“I mean different in a good way. You seem so — I don’t know. Like everything about you is right on the surface. Like you don’t hide anything. You like to get it all out front and center.”
She could have sworn she heard Darrak snicker inside of her. She ignored him.
“Well, thanks,” she said. “I have been going through some stuff recently, but I’m going to do whatever it takes to fix it.”
“You’re all determined.”
“I get that way about the things that matter to me.” Eden studied the pavement for a moment. Then she looked up at him, realizing he was right next to her now. He brushed her long hair back over her right shoulder and brought his hand to her face. She forgot to breathe for a moment.
“I really want to kiss you right now,” he said. “Is that wrong?”
Her breath caught and a shiver ran down her arms. “Aren’t you afraid of catching my rabies?”
“Surprisingly, no.” He grinned and lowered his mouth to hers.
A moment before his lips would have brushed against hers, she slapped him.
His eyes widened and he stepped back from her.
Wait… no. She hadn’t slapped him. Her hand had acted all on its own. She had nothing to do with it.
Her eyes narrowed. Darrak.
“Huh. Just like your leg earlier,” the demon in question murmured inside of her. “Didn’t realize I could do that, but I really didn’t want him to kiss you right now. Don’t be mad.”
A flash of white rage moved across her vision. He’d made her slap Ben before he kissed her. Because he didn’t want him to?
She tried to contain her anger and not let it show on the outside. It was a struggle.
“Ben, I’m so sorry,” she managed. “I don’t know why I did that.”
He still looked shocked. “Not much for kissing on the first date, I take it?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
No, she didn’t. She was currently fighting being embarrassed, mortified, and furious. Her brain felt as if it was about to explode.
The man she really liked — who liked her in return despite her awkward and foamy ways — tried to kiss her and she’d just belted him.
She tried to summon up something inside of her to explain it away in an amusing and endearing way, but came up blank. Ben’s gaze moved away from her and narrowed.
“Maybe you sensed someone else was nearby that you’d need to defend yourself against,” he said. “I don’t know how this psychic thing works exactly, but you never know.”
She frowned. What was he talking about? She looked over her shoulder. Malcolm stood a dozen feet behind her.
“Ms. Riley,” he said.
“Oh, great,” Darrak said inwardly. “Just what I need right now.”
Ben put his arm out and pushed Eden behind him. “What the hell do you want?”
“To talk.”
“I think I witnessed what you consider ‘talking’ yesterday. And you were doing it with your fists.”
Malcolm nodded. “I know what it must have looked like to you. But Eden herself knows there’s more to the story.”
“We need to get out of here now,” Darrak said.
She shook her head. “Leave me alone, Malcolm.”
“I can’t do that. Please, listen to me. I only ask for a minute of your time.”
It was strange. Malcolm didn’t sound confrontational or dangerous. In fact, he just looked like a skinny college kid out for a walk, not an exorcist who could recite Latin as easily as if it was his first language.
“So talk,” she said.
“I want to help you. Your situation is dire. Your life is in danger.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Ben growled.
“Doesn’t your friend know?” Malcolm asked.
Eden tensed. “I have everything under control. I never should have hired you and your mother. Please, just go away and leave me in peace.”
“You’ll never be in peace now.” Malcolm’s jaw clenched. “You’re in the grip of an evil being that needs to be destroyed. I don’t just work with my mother; I’ve also been newly recruited into the Malleus. It’s an organization that’s been around for hundreds of years. We protect the world from that which is unseen and misunderstood. The dark forces that secretly lurk in our society.”
Darrak swore under his breath. “The Malleus. There’s a term I haven’t heard in a long time.”
What did that mean? Eden hadn’t heard about anything like that before.
“You are talking nonsense,” Ben said. “Get the hell away from us or I’m going to arrest you for harassment.”
Malcolm’s eyes narrowed. “If you knew the truth, you wouldn’t stand in my way. In fact, you need to know all this so you can help protect Eden.”
Ben looked at Eden. “Let’s go.”
That sounded like a very good idea.
But Malcolm continued undeterred. “You can’t see the darkness that is corrupting her soul. If you care about her, you’ll let me do what I have to do to save her.”
“What are you, some kind of religious freak?”
“This is beyond religion. It’s beyond anything you’ve ever faced before. You think you’ve seen evil in the human crimes you deal with day to day?”
“I know I have,” Ben growled.