“Not an insult. You have doubts, worries, issues.”
Darrak groaned. “This is not an issue that’s going to be long-term. Seriously. Just give it a moment. This has never happened to me before.” He glared at her. “Okay, you look way too amused right now.”
She was grinning at him. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“Maybe once upon a time, but not anymore.”
She nodded. “Let’s do this.”
“I thought I already explained in flaccid detail that it’s not going to happen. Ten minutes. Give me ten minutes. I need some peanut butter or something. Protein.”
“I mean the curse.” Her expression had grown serious very quickly. She shifted so she pushed him onto his back and straddled him. Even though she was wearing full flannel pajamas, he found that his issues were disappearing as quickly as they’d arrived. The woman could make even flannel sexy. He ran his hands up her thighs.
“This is much better,” he said. “I can work with this.”
He pulled her down and captured her mouth again.
Eden pushed back from him. “I want to break the curse. Now. Let’s get it over with. Why would we want to wait another minute?”
He eyed her warily. “Now? You’re sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”
“That’s pretty sure.”
She pressed her hands against his chest. “So should I approach this the same as the spell? Maksim said a curse is made of denser magic and I was supposed to be careful with it.”
“Yes, you definitely want to be careful. And he was right. A curse will feel different than a spell on that level. It’s stronger, tougher. Think about gum stuck to someone’s shoe. Only it’s not gum and no shoes are involved.”
Eden’s expression was filled with enthusiasm, hope, and sheer determination. He didn’t want to say anything to break this mood. He liked seeing the worry gone from her green eyes.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said.
He almost smiled at that. He was more concerned for her, not him at this moment. “The spell could have gotten worse, but a curse is as bad as it gets. Not sure you could do more damage than was already done.”
Eden nodded. “Then kiss me again for good luck.”
“I can definitely do that.” He flexed his abdomen and sat up, doing just as she asked. She tasted good. Addictive. His body responded immediately.
Sure,
Stupid Lucifer.
He slid his hands under the edge of her flannel top to trail up the length of her spine.
“Should touch you skin to skin again,” he said. “It will help.”
“It’s helping.”
“Now try to concentrate, Eden, and break this damn curse once and for all. One shot. That’s all we’re doing right now. Just a test of the emergency broadcast system.”
“Just a test.” She kissed him one last time, then closed her eyes and pressed him back down to the mattress. “I can do this.”
Darrak watched her guardedly. There was no change for a moment, but then she frowned, her eyebrows drawing together. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… but I–I think I can see something. I think it’s your curse. It’s… it’s so dark and horrible.”
He did hope that was the curse she was seeing, not simply his true demon self. “Tell me exactly what you see.”
“The darkness is filled with evil like a black hole. It scares me.”
“What else?”
She hesitated. “On the other side there’s a glow, a — a brightness. Filled with light and life and goodness.”
That was probably the celestial energy he’d absorbed from her like an undigested candy bar in his gut. “Focus on the dark part. Try to grab that darkness and test it out — you’ll be able to see if it’s really the curse then or if it’s, uh, just a part of… yours truly.”
“Okay, I can do that.” She was silent for a long moment, her forehead creased with concentration. “I’m almost there. I can move it — right now… it’s hard to budge…”
Something was wrong, he sensed it deep in his gut. “Eden, wait a minute. Something about this doesn’t feel right. We need to hang off for just a—”
And then he felt it. Pain — a searing agony more intense and acute than he’d ever felt before crashed over him like a tidal wave. It was quite possible he literally screamed. He pushed Eden off of him and rolled off the side of the bed. And then, suddenly, his body was gone, and there was only smoke.
EIGHT
Eden panicked, scrambling off the bed so fast and hard that she bruised her knees. “Darrak! No… no! Please!”
He was gone; only black smoke remained for a long, horrible drawn-out moment.
And then his body returned. Darrak lay on his back on the carpet, next to an old copy of
“Oh, my God!” She grabbed hold of his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to hurt you! I’m so sorry! Darrak… are — are you okay?”
He blinked, then squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them and meeting her gaze. “How do I look?”
“You…” Eden gulped and scanned his body — currently in all its naked glory. “You look fine. Great. Normal. How do you feel?”
He forced himself into a sitting position. “
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Hot tears streaked down her face. “And I don’t think it even worked. I had to stop before I could really try to do anything else. I didn’t want to make it worse.”
He touched her face to push the tears away. “I’m fine now. But you’re right, the curse is still with me. I feel it. Nothing’s changed.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She’d tried, but she knew it hadn’t done a bit of good. The bright light had blocked what she’d tried to get at — that dark, nasty sludge that she was certain represented the curse on a metaphysical level. As soon as she’d tried to separate the light from the dark she’d sensed Darrak’s distress. It had come across to her loud and clear.
“Don’t be sorry,” he said. “We tried. It was enough to know it’s not nearly as simple to remove as the spell.”
Darrak was still bound to Eden, as much as he’d ever been.
But she wasn’t disappointed she’d failed. She was filled with relief that he was okay. For a horrible moment there, she thought she’d lost him completely.
Looked like Maksim’s advice
“So… it looks like you’re stuck with me,” Darrak said cautiously.
She leaned back against the side of her bed. “Looks that way.”
“We can go see Maksim again if you like. Get some more advice from the Wiz.”
