The Demon in Me by Michelle Rowen
Rosa pursed her lips as if she’d tasted something sour. “Step away from the demon and save yourself, dear.”
Eden shook her head. “Is this how you find your targets? You wait for people possessed or dealing with other supernatural issues to call you and you come out like glorified ghost busters?”
Rosa smiled. “All for the price of an ad in the Yellow Pages. Isn’t it great? However, it’s very rare I’ve come face-to-face with an archdemon. I don’t let opportunities like that pass me by, believe me.”
“As soon as you exorcise Darrak, you’ll kill me, won’t you?”
“No,” Malcolm said. “We won’t. I swear it on my own soul.”
Eden took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You, I believe. But your mother is another story. She wants to exorcise Darrak and then kill me. She won’t be happy until she does that.”
“You’re wrong,” Rosa said. “I don’t want to exorcise him.”
Well, that was a surprise. And a relief. Eden must have been even more convincing than she’d thought she was.
“You don’t?” Darrak’s voice was skeptical. “Then what the hell is this?”
“Like I said, it’s very rare I’ve encountered an archdemon. You’re the third I’ve ever faced.” She walked a slow circle around his prone form. He eyed her suspiciously. “So much power, although currently diluted, but you’ll do. Not quite as fearsome as you once were, are you?”
“I’ve been feeling a bit drained lately,” he admitted. “Perhaps I need a nice long vacation somewhere tropical. I’ll be sure to send you a postcard.”
She smiled as her gaze moved to Eden. “And you’ve become a black witch through sex magic since I first saw you. Very powerful and very potent.”
Honestly. Was Eden wearing a T-shirt that told the world that she and Darrak had been together? If she wasn’t currently frozen with fear and worry, she’d be embarrassed.
Rosa’s attention returned to the demon and she raised an eyebrow. “I would give a great deal to have that kind of magic at my fingertips.”
Darrak’s eyes narrowed. “Sorry, Rosa. You’re not exactly my type.”
She laughed. “Maybe twenty years ago.”
“No, not even then. Much as I seem to have a thing for crazy redheads, you’re the exception to the rule. So let me get this straight. You’re an upstanding, youth-mentoring member of the Malleus with a little bit of a lust for power, are you?”
“Lust is a deadly sin,” she said.
“No shit. So, you want me to make you into a black witch?”
“No, demon.” She smiled. “I want to put you into my diamond.”
She raised her cane and Eden’s eyes went to the two-inch-wide crystal on the top of it. Now that she was paying attention, Eden realized that it wasn’t totally clear. There was something inside of it. A barely noticeable thin swirling of… black smoke?
“What is that?” she asked, although she already had a good idea what it was.
She looked at the diamond affectionately. “These are the two other archdemons I mentioned a minute ago.”
What had Malcolm told her last night? That using salt was best to trap a demon, because they could be destroyed when the salt was smashed by whomever did the trapping. But a diamond…
It was next to impossible to break—the hardest substance on earth. And the demon couldn’t escape from it, either.
“Mother!” Malcolm sounded shocked. “I had no idea. You trapped them in the diamond? And that’s a real diamond? It’s huge.”
“Yes.” She brushed her fingers over it. “One hundred and eighty carats. Priceless. It was a present from a former mentor. He, too, had a similar diamond to this. But it takes three archdemons inside of it to do anything worthwhile—three is that very special magic number—a triad. And once I have the essence of Darrakayiis in here…” She shook her head and smiled widely. “There will be no other woman on earth as powerful as I will be.”
“Mother—”
“The magic I will be able to yield at my will.” Her voice turned excited. “I’ll be able to heal my frailties, become young again in body and mind. I will use this power to defeat the darkness, of course. And with it, I can walk between worlds—here, the Netherworld, and the Heavens—it will be as easy as walking into another room of a house. I will be a very powerful sorceress.”
“Just like a witch?” Malcolm breathed.
“No, of course not. Better than that. Purer than that. My magic will help others.”
“Help others?” Eden repeated, disgusted at what she was hearing. “You’re going to help others by using the power from three trapped archdemons? That doesn’t sound all that white and sparkly to me.”
Rosa turned a concerned gaze to her. “Sometimes it takes evil to defeat evil.”
“Then take me,” Darrak said firmly. “But leave Eden alone.”
“I would if I could.” Rosa exhaled. “But unfortunately, you’re still bound to her.”
Eden’s panicked gaze moved to the cane again. Two archdemons were in there swirling about. She’d seen Darrak in Selina’s vision. He was dangerous and deadly. How had Rosa managed to trap them?
She looked at Malcolm. “Help us.”
Even though the inner struggle he was feeling was plain on his face, he shook his head and took a step backward. “I can’t do that. My mother… she knows what she’s doing. I have to trust her judgment. There’s no other way.”
“Darrakayiis,” Rosa said in a commanding tone. “I need you to break your bonds with this witch. Show me your demon visage and kill her. Now.”
He changed form in an instant and he curled his amber-fire-covered hand around Eden’s throat before she had a chance to take even a step away from him. His sharp talons scratched dangerously against her jugular.
“Darra—” she tried to say his name in hopes of transferring the power back to her, but her air was cut off.
Probably should have thought about that a few minutes ago, actually. It might have helped.
She expected the fire covering him to burn her this time, but it was as dry and warm as it had been the last time. She clutched at his arm, clawing against it, but he was too strong. It was like fighting against a brick wall.
“I’m trying to resist,” his dark raspy voice said as his grip tightened painfully, cutting off her air. “But… it’s too hard. My true name…”
Now she knew why he didn’t have his true name printed up on business cards to hand out to everyone he met. Because anyone who knew his name and had a little bit of power—as Eden had from her psychic energy and as Rosa had from her connection to the Malleus—could make him their puppet of death and destruction.
“He’s killing her,” Malcolm said, and he sounded upset.
“That’s the general idea,” Rosa replied calmly.
Darrak’s eyes hadn’t changed. She could see them past the flames. Still blue and human as his grip increased, cutting off the rest of her breath.
“Eden, I’m sorry for all of this. I… love you.”
Archdemons didn’t love. They couldn’t love. Darrak had told that to Selina just before she’d cursed him. Had he lied? Was he lying now? Why would he tell her this when he was about to end her life?
She gasped for breath but there was no breath to gasp. He’d saved her life before, but now, despite the fact he was trying to fight it, he was squeezing it out of her.
Suddenly something small, black, and furry leapt through the air and attached itself to Darrak’s arm, hissing and scratching. It was Leena. Eden had seen her in the parking lot earlier. She hadn’t left.
“I can help protect you,” she’d told Eden. “Demons are repelled by shapeshifters.”
Darrak grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck and threw her back from him. She hit a tree hard and fell to the ground. It knocked the cat out cold, but Eden could see her furry chest still moved, indicating she was still alive.
Darrak then released Eden, who fell to the ground in a heap. S
“It is done,” Darrak said. “And there are only moments before my host’s remaining power fades and I will lose my form.”
But it wasn’t done. She wasn’t dead, and he had to know that. Rosa didn’t have complete control over him. In Selina’s flashback, the witch had had a white circle of salt going for her as well as a black witch’s level of power. All Rosa really had was his name. That meant he was able to fight this, even if just a little.
Eden pried one eye partially open. The sun was low in the sky but it hadn’t set yet. It cast a golden glow over the clearing they were in.
“Very good,” Rosa said, and Eden heard her approach closer. “My goodness, you’re impressive, aren’t you?”
“Goodness has nothing to do with it,” Darrak replied.
“No, of course it doesn’t. My, I shall enjoy using you, demon.”
“You won’t be the first.”
“Mother, stop this right now,” Malcolm protested, and he sounded on the verge of tears. “You’ve done enough! Eden’s dead!”
“Please, Malcolm. Be quiet.”
From her vantage point, Eden could narrowly see that Malcolm looked very upset with the show so far. His world had been rocked. His mother, whom he thought was a good upstanding exorcist had turned out to be a power-hungry sorceress wannabe, now greedily eyeing the seven-foot-tall horned archdemon from Hell she wanted to add to her growing collection.
Darrak didn’t look down at her. His eyes were fixed on Rosa, who turned to him again.
She smiled. “It’s time.”
Then she began to chant something—but it wasn’t Latin. It sounded older and rougher around the edges.
“Where did you learn that?” Darrak asked.
Rosa broke off. “This little ancient Sumerian ritual? From the mentor who gave me my diamond. Unfortunately, he’s in a coma and his full-powered diamond is missing. If I’d had that, it would have saved me a lot of work over the years, don’t you think?”
“Let me guess. You’re responsible for his coma?”
She smiled thinly. “I’ll never tell. Now silence, demon. No more interruptions.” She began again.
After a minute, Darrak gasped. The flames that coated his body disappeared and he shifted back into human form in the blink of an eye. For a second, part of him turned to black smoke, before flickering back to his solid form.
He convulsed in pain, and clutched at his stomach.
“Why isn’t it working?” Rosa asked, frowning. She repeated a couple words, which made Darrak gasp in agony again, flickering to smoke for a moment longer this time before regaining form.
“What in the world?” Rosa pondered, then clarity came into her eyes. “Foolish, demon. You didn’t really kill her after all, did you?”
She unsheathed her dagger and moved toward Eden, who wasn’t going to do an impression of an immobile pincushion any longer. Her eyes snapped all the way open and she scooted back a few feet.
“I guess I’ll have to kill you myself,” Rosa said.
“Don’t touch her,” Darrak growled.
“No, Mother.” Malcolm grabbed her arm. “This has gone on long enough. I can’t stand here and watch you do this.”
“Get back from me, stupid boy.” She struck Malcolm hard with her cane and he yelped in pain and fell back from her.
Eden scrambled to her feet. “Darrakayiis,” she said, and Darrak immediately turned to face her as the power to control him shifted. There was sweat on his brow and a multitude of very human-looking emotions moving through his eyes.
“Command me to kill her,” he managed. “I’ll do it.”
She shook her head. “Nobody else is dying here tonight.”
“Mother, no!” Malcolm cried. She turned to see Rosa coming toward her with the dagger end of her cane exposed and aimed at her heart.
She didn’t think. She didn’t have to. The magic flared inside of her in an instant and it was enough to knock Rosa backward. The woman stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Leave us alone, you bitch,” Eden warned. “I’m serious.”
“I can help you,” Rosa said.
“You just tried to stab me with the pointy end of your cane. How exactly is that helping me?”
“Let’s forget about what’s happened in the past and move on from here with a fresh slate.”
“I want you to go now and never bother us again.” The magic Eden had promised never to use crackled down her hands into her fingertips. She shot a look over at Malcolm. “Both of you.”
“Then I won’t trap him. I’ll exorcise him. You wanted him gone,” Rosa reasoned. “You called me in a panic, remember? You paid me money to get rid of him for you.”
Eden clenched her hand into a fist at her side. “It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.”
Rosa had the audacity to look concerned for her. “He’ll destroy you. Let us destroy him for you.”
“No.” It was such a simple word for something Eden felt so strongly about.
Rosa’s lips thinned. “Then I’ll have to destroy both of you.” She held her cane up, muttered something indiscernible in that dead language under her breath, and the diamond on the top began to glow. “I need three for full power, but the archdemons I already have are enough to give me the magic I need right now.”
“Eden—” Darrak’s voice was strained. “Run!”
Rosa’s eyes lit with fire, similar to Darrak’s. She honestly thought she was channeling a pure power? She was either deceiving herself or lying to everyone else. Eden was willing to bet on the latter.
Eden felt powerful magic emanating from the diamond. It trapped her in place and it was like moving through taffy just to turn her head. It was too late to run. She watched, as if in slow motion, as Rosa turned the cane, blade side up, and moved toward her again.
“I will have him,” she said firmly. “The archdemon is mine.”
“No,” Eden replied, struggling to speak. “He’s mine.”
And again, the magic was at her fingertips. She focused everything she had on Rosa’s cane.
It was as though a shock wave emanated out from her and focused directly around the diamond. A moment later it shattered as if it were no more than a lightbulb. The next moment, the heavy weight of Rosa’s demon magic disappeared completely from the air.
The older woman’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “You bitch! You broke my diamond!”
Eden staggered back into Darrak’s arms. “Sorry. Was it expensive?”
How much was the average one hundred eighty carat diamond these days? She suddenly wished that Rosa didn’t currently have her MasterCard number on file.
Magic continued to crackle at her fingertips. It would be so easy to finish this off. Just breaking a diamond seemed so anticlimactic.
But the next moment she felt Darrak’s hands come around her waist from behind and he pulled her backward toward the teeter-totter.
“What are you doing?” she asked shakily.
“Preventative measures.”
“From what?”
“Just trust me.”
Rosa looked supremely pissed off. “Come Malcolm. We need to go back to the Malleus and report that…” She frowned. “What are you looking at, boy? Let’s go!” She reached for him but her son staggered back from her.
Then Eden saw it and a chill ran down her spine.
There were two swirling clouds of black smoke on the ground near Rosa’s feet.
By breaking the diamond, she’d destroyed the prison in which Rosa’s archdemons were trapped. To destroy the archdemons, Rosa would have had to smash it by herself.
Eden had freed them.
“Darrak…” she began.
“Shh. Don’t speak,” he whispered in her ear, his arms still around her waist, holding her tightly in place. “Be very quiet.”
Rosa looked down, finally seeing the black smoke just as it began to move up her legs. Her eyes widened in shock.
<
The incorporeal archdemons didn’t seem in much of a mood to chat. They began moving quicker and quicker, swirling and twisting around Rosa’s body like synchronized tornadoes.
“Malcolm!” she yelled. “Do something! You’re a member of the Malleus! Exorcise them!”
Cradling his arm, Malcolm moved farther back from Rosa. “I’m sorry, Mother. But I’ve decided to take a leave of absence from the organization.”
“You what?”
“I’m going back to college.” His jaw set. “Just like you wanted, remember?”
Rosa glared at him. Before she could say another word the smoke moved to cover her completely.
And the moment after that, the blackness dissipated completely, leaving nothing behind.
TWENTY-FOUR
The first thing Eden did after Rosa disappeared with the archdemons was run over to check on Leena. The shapeshifter, still in cat form, was unconscious but breathing and her heartbeat was regular. Eden was no doctor—or veterinarian—but that seemed like a good sign.
She was ready for Malcolm to storm at her, furious at what happened to his mother, and wanting revenge. But he leaned against the trunk of a tall tree, his mouth still gaping open in shock at what had just happened. Even though the playground had grown darker with the setting sun, his face was very pale. He suddenly made eye contact with Eden and started slowly walking toward her.
Darrak stepped into his path. “Don’t even think about it.”
“No,” Malcolm managed. “I—I wasn’t thinking about hurting her. I had no idea what my mother was involved with all these years. I’m so sorry. If I’d known…” He shook his head. “The Malleus would never have approved something like this.”
He looked so incredibly disillusioned. His worldview had been shattered in thirty minutes or less. Quicker than ordering a pizza.
“Well, she did say it was to fight evil, right?” Eden said.
It was a shot in the dark. Eden didn’t know why she was trying to defend the woman who’d tried to kill her and trap Darrak other than as an attempt to soften the blow to Malcolm.
And it actually earned a small snort of laughter from Malcolm. “From what I’ve seen tonight, my mother was more evil than the two of you put together. I’m sorry this had to happen.”