The Demon in Me

Darrak’s eyes hadn’t changed. She could see them past the flames. Still blue and human as his grip increased, cutting off the rest of her breath.

“Eden, I’m sorry for all of this. I… love you.”

Archdemons didn’t love. They couldn’t love. Darrak had told that to Selina just before she’d cursed him. Had he lied? Was he lying now? Why would he tell her this when he was about to end her life?

She gasped for breath but there was no breath to gasp. He’d saved her life before, but now, despite the fact he was trying to fight it, he was squeezing it out of her.

Suddenly something small, black, and furry leapt through the air and attached itself to Darrak’s arm, hissing and scratching. It was Leena. Eden had seen her in the parking lot earlier. She hadn’t left.

“I can help protect you,” she’d told Eden. “Demons are repelled by shapeshifters.”

Darrak grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck and threw her back from him. She hit a tree hard and fell to the ground. It knocked the cat out cold, but Eden could see her furry chest still moved, indicating she was still alive.

Darrak then released Eden, who fell to the ground in a heap. She closed her eyes and pretended to be dead.

“It is done,” Darrak said. “And there are only moments before my host’s remaining power fades and I will lose my form.”

But it wasn’t done. She wasn’t dead, and he had to know that. Rosa didn’t have complete control over him. In Selina’s flashback, the witch had had a white circle of salt going for her as well as a black witch’s level of power. All Rosa really had was his name. That meant he was able to fight this, even if just a little.

Eden pried one eye partially open. The sun was low in the sky but it hadn’t set yet. It cast a golden glow over the clearing they were in.

“Very good,” Rosa said, and Eden heard her approach closer. “My goodness, you’re impressive, aren’t you?”

“Goodness has nothing to do with it,” Darrak replied.

“No, of course it doesn’t. My, I shall enjoy using you, demon.”

“You won’t be the first.”

“Mother, stop this right now,” Malcolm protested, and he sounded on the verge of tears. “You’ve done enough! Eden’s dead!”

“Please, Malcolm. Be quiet.”

From her vantage point, Eden could narrowly see that Malcolm looked very upset with the show so far. His world had been rocked. His mother, whom he thought was a good upstanding exorcist had turned out to be a power-hungry sorceress wannabe, now greedily eyeing the seven-foot-tall horned archdemon from Hell she wanted to add to her growing collection.

Darrak didn’t look down at her. His eyes were fixed on Rosa, who turned to him again.

She smiled. “It’s time.”

Then she began to chant something — but it wasn’t Latin. It sounded older and rougher around the edges.

“Where did you learn that?” Darrak asked.

Rosa broke off. “This little ancient Sumerian ritual? From the mentor who gave me my diamond. Unfortunately, he’s in a coma and his full-powered diamond is missing. If I’d had that, it would have saved me a lot of work over the years, don’t you think?”

“Let me guess. You’re responsible for his coma?”

She smiled thinly. “I’ll never tell. Now silence, demon. No more interruptions.” She began again.

After a minute, Darrak gasped. The flames that coated his body disappeared and he shifted back into human form in the blink of an eye. For a second, part of him turned to black smoke, before flickering back to his solid form.

He convulsed in pain, and clutched at his stomach.

“Why isn’t it working?” Rosa asked, frowning. She repeated a couple words, which made Darrak gasp in agony again, flickering to smoke for a moment longer this time before regaining form.

“What in the world?” Rosa pondered, then clarity came into her eyes. “Foolish, demon. You didn’t really kill her after all, did you?”

She unsheathed her dagger and moved toward Eden, who wasn’t going to do an impression of an immobile pincushion any longer. Her eyes snapped all the way open and she scooted back a few feet.

“I guess I’ll have to kill you myself,” Rosa said.

“Don’t touch her,” Darrak growled.

“No, Mother.” Malcolm grabbed her arm. “This has gone on long enough. I can’t stand here and watch you do this.”

“Get back from me, stupid boy.” She struck Malcolm hard with her cane and he yelped in pain and fell back from her.

Eden scrambled to her feet. “Darrakayiis,” she said, and Darrak immediately turned to face her as the power to control him shifted. There was sweat on his brow and a multitude of very human- looking emotions moving through his eyes.

“Command me to kill her,” he managed. “I’ll do it.”

She shook her head. “Nobody else is dying here tonight.”

“Mother, no!” Malcolm cried. She turned to see Rosa coming toward her with the dagger end of her cane exposed and aimed at her heart.

She didn’t think. She didn’t have to. The magic flared inside of her in an instant and it was enough to knock Rosa backward. The woman stumbled and fell to the ground.

“Leave us alone, you bitch,” Eden warned. “I’m serious.”

“I can help you,” Rosa said.

“You just tried to stab me with the pointy end of your cane. How exactly is that helping me?”

“Let’s forget about what’s happened in the past and move on from here with a fresh slate.”

“I want you to go now and never bother us again.” The magic Eden had promised never to use crackled down her hands into her fingertips. She shot a look over at Malcolm. “Both of you.”

“Then I won’t trap him. I’ll exorcise him. You wanted him gone,” Rosa reasoned. “You called me in a panic, remember? You paid me money to get rid of him for you.”

Eden clenched her hand into a fist at her side. “It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.”

Rosa had the audacity to look concerned for her. “He’ll destroy you. Let us destroy him for you.”

“No.” It was such a simple word for something Eden felt so strongly about.

Rosa’s lips thinned. “Then I’ll have to destroy both of you.” She held her cane up, muttered something indiscernible in that dead language under her breath, and the diamond on the top began to glow. “I need three for full power, but the archdemons I already have are enough to give me the magic I need right now.”

“Eden—” Darrak’s voice was strained. “Run!”

Rosa’s eyes lit with fire, similar to Darrak’s. She honestly thought she was channeling a pure power? She was either deceiving herself or lying to everyone else. Eden was willing to bet on the latter.

Eden felt powerful magic emanating from the diamond. It trapped her in place and it was like moving through taffy just to turn her head. It was too late to run. She watched, as if in slow motion, as Rosa turned the cane, blade side up, and moved toward her again.

“I will have him,” she said firmly. “The archdemon is mine.”

“No,” Eden replied, struggling to speak. “He’s mine.”

And again, the magic was at her fingertips. She focused everything she had on Rosa’s cane.

It was as though a shock wave emanated out from her and focused directly around the diamond. A moment later it shattered as if it were no more than a lightbulb. The next moment, the heavy weight of Rosa’s demon magic disappeared completely from the air.

The older woman’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “You bitch! You broke my diamond!”

Eden staggered back into Darrak’s arms. “Sorry. Was it expensive?”

How much was the average one hundred eighty carat diamond these days? She suddenly wished that Rosa