked with Malcolm’s. The exorcist from last night.

Malcolm turned his angelic face toward Eden. His lips
were moving but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Eden pressed the gas pedal down to the floor and sped up, taking the next right into the mall parking lot and stopped the car. She looked over her shoulder but couldn’t see Malcolm anymore. He hadn’t followed her any farther.

“Maybe he was just being friendly.” She looked at Darrak. He was pale and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. His breath came shallow and rapid.

“Darrak!” She undid her seat belt so she could take him by his shoulders and shake him. “Are you okay?”

He wasn’t talking. His blue eyes rolled back into his head.

“What did he do to you?”

Malcolm had already started the exorcism last night. Had he been trying to continue it, even at a distance? How was that even possible? Whatever he’d been doing, it was enough to hurt Darrak.

Darrak blinked after a moment and his eyes slowly regained focus. But he was still pale. “Eden…”

“What can I do?”

“I didn’t realize how weak I am.”

“It takes a real man to admit something like that.” She tried to sound light.

“I’m stronger when I’m possessing you. When I have my own body I’m more susceptible. I can draw from your strength when I’m inside.”

“So turn to smoke and possess me again.” She couldn’t believe she was actually suggesting it.

“I can’t control that. Not when it’s daylight. But I—I do need some of your energy.”

“What?”

“The fairy… she hates demons because she knows how similar she is to us. Unseelie fairies must drain the energy from humans to survive and grow more powerful. They have to. They have no choice. A demon can survive just fine without doing this, but we can skim a little off the top if necessary.”

“So skim, already.”

He snorted softly. “So willing? And here I thought you hated me.”

“I do. But you can take a little energy if it’ll make you feel better. After all, I was the one to introduce you to Malcolm in the first place.”

“Guilt is a powerful emotion.” His dark brows drew together. “This wouldn’t be enough to hurt you.”

“Stop talking and do what you have to do. Just don’t break the skin.”

“That won’t be necessary. I simply need an opening to that bright, shiny soul of yours.” He brought his hands up to either side of her face and drew her closer to him.

She braced herself. “That sounds very—”

He kissed her. And not just any kiss. Open mouthed and, if she hadn’t been sitting down, completely knee-weakening.

After a moment it started to make the rest of her feel weak as well.

But, she supposed, that was because he was purposefully draining her energy. She moaned a little against his lips because the kiss felt surprisingly, well,
amazing
. If this is what being drained by a demon felt like, then she was seriously considering signing up as a regular donor.

Just when the kiss was deepening further, he broke it off.

“I think that’s more than enough,” he said.

“Oh. Well, good.” She pressed her lips together and cleared her throat.

“Thank you. I feel much better now.” He sounded tired. “Do you mind if we go back to your apartment so I can rest? That really took it out of me.”

That made two of them. “Sure.”

Darrak didn’t seem as affected by the kiss as she was. Her cheeks felt hot. She was embarrassed by how easily she’d been ready to climb onto his lap just from a simple kiss. Then again, it wasn’t a
real
kiss, was it? It was a dip into a lip-shaped donation box and she’d been feeling charitable.

She directed her Toyota back onto the road and drove to her apartment, parking in her designated spot outside. Darrak was still unsteady, but he didn’t ask for any more help and got out of the car by himself. Which was fine. It would probably be safer if she didn’t touch him at the moment.

What the hell was wrong with her? One little kiss and now she was swooning over him?
Hardly.

Maybe she’d spend the rest of the day cleaning up her apartment. Even aside from the mess Darrak had left in the kitchen, it could use a good fall cleaning. Then she’d figure out what she was going to wear on her date with Ben. Maybe she should cancel it after all. Or reschedule it to a more opportune time.

There were too many other things to think about, including the unlicensed case she was going to start tomorrow. The thought of cheating husbands didn’t put her in a very romantic mood, even if she wasn’t dealing with her inner—sometimes outer—demon.

No. It would go on as scheduled. She wouldn’t let the insanity she was dealing with mess with her chance at her shiny piece of happy.

Now
there
was a guy to swoon over—a human one, too. And swoon she would. It wasn’t just the fact that he was gorgeous. She wasn’t that superficial. He was charming and noble and brave and, well… normal. Dealing with a demon only made her realize how much she wanted stability.

She wanted Ben in her life if she had half a chance with him, and she wanted Darrak out of her life. Period. That should be simple enough to remember.

This time Eden didn’t try to lose Darrak at the elevators. They got on together and went up to the fourteenth floor.

She didn’t want to deal with the cat. Hopefully it hadn’t shredded her curtains yet. Or peed on her carpet.

After unlocking the door and pushing it open, she looked at the very weary Darrak and suddenly realized how tired she also was. “Help yourself to the bed. Just don’t get too used to it.”

His lips curled. “So generous.”

She cleared her throat nervously. “You think Malcolm has it in for you or was it just a coincidence he was pacing us on the road?”

“You introduced an eager young exorcist to a real demon. He’s obviously intrigued.”

She swallowed her lingering guilt from the exorcist experience. “So do you sleep? Is that how you recharge your batteries?”

“Something like that. It’s… it’s more like a deep meditation, really. I kind of zone out.”

She waited for more of an explanation, but he didn’t offer any. It seemed like something she should know. Knowledge was power, and all that. “Then go zone.”

He was in a somber mood and entered her bedroom. She shut the door to give him some privacy. And herself. Privacy was good.

Her apartment was small enough that there was nowhere she could be that was farther than sixty feet from her bed. No risk of forcing the demon to painfully dematerialize. She had a feeling testing those boundaries wasn’t such a good idea at the moment.

Her date was in eight hours. She’d be able to do a clean sweep and then have a quick nap before getting as gorgeous as possible for Detective Hanson.

She turned to look at her messy apartment to gauge how much work she had in front of her.

It was spotless.

She rubbed her tired eyes and looked again. No, it was still spotless. Any mess in the kitchen from earlier had disappeared. The coffeepot sparkled. The counter was empty. She inhaled a whiff of lemon-scented cleanser in the air.

“Well, that’s very strange,” she said aloud.

She moved into her living room to see that the knitted afghan she’d had over her lap the night before was now folded neatly and placed strategically on the back of her sofa. The cushions were propped up in their designated places. Her small selection of current magazines was in a tidy stack on the coffee table.

The carpet even looked freshly vacuumed.

She turned around in a slow circle. Had her apartment been broken into by Molly Maid while she was gone?

Maybe Darrak had worked some sort of demon cleansing magic before he’d left the apartment to follow her earlier.

But, no. He said his powers—whatever they might be—were drained.

It didn’t make any sense.

“Mrroww?” the black cat rubbed against her leg.

“Oh, there you are,” she said out loud. “Who did this?”

The cat didn’t answer her.

“Don’t think I’m forgetting you,” Eden said. “Come on, I’ll put you out and you can go back to wherever you came from.”

She reached down but the cat darted away from her and dove under the easy chair.

She put her hands on her hips. “Fine, be that way. Just don’t get used to it.”

Eden sat down on the sofa, suddenly more exhausted than she’d been in recent memory despite her bewilderment about the mystery tidiness of her apartment.

“I’ll just have a five-minute nap,” she said, pulling a beaded cushion under her head as she lay down. “And then I’ll figure out what happened here.”

Was she feeling this way because of donating energy to Darrak? Was a side effect an overwhelming need to fall into unconsciousness?

If so
, she thought wearily as she closed her eyes,
that was very inconvenient…

When she opened her eyes to see the view outside of her balcony the sun was low on the horizon. Considering it hadn’t even been noon when she got back, that wasn’t a good sign that she’d only fallen asleep for five minutes.

“Damn.”

“Never thought you’d wake up,” Darrak said.

She sat up so quickly she got a head rush. “What time is it?”

“A little after six.”

Ben would be there at quarter to seven. She turned to see Darrak sitting in the easy chair next to the sofa. “And you’ve been watching me sleep for how long?”

“About two hours.”

“That’s really creepy.”

“I do my best.” He cocked his head to the side. “Do you know that you talk in your sleep?”

That was one of the things her ex-fiancé cited as an unattractive feature about her. “Is that right?”

“It is.”

“Did I say anything interesting?”

“Something about wanting to donate regularly to some cause. What was that about?”

She thought back to their kiss. “I have no idea whatsoever. Anything else?”

“And then you prattled on about your date tonight. I know you’re nervous about going out with your golden boy.”

She got up from the couch. “I have to get ready.”

“Maybe you should—”

“Should what? Cancel? No way.” She shook her head emphatically. “I’m going. You said you’d help me. We had a binding agreement.”

He gave her a slow smile. “I was going to say maybe you should let me help you pick out something to wear.”

“Oh.” She deflated. “What are you, a demonic fashion consultant?”

“I just have good taste.”

She chewed her bottom lip and shook her head.

“What?” Darrak asked.

“Nothing. It’s just…”

“Just what?” His brow was furrowed as he waited for her to finish the sentence.

“Are all demons like you?”

“Charming, handsome, and incredibly helpful?” He glanced down at her pile of magazines topped with
Entertainment Weekly
.

She pushed away the afghan she’d pulled over herself. “You just seem different than I would have thought a demon would be.”

“I thought I explained that demons aren’t what you think.”

“I know, but it’s still difficult to accept.”

“You’re not developing a soft spot for me, are you?” He grinned at her.

She blinked. “Not even remotely.”

“Because the moment my curse is lifted, I’m out of here.”

“I’m counting on it.” She inhaled slowly and put her hand against the brown corduroy sofa to help herself stand up. “But Darrak… there isn’t… I mean, you’re not just putting on this front to get me to go along with what you want, are you? I’ve seen movies where demons do that. They have this nice fake exterior, but on the inside they’re all scary fire and brimstone. And isn’t Satan himself called the Prince of Lies? I know I heard that somewhere before.”

His gaze was steady on her. “I am what you see. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Well, if that was true then he was just a very good-looking man, not a demon. In her apartment. Who’d been watching her sleep. She supposed if he meant her any harm he would have had ample time to do something while she was unconscious.

“Okay,” she said halfheartedly after a moment.

“I know this situation is difficult. And I am grateful for your patience, despite the few glitches we’ve already experienced. I know we’ll figure this out and it won’t take any time at all. And I’m going to make sure you and the cop hook up. I promised to play Cupid for you and that’s exactly what I’ll do.” He smiled again. “I have to make sure there’s someone around to take care of you after I disappear for good.”