The Demon in Me

her home, but it might have been a good idea tonight for safety reasons.

It felt completely insane for her to be thinking she needed to be afraid of Darrak. After all, he’d been nothing but protective of her so far. That was the most difficult thing about this. She couldn’t rationalize how he could be one way with her and yet be something she had to be afraid of.

But he was a demon. There was no doubt about that. And demons, according to both Selina and Malcolm, were evil. Full stop.

Was there another explanation? Or did she need to get rid of him by any means possible as soon as she could?

After all, the piece of salt in her pocket definitely wasn’t for making margaritas.

She closed the door, locked it, and pressed up against it, her fearful gaze moving through her small apartment as if looking for a definite sign of what she should do next.

Leena, in cat form, jumped down off the couch and came over toward her, batting Eden’s leg with her head. “Mrroww?”

The concerned-sounding meow helped the rush of emotion she’d been holding back for hours surge forward. Eden burst into tears.

It only took a couple of moments for Leena to morph into human form and Eden felt her hand on her shoulder. “Let me guess. Bad night?”

Eden continued to blubber uncontrollably. “The worst.”

“You need something to eat?”

“I don’t think that’s going to help very much.” She sat down heavily on a dinette chair.

“What’s the problem?”

Eden took in a shaky breath. “I’m possessed by a demon.”

“No shit. Didn’t we already know that?”

Eden chewed on her thumbnail — a nervous habit she thought she’d given up long ago. “He’d convinced me that he was a good demon—”

“There are no good demons.”

“Sure. Now you tell me.”

Leena sat down across the small table from her. “Didn’t know you had to be told. Everything that comes out of the Netherworld is some form of evil. That’s the way it’s always been and it gives balance to the universe. There can’t be good without evil. There can’t be day without night. There can’t be chocolate without vanilla. Et cetera.”

Eden blinked at her and rubbed her tears away. “You know about this sort of thing?’

She nodded. “I know more about a lot of things than I wish I did, to tell you the truth. I knew the moment I saw that demon that he was no good.”

“How did you know that?”

“Mostly because he’s a demon.”

“But he healed me when you scratched me. And he’s been really helpful. And he’s a pain in the ass but he hasn’t done anything really horrible. And he… he doesn’t seem evil to me.”

Leena frowned. “Are you in love with him?”

Eden’s eyebrows went up. “What?”

“I can’t think of any reason why you’d be defending him like this if there weren’t feelings involved. And just before you say yes or no, just know that demons are well-known for manipulating the feelings of humans and using them against the human in question to get them to do what they want.”

“I know that.”

“Then if you know that and you’re still defending this dude, then you’re seriously screwed.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Eden tried very hard not to think about the times when she’d felt close to Darrak, despite what he was. When she’d woken up in his arms. When they’d kissed. When she’d called him her guardian angel. “I’m going to have him exorcised.”

“Where is he right now?”

“He’s been dampened.” She quickly told Leena about what happened with Selina.

Her eyes widened. “The Love Witch is a real witch? That is so cool.”

“You think she was telling me the truth?”

“She’s the Love Witch. Of course she was. Summoning an incubus to make her into a black witch back in the Salem witch trial days… that’s pretty powerful stuff. She should sell the movie rights for that. I’d go see it.”

Eden twisted a finger absently through her long hair. “It’s got to be powerful. I mean, even with proper instructions, summoning an archdemon sounds dangerous.”

“Summoning a what?” The pleasant, curious look fell from Leena’s face.

“An archdemon. It’s apparently a really powerful demon who answers only to Lucifer and—”

“Oh, I know what an archdemon is. And you’re saying that tall, dark, and gruesome is an arch?”

Eden nodded.

Leena gave her a frozen smile. “And I am out of here.”

“What?”

She stood up. “It’s been fun. I made a lasagna like I said I would. It’s in the fridge. Help yourself. Well, since I used your ingredients it’s legally yours anyhow. There’s a Caesar salad in there, too. And you might get your cable bill later and find out that I’ve been watching a lot of pay-per-view movies. Like, a lot of them. I’ll send you a check… some time soon. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

She walked to the door.

Eden blocked her. “Wait. You can’t leave.”

“Oh, but I can.”

The panic that had subsided a little rose again. “I need you here.”

“Why? You don’t even know me. And you didn’t want me to be here in the first place.”

“I thought you were hiding from some people.”

Leena physically pushed past Eden to get to the door. “I am. And I can hide somewhere else that doesn’t have an archdemon in residence. In fact, I think I’d prefer it that way.”

“Don’t go.”

Leena laughed short and bitterly. “You have no damn idea how much trouble you’re in, do you? And I’m sorry if it seems like I’m being selfish. Well, I am. But if I found out a nuclear bomb was about to go off in the town I was living in, I wouldn’t think twice about getting the hell out of there as fast as I could.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Wish I was.” She shivered. “I’ve seen demons, Eden. I’ve seen them in their demon form — none of this human-looking pretty exterior.”

“So he does look different,” Eden breathed. “I knew it.”

“Oh hell yeah, he looks different. Demons have two… the word used is visages. A human visage and their demon one they have to wear like a uniform when they go see the big boss downstairs. And the demon visage can be pretty goddamned scary. I had nightmares for weeks after I ran into my last one who wasn’t wearing his human visage at the time. Like something out of a horror movie. There was slime involved.”

“Slime?” Eden yelped.

Leena crossed her arms tightly, her expression one of disgust. “Yeah. Not pleasant, believe me. Sure he was hot as hell in his human form, but that didn’t exactly erase the other form from my mind. And he wasn’t even an archdemon.”

Eden’s mind reeled, trying to process this latest influx of info. “So what’s the difference?”

“Power. An archdemon can level an entire city if they have a mind to with so-called natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, fires, or tornados. These things aren’t always caused by archs, but they’ve had a hand in some of the worst things to ever hit humans in the past — mostly for their own amusement. And they try to one-up each other. They want to be closer to Lucifer — closer to the top. They hunger for power. It’s all they want.”

Eden chewed her bottom lip so hard she thought she might break the skin. “But there are demons who can be redeemed — ones who used to be human.”