But Darrak still existed. He still had a future. And so did Eden.
Asmo placed a hand over his stomach. “I’m so hungry.”
Eden’s grip tightened on Darrak. “There’s a Greek place next door,” she suggested tightly.
“Oh, ha ha. Shut up, nephilim girl.” He shook his head. “Hey, you’re funny, too, Darrak.”
“I try.”
“If you weren’t tainted with celestial energy, I’d take you back to Hell to entertain me as my jester. I could make you wear funny clothes like an organ grinder’s monkey.”
Darrak summoned up enough strength to push his grief away and deal with the problem at hand. Theo might be gone, but he and Eden weren’t clear of this mess yet. “I don’t come cheap. And I don’t wear little hats.”
Asmo studied him for a long moment. “While I’m in this body, I feel a strange bond toward you. Like we’re bosom buddies.”
“Super,” Darrak said dryly.
“I have an idea and I think it’s a good one. After I finish my meal”—Asmo nodded toward the lounge area filled with waiting human snacks—“I’ll kill your witch. You can possess this bald guy here,” he nudged the unconscious Stanley with his foot. “Then I’ll see if I can burn that celestial energy right out of you.”
“Darrak. .” Eden whispered. “I’m open to suggestions on how you propose to get us out of here. My magic is strong, but—”
“You’re not using your magic,” he said. “There’s no guarantee you could defeat Asmo with it, anyhow.”
“But—”
Darrak shrugged away from her. “You’d do that for me, Asmo? You think it’s the only way I can be restored to my former self?”
Asmo shrugged his broad shoulders. “Dunno. Worth a try though, don’t you think?”
“Don’t listen to him,” Eden said sharply.
Darrak glared at her over his shoulder. “Would you stop nagging me for one minute? It’s really getting old.”
She gasped and her eyes widened with confusion.
“Uh-oh.” Asmo chuckled. “Looks like the angelic honeymoon is over. Always the way with relationships based entirely on lust. They start off with a bang and end with a whimper.”
“We definitely started off with a bang,” Darrak said.
Asmo smiled approvingly. “Now shall we make her whimper?”
Darrak looked at Eden, who gaped at him. He shook his head. “You had to have seen this coming, didn’t you? How can I possibly exist with celestial energy inside of me like this, changing me into this disgusting guilt-feeling, emotional drip?”
“You can’t, that’s how,” Asmo agreed.
“No, I can’t. I want to be who I was. I want to be a demon, fully and completely. And I want to rid myself of everything human that has weighed me down for all of this time.” Darrak’s eyes narrowed on Eden. “And that, I’m afraid, includes you.”
Eden shook her head, but it was barely noticeable. “Don’t do this. You’re better than this.”
“But that’s the problem,” Darrak said. “I don’t want to be better.”
There were tears in her eyes now, and she looked away.
“Going to use your black magic on me now?” he asked. “Maybe my true name so you can boss me around even more than normal?”
“Do you want me to?”
“You know what I want.”
Darrak noticed her hands were clenched into fists at her sides, but he didn’t feel any of her magic in the air yet. She was holding back.
She nodded. “You’re right. I know what you want. After all, you’ve drummed it into my head enough lately, haven’t you? You don’t want to feel this way; you hate it. You want to be a demon, evil to the core and able to go skinny dipping in the lake of fire every morning.”
He almost laughed. “Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?”
“I know you hate it here. You try to pretend that you don’t, but it’s obvious to me.” She rubbed a hand under her nose. “Fine. Then do it. Agree with Asmo. Let him kill me and go off and be a demon if that’s what you want so damned much.”
Was she testing him? Pushing him to see if he’d break now that he’d come so far?
She would be sorely disappointed, if that was the case.
“Okay, then. I agree,” he said firmly. Eden visibly paled as he said it.
“Hooray!” Asmo exclaimed. “So happy to hear it!”
Darrak realized the demon lord had dragged Nancy up off the lounge by her hair. She’d been released from whatever spell held her in place so she fought against him now.
“Oh, my God,” Nancy gasped. “What’s going on?”
“Yum.” Asmo sniffed up her neck. “No angel here, that’s for sure. I smell cinnamon and powdered sugar. This won’t take long, Darrak. I just need to reenergize a little bit first.”
He opened his mouth and began to inhale deeper. Nancy let out a frightened scream.
Darrak felt the air begin to energize. This time it was from Eden’s magic, not from Asmo’s. His gaze shot to her.
“We had a deal,” he said. “We shook on it and everything, remember?”
“I guess you’re not the only one who’s a liar in this relationship,” she snapped. Tears streaked down her cheeks. Looked like he’d managed to hurt his little nephilim-slash-black-witch’s feelings.
“Hold that thought for a sec, will you?” he said, and turned toward the body of his former friend. “Sorry, Asmo, looks like this really can’t wait any longer.”
Asmo stopped inhaling Nancy’s energy for a moment. “What can’t wait?”
“This.”
Darrak grabbed him by his long black hair and yanked him forcibly away from Nancy. He grasped the angelheart from his pocket and crammed it into the demon lord’s mouth, as far to the back of Asmo’s throat as he could. Then he held Asmo’s mouth shut, using every last ounce of his strength until he heard the demon gulp.
That was the sound he’d been hoping for.
It didn’t last long. Asmo broke his hold, and Darrak went flying backward and crashed onto a glass cocktail table, breaking it on impact.
Asmo touched his stomach. “What the heck did you just make me swallow?”
Darrak stayed where he was on the floor for a moment, amongst the shattered glass. “Diamonds are a demon’s best friend.”
Asmo gasped. “A — a diamond? That’s not even funny. What was the point?” After a second, he touched his chest. “Oh. . okay, wait. That burns a little bit. It almost feels like. . like. .”
“Like angel juice, straight up?” Darrak slowly got to his feet. “Yeah, there’s a really good reason for that. You’ll find that having a body does have its downside. When you’re incorporeal, you can’t easily be hurt. But in a body — even a demonic one — well, that’s a whole other story.”
“Angels? I
A fine white line appeared on his forehead, slowly snaking its way across his stolen skin. He touched it gingerly. Then another on his cheek and chin. The lines traveled down his throat and down his arms under the black shirt to his hands.
“What is this?” Asmo asked, looking down at himself. “What did you do to me? I thought you agreed to my plan?”
“Yeah, about that,” Darrak said. “I guess it’s not the first time I lied today. Sorry about that.”
“Do you want to be this way? You’re tainted. You’ll never be able to step foot in Hell again without drawing attention to yourself. You’ll be destroyed if you ever try.”
Darrak nodded. “One problem at a time.”
Everywhere the lines had appeared on Asmo’s skin, light began to pour through like cracks on the surface of a volcano. His eyes widened and light poured out from there as well. It didn’t take long before his entire body, stolen from Theo, was bathed in bright white light like a star about to go supernova.
