“Why did you do it, Theo?” Darrak tried to keep his voice even and conversational. It was a struggle.
“Just helping out a friend in need. I know you’re in a bad place. This kills two birds with one stone, forgive the saying. Gets your rocks off
Darrak almost laughed. Theo’d done this to help him, not to hurt him?
What a pal.
“There are wards up around the building. How’d you even get in here?”
“I phased. Didn’t have a problem at all. Guess those wards don’t work on me. Or maybe Red secretly wanted me to get through so I could help you two to a morning of pleasure.”
He’d phased. Fury simmered just at the surface of Darrak’s mind. He didn’t want to scream at Theo over the phone. What was done was done. Theo had wanted to help — a demon’s version of a kind gesture.
It didn’t make it any better.
He and Eden had been compelled to have sex, and it had triggered the spell. Whether or not that spell was triggered every night when he possessed her was still unknown.
In any case, triggering had occurred.
And, by the look of Eden — who’d drawn the crocheted afghan around herself, the remnants of lust for his very accommodating body burning in her eyes — that compulsion hadn’t yet worn off.
If Darrak concentrated, he could see it, the power lying just under the surface of her skin. Eden was turning into a five-foot-six nuclear power plant in serious danger of having a reaction if she wasn’t very careful.
Theo’s proverbial heart might have been in the right place, but he must have known this would enrage Darrak, hadn’t he? The other demon had always been a trickster, playing practical jokes and finding humor in the most unlikely places.
Darrak wasn’t laughing. And if he kept speaking to his old friend, he was sure to say something he’d regret.
After all, Darrak still needed his help.
“Tell Theo as soon as this elixir wears off I’m going to take that angelheart of his and shove it up his ass,” Eden said sweetly.
Darrak chose not to relate the message.
“Is everything still on for noon?” he asked instead.
“It is. So, anyhow, about the—”
“See you then.” Darrak hung up the phone. If Theo knew what was good for him, he wouldn’t call back. Not until Darrak had had a chance to calm down.
He turned to Eden. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked cautiously.
“I’m feeling a bit too good, actually.”
He clasped his hands in front of him. “Is it safe to approach you or, uh, should I stay over here?”
She gripped the afghan closer to her otherwise bare skin. “Don’t make it sound like this is all my fault. It was a two-way street in the red light district a minute ago.”
“You’re right.” Darrak moved closer and sat down on the sofa, then he looked at her. “You will never use your black magic again.”
“But what if—”
“No, Eden,” he said sharply. “Never. Ever, ever. Promise me.”
Her jaw clenched. “The only times I’ve used it was only to protect myself. And you. And. . uh, Andy, too. I had no choice.”
“You do have a choice. You need to swear to me that you won’t use it again.”
She bristled. “Just like you swore you wouldn’t borrow my body when I’m asleep?
The woman was argumentative even when she was filled with lust. “Fresh slate. I promise not to steal your body, and you promise not to use your black magic.” He held out his hand.
She looked at it for a moment before she took it. The touch of her warm skin was not helping him keep his mind on the current problem.
“Fine,” she said. “I promise.”
He nodded. “Good. I promise, too.”
Eden brought her hand to his face. Sliding her index finger down his cheekbone, her thumb over his bottom lip. “So if I promise not to use my black magic, then I don’t suppose it really matters if we—”
“It matters,” he said hoarsely as she drew closer. Her mouth was only a couple of inches away from his own.
“You’re sure about that?” she asked before brushing her lips against his.
He groaned deep in his throat. “This isn’t helping, Eden.”
“I know.”
“How much damned orange juice did you have?”
“A lot. I was like a sponge. A thirstier than normal sponge.”
Darrak stood up and paced to the other side of the room. “I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“It’s about the singles’ club, Luxuria, and why you got a strange vibe while there. It’s because it’s possessed by a demon.”
Eden stared at him blankly. “The
“Yes.” He proceeded to tell her about Asmodeus. He tried to keep it as family-friendly as possible but had to include the part about the semi-drained and addicted patrons. After all, Eden wasn’t dumb enough to believe this was a Disney movie.
Her eyes moved back and forth as she attempted to piece it together. “Graham’s murder. It was Asmodeus who killed him, wasn’t it? Graham got too close, learned too much.”
“No,” Darrak forced out. “I still don’t know what happened to him. Or the other missing women.”
The last thing he wanted was for Eden to be tempted to dip into her growing pool of black magic to gain some vengeance today.
Darrak lied to protect her. That made it okay, right?
“Asmodeus wants to help us,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “The demon who’s possessing a nightclub wants to help us. With what? Buying us a free round of margaritas and an appetizer platter?”
“He’s going to channel his energy into breaking my curse after he has his, uh,
“Let me get this straight. This demon lord is going to use the power he’s stolen from siphoning energy from hundreds of people, thereby turning them into mindless lust-filled zombies, to help us out.”
“You make it sound like a bad thing.”
“It
“It’s the only chance we’ve got,” he said simply.
“What about the wizard master. . Maksim? I thought he could help us?”
Darrak sighed. “That was a shot in the dark — I wasn’t sure if that would work. Wizards are so unpredictable. But this is a sure thing.”
“This Asmodeus—” Eden’s eyebrows drew together in concentration. “He’s very dangerous, isn’t he?”
“Well, of course he is. He’s one of the seven Lords of Hell.”
“Would the black diamond Theo has be enough to destroy him with? That is, if he tries anything funny today?”
“Possibly,” Darrak replied. “But until he has form it’s no good. Besides, if he’s going to help us break my curse, I don’t really want to destroy him. Not yet, anyhow. If that makes me a shameless user, then so be it.”
Eden shook her head with confusion. “Theo said the angelheart can only be used once. So if you use it on Asmodeus, you couldn’t use it on Lucifer, too. Right?”
“Probably not. Besides, Lucifer’s more powerful, so he’ll need that diamond at full strength to even have a chance of. .” Darrak blinked. “Hold on. How do you know the diamond is meant for Lucifer?”
