Something Wicked

Eden’s compassion and distress had stirred something inside Darrak. It had made his feelings for her grow even deeper.

And that could not be more annoying to him. He was messed up enough as it was, without falling any harder for her.

So damn inconvenient.

Especially when he knew she probably hated him now after what happened with Theo. How was he supposed to know Theo planned on sucking the celestial goodness out of that angel right in front of her? Darrak had to say, he was torn. Theo now had the weapon he would use to destroy Lucifer. Hooray. But the whole thing felt kind of. . wrong to Darrak, and he wasn’t really sure why.

Boo.

He attempted to summon some enthusiasm, but he felt drained. Using his power in the alley to scare off the werewolf had taken it out of him. There were two ways he could recover this energy. He could just give himself time, and he would eventually recover naturally. Or he could absorb some of Eden’s energy. This had two downsides to it — it would exhaust Eden for hours at a time, and the act also ran the risk of Darrak taking too much and accidentally killing her because she tasted so good he couldn’t stop himself.

Probably not such a good idea.

Demons were energy mosquitoes when they had to be. Vampires from hell, only his drink of choice wasn’t blood — it was life itself.

Something was bothering Eden, above and beyond what had happened with Andy. And it wasn’t only to do with Theo since she’d had this cloud over her since earlier. Darrak watched her carefully, trying to figure out what she wasn’t telling him. It would really help if he could read her mind. But, unfortunately, he couldn’t.

They dropped Andy off at his house. Eden volunteered to stay with him, but he waved her off.

“I’m fine,” he said and began to peel his bandages off to reveal the almost fully healed skin beneath. He touched it gingerly as if he couldn’t believe it was for real after how much that werewolf had torn him apart.

Darrak supported him as they walked to the brown corduroy couch. An old TV Guide and an empty bottle of Coors Light sat on the coffee table.

“You’re sure?” Eden asked, skeptically.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

She still looked concerned. “What about that werewolf who attacked you? Do you think he’ll come after you again?”

Andy grimaced. “The last thing he said before he shifted was for me to leave him and his girlfriend the hell alone. If I don’t go near him again, he won’t have a reason to finish the job, will he?”

But Eden still looked worried. “Not if he knows what’s good for him.”

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “Really.”

She touched his face. “Really?”

He swallowed and then grinned a little. “Well, maybe I’m a bit traumatized. I’ll admit it. But I’ll survive.”

Eden hugged him, and Darrak watched her emotional outpouring with a tight feeling in his chest. Andy wasn’t really a father figure to her, or even an uncle. He supposed she thought of him as a good friend. He knew she didn’t have very many friends in the city since she kept to herself a lot. It would make her cherish the ones she did have.

“Hey.” Andy leaned back so he could see her. “What’s this?”

“What?”

“Tears? Don’t cry over me, Eden. It’ll make your eyes all puffy and unattractive.”

She laughed. “Wouldn’t want that.”

“Definitely not.”

Her expression sobered. “This is all my fault, you know. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have werewolf clients in the first place. And you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“And Triple-A wouldn’t be thriving at the moment, allowing me to start paying off my monumental debt. Our new supernatural clients seem to have plenty of money, and that’s more than okay with me.” He looked at Darrak. “Take her home. She’s exhausted. And growing puffier all the time. I can’t handle anyone crying around me. It’s going to make me start crying, too.”

“I’m not crying. Demons don’t get emotional like humans.” Darrak didn’t even know if he could cry. It had never been an issue before.

“Demons are manly creatures, aren’t they?”

“Except for the demonesses. They’re even manlier.”

Andy finished removing his bandages and threw them on the coffee table in a white gauzy pile. “I’ve decided to look into Luxuria later today and find out if something funny’s going on there.”

“The hell you will.” Eden had her arms crossed. “What you’re going to do is recover and deal with your own problems. The last thing I’m going to let you do is investigate something else that might put you in danger again.”

Andy rolled his eyes. “Yes, mom.”

She huffed. “I’m just trying to think logically.”

“You’re very logical for a possessed redhead. Fine, I’ll take today off and watch some soap operas and talk shows.”

“Good. Just heal.”

His forehead wrinkled. “Is that a dog-trick command? Because I might have to start taking offense to that.”

“Not heel. Heal. With an A. And don’t just take today off. Take tomorrow off as well. Nothing at the office is urgent enough that it can’t wait until Friday. Got it? That’s a direct order from your equal partner in the business.”

“You only own 49 percent,” he reminded her.

“Whatever.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “And, just so you know, if you get hurt like this again, I’m going to kill you.”

Andy laughed. “Such an angel our Eden is, isn’t she, Darrak?”

Yes, Darrak thought. She sort of is.

And he didn’t even mean it as an insult.

Eden wasn’t in a happy place when she and Darrak got back to the apartment. Her neck strained from keeping an eye out for Ben and Oliver. She wasn’t complaining, but it was a little, uh, eerie, that they hadn’t even attempted to make contact since she’d knocked them out last night. She knew she hadn’t killed them.

What were they planning next?

She had too much on her mind and thoughts were beginning to overlap, threatening to drive her totally batty. Too much to do, too much to think about, her life had begun to spin completely out of control.

“I’m so bored,” Leena announced. She was sprawled on the sofa. “Seriously. Bored. To death.”

“You can leave the apartment, you know,” Darrak said dryly.

“Leave? Are you kidding? I told you, people want to kill me if I step foot outside, especially if I’m in human form. D-E-A-D. I can’t leave. Not yet. I’ve been making some calls.”

“Long distance?” Eden asked weakly.

“Well, yeah. Of course. My issues are not local.” She twisted a finger into her hair, and her eyes flicked to Darrak. “Speaking of local issues, somebody called for you, gruesome.”

“Is that your new nickname for me?” he asked.

“Seems fitting enough.”

“I have a few nicknames for you, too,” he replied. “But I’ll keep them to myself for the time being. They’re not family-friendly.”

“Someone called for Darrak?” Eden asked, frowning. Then she cringed. “Was it Theo?”

Leena shrugged. “No idea. I hung up on him before he could say.”

She didn’t sound particularly sorry about this.

Who else would be calling for Darrak? Who else would know he was even here?