“Said you should what?” Lucas’s scrutiny was almost palpable as he took another turn around her like a circling shark scenting an injured seal. His gaze finally fell on her amulet. “Maybe I can guess why my name was brought up.”
She clamped a hand over it. “Are you a mind reader, too?”
“Another ability that would prove extremely useful. No, Eden, I can’t predict the future and I can’t read minds. But I’ve existed for a very long time and my skills of deduction are second to none. Your amulet is darker. You’ve been using your magic again.”
Eden thought about the curse removal she wanted to attempt tomorrow morning. “I need to use it.”
“Even knowing the consequences.”
“Yes.”
Lucas’s lips twisted with amusement. “Was it Darrak who suggested you kiss me again so I can take some of that darkness away or was it you?”
Her cheeks warmed. “Neither.”
“Liar.” Then the humor faded from his expression. “Drinking your darkness goes against my ultimate plan, Eden. I want to get back to Heaven, not push myself farther away.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not asking you for anything.” She focused on the ocean and the sunset that didn’t rise or lower from its eternal position. “I need to go back now. I have things to do.”
“Like attempting to break Darrak’s curse?”
She stifled a gasp. “How do you know that?”
“Skills of deduction, remember?” His smile returned. “Have you told him what your delicious celestial energy has done to him yet?”
Eden blanched. “The subject hasn’t come up.”
“It will destroy what little sense of self he still has left. The ego is very important to demons — especially lesser ones.”
“I disagree.”
“Then why haven’t you told him yet?”
Frustration pricked at her. She turned away from Lucas to study the calming waves of the ocean. “I have to get back. He’ll wonder where I’ve gone.”
“No he won’t. I’ll return you within the same millisecond that you left.”
This earned him a look. “Really?”
He nodded. “Or… maybe I should return you a hundred years from now. I might not see the future or read minds, but I do have certain abilities. Keeping you away from him at sunset would certainly help break his ties to you, wouldn’t it? He’d be sent directly to the Void if he can’t find a new body to possess in time.”
There was a veiled threat behind the softly spoken words. He was right. Lucas was in control — he was always in control. He could tear Eden and Darrak apart with only a thought, he had that much power over them.
Eden struggled to breathe normally. “You brought me here for a reason, so let’s get to it. Enough small talk.”
He studied her for a moment before nodding. “Fine. When we were last together I told you that you worked for me now. You owe me for how things worked out last time.”
Lucas had wanted to get his hands on a weapon — a diamond that had been infused with celestial energy called an angelheart. With it he planned to kill his inner beast, the anchor that kept him trapped in Hell. He called that beast Satan. Eden hadn’t met Satan — Lucas’s split personality — but from what she’d heard, she never wanted to. Eden gave him the diamond, but its power had already been spent and it was useless to him.
To make up for this, she was now his Girl Friday.
“What do you need me to do?” It would be futile to try to deny him or say no to whatever came next. The best thing for her to do was hear him out and then figure out a way to do it.
Lucas pulled a small card out of his pocket. “There’s someone I need you to find for me.”
She took the card from him. “It’s blank.”
“I know.”
“Why is it blank?”
“Because this person has been cloaked from me. The details are written on that card, but I cannot see it. It will remain blank for as long as I’m near it.” His lips thinned. “Which is why I need you.”
“Okay.” It didn’t make sense to her, but she wasn’t going to argue. She needed to get back to Darrak before sunset. “Why me?”
“You’re a private investigator. I assume you’ll be able to find a missing person with a little bit of digging and a couple clues. All I do know is that they can be found somewhere in your city.”
Seemed shaky reasoning at best, but she kept her lips sealed. Lucas would have an arsenal of demons to send out to do his dirty work. Why use her?
“Why do you want this person?”
“I want to talk to them.”
“About what?”
“That’s my own business.”
“Just talk?” She looked at him skeptically. “Not torture? Not imprison in Hell? Not use against someone else?”
He held her gaze steadily. “Just talk.”
“About what?”
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer her. He pulled a silver chain out of his pocket and put it in her palm. It looked like a charm bracelet without the charms. “You’ll place this on his or her wrist.”
“And then what?”
“That’s it.”
She looked at the chain. “Sounds too simple.”
“Are you refusing to do this for me?”
“And if I do?” she asked, then flicked her eyes to meet his. His expression didn’t change.
“I suggest you don’t.”
He sounded so pleasant, but the threat was there. This man — this
“When does it have to be done?”
“Tomorrow. Right after your attempt to remove Darrak’s curse.”
She looked at him sharply, but bit her tongue. He couldn’t see the future, but he knew way too much about her. It made her extremely nervous.
“Will you do this for me?” he asked.
“I can’t believe you’re actually giving me a choice.”
“You need to say yes, or this isn’t a binding agreement. And you need to do so of your own free will.”
“Will you destroy Darrak if I don’t agree to this?”
He didn’t speak for a very long moment. Then finally, “No. But know this, Eden. It’s your choice if I’m your friend or your enemy. And trust me, you don’t want me to be your enemy.”
She had absolutely no doubt about that. “I’ll look for your guy tomorrow. I promise.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She turned away to look at the ocean. “Now I need to get back to—”
Lucas pulled her around to face him and before she could say anything, he crushed his mouth against hers. She gasped against his lips as he kissed her and her hands went up against his chest to push him back. He was smiling when she managed to break away, but his eyes were black — fully black.
“Damn,” he said. “Wish that didn’t taste so good.”
She touched her fingertips to her mouth. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“Good-bye, Eden.” He snapped his fingers.
She’d been dismissed.
A bright flash of light and she stood in the Triple-A office. She staggered back a few feet until she felt the
