“I’m waiting,” Ben said dryly. He hadn’t noticed the change in the room as the power shifted to Eden.
She nervously approached the unmoving demon, his gaze following her every step. She touched his shoulder and upper arm. It felt like stone, his muscles were so tense. She couldn’t decide if she felt guilty or pleased by having found out something he’d kept a closely guarded secret.
But now she wanted to find out even more.
“Show me your demon visage,” Eden said simply and couldn’t help but hear the fear coating every word.
The very next moment, Darrak burst into flame.
Eden shrieked and leapt back from him. Amber flames coated his entire body, which grew to seven feet tall and broadened to twice his human width. Long, black, curved horns emerged from either side of his now-hairless head and almost touched the ceiling. His eyes were the only thing vaguely recognizable and not covered in the fire.
She clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.
“The hellfire won’t burn you.” His voice was deeper, raspier, and a whole lot more frightening now to match his exterior.
“It’s really you?” she ventured.
“You wished to see my demon visage, Eden. Here it is.”
It took her a moment, but she tentatively stepped closer and couldn’t feel any heat coming from him.
“How is it possible?” she asked.
“The fire is part of me — I won’t burn you. I promise.”
She shakily touched the surface of the golden fire. It felt very warm and dry, as if she was touching sand on a hot beach. It didn’t hurt at all. She forced herself to press closer until she felt his hot skin underneath — now hard and rough to the touch, but solid and real.
“Get away from her!” Ben yelled from behind. “Don’t hurt her!”
“Eden, you need to let me go back to my human form,” Darrak said. “Please.”
“H-how?” she stuttered.
“Give me permission.”
She looked up at him, this demon who stood in front of her in all his hellish glory. He looked nothing like the Darrak she’d gotten to know over the last few days. He sounded nothing like him. But it was Darrak. They were the same.
“Okay, fine. You have my p-permission to return to human form.”
Immediately the flames extinguished and he returned to his normal size — still over six feet and muscular, but much smaller and less intimidating than as a full demon.
His handsome face was filled with pain, but she wasn’t sure if it was emotional or physical. “I really didn’t want you to see me like that. I can imagine it was a bit… jarring and terrifying.”
Her hand still rested on his chest, now clad in his usual black T-shirt.
“Jarring, yes.” She nodded. “But… surprisingly enough, I wasn’t all that terrified.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Now you’re the one who’s lying.”
She shook her head. “No lie.”
He studied her with disbelief. “Were you drinking heavily this morning when I wasn’t looking?”
“Maybe that would explain it.”
“Step the hell away from her now,” Ben growled.
Eden turned and her breath caught when she saw that Ben, who still stood over by the door, had his gun out and aimed at Darrak. “Ben, no. Put the gun down.”
“You convinced me that he’s a demon. Funny how seeing is believing.”
“Ben, it’s okay.”
“That — that
“He didn’t. It’s fine.”
“Fine? No, it’s not fine. Not in any sense of the word.”
Darrak held his hands out to either side of himself. “I mean Eden no harm.”
“Shut up.” Ben swore under his breath, his brow was furrowed with stress. He lowered the weapon a little. “He was right. Malcolm — he was right about everything. You’re a demon.”
Darrak pushed Eden away from him and took a step toward the cop. “Put down the gun before you hurt somebody.”
“You’re dangerous. I saw it with my own eyes. I need to stop you.”
Ben raised his gun.
“No, Ben—” Eden lurched forward to try to stop him before this got out of control, but it was too late. He’d already pulled the trigger.
Eden gasped as the bullet tore through her chest. It felt as if she’d been hit with a baseball bat. Pain exploded inside of her.
The force of the bullet made her stagger backward into Darrak’s arms. She gasped for breath, but every inhale felt like a red-hot knife slicing through her lungs. Her vision began to whiten at the edges.
“Damn it!” Ben moved forward, horror etched on his face. “Eden! Oh, my God. Why did you get in the way?”
“Stay back!” Darrak hissed at him. “You’ve done enough.”
She looked up at Darrak’s strained face. He’d placed her gently down on the floor and he pressed his hands over her wound.
Her breathing was ragged and it hurt with every inhale. “Darrak… if I d-die… what will you… what will you do?”
“You’re not going to die.”
“I’m sorry…”
His brows knitted together. “For what?”
“For not trusting you.”
He actually laughed shallowly at that, but there was no humor in it. “Can’t say I’ve given you much of a reason to up until now.”
“But… you’re… you’re my… guardian angel… I shouldn’t have forgotten that.”
“This is no time for insults. Shh, Eden. It’s going to be okay.”
She touched his hands he held over the wound. She didn’t have much longer. She knew she was going to die.
Would she see her mom? Caroline Riley had never seemed like somebody who’d want to hang out in Heaven if she was given any choice in the matter. But maybe…
Suddenly, she felt an unusual warmth where Darrak’s hands were. “What are you d-doing?”
His jaw was tight, his forehead creased in concentration. “This isn’t a simple cat scratch, but I’ll give it everything I have left.”
A wave of heat flooded into her chest. For a moment it hurt even more than the gunshot wound itself — a sensation of all her internal organs lighting on fire — and she cried out in pain, but then the pain lessened and she felt her chest begin to tingle as Darrak healed her, mending and knitting her wound.
His breathing became more erratic and his hands began to shake.
“Okay,” he said after a minute had passed. “That does it for my reserve of power. And then some.”
She propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at her chest. There was a large patch of blood on her shirt and she touched it tentatively. There was no pain anymore. Surprisingly, she felt even better than she had before and strangely energized. A quick glance underneath her shirt showed undamaged skin. She looked up at Darrak with wide eyes. He’d healed her.
But he wasn’t looking at her anymore. He was looking at the cop, and there were now amber flames behind his furious gaze. Before she could say another word, he’d rushed over to Ben and slammed him into the wall. The mirror on one side of the door fell to the floor and shattered.
“You almost killed her,” Darrak snarled. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tear your head off right now and shove it down the garbage disposal.”
Ben didn’t reply. He simply looked from the furious demon over to Eden, who scrambled up from the floor as
