“What is it?” he asked unpleasantly.
“You’re still here?” It was Ben. A breath caught in her throat.
“Obviously.”
“Is Eden in?”
“She is.” Darrak turned with a frozen smile on his face. “Great timing, by the way. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were psychic.”
Ben entered the apartment. “I called the office and Andy said you weren’t in yet. I was in the area anyhow, so I thought I’d try my luck and see if you were still at home.”
“Oh,” she said. “Uh… great. Here I am.”
He grinned at her. “Somebody let me in the door downstairs so I came right up.”
There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence.
“Listen, Darrak,” Ben said. “Do you think I can talk to your sister alone for a moment?”
Darrak laughed hollowly. “My sister, huh?”
“That’s right.”
He cocked his head to the side. “And what would you say if I told you that I’m not really her brother?”
Eden looked at the demon sharply but his full attention was on the cop.
Ben frowned. “I’d probably wonder why you would have told me that in the first place. And why you’re staying with her.”
“That’s very complicated, actually.”
“Can you go somewhere else so I can talk to her in private?”
“Afraid not. I need to stay close to her.”
“You’re very stubborn.”
“You could say that.” Darrak glanced at her. “Eden?”
Eden’s stomach churned. She didn’t want to involve Ben in this. “Ben, this isn’t really a good time. Can we talk later?”
Confusion was plain on the cop’s face. “No, we can’t. I want to know what the hell is going on here. Why did you tell me Darrak’s your brother when he’s not?”
“She was trying to protect you from the truth, of course,” Darrak said.
Eden clenched her fists. “Darrak. Stop.”
“And what truth is that?” Ben’s eyes narrowed on the demon. “That you’re her lover? Her ex? Her overprotective gay roommate? Stop me any time I’m getting close here.”
“The other night at the restaurant,” Darrak said. “When you stayed to chat with young Malcolm, what did he tell you? I’m curious.”
“How do you even know about that?” Ben rubbed his temples as if they had started to ache.
“I know a lot of things.”
“I guess Eden told you, right? Well, that little deluded freak filled me in a bit more about a group he’s in. Same thing he was yapping about to you, Eden. Something called the Malleus. Says they fight against evil. Demons and witches and evil spirits.”
“Among other things,” Darrak confirmed.
Ben eyed him. “Actually, Malcolm gave me a card. Told me to call if I ever wanted to join up. He thought I had potential, can you believe that?” He snorted and his gaze flicked to Eden. “The freak insists that you’re possessed by a demon. That’s why he’s been stalking you. He wants to help. Totally crazy. Just like that serial killer the other day. He said he was possessed, too, didn’t he? What the hell is going on in this city? All of a sudden everyone has the same paranoid delusion?”
“Why? Don’t you believe in demons?” Darrak asked. “That cross around your neck makes me think you believe in angels. Is it that big of a stretch to think there’s more out there unseen by the average human eye?”
“
He laughed and it wasn’t hard to hear the bitterness there. “Wouldn’t want to corrupt your cop’s pure mind, huh? Keep him nice and squeaky clean. That’s how you like the men in your life, isn’t it? Forgot about that for a moment.”
Her eyes narrowed. He was baiting her. “Okay, fine. You want to play this game? I’ll do it. I don’t care how crazy it makes me look.”
“Game on,” he replied dryly.
She gathered her thoughts as best she could. She hadn’t planned on this but she might as well make it good. “Ben… the other day, that serial killer. When you shot him, the demon he was possessed with left his body and entered mine. I’ve been possessed ever since.”
Ben stared at her blankly. “What?”
“Literally possessed. But because I have some sort of psychic ability — the same thing that helped me sense the killer was in that closet in the first place — the demon’s able to talk to me. He’s also able to leave my body and take human form during the day.”
“Come on, Eden. This isn’t funny.”
She clasped her hands together tightly and summoned up the courage to tell him the whole truth. “Darrak’s that demon. That’s why he needs to stay near me. He’s bound to me until I die or I exorcise him.”
Ben stared at her for a very long time. Then he laughed nervously. “Okay, I get it. This is some kind of joke. Did the guys at the precinct put you up to this?”
She had to keep trying. It suddenly felt incredibly important for him to believe her. “It’s not a joke. It’s very real. The other day when you saw Malcolm hitting me at Triple-A he and his mother, Rosa, were trying to perform an exorcism. I tried to stop him before you arrived.”
“And why would you want to stop something like that?”
Her eyes flicked to Darrak’s.
“Good question,” Darrak said. “Yes, Eden, why would you want to stop something like that? Share with the class.”
“I–I didn’t want to hurt him,” she replied. It was the truth, after all. At the time. “He’d convinced me he was a nice demon.”
She met and held Darrak’s troubled gaze. He didn’t say anything.
“Okay, let me get this straight.” Ben rubbed his temples. “Darrak here’s a demon. He possessed you. You had a chance to get rid of him and you didn’t because you didn’t want to hurt him because at the time you thought he was… nice?”
“That’s right.”
Ben stared at her for a long moment as if waiting for the punch line. When there wasn’t one he shook his head. “I think you’re right. I’m going to go now. Leave you two to whatever twisted fantasy you’re role-playing.” He turned back to the door but Eden was right behind him.
“Wait, I can prove it.” She couldn’t let him leave like this, thinking she was playing him for some kind of fool. She looked over her shoulder at Darrak, who cocked his head to the side. He had the audacity to look amused at her frenzied explanations.
So much for a future with Ben. She was kissing her chance at a normal relationship with a nice, normal guy good-bye. At least,
Ben turned around. “So prove it.”
“Yeah, Eden,” Darrak said. “Prove it.”
He didn’t think she could. She wasn’t so sure either, but it was worth a try. If only to wipe that smug look off the demon’s face.
“I know your true name,” she said. “Selina told me.”
The smug look was officially history. “No. Eden, don’t do it—”
“Darrakayiis.” She said it slowly so as to pronounce it perfectly.
Darrak went rigid, his arms straight at his sides. He looked like a soldier awaiting instruction from his drill sergeant. Everything about him was still except his eyes, which focused on her, pleadingly. Begging her not to say anything else.
Eden felt surprised by the immediate reaction a few simple syllables had caused. The power of a name. Selina sure hadn’t lied about that.
