Something Wicked (44 page)

“He’s coming,” Theo said.

He was right. Darrak could feel it. The building felt alive, throbbing with energy, and . . . kind of lusty, too.

Suddenly, the club grew darker, the walls literally turning black. But it wasn’t really the walls—it was smoke. Black smoke coated every inch of the club and bled down to the floor. It looked like ankle deep, thick black mist that rippled and undulated.

Eden’s gaze widened nearly imperceptibly, and Darrak could tell she was afraid.

It bothered him.

But he couldn’t go to her. Not now. There was no time.

Asmodeus was about to have his awakening. Now Darrak wished he’d brought some of that fiesta dip. It seemed like an event worth celebrating. The beginning of the rest of Darrak’s existence would begin after this short break.

Please stand by.

“Welcome, my lord,” Theo said with reverence. He stood up from his seat.

“GREETINGS, ALL,” a deep and booming voice sounded. It echoed through the club. “I’M GLAD YOU COULD JOIN ME TODAY. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO AWESOME!”

Asmo had always been one of the more enthusiastic demon lords.

“Welcome, Asmodeus,” Darrak said as well.

“DARRAK! IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME. HOW’VE YOU BEEN, PAL?”

His eyes flicked toward Eden, standing so still and silent. “I’ve been better, actually.”

“RIGHT? TRUST ME, I KNOW. I FEEL YOUR PAIN, MAN. I MEAN, LOOK AT ME RIGHT NOW. IT SUCKS TO BE BODILESS.”

“Not for long,” Theo said. “It’s your time, what we’ve been building to. Take form now, Asmodeus, and show us your magnificence once again.”

Theo had always been a bit of a brownnoser.

“YEAH, ABOUT THAT. THERE’S A TEENY BIT OF A PROBLEM.”

“What?”

“I CAN’T TAKE FORM. JUST TRIED. NO LUCK.”

Theo frowned. “Then what should we do now?”

“PLAN B. I’LL TAKE A PERMANENT BODY. NOW THAT I SEE I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE, I’M COOL WITH IT.”

“Oh . . . uh.” Theo wrung his hands. “Great. Well, whatever works, right? As you can see I’ve assembled a nice assortment of humans here for you. Please, feel free to take your pick.”

Darrak had moved to stand between Theo and Eden so he had a better view of the lounging zombielike humans. He realized for the first time that one of them was Nancy.

Why was she still here? Wasn’t she with Stanley last night?

But Stanley worked for Theo. It all came back to Theo, didn’t it?

Darrak pushed away the sinking feeling he felt at seeing the familiar face.

“I’VE TASTED ALL OF THESE ONES BEFORE.” The smoke gathered and moved toward the group like an anchored storm cloud. “AH, THIS ONE I’VE ONLY NIBBLED ON.” Darkness covered the body of the man sitting next to Nancy like a shroud. There was a slight, strangled cry, and then the darkness moved away. Nothing of the man remained.

“OOPSIE. GOT A LITTLE CARRIED AWAY. I’M SO HUNGRY!”

“It’s not a problem,” Theo said tensely. “There are plenty more where he came from.”

The same thing would have happened to the women who disappeared. It bothered Darrak more than he’d like to admit. Asmo took the lives of humans as if he was Forrest Gump sampling from a box of chocolates.

“HMM . . . WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE? SHE’S NEW, ISN’T SHE?”

Darrak thought he was referring to Nancy, but the smoke had shifted direction. It approached Eden instead.

“No,” Darrak said, but it was too quiet, so he said it again, louder. “No. Theo, I told you. He doesn’t get to touch Eden.”

Theo shrugged. “What Asmo wants, Asmo gets. Just accept it, Darrak.”

“Stop him.”

“You think I have that kind of control?”

“If he harms Eden, there’s going to be a problem.”

Theo smiled and placed a hand on Darrak’s shoulder. “Come on, just chill.”

Darrak pushed his friend back from him. Hard. Theo staggered back, surprised, but then fire appeared in his narrowing gaze.

“Don’t do that,” he warned.

“Stop Asmodeus now.”

“No.” Theo shoved Darrak.

Darrak held his hand out to his side and summoned his fire. He turned to the smoke gathering at Eden’s feet. Her expression hadn’t changed. She looked almost serene, but there was a slight tension to her forehead and her eyes moved back and forth.

So not as serene as she looked at first glance. Terrified. And Darrak would be willing to bet that she had no access to her black magic at the moment, if she was tempted to use it. And he wouldn’t blame her at all this time if she did.

Well, maybe a little.

“Asmodeus,” Darrak snapped. “She’s not for you.”

“OH, YEAH? WHY THE HECK NOT?”

“Because she’s
mine
.”

“SHE’S FILLED WITH MAGIC LIKE AN OVERFLOWING TEAKETTLE. I LIKE HER.”

Theo grabbed Darrak’s arm and held him in place. “Let her go. You’ll forget her. Just like I forgot Kristina.”

Darrak glared at him. “You never forgot Kristina.”

He waited for the other demon’s response. What he hadn’t expected was feeling a blast of energy come off his friend, launching him across the nightclub like a bomb had gone off. Darrak got back to his feet in a flash.

Archdemon power. He missed having that much of it.

But he still had some.

He allowed fire to course down into both of his hands this time and moved toward Theo.

“What are you going to do?” Theo asked. “Fight me?”

“Looks like.”

“Just like that. After everything I’ve done for you? Would you really want to mess this up? This is your answer. Asmo’s going to take her. She won’t be your ball and chain anymore. You’d throw that chance away? Are you that much of an idiot?”

There really was no way to answer that question. “Yes, I’m that much of an idiot,” didn’t really sound too good.

Maybe Theo was right.

Free from Eden. Free from the necessity of possessing her body at night. Free from his ties to her during the day. He could be restored to his former self, a demon who didn’t care about anyone or anything and only cared about achieving more power and more pleasure.

It was for the best. When the curse was removed and Eden was gone, this would all be a distant memory.

“What will happen to her?” he asked quietly.

“I WILL POSSESS HER, USE HER SHELL, AND THROW AWAY THE YOLK. I WILL BURN AWAY ALL THAT REMAINS OF HER SO THERE’S PLENTY OF ROOM FOR ME TO PARTY. SHOULDN’T TAKE MORE THAN A FEW SECONDS.”

“But . . . but she’s a
woman
,” Darrak said, trying to remain calm. It might be a little late for that.

“I’M VERY OPEN-MINDED. WHAT IS SHE, A SIZE SIX? ARE THOSE BREASTS NATURAL OR SILICONE? FORGET IT, I DON’T REALLY MIND EITHER WAY.”

The thick smoke began to crawl up Eden’s body like a black boa constrictor. Her eyes closed.

Darrak surged forward, mindless to anything but saving Eden from this fate. Theo’s hand clamped down on his shoulder again.

“Don’t do this,” Theo growled.

Darrak spun around and hit Theo hard, knocking him right to the other side of the club thirty feet away. Before the demon hit the ground he disappeared in a haze of fire and reappeared right in front of Darrak’s face.

Phasing. He still missed that ability more than he could say.

Darrak grabbed hold of his friend and shifted to his demon form. Theo did the same. It was funny how similar they looked this way, then again, they’d been made at the same time. That made them almost like twins—the same.

But they weren’t the same. Not anymore.

“I said I’d destroy you if you got in my way.” Theo clenched his razor-sharp teeth.

“Right back at you.”

“Over a woman?” Theo shook his head. The flames that coated his body were blue while Darrak’s were amber. “How sad.”

“
You’re
sad.”

“Not your wittiest comeback, I’m afraid. Besides, it’s too late. No matter what you do, you can’t stop this.”

Darrak craned his neck to see that Eden was completely surrounded by the smoke now. It covered her like the man Asmo had already devoured.

He was too late.

“OH, SHIT.”

Theo pushed Darrak away from him. “What’s wrong, my lord?”

“PARDON THE SAYING, BUT THERE’S NO ROOM AT THE INN. SHE’S ALREADY DARRAK’S HOST SO SHE’S BLOCKED TO ANYONE ELSE. IF I HAD FORM, I WOULD BE SOBBING RIGHT NOW WITH DISAPPOINTMENT.”

Theo shifted back to human form.

“You can still have her,” Theo said. “But you have to break Darrak’s curse first so he stops acting like a smitten schoolboy. Stanley!” He raised his voice so it reverberated through the entire club. “Could you come in here right now?”

Theo still believed Darrak was dealing with a temporary curse-driven shift in personality. Which was the truth, of course.

Eden was still in one piece. Still frozen, though, with her eyes closed. He hoped she was unconscious and not experiencing any of this firsthand.

He changed back to human form and looked at Theo warily.

“Somebody need a hug?” Theo asked, with a big shit-eating grin on his face.

Darrak forced a smile. “You are such an asshole, you know that?”

“I aim to please.”

So all was forgiven? The shoving match? The threats of destruction?

Sure. Two could play at that game.

“Seriously”—Darrak slapped him on the back, as close to a real hug as he was comfortable with, and tried to laugh—“I’m going to kick your ass.”

Theo shook his head. “You’re just lucky I like you. Not too many others would have put up with all of your bullshit.”

He was right. Why had Theo put up with him? Was he really and truly Darrak’s friend? Selflessly and at the threat of his own existence? Well, that would go against demon nature, wouldn’t it?

But so did falling in love. Theo hadn’t been cursed when he fell for Kristina. And he had been a mess after she’d died—at least until he’d pulled himself together and put on his public face. It had been a long time ago, but Darrak remembered it clearly.

“It’ll be okay,” Theo assured him.

“Fingers crossed.” Darrak turned away so he could slide the black diamond he’d just stolen from Theo into his own pocket.

Theo was a true friend, despite many problems Darrak had with him.

But having a backup plan was always a good thing.

Stanley entered the club and looked at them warily. “So, I’m here. How goes it?”

“OH, GOODY. HE’LL DO FOR NOW.”

The black smoke shot toward Stanley, surrounding him in an instant. Stanley shrieked, flailed his arms as if fighting off a swarm of bees, before the smoke disappeared and he stilled.

Then he inhaled a great gulp of air and opened his eyes, looking down at his hands and smiling.

“Not bad,” he said.

“Asmodeus?” Theo asked tentatively.

Asmo, currently in the form of Stanley, approached them. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

“Uh, how do you feel?”

“Fabulous! And look at me.” He pointed at his head. “I’m balding!”

“Congrats.”

“Although,” Asmo moved toward Eden again, “this one is more esthetically pleasing to me.”

He slid a hand down to her butt and squeezed.

Without even thinking about it, Darrak found he was beside the demon lord and prying his hand away from Eden’s body.

“Don’t touch her, please,” he said firmly.