The Demon in Me

fast as she could.

“Darrak, stop it! Let go of him.”

Darrak finally pushed away from Ben and staggered back a few feet. His pale face was shiny with sweat and he looked ill and weak. He covered his stomach with his hand and leaned over as if wracked with pain, his chest heaving.

“Eden—” Ben turned to her, shock and grief in his gaze. “I’m so sorry that happened. I–I can’t believe what I’m seeing here — but it’s true. You’re in danger. You have to come with me. Away from that — that monster.”

She shook her head. “You need to go.”

“Eden—”

“Ben, listen to me. You need to forget what you saw here. It’s better for you that way.”

He frowned as if he didn’t understand what she was saying. “He’s a demon.”

“I know that.”

“Come with me. Please.”

“I can’t.”

“You want to stay with him even… knowing what he is?” His dark blue eyes clearly showed his shock.

She swallowed hard. “Yes. And I want you to leave now.”

He stared at her for a full minute, perhaps waiting for her to change her mind, before he shakily holstered his gun under his leather jacket. He cast a last glance at Darrak, who was now hunched over against the wall by the coat closet.

“Fine.” He nodded with one jerk of his head. He absently ran his fingers over the cross he wore. “But don’t say I didn’t offer to help you.”

He turned, opened the door, and left the apartment. Eden rushed to Darrak’s side. He was slowly sinking to the ground.

He’d grown even paler. His eyes were glazing over.

“What’s happening to you right now?” she demanded. “What happens if you lose all your energy?”

“You get… your wish.” He forced a weak smile. “I’ll… vanish into thin air and be… out of your life forever. Won’t take long now.”

That’s what she wanted. That’s what she planned to get Malcolm to do for her tomorrow.

“Take some of my energy,” she said.

He shook his head. “No, Eden… I need too much right now.”

“I don’t care.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Sure I do.” She crouched in front of him.

“Let me fade. I’m… close now. Only another minute and—”

She grabbed hold of his face and kissed him hard on his mouth.

It served two purposes. It shut him the hell up, and it opened herself up for him to dip into her newly restored energy.

It was like an endlessly rotating circle. He healed her. She healed him. Rinse and repeat.

He didn’t resist for very long. He pressed his mouth against hers and began to absorb her energy. After a few moments, she started to feel light-headed. She opened her mouth to the kiss, knowing full well that this was the same demon who minutes ago had horns and was covered in gold flames in the middle of her apartment. An archdemon. A title that made people who knew what that meant shudder in fear like Malcolm had, or hightail it right out of town like Leena.

But Eden wasn’t afraid of him. She thought she would be — she had every damn reason to be — but she wasn’t afraid. At least not at the moment.

She could have gotten rid of him once and for all. The opportunity had presented itself, and she hadn’t taken it. Instead she was metaphysically making out with the demon on the linoleum floor of her kitchenette. And it felt way too good.

Maybe she had been drinking heavily that morning. At least that would be a reasonable explanation for her current behavior.

The longer the kiss went on, the weaker she felt, and it wasn’t just because Darrak was an amazing kisser.

She remembered what he’d told her the last time he’d taken some of her energy.

“The problem is that the energy I’ve tasted of yours is very… what’s a good word to use here? Irresistible . Delicious . Addictive . Any of those would do.”

“My energy is tasty?” she’d asked.

“Yes. Very. Therefore I can’t take too much or I might not be able to stop myself.”

But he did stop himself. After another minute Darrak finally broke off their kiss. He looked totally renewed and alive. He smiled at her for a split second until he saw the expression on her face. She was the one who was fading now.

And fading fast.

“Eden…”

“I’m okay.” She shakily rose to her feet. A wave of dizziness came over her and she braced her hand against the wall.

“I took too much, didn’t I?”

“Maybe just a smidge,” she replied, just as her legs gave out completely. She felt his firm arms come around her a moment before she would have hit the floor.

Everything went black.

— When Eden woke up, she smelled lasagna.

She raised her head from the sofa where she currently lay to look over at the kitchenette. Darrak was removing a piece of lasagna — courtesy of the departed Leena — from the microwave oven.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

His shoulders tensed. “This is for you. I sensed you were about to wake up and thought you should have something waiting when you did.”

He brought it over to her with a fork and placed the plate on the coffee table in front of her. Then he took a few steps back to give her space.

She felt nervous with him standing there watching her after everything that had happened, but reached forward to have a few bites of the pasta dish. Leena hadn’t been kidding. She really knew how to cook.

A glance at the clock on her wall unit told her it was almost four o’clock. “Guess I’ve been out for a while, huh?”

“I took too much energy from you. I couldn’t control myself.”

“It’s understandable.”

He barked out a laugh. “Is it?”

“You were in rough shape.” She pushed the plate away from her. Then she started folding the afghan that Darrak had covered her with while she slept. The demon stood with his back against the breakfast bar. Even though he looked strong and energized, his face was still as pale as it had been when he’d almost faded away to nothing. “You still don’t look so great.”

“I’ve made a decision.”

“Oh, yeah?”

He nodded and pulled a business card out of his pocket. “I found this in your purse. Malcolm gave you his phone number when you saw him last night?”

She stood up from the sofa, moved toward him, and snatched the card out of his hand. “You went through my purse when I was unconscious?”

“I went through your closets yesterday. It was only a matter of time before I got to your purse. I’m eyeing your medicine cabinet and lingerie drawer next.” There was a momentary spark of humor in his blue eyes at her outraged expression. “You need to call him.”

“And why would I want to do that?”