Darrak tightened his grip, and his fiery gaze flicked toward Eden for a split second. “You’re damn lucky you didn’t hurt her.”
Richard snorted. “Oh? And what would have happened if I had?”
“I would have torn your arms off.”
He didn’t sound like he was kidding. In fact, Eden had never heard him sound more serious about anything since they’d met, even during the “don’t take the elevator without me” conversation. The violent edge to his voice made a shiver race down her spine.
“It would suck to be armless,” Richard agreed. “Then I’d have to shift into a brand-new body when I’m perfectly happy with this one. But, no arms? Definitely a deal breaker.”
“This isn’t funny.”
Richard didn’t look terribly concerned, but his expression turned curious. “There’s something different about you, demon. Didn’t sense it until just now, but you’re weaker than you should be, aren’t you?”
“What part of ‘leave this body now’ are you having trouble understanding?”
“All of it.” Richard broke Darrak’s hold easily and shoved him back. “It’s been a while since I saw my last demon face-to-face, but I’m sure hellspawn are way more fun than you’re being right now. Does this bitch have your balls in a knot? I’ve never seen a demon so whipped before. I almost feel sorry for you.”
“Darrak…” Eden said cautiously, remembering how strong the drifter was when he held her against the wall. “Maybe we should go.”
He didn’t look at her. “Not yet.”
Richard shook his head, looking at Eden and Darrak each in turn. “You both need to stay out of my business.”
“Or what?” Darrak growled.
Despite the smile on his face, Richard’s expression was chillingly unfriendly. “Or I’m going to find your little human girlfriend when you’re not around and have some fun with her. Before and after she’s dead.”
Darrak’s fist moved too fast to register as he punched Richard squarely in the face. The drifter staggered backward and whacked his head against the side of the building. Blood gushed from his nose as he slumped to the ground. Darrak’s eyes were ablaze, his arms flexing, and he moved forward to grab Richard’s throat and lurched him back up to his feet.
“I’m going to kill you.” The words were coated with fury.
Eden grabbed his arm, which felt like a steel bar. “Whoa. Hold on, Darrak. Stop. Don’t hurt his body. If what you’re saying is true, you’ll be hurting the real Richard, not the demon inside him.”
“He’s not important enough to be a true demon,” Darrak hissed through clenched teeth. “A drifter is nothing more than a migrant spirit. Worthless troublemakers, that’s all they are. More garbage for the rest of Hell to clean up in our spare time.”
“Forget about him.”
“He threatened you. Right in front of me.”
His body shook with anger and Eden grabbed his shoulders and then touched his face to force him to look at her. Finally, he let go of Richard.
“Hey,” she said. “Come on. You’re starting to scare me.”
His chest heaved and he blinked those fiery eyes. “He was going to hurt you.”
“But he didn’t. You hurt him, instead. I’m okay with that, really. But I don’t want you to kill him.”
Richard took the small window of opportunity, scrambling to his feet and running away from them without saying another word.
Darrak tensed as if ready to pursue the fleeing drifter.
Eden tightened her grip on him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
He looked at her with confusion. “I need to go after him.”
“No, you don’t. My shoes were meant for a surveillance duty today, not for running, and we have to stay close to each other, remember? We’ve figured out what the problem is. And it’s a big, really freaky one. But, case solved. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I’ll let Fay know.”
He swallowed and seemed to relax the longer they stood there. “You’ll tell her that her husband’s possessed by an evil spirit?”
She forced a smile. “I had no idea how much we had in common. Maybe we’ll become best friends.”
“I’m not evil.”
“So you keep telling me.”
He looked at her. “Do you finally believe me?”
“Aside from the threats of death and arm removal I just witnessed… I’m…” She swallowed. “I’m starting to. Yeah.”
“You are?” He looked surprised.
She nodded. Her hand now rested on his chest and she could feel his heart beating. It was reassuring that he had an actual heart somewhere in that very human-looking body of his. “How can you be evil? You’re totally my guardian angel.”
He snorted at that. “Now let’s not start using the A-word. That’s just insulting.”
“It’s just an expression, not a full-out accusation of having wings and a halo.”
His eyes slowly shifted back from the scary swirling amber flames to their normal cool blue color. He blinked. “I’m sorry I reacted like that.”
She stroked his dark hair back from his forehead. “I’m okay with it, actually. That freak was going to cut my nose off. How am I supposed to make a living as an exotic dancer without a nose?”
He traced a line down the nose in question with his index finger. “It would be difficult, but I have a feeling you could make it work.”
“Yeah, sure.” She exhaled shakily. She was putting on a good front but the run-in with the drifter had scared her deeply. “I wasn’t so thrilled with the death threat, either.”
“Drifters are tricksters and opportunists but they’re rarely murderers. I think this asshole was just saying that to scare you and get a rise out of me.”
She felt a small bit of relief. “He got it.”
“He did.” He scowled. “He’s probably laughing at me right now.”
“And bleeding.”
“That, too.”
It helped ease her mind a little bit to learn this additional fact about drifters. She wondered if she should start keeping notes on all of the Others she was meeting. It might be a good idea.
She suddenly realized that she and Darrak were so close they were practically embracing. Even though he was a demon, and a weakened one at that, she felt safe with him, especially when his arms were around her.
“Uh…” She forced herself to move away from him. He broke his hold on her with no argument. “Let’s go back to Triple-A. I can call Fay and give her the news. Actually, I’m surprised that since she’s Otherworldly herself she wasn’t able to tell there was something up with her husband.”
He leaned against the brick wall. “Drifters are hard to detect. They’re like con men, easily able to adapt and thrive in their human camouflage. But the good news is that as a fairy she’ll have the right contacts to exorcise the drifter right out of him — even if she doesn’t want to dip into her own magic to do it.”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t recommend Malcolm and Rosa’s services to her?”
He shook his head. “That’s a bad idea.”
“I was kidding.”
His lips twitched into a half smile. “I figured.”
She fished into her purse for her cell phone. She had a text message from Andy asking her to come back to the office as soon as possible. He’d left it two hours ago.
“Maybe Andy has some news on your elusive witch,” she said, tucking the phone back into her purse.
“I hope so.”
She put a hand on her hip, waiting for the remnants of her afternoon fear-fest to leave her. “Then again, if everyone is possessed these days, maybe it’s the latest fashion. Maybe I should keep you as an accessory.”
He eyed her. “Kidding again?”
“Oh, yes. Completely.”
