“His eyes?” Selina repeated with confusion. “How can you see him? I destroyed his body.”
She looked up at the witch. “He… he can take solid form during the day.”
“That’s not good.” Selina slumped down in a spare chair next to Eden as if her own legs had given out. “And he looks like a man? Dark hair, blue eyes, tall, and…”
“Really hot?”
“That’s him.”
Eden nodded. “I asked him if that was his true form or if he used a glamour, but he wouldn’t answer me.”
“That should have been your tip-off that he was hiding a lot.”
“His first impulse is self-protection. He can’t control that.”
Selina shook her head. “He can control whatever he wants to. But he doesn’t want to. He’s selfish. All demons are.”
“An archdemon.” Eden rolled the word over in her mouth. It tasted as bad as it sounded.
Selina nodded. “Before he was promoted to archdemon, he was a lower-ranking demon — an incubus. That’s one of the reasons I chose to summon him. Incubi prey on women, stealing their energy to increase their own power. With a spell I cast, I was able to have him give me power instead. That’s what made me into a black witch.”
Eden didn’t want to hear anything else. She didn’t want to believe it, but she couldn’t block it out. Everything the witch said felt like the truth.
Darrak was a demon. And he was a bad one.
Because, duh, there weren’t any good demons, of course.
No. She still didn’t want to believe it. Selina could be lying to her. Even though it felt like the truth, it could still be lies.
“Darrak…” Eden managed after a minute. “He said if we don’t break the curse that keeps him bound to me then in a year I’m going to die.”
Selina’s eyebrows went up. “What do you know? He told you one truth. That’s got to be a record. You have a year — at the very most. He will drain your energy slowly but surely. That’s what demons do and why they need to be destroyed when they get too close to humans.”
Eden’s head was stuck in a cloud of confusion and denial. “But I don’t understand. If you summoned him and you got what you wanted, then why would you try to destroy him?”
Selina pulled one of her books off the pile and clutched it tightly as if it was a life preserver. “Defending myself against a dangerous demon who wanted me dead, mostly. Also because I realized what I did was wrong. That nothing I did, magical or not, would bring back my sister. Destroying an archdemon who’d stepped foot on human soil was to be my self-appointed penance. I tried. I failed.” She blinked. “And now you’re here with him during my signing. It’s been such a great week up until now.”
“Sorry to ruin it for you.”
Selina touched Eden’s hand. She tried not to flinch away. “You must let me destroy him for you. Since I’m the one who cursed him, I can do it while he’s dampened. There’s no other way.”
Eden moved away from her. “No.”
The witch’s eyes widened. “No? Haven’t I convinced you that I want to help you?”
Eden exhaled shakily. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. But… I’m not ready. Not right now. Not like this.”
“Then when?”
“I need to think.”
“Fine. But think fast.” Selina opened the book she’d been clutching and scribbled down a phone number on the title page. “I can’t force you to let him go. You need to do it of your own free will, otherwise it will probably kill you as well. I don’t want to hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it.” She touched her gray pendant. “Black magic isn’t my thing anymore. At all. And killing humans with magic would turn my soul completely black. Call me tomorrow. If not, I’m leaving and I won’t be returning.”
She pushed the book toward Eden. She took it.
“I don’t know…”
“You said he wouldn’t tell you the truth about his appearance,” Selina said.
“That’s right. And he wouldn’t tell me his true name, either.”
“Just like a man. Wouldn’t want to give his power to someone else. Might come back to bite him in the ass.” Selina smiled thinly. “It’s Darrakayiis.”
Eden was surprised. “What?”
“His true name. And a further reason to trust me because I’m sensing that you’re fighting that. I’m giving you this as a favor to show that I want to help you.”
It sounded like Dare-ah-KAI-iss.
She memorized it and tucked it away in her head. “Can I dampen him with this name?”
“Yes, but that would be overkill. Using his name will give you power over him, especially if he’s weakened. With the amount of psychic energy I feel from you, and his ties to you, you should be able to dampen his presence with a well-placed commanding thought. It’s really not that hard.” Selina ran her hands over her hair as if to neaten it. “I can’t hold this camouflage spell much longer. I’m a bit rusty using any higher level magic. So if you’ll excuse me.”
“What about…” Eden touched her chest. “When will he be back?”
She shrugged. “I dampened him really good. He’s gone for a while and won’t know what hit him. Call me tomorrow if you want my help. If not, good luck. You’re sure as hell going to need it.”
“Thanks.”
“And that book’s not a freebie. You’ll have to pay for it before you leave.”
She looked down at the hardcover. “I was going to get it anyhow.”
“It’s helped a lot of women even more clueless than you are when it comes to lying, cheating men.” Selina pressed her palms down on the table. “Susciatatio humanus. ”
There wasn’t a major shift in the crowd’s behavior, but now they could look directly at Eden instead of her being invisible to them. Selina began signing again as if nothing had happened. Eden shakily made her way to the cashiers, paid for the book, and left the store. The cool night air swept over her.
What in the hell just happened?
A sob welled up in her chest but she forced it back down. Having a breakdown was not going to be very helpful at the moment. But she couldn’t concentrate. It felt as if her entire life had just imploded.
Selina said that Darrak was evil. An archdemon. And that everything he’d told her about himself had been a lie.
Was it the truth? If so, she should have let Selina get rid of him. Why would she want to delay it another minute?
But there was a small part of her that remained strongly skeptical. The witch could be the one who was lying. It was a good story with a great delivery, but did that make it true?