Something Wicked

you for this promotion if I felt otherwise? You have the soul of a killer, don’t you?”

It was an old joke. “Yes, and it was delicious.”

Theo studied him a moment longer. “I don’t know when it will happen, but I need you to be prepared when it does.”

“When what happens?”

A smile snaked across Theo’s face. “I’m not satisfied with being an archdemon. I want more.”

“More? How can you get more? Arch is as far as we can go.”

“Not exactly.” He lowered his voice further so Darrak had to draw closer to hear him. “There are seven lords of Hell. I’ve recently discovered that if they were to be. . destroyed. . one by one, their power would shift to the one who ended their existence.”

Darrak hadn’t expected this. “You can’t destroy the lords. They’re omnipotent.”

Theo shrugged. “Maybe that’s only what they want us to believe. I’ve been secretly looking into things. There is a weapon that can kill them and send them to the Void just like any other lowly demon.”

“What kind of weapon?”

“I’m still working on the details. It may take time. Patience is a virtue, you know.”

Darrak snorted. “So is chastity. Luckily, demons aren’t required to be virtuous. I have no desire to be either patient nor chaste.”

“I want you to be a part of this. When I rise to power, you have the chance to take some as well. After all, I don’t know if I can handle all seven rings myself.” His grin widened. “Maybe four for me and three for you. We can rule Hell together.”

Darrak’s head felt heavy with this influx of information. “You’ll be destroyed if they ever find out about this.”

Theo’s eyes narrowed. “And will you tell them?”

“Of course not.”

“So you’ll help me?”

“To kill Lucifer and the others and take their power for ourselves the moment we’re given the opportunity?” Darrak said it very slowly so there would be no misunderstandings.

“Yes. So what do you say? Are we partners? Shall we take over Hell and leave those who oppose us in our bloody wake no matter how long it takes or how difficult it might get?”

Darrak gave his friend a slow grin and felt his newfound power rising inside of him, itching to be used as soon as possible. “I’m so in.”

THREE

“I need to dampen you now,” Eden told Darrak when she entered her bathroom, still disturbed by what had happened at the club.

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Only for five minutes. Just need to do some stuff.”

Darrak sighed. “I know. Your mysterious bathroom routine. But it’s not necessary to dampen me. If you knew half the things I’d seen—”

She held up a hand. “And I don’t want to.”

“I have seen you naked before,” he reminded her. “Trust me, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Your body is gorgeous. Right down to that little freckle on your—”

“You’re not helping.” She glared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“Sorry.” But there was a twist of amusement in his voice that made her think he wasn’t all that sorry.

“Five minutes,” she said again, and before he could protest, she flicked the metaphorical switch in her head that shut the demon off from seeing or hearing anything for a while. It wasn’t without effort. This ability had more to do with her meager psychic abilities than tapping into her black magic. She could tell because it was hard to do. Using magic was effortless and tempting. This was difficult and gave her a headache if she tried to hold him back for too long.

Eden finished in the bathroom as quickly as she could and changed for bed. She used to wear a T-shirt or sleep entirely in the nude, but ever since she’d acquired her new roommate, she’d bought a few sets of full-length pajamas — the least sexy ones she could find. One set even came with feet attached. Tonight she chose the ones with a pattern of small pink poodles all over the thick white flannel fabric. Could not be less sexy if she tried.

Only after she’d gotten in bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin, did she release the dampening. She immediately felt the demon’s warm presence inside of her again.

“That felt like more than five minutes,” he said.

“It was ten minutes. Maybe eleven.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. Now I’m exhausted. It’s been a long night and it wasn’t even worthwhile.”

“I know. But we’ll try again,” he told her. “The wizard’s assistant hangs out at that club every night, I’ve heard.”

It still confused her. “And where exactly did you hear this from? You’re with me all the time.”

“Don’t sound so thrilled about that.”

He was inside her head at night. And by day, even though he could take form, he couldn’t stray more than a hundred feet from her side or he would be drawn back to her like a magnet. A magnet in great pain.

“I was in Toronto for a week before we met, you know,” he said. “Even though I didn’t have much control, I did manage to collect some information about potential ways to break the curse.”

Following his “only possess scumbags who deserve to die” philosophy, he’d been in the body of a serial killer who’d tried to kill Eden before he was shot dead, forcing Darrak to make the jump to a new host whether he wanted to or not.

She stared up at the ceiling. “I didn’t like that nightclub. Something felt off about it.”

“You found your old friend.”

“So did you.”

“Touche. However, you didn’t scurry away in the opposite direction of yours.”

“You didn’t scurry. You were—”

“A cowardly fool afraid to face my past?” he finished.

“I was going to say you were being protective of me.”

He groaned. “If you call me your guardian angel again, we’re going to have a problem.”

She smiled, but covered the expression with the edge of the bedsheet. “I’d never use a term you find so morally insulting.”

“Good.” He was quiet for a moment. “I honestly don’t know why you sound so calm about all of this.”

“About what in particular?”

“The curse. Me still harassing you internally. It must be completely frustrating for you.”

“Well, yes it is. But why I’m calm is very simple, really.”

“So why is it?”

“Because I trust you.”

Darrak didn’t respond to that for a moment. “You do?”

“Yes. I know we’ll figure a way to break your curse before anything really bad happens. And until then I trust you to do the right thing.”

“I. . I appreciate that, Eden. I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“I know that.” Despite all that they’d been through together, it was true. She trusted the demon. He’d done everything in his power to protect her, to keep her safe, and the fact that bad things had happened since they’d met wasn’t really his fault. Even the things that seemed to be entirely his fault.

Like she’d said, their relationship was seriously complicated. But she supposed it didn’t have to be. She helped him. He helped her. They were just partners in finding a solution and nothing more. And one day soon they’d go their separate ways, and she’d forget how it felt to kiss him or how good his body had felt against hers when they’d made love. It was something they hadn’t discussed much — kind of like an elephant in the room.

It made it a little easier to pretend it had never happened.

“Go to sleep, Eden,” Darrak said, his voice as warm as his presence. “Everything will be better