Something Wicked

between them.

It felt a little bit like a tumbleweed in an Old West town.

“Yes.” Theo narrowed his eyes. “Bring Eden.”

“At noon I won’t have much of a choice.”

“Asmo will be ready for a meal when he’s finished.”

Darrak tensed. “That’s not going to happen.”

Theo smiled thinly. “At least you’re honest. That’s another thing. Since when are you so honest?”

Darrak cringed at the reminder. “It’s a fairly recent problem I’m dealing with.”

“This Eden.” Theo walked around him, checking out the stolen body. “More trouble than any woman is worth. And you were telling me you can’t even sleep with her to make it all worthwhile?”

“If I sleep with her again, it could destroy her further.”

“But you want to.”

“Duh. Of course. I’m not a monk.”

“And she wants you?”

“I’d like to think so. But we have a hands-off agreement.”

“Isn’t that special?”

Theo’s eyes glittered. He might be acting very polite, but he wasn’t in a stellar mood at the moment. Darrak knew he had to tread softly. He had to protect Eden. Being that Theo hated her, her body was currently at risk.

Maybe he should have killed the cop after all.

Oh well. Hindsight was 20/20.

Theo shook his head. “My, my, Darrak. This is a side of you I never thought I’d see. You were even more brutal than I was back in the day. The things you’re responsible for. Even I was disgusted by a few of them.”

Darrak shrugged. “I appreciate the compliment, but times change.”

He tensed as Theo clamped his hand down on his shoulder. “I want you to admit it to me.”

“What?”

Theo smiled. “If she was full-on evil, this would all be easier wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t have to be so preoccupied with saving her soul.”

Darrak couldn’t help but snort. “You might be right about that.”

Theo swallowed and took a step back. He braced his hands on his knees. “Not feeling well seeing you so broken like this. So pathetic. Makes me want to cry. Just a single tear. It’ll be very dramatic.”

Darrak glared at him. “You’re hilarious.”

Theo straightened up and flashed him a grin. “You’re lucky I like you, Darrak, or I might have to destroy you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

That earned a laugh. “You go back and tuck your Girl Scout in for the night. Make sure she’s snug as a bug in a rug. Then drag her ass back here at noon so after Asmo does his thing, he can help you out of this vastly unfortunate situation you’ve gotten yourself into. Darrak the Good. Darrak the Self-Sacrificing. I only wish I had a camera to record this for posterity. Maybe upload it to YouTube. We’ll laugh about this one day when we’re eating the souls of virgins for breakfast.”

“Promise?” Darrak grumbled.

“Cross my heart. If I had one.” Then Theo took a step back and vanished behind a column of flame.

Show-off, Darrak thought. He really did miss the ability to phase.

He felt ill by what had happened. Or rather, what hadn’t happened. He should have killed Ben without a second thought. But he’d had a second. And a third. And then a fourth. Even after Darrak let him go, the cop still threatened to end him. He was no further ahead.

But he hadn’t done it to gain brownie points. That was the problem. He’d spared Ben’s life because it was the. . the. .

. . the right thing to do.

Okay, he thought, so this is what nausea feels like, is it?

The other revelation of the evening swirled around his thoughts.

Eden was a nephilim. How long had she known this, and why hadn’t she ever told him? What other secrets was his beautiful host keeping from him?

Seriously. Where was the trust?

TWENTY-ONE

There was a moment in the middle of Eden’s other wise dreamless sleep that she’d seen a brief, fuzzy glimpse of a nightclub — possibly Luxuria. And then—poof! — it was gone.

Weird.

She snuggled back down into the warm comfort of unconsciousness. Still, no dreams.

Later, when she woke, she pried open her eyelids fully, expecting to be lying in bed wearing her warm flannel jammies.

But, no. She wasn’t.

Instead, she realized that she was staring at her brightly lit reflection in her. . bathroom mirror? Why was she in her bathroom? Standing up?

And — she looked down at herself — fully dressed, too?

Her eyes widened. “What the hell?”

“Good morning,” Darrak said from inside her.

“Morning?”

“Almost morning. Still night. Still dark. We have a few minutes till sunrise.”

“What’s going on, Darrak? Why am I dressed?”

“Feel free to get naked any time you like. Don’t mind me.”

She gritted her teeth, finally pulling herself out of her groggy just-woken-up state. “Don’t even tell me you borrowed my body again.”

“Then I won’t tell you that.”

Eden glared at her reflection, the anger rising up like a thermometer ready to pop. A strangled scream pushed past her vocal cords, and she actually hit the mirror. It didn’t break, but it hurt her hand.

“Do you want me to hate you?” she demanded.

“Sure. Feel free.”

“Fine. I hate you!”

How was she supposed to deal with this? How could she control someone who had so much control over her life? It was beyond unfair, and it made her feel completely powerless.

Eden turned from her reflection, but not before noting that her cheeks had grown redder, her eyes glossy, but she refused to shed even one tear about this. The digital clock on her nightstand told her it was 7:40 a.m. Almost sunrise.

She stormed out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to pour herself a big glass of orange juice that she quickly drained. Her morning “Florida sunshine” ritual didn’t make her feel the least bit better. She poured another one.

Great. She was thirsty as hell. What had Darrak been doing all night?

“Let me guess. Out visiting your BFF again?” she snapped, slamming the glass down on the kitchen counter.

“I was.”

“Any reason you didn’t tell me last night what your plans were?”

“Because I knew you’d make a big deal out of it. And look, I was right.”

He sounded sullen and oddly annoyed with her. And why was that? She was the one who should be pissed at him right now, not the other way around.

She rubbed her temples. “What did Theo want that was so damn important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”