told me is, it’s a huge weight off my mind. I thought I was going insane!”
“You’re not. Well,
“My brain is one of my most prized assets.” Andy leaned back and pressed his palms against his temples. His chair squeaked noisily. “Without it, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“The same could be said for most humans,” Darrak agreed.
“Werewolves!” Andy exclaimed. “Here in Toronto!”
“And fairies, too,” Darrak reminded him, finally noticing the death glare Eden was sending him. “What?”
She just shook her head.
“Fairies, too.” Andy looked stunned. “How do you know these things?”
“That’s easy. Because I’m a de—”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Eden clamped her hand over Darrak’s mouth.
He grabbed her wrist and pried her hand away from his face before looking at Andy. “Because I’m very astute,” he finished. “I’ve been aware of the supernatural world that surrounds us for a very long time.”
“Unbelievable.” Andy’s face was pale. “And you, Eden? Did you know about this, too?”
“It’s a recent revelation for me,” she admitted, her voice hoarse. “Like,
Andy smiled shakily, but it quickly faded. “Werewolves sound dangerous. Do I need a. . a gun with, um, silver bullets in it?”
“Fairies are more dangerous than werewolves, on the average.” Darrak moved out of arm’s reach of Eden. “But if they’re your clients, they came to you for help. They wouldn’t attack anyone they need.”
“That’s comforting.”
Eden tried to relax. On second thought, this was good. Andy had learned the truth — part of it anyhow — and he wasn’t running away screaming. Why had she been so worried? She couldn’t control everything. After all, denying the supernatural world didn’t make it go away.
“Are you done with the werewolf case?” she asked, feeling uncomfortable about saying the word out loud.
Andy shook his head. “I took off when I saw the fur. I have to go back and get some more pictures tomorrow. Werewolves might not be into interbreeding, but they don’t seem to have a problem with infidelity.”
The bell on the door jingled, and Nancy walked in with a tray of coffees in foam cups and a brown paper bag. She was medium height, with bleached blonde hair, bright red lipstick, and a permanent glow courtesy of her lifetime membership at the tanning salon down the street.
“Greetings, Triple-A!” she said cheerily.
“Nancy.” Andy’s voice was now weary. “Great. Wonderful. You’re a peach.”
“I have something here for you.” Nancy’s attention was on Darrak.
His eyebrows went up. “Oh, yeah?”
She nodded and reached into the bag. Eden strained to see what it was and then was sorry she did.
“Is that a. . a gigantic donut in the shape of a heart?” she asked.
“It is,” Nancy confirmed and bit her bottom lip. “I made it especially for Darrak. It has a creamy custard center.”
“Sounds delicious,” Darrak said. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Really.” She twisted her index finger into her crispy blonde hair and alluringly jutted out her chest after he took the donut from her. “Listen, I was thinking. . if you don’t have any plans tomorrow night, maybe you and I could—”
“He has plans,” Eden cut her off. “With me. His sister. It’s a family thing.”
“Oh.” Nancy’s face fell. “Well, maybe another time.”
“You know, there’s a new club that opened up. Luxuria?” Eden forced a smile. “You should check it out some time.”
“I’ve heard of it. Is it any good?”
“It’s amazing. So much fun and so many great men there waiting to meet someone just like you.” What in the hell was she doing?
It only took a few more moments before Nancy took the hint and slunk out of the office, defeated.
Eden felt oddly victorious about that. It didn’t make her proud.
She didn’t dislike Nancy, but for some reason, the woman’s obvious lust toward Darrak rubbed her the wrong way.
That was ridiculous.
Darrak bit into the donut. “This is really tasty. But it doesn’t look much like a heart. More like two chocolate blobs stuck together. Two
Eden felt a burning on the side of her face and realized Andy was openly staring at her.
She cleared her throat. “What?”
“That was kind of rude of you,” Andy said. “You should have let Darrak answer for himself. He doesn’t need you controlling his love life.”
“Darrak doesn’t have a love life.”
Darrak stopped in midbite. “Meanie.”
Andy pursed his lips. “Your brother should be allowed to date if he wants to without you interfering, you know.”
Anger and frustration welled inside of her, quickly bubbling over the edge of her calm exterior. “He’s not my brother. He’s a demon.”
She glanced at Darrak to see he looked surprised at her unexpected admission.
Andy shook his head. “I’m sure every sister feels that way about her sibling now and then.”
Okay. In for a penny, in for a pound. .
“No, I’m actually being serious,” she said. “He’s a—”
The door jingled again, and Eden looked over her shoulder, certain that Nancy had returned for round two. But it wasn’t Nancy.
Darrak threw his half-eaten donut down on Andy’s desk, next to the coffees, and moved to stand closer to Eden as Ben Hanson entered the office.
Eden immediately tensed at the sight of the handsome cop. After all, the last time she’d seen him, he’d almost killed her.
“Good morning.” Ben’s dark blue eyes swept over the three of them, ending at Eden. “Long time no see.”
A temporary infusion of humanity may have made Darrak lose his desire for death and destruction, but the exception to the rule would be Ben Hanson.
Darrak hated the guy.
It wasn’t that long ago that Eden had been crazy for Ben. Darrak wasn’t stupid. He saw the appeal. Ben was tall, good-looking, square jawed, upstanding, and helpful.
He was so perfect, Darrak’s nickname for him was “golden boy.”
To top it off, he had short blond hair and those dimples, when he smiled, that women swooned over. Luckily, Ben didn’t smile very often.
Neither did Darrak when the cop was around. And it wasn’t simply because he was jealous. Sure there was
Ben had been damn lucky Darrak kept a reserve of healing power, which he’d used on Eden. All of it. If she ever got hurt again he wouldn’t be able to do a repeat performance.
Ben had begged Eden to come with him so he could protect her from the big bad demon, but Eden had stayed with Darrak.
