what she understood, he could look like anything he wanted. And yet, this disarming, brown-haired, brown-eyed man was his look of choice.
“You have to help me.” She forced the words out. “You have to bring him back.”
Andy stayed right next to her.
“But don’t you feel relieved that he’s gone? You’re finally free from him. You can admit it to me, Eden. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Do I look relieved to you?”
Lucas swept his gaze over her. “Not particularly. Honestly, though, it shouldn’t be such a big loss to you. He was trouble, he brought bad things into your life from the first moment he possessed you. I’ve told you before, Darrak was just some hellfire I decided to give a personality to once upon a time. Nothing worth shedding tears over.”
Yes, she’d heard this before, but she still didn’t care. Darrak came from lowly beginnings — so did a lot of people. Maybe not quite so literal, but it didn’t matter to her who Darrak was, how he’d been created, or how he’d spent the first portion of his existence. All she cared about was the man — yes, the
Lucas cast a glance through the small office space. “You broke the door.”
“Screw the door.”
He touched the frame and it mended itself before Eden’s eyes, the shards of glass reforming so there wasn’t even a crack left to show what had happened to it. “There. I’ve saved you and your partner a few hundred dollars at least.” He glanced at Andy, whose muzzle was drawn back from his sharp teeth. “You’re welcome.”
Eden shook her head. “Bring Darrak back.”
Lucas stood by the door he’d fixed and stared out at the parking lot, likely a very bland sight for someone like him. He said nothing, and it was driving Eden literally insane with every moment that passed and nothing changed.
“It’s not that simple,” he finally said. “The Void is a one-way trip. None have ever returned from that region of the Netherworld. You must come to terms that he’s gone and get back to the rest of your life. You have more important things to concern yourself with now.”
“Lucas,
That earned her a look. “Are you so desperate that you’re actually begging for my help?”
There was no time to play games. “I’ll beg if I have to.”
“He’s gone, Eden. And it won’t be long before he’s lost to you forever.”
Harsh words, but they worked exactly the opposite of how he’d likely meant them. They gave Eden a glimmer of hope. “
This earned a laugh from the prince. “You’re very determined. Pregnancy becomes you. You have that special glow.”
A breath caught in her throat. “You knew?”
“I sensed it the last time we spoke.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
“What was I supposed to say? Demons like Darrak — those who were never human to begin with — shouldn’t be able to father a child. I guess he’s changed more than even I realized.”
“I guess he has.”
Andy paced in front of Eden, as if marking the line Lucas wasn’t allowed to cross. Lucas glanced at him with humor. “The werewolf is very protective of you.”
She willed herself to remain calm and inhaled slowly. “What do you want from me?”
He looked at her curiously. “Pardon me?”
“You want something from me. Something you haven’t asked for yet because you said I wasn’t ready.” She blinked. “I’m ready. Ask me.”
He approached her, ignoring Andy’s warning growl.
“You’re right, Eden, I do want something from you. And if you agree, then it’s possible I might be able to help you find Darrak before it’s too late.”
Hope grew inside of her, tempered with worry. “What is it?”
He slid his hand into her dark red hair and pushed it off her face. She watched him warily, as he leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “I want your angel half.”
Eden pushed back at him with surprise. “What?”
Lucas’s gaze was steady on her. “I want your celestial energy, that which has sustained Darrak and given him more power than he’s had in three hundred years. The energy that’s changed him into something else, something that’s never been seen before. You have to give it freely to me. And I want it all.”
She wasn’t sure why this came as a shock. “But… but why?”
His expression grew pained. “I want to return to Heaven, but I’m weighted down with too much darkness. The celestial energy inside you would burn that darkness away enough for me to unshackle myself from Hell once and for all. A nephilim must give that energy to me of her own free will, every last piece of it, and I can accomplish my one and only goal.”
Eden paled with every word he spoke. She already knew Lucas wanted to go back to Heaven. He’d tried other solutions to this age-old problem of his. This, though… this was new.
“Have you tried this with another nephilim?”
“All nephilim have been cloaked to me in the past here in the human world, and now I know why. It’s an angel thing. Your black magic helped remove part of that angelic cloaking from you and I was able to see you for what you are.” His lips twisted wryly. “This is a solution to my problem that I began considering the same time the angelheart was in play. I’ve been trying to find a way to kill my darkness, but my darkness is immortal. To rid myself of it forever, I must give it to another.”
“The job interview,” she said, putting it together. “You’re trying to find your replacement for when you leave Hell.”
“Yes. I might be a selfish bastard, Eden, but I know I can’t leave Hell without another to take my place. That someone must control the darkest shadows of Hell — and only someone with true, pure goodness inside them can do that.”
She gaped at him. “You’re trying to tell me you have goodness inside you?”
“I was an angel — the brightest and best of them all.”
“And the least modest.”
Lucas smiled. “My target from earlier today was only one possible candidate. There is another I have lined up who has already enthusiastically agreed to take my place.” He crossed his arms. “Tick tock, Eden. Darrak has very little time left. Time works differently in the Netherworld. You said you’d do anything for the chance to save him. Are you willing to give me your celestial energy for that chance?”
She hesitated and slid her hand over her stomach.
Lucas noticed. “I can make you one solemn promise. Your child will be fine. I’ll personally guarantee it.”
That was… reassuring. A promise from Lucifer himself.
Eden’s mind swam, but she didn’t have that difficult a time with this question. Was she willing to give up her angel side — a side that had given her nothing her entire life but a bit of unreliable psychic insight thanks to an absentee father? Would she give that up in order to rescue the man she loved — the father of her unborn child?
“Yes,” she said. “I agree.”
“Say it again.”
“You can have my celestial energy. All of it.”
“One more time.”
“You can have it, Lucas. Yes.”
His warm smile widened. “Thank you.”
She crouched down, watching him warily, and put her hand on Andy’s furry back. The werewolf had gone very quiet, watching the two of them as though witnessing a tennis match.
“Now bring Darrak back,” she said firmly.
