That Old Black Magic

you don’t even have a birth certificate. Or a driver’s license. And… and we’ve only known each other a month. One month!”

Clarity washed over his expression. “Forget I said anything.”

Her stomach twisted. “No, I don’t want to forget it. Just… maybe ask me again when things are better. But right now — you can’t honestly think this is a good time for this, do you? Besides, we have to go deal with Andy.” She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. “We really have to get moving right now.”

New clothes flowed over his skin, and he let her go completely. “Of course. Andy. I forgot about him for a minute there.”

Eden grabbed at the bedsheets to cover herself. She suddenly felt extremely naked. “Darrak, I mean it. We’ll talk about this later, I promise we will.”

He got up off the bed, averting his gaze. “No problem. I’m going to let you get ready. I’ll give you some privacy.”

He left the bedroom and the door closed behind him with a soft click.

It felt very quiet all of a sudden. She could even hear the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears, loud and fast.

Darrak had just asked her to marry him. Marry him. And she’d all but replied with a hell no. The last thing she wanted to do after all they’d been through was to hurt him, but what was she supposed to say? And what in the world had possessed him to ask her that in the first place? Had he really been inspired, of all things, by Stanley Dancy, minion to wizards and demons alike?

The full moon was making everyone go wild this month.

So, that couldn’t possibly have gone much worse than it did.

Darrak wished for a button to press that could undo the dumber things he attempted. It would have helped many times over the years.

This, quite possibly, had been the dumbest.

“Eden Riley, will you marry me?”

He covered his face with his hands. “What do I think this is? The Bachelorette?”

Sex didn’t normally make him lose his mind like that. First time for everything.

It was sort of humorous, actually. A cursed archdemon asking someone to be his wife in holy-freaking- matrimony. And the entire idea had been put into his mind in the first place by the romantic lothario Stanley, of all people.

Hilarious. Maybe someday he’d be able to laugh about it.

That day was not going to be today.

Fine. So the proof was in the proverbial pudding. He had sensed it all along, but now he knew for sure. What he felt for Eden was not returned in full. She cared about him, she lusted after him, she might even love him a little. But it wasn’t nearly the same as how he felt about her.

Point taken. He didn’t need any further embarrassment, thank you very much. He could take a hint when it hit him in the face with the force of a city bus.

He caught a glimpse of himself in the oval mirror attached to the wall. “This is what happens with all that angel inside of you. It’s turned you into a romantic dope.”

He was soft, sensitive, and making offers of marriage.

It was the beginning of the end, just as he’d predicted for himself.

Lucifer must have been laughing his ass off about his least favorite ex-employee. Darrak was nothing more than sentient hellfire with a soft side.

There were bigger issues to be concerned with at the moment; he knew that. Much, much bigger.

But still. How embarrassing.

TWELVE

Ben was getting better at lurking. Practice made perfect.

He currently lurked outside of Eden’s apartment building. He hadn’t been here for a while, but he was determined to do something now — something that would redeem him from his recent lousy decisions. He’d gone into everything with the Malleus because he wanted to save Eden from the demon who possessed her, and that was exactly what he’d do.

The only question was how.

Do this and everything goes back to normal.

Yeah. Unlikely at best, but it was a nice thought.

The chill in the air made him draw his coat closer. He’d been standing there staring at her building for nearly a half hour now trying to concentrate, but his mind kept going back to that shapeshifter.

Big trouble, that one. Her being locked up in a cage wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Still, something about her situation had struck him as wrong. She was locked in that cell because she had information Oliver wanted. She was also locked up because she was a shifter, since the Malleus deemed anything Other to be evil. Just like the police, the Malleus had rules and guidelines that governed their actions. They were trying to make the world a better, safer place.

He’d honestly believed that in the beginning.

“You look troubled.”

Ben glanced next to him with surprise. He hadn’t seen the man approach, now leaning against the car next to Ben’s. He was tall, with short messy brown hair and an ill-fitting suit that looked like it could use an ironing.

“Do I?” he replied.

“Definitely.”

“Who’re you?”

“Just a concerned citizen. I want to help you… if you want my help, that is.”

“You can help me? You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough, Ben. Enough to know you’re a good person who wants to do the right thing. Just like her.” The man nodded off to their left.

Ben was taken aback that this guy knew his name, but he turned to see that they weren’t alone in their survey of the apartment. There was a pretty, dark-haired young woman sitting in a Corvette nearby, her gaze fixed on the building.

“Who’s she?” Ben asked.

“Someone like you who’s looking for redemption. Her name’s Caroline. You two have a lot in common.”

“Like what?”

“You both care about the ultimate fate of Eden Riley.”

Ben tensed. “What do you know about Eden?”

“A fair amount.”

“Who are you?”

“A friend.”

“I don’t need any more friends.”

“No? Could have fooled me. Here I thought you currently have”—he cocked his head to the side—“exactly zero friends, right? At least ones you can count on in a pinch. You know what they say, a friend can help you move. A good friend can help you move a body. It’s all very true.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

He nodded toward the parked car. “You and Caroline should become friends. Together, I think you can help