He didn’t.
But she could feel him. The man she’d spoken to, the man who’d kissed her, the man who’d told her that he wouldn’t be able to leave her unless she died…
He was deep inside of her.
She frowned. That sounded way sexier than it should have. She was possessed by a demon — like that little girl in the movie with the pea soup puke and spinning head. But Eden was possessed by a self-proclaimed “good” demon who looked like a Calvin Klein underwear model.
What was she supposed to do now?
She yanked open the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out the heavy Yellow Pages, thumbing through it so quickly she got a paper cut. Sucking on her injured finger, she continued to flip to the E section to see if reasonably priced exorcists were available in the local area.
“Did he tell you his name?”
“Yes,” Eden whispered into the receiver as if that would be enough to shield what she was doing in case “anyone” was listening. “It’s… it’s Darrak.”
“That’s strange.”
“This is all strange to me. Can you be more specific?”
“Demons rarely reveal their true name to a human. It allows one to have great control over them. I will assume he was lying, but I will still mark this information down.” There was a pause, and the sound of Rosa, the exorcist from Specter-Stoppers, scribbling something about Eden’s case. “Have you noticed any boils or other wounds appearing on your flesh?”
She quickly inspected her arms and felt down her jean-covered legs. “I don’t think so.”
“Has there been a noticeable increase of flies in your general area?”
“No. Everything actually seems quite normal. Other than the fact that I’m… I’m possessed by a demon!” She cleared her throat. “Sorry, uh… I’m having a hard time dealing with this.”
“That is perfectly understandable, of course. The malevolent presence is allowing you to make this phone call? Has it tried to stop you in any way? Perhaps moving furniture about the room? Any levitating pens or pencils? Are the walls bleeding, by chance?”
“Bleeding walls? No, no… none of that.” Eden concentrated, feeling around for the demon’s presence. “I don’t know why he’s not talking right now. Maybe he’s hurt.”
Why did that thought bother her? Hurting a demon to get him to leave was the point of hiring an exorcist, wasn’t it? But Darrak had seemed rather distressed when the sun set and he’d lost his solid form.
Rosa cleared her throat. “It will be a fee of fifteen hundred dollars to expel the evil from your body. Five hundred up front. The remainder once it has been permanently removed.”
Eden’s eyes bugged out at that. “Fifteen hundred dollars? That’s a lot of money.”
“Do you want this done properly, or not?”
She hissed out a breath. “How soon can you be here?”
“First I’ll need your credit card number.”
She grudgingly pulled her MasterCard out of her wallet and read the numbers off to Rosa.
“My assistant and I will be there as soon as we can,” Rosa said. “I suggest not leaving the premises in case the demon influences you to wreak havoc upon all who cross your path.”
“Wouldn’t want that.” She swallowed hard. “And what should I do in the meantime to… to…”
“Ward off the demon’s evil power over you?’
She touched her stomach. The tingles that indicated Darrak’s presence were barely noticeable now. “Yeah. That.”
“I suggest, if you have one available, that you read aloud from the Bible. Perhaps wear a crucifix, although that might backfire and burn your own flesh, so make sure you have a glass of water—not holy water! — nearby to douse any potential flames. I would suggest the liberal use of salt, but since you’re the one who’s possessed that could also be detrimental to you. The Bible reading may be enough to keep the demon in a weakened state.”
Eden glanced at the bookshelf next to Andy’s desk. “Okay, I see one I can use.”
“Very good. Bless you, dear. We will see you very soon.”
She hung up and went to go grab the black, leather-bound book. Her stomach grumbled and she froze, listening for Darrak’s voice, but it was only her previously eaten donuts settling down in her already upset stomach.
“Hey, Darrak, are you still… here?” she asked the empty room.
Nothing.
She waited with the Bible clutched to her chest, on edge and jumping at every sound.
The front door swung open ten minutes later, the bell above it jingling, and Eden sprang to her feet expecting it to be the exorcist. She’d had her eyes locked on the phone, wondering if she should call anyone else who might be able to help — no one came to mind — so she hadn’t seen anyone approach.
It wasn’t an exorcist.
Detective Ben Hanson stepped inside the office and smiled at her. “Just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing. Santos said he dropped you off here a little while ago.”
She let out a long sigh of relief. “I’m so glad to see you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You are?”
Eden walked directly over to where he stood by the door and hugged him tightly. Then she realized what she’d done and backed away with embarrassment. “Um… sorry about that.”
His lips quirked. “That’s definitely not something you need to apologize for.” He glanced at the Bible she tightly held onto. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”
She shook her head. “That man earlier — the — the serial killer.”
“I know that was a very traumatic experience for you. I’m surprised that you decided to come back to your job today.” He glanced around the embarrassingly shoddy office. “You should be taking it easy.”
“It’s not that. Well, it is. But… when he grabbed me he told me that he was possessed by a demon.”
“Yeah, I heard him say that, too. He was completely crazy. Listen, if you want to talk to somebody qualified to handle post-traumatic stress, then I can easily arrange that for you. It’s the least we can do for you after everything that happened.”
“No… I…” What did she want to do? Tell him everything? That the killer had been serious and was possessed? And now she was, too?
“Eden…” Darrak said wearily from inside of her.
Oh shit.
“Can you hear that?” she asked Ben.