That Old Black Magic

sharp look, she huffed out, “What? It’s true. I’m way more laid-back than you are. Always have been.”

“Too laid-back, if you ask me,” Eden mumbled as she did her coat up.

“Bye, now. Have fun with mommy dearest,” Darrak said dryly.

She met his gaze. “I’ll be back.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She reluctantly left the office, leading her mother right next door to Hot Stuff. Nancy quickly prepared their coffees, and they sat down at a booth.

Eden looked across at her mother’s borrowed face. “Okay, we’re here. You have the floor.”

“You know how much I love you, Eden,” Caroline began.

Eden sighed. “I know. And I know you mean well, but you don’t know Darrak like I do.”

“He’s a demon from Hell.”

“This is an argument that is going to go in circles, so let me stop you right there. He’s great. He’s wonderful. If he was a human guy I’d just met on the street I’d be damn lucky if he’d even look in my direction.”

“But you’re not happy, are you?”

“My current level of happiness actually has very little to do with Darrak himself. It’s complicated. I know you’re trying to help, but you have to give me space to deal with this.” She glanced at her watch. “I don’t have much time. What’s your plan? Are you going to stay here in Toronto?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Caroline took a sip from her coffee, black with two sweeteners, just like Eden remembered.

Her mother had always been on a diet to keep her figure as fat-free as possible. She’d saved up money when Eden was just a little girl to buy herself breast implants. She’d looked exactly like a Vegas showgirl, blonde and glamorous — everything that Eden knew she herself wasn’t.

Not that she ever wanted breast implants. And Eden never had a great desire to be a size zero. She was a six. Sometimes an eight. She didn’t overeat, but she didn’t really pay too much attention to it. She figured if she did pay too much attention she might become like Caroline, concerned with every calorie. Finding her pleasure with a diet of cocktails instead of a good meal.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise that Caroline had chosen the svelte, beautiful, young body she had. Eden would have been able to call that particular decision from a mile away.

Caroline had always valued beauty and her outward appearance because it bought her what she needed — men to take care of her when the tables didn’t pay out right. Beauty was a commodity, and she’d had it in spades. Eden knew, at the time of Caroline’s death when she’d been pushing fifty, that her fading beauty was an issue for her.

“So now what?” Eden asked when Caroline didn’t say anything for a moment. “Do you need money?”

Caroline laughed. “I can take care of myself.”

“Half of Triple-A is yours. Maybe you want it back.”

“No, I don’t want anything from you, Eden.” Her expression shadowed. “I know I was a lousy mother. It’s time for me to make up for that. I’m here for you in your greatest time of need.”

Eden reached across the table and took Caroline’s hand. “Things weren’t always the best between us, but I know you meant well. And I was really sorry to lose you like that, especially after we hadn’t spoken in a while.”

“That was totally my fault.” Caroline shook her head and took another sip of her coffee. “I should have stayed in touch. I got mixed up with an acrobat from Cirque du Soleil. Half my age. He was very… flexible.”

“Sounds interesting.”

She grinned. “It had its moments. And about your father… I honestly didn’t know what he was. I had no idea about anything supernatural in the world until after I died.”

Eden grew concerned again. “Were you okay? I know you were in… in Hell for a while.”

“I was fine. I felt like I was sheltered — like someone was looking out for me, protecting me. Then I was returned here with the knowledge that I had to redeem myself for the mistakes I’d made in life before I’d have the chance to go to a better place. It could take me a long time to do that.”

Eden knew who’d been protecting her mother. Lucas had. But only because he was using Caroline’s soul as a bartering tool to get Eden to do what he wanted. Still, she was glad her mother hadn’t had to suffer. She stood up, knowing they had to wrap this up. The sun was setting. “You know I’m here for you.”

“I know, honey.” Caroline stood as well. “I’d like to spend more time with you while I’m here. If that’s okay with you.”

“I think that could be arranged. But you’re going to have to let the subject of Darrak go. Him and me — we’re together. For better or for worse.” Eden inwardly cringed. That phrase made her think about his proposal again.

She threw her coffee cup in the garbage as they made their way toward the door. She waved at Nancy and saw the sparkle of her engagement ring as the barista waved back at her. She looked so happy.

The air felt cold on her face as they left the cafe.

Caroline looked disturbed. “You deserve better than to be possessed by a demon, Eden. It’s nothing I ever would have envisioned for you.”

“Sometimes life doesn’t always go the way you envision it. It’s a lesson I’ve recently learned.”

Caroline grasped Eden’s hands in hers. “This is bad, Eden, and it has to end. I can see that even if you can’t.”

“Mom, please. I need to get back.” It was the same thing over and over and her patience was wearing thin. By the look of that sun, Darrak was going to start to lose form very soon.

“I’m not the only one who cares about you, Eden,” she said tightly. “This — what’s happening right now — this is an intervention.”

She really didn’t like the sound of that. “What are you talking about?”

“Eden,” a familiar voice said from behind her. “Don’t get upset.”

She swiveled to see Ben Hanson standing ten feet away.

Shit. This was the last thing she needed right now.

“What do you want, Ben? I thought I made it very clear the last time I saw you that—”

He cut her off. “I know. I approached everything the wrong way then. I was motivated by my own hurt feelings. But Eden, this is so much bigger than that — I see that now. It’s made me change my life, and I wouldn’t do that simply out of some misplaced emotion toward a woman I’d been on a single date with. It’s just taken me this long to get the right kind of focus.”

Eden hissed out a breath of frustration. “I swear, Ben, don’t come another step closer to me. I think you know what I can do if you push me too far. I’d rather not go there, especially not here.”

Actually, there weren’t that many cars in the lot. And the cafe had been practically deserted, apart from Nancy, the baker in the back kitchen, and maybe one other customer. No witnesses nearby if she had to use a little bit of magic to protect herself.

“So what is this? You and my mother have hooked up in order to grind some sense into me about Darrak, right?” She looked back at Caroline. “You know Ben’s with the Malleus, don’t you? They’re not all that friendly toward drifters like you. I’ve seen a Malleus member take one out before. No redemption for you, then. No fluffy set of wings and a chance to hang out with my father again. Just a one-way ticket to the Void.”

Caroline shook her head. “Ben and me — we want the same thing. We want to help you.”

“I guess you don’t understand what I’ve been telling you, so let me go ahead and spit it out one last time.” Eden glared at Ben and felt the crackle of black magic move down into her hands just in case he tried anything funny. “You need to leave me alo—”

She gasped at the sharp stabbing pain in her shoulder and staggered forward. She’d been thinking it would be Ben who tried something. He’d shot her full of tranquilizer a couple of weeks ago so he could kidnap her and present her to his boss for an unpleasant Q&A. But Ben didn’t have the tranquilizer needle this time.

Her mother did.

Caroline’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but this is for the best, honey. When you wake up, you’ll realize that.”

“No, wait…” Eden fell forward, but Ben was there to catch her before she hit the ground. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”