“You need to behave yourself, too.” Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “My patience wears thin with both of you, Eden. I’ve given you much more than I have ever given anyone else in recent memory. And now you try to take away what is rightfully mine.”
“It’s not worth it. He”—she nodded at Daniel—“doesn’t deserve your power. He will not do the same job you’ve done.”
“I don’t care. I’m finished. They’ve locked me out of my home for long enough and it’s time for me to finally go back.”
“But my father—”
“That’s not your father,” Ben spoke up. His throat was bleeding from where Sandy had clawed him. “It’s Oliver Gale. He did a black magic ritual to be able to possess your father’s body. It’s the only way he could go to Hell and become the prince.”
Eden’s mouth fell open with shock. Oliver Gale had somehow possessed her father’s body all so he could take over for Lucas. “This is impossible.”
“I’ll destroy Darrak,” Lucas warned. “You know I can. I’ve been playing up till now, but the game is losing its entertainment factor for me. I’m tired. I’m so tired you could never understand.”
She shook her head. “Then stop this. This is wrong, Lucas.
But her words weren’t sinking in. Nothing she said would ever change his mind.
Lucas looked at Darrak. “You believe she loves you, but I’m still not entirely convinced. This form of yours, what if you no longer had it? Would that make a difference to you, Eden? If he wasn’t this tall, dark, and handsome man you’ve fallen for. You’ve seen his true form, right? A little less presentable in everyday society.” Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Show us, Darrakayiis. Show us your demon visage.”
When a witch or human used his true name, there was sometimes a short delay as he fought against their power over him, but with Lucas — his maker — there was no fight. Lucas had absolute power over his creation, even now that he wasn’t fully demon.
As a half-angel now, Eden wasn’t sure what to expect him to look like. But amber flames flowed over his now leathery flesh, his form grew another foot taller and much broader, horns curved outward from his temples. It was still Darrak, but this was truly a demon — one from a horror movie or a nightmare.
He didn’t look even a little bit angelic.
Darrak’s lips curved back from sharp teeth as he glared at Lucas, still unable to speak.
“Not so pretty now, is he?” Lucas said. “Not the man of any girl’s dreams.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I guess I have different dreams than other girls.”
She went directly to this demonic version of Darrak and slid her arms around his thick waist. His skin was hot and very dry, like sand beneath her fingertips. The fire didn’t burn her.
Eden looked up at him. “I love you, Darrak. No matter what.”
His eyes were filled with uncertainty until she said those words, but then clarity filled them. He couldn’t speak while under Lucas’s control, but she didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking. He finally believed her. And that made anything that happened today bearable for him.
Even the really bad stuff.
“Disgusting,” Daniel, or rather Oliver said.
“Oh?” Lucas replied. “You don’t approve?”
“Can’t say that I do.”
Eden knew she could say Darrak’s true name and free him from Lucas’s influence and turn him over to her own, but she didn’t. She wasn’t playing tag with another witch here. Lucas had power over Darrak with or without the use of his name.
It wasn’t only Eden’s fate at stake here. It was Darrak’s, her mother’s, Ben’s, and Leena’s. It was even Daniel’s, a father she’d never known, who had no control right now because that control had been stolen from him by an evil human with a big agenda.
Whatever Daniel’s reason for not being around when she grew up, he didn’t deserve this. What had they done to him for a human to take over his body?
That was truly black magic.
She eyed Sandy, currently unconscious. Despite her dark power she was still human, still as fragile as any other. This was her doing. Something had changed Sandy, made her choose the darker path. All Eden knew for sure was that she’d chosen wrong.
But Eden also had magic at her disposal, and she wasn’t going to let anyone she loved be hurt here today. No matter the cost.
Darrak stared down at her as if trying to get her to do something other than stay by his side. He didn’t want to be at Lucas’s mercy. But what had he been thinking to even consider making an attempt on Lucas’s life?
“Do you have something to say?” Lucas approached, his arms crossed. “That’s too bad, because I don’t want to hear it.”
“Tough shit,” Darrak growled.
“Wait.” Lucas frowned. “I didn’t give you permission to speak.”
Darrak pushed Eden out of the way, launched himself forward, and grabbed Lucas by his throat. A split second later, they both vanished in a flash of fire.
TWENTY-SIX
Eden stared with stunned realization at the empty space in front of her.
He’d fooled her. He’d fooled all of them.
Darrak might have retained his demonic visage, but the control his true name had over him was a thing of the past. He’d been playing along, lulling Lucas into believing he still had power over him.
Sneaky, very sneaky.
Normally she’d approve, but not this time. She knew his plan. He was going to get himself destroyed if he tried to defeat Lucas.
Oliver approached. “I’ll need to restrain you until the prince returns.”
“Restrain this.” Eden flicked a finger at him and he cringed as if she’d slapped him. She’d meant to throw him like she’d done with Sandy, but an angel — even a fake one — wasn’t quite so easy to throw around.
Her attention turned to Leena, Ben, and her mother. They were her priority right now. Everything else would have to wait.
“Be careful, Eden!” Caroline yelled at her while Ben and Leena struggled with their bindings. “He’s dangerous!”
Leave it to her mother to point out the blatantly obvious.
The time for careful had passed.
The angel’s eyes began to glow — this must be how an angel powered up. He was about to do something very, very bad.
“You need to behave yourself, little witch,” Oliver snarled. “Or I’ll
“So you got in that body thanks to black magic, did you? Does it work the other way around?” She thrust her hand out toward him, freezing him in place.
He gasped and sweat broke out on his forehead as he fought against her hold on him. “You’re incredibly powerful, even more than Sandy is. You could serve at my side. When I become the Prince of Hell I could make you a very powerful demon.”
Eden raised an eyebrow. “Bargaining so soon, Oliver? Makes me think that you’re a little bit scared now. Maybe that hold you have on my father’s body isn’t as strong as you thought it was. I chose to let Darrak share my
