This was who he really was now thanks to that centuries-old curse. This formless creature who couldn’t speak, couldn’t touch anything and was only able to possess and feed and drain and kill.
And he was trapped in a room with no way out. He instinctively moved toward Andy, even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good, and was immediately repelled, glancing off the shifting werewolf’s skin like a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall.
Andy continued to shift form. He howled and fell to the floor, his eyes still filled with a strange mix of fear for himself and for Darrak. Andy had never seen Darrak in this unnatural, incorporeal form. Maybe he’d thought that Darrak was someone to trust as much as a human, as evidenced by his little speech a couple of minutes ago.
But Darrak wasn’t human. He was nothing close to human — even with the recent angel infusion. He had a great deal of humanity in reserve, but that was as close as he got to the real deal.
Would that humanity last? Or would it be taken from him along with everything else?
He already knew the truth. Everything would be taken. Everything that he thought he resented, everything that he thought he didn’t want. The Void would strip away everything and leave nothing behind. Nothing at all.
All gone. His humanity, his emotions, his memories, even his angel side. Funny, it didn’t seem so bad anymore. It was embarrassing for a former archdemon who’d laid waste to many a town in his existence, a former incubus who’d personally helped stock Lucifer’s harem full of willing souls for him to sate his many hungers.
Part angel.
But now he wasn’t even that. Now he was only smoke swirling around a magically sealed room.
He tried the door, tried to seep through the tiny cracks in the walls, the heater grate, anything.
Nothing worked.
Andy now raced back and forth in full werewolf form, claws scratching against the floor, looking very much like a large wild dog, his eyes still so much like Andy’s, full of concern, full of fear.
But Darrak knew Andy didn’t fear for himself anymore. He feared for Darrak.
Darrak always knew it was only a matter of time before this would happen — he’d just thought it wouldn’t be quite this soon. Quite honestly, this was for the best. Eden would finally be free of him. The dark and light that fought within her would have one less daily struggle.
She’d be better off without him.
But he’d miss her. So much.
An exorcism could have harmed her. This way, she wouldn’t have to feel a thing.
That was one of Darrak’s last thoughts as he began to dissipate. This form could only last so long without a human host, and his time was finally up.
The last thing he heard before he vanished completely was the sound of a werewolf howling very loudly.
Nice puppy. Stay and take care of Eden for me. Keep her safe.
No… he thought. I don’t want to go, not like this. There’s still so much I need to—
And then he was gone.
FOURTEEN
Eden had a hell of a hangover. Somehow, somewhere, she’d drank way too much and now had to pay the price.
Her eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes.
“Eden, sweetie,” her mother’s brand-new voice said softly. “You’re awake. Good.”
“Give her a minute,” Ben said. “She’ll be woozy for a bit.” Her throat felt like sandpaper. “Wh-what happened? Where am I?”
“You’re safe.”
She was confused, but her vision began to come into focus. “You… have you taken me to the Malleus?”
“No, of course not,” Ben said. “This doesn’t have anything to do with them. They don’t need to know about this. It’s safer that way.”
Safer. Sure, now he gets cautious when it comes to those jerks. Maybe he’d learned a few things in the last little while.
Wait a minute.
She tried to push herself up and looked around the small enclosed space. “Where am I?”
“In a van I rented,” Ben said.
“A van. So you…” She felt her shoulder where the injection went in. “You drugged me and threw me in the back of a van?”
Her mother’s currently young and beautiful face loomed in front of her. “Seemed like a good gathering spot on short notice.”
“And what is this? Your intervention?”
Ben cleared his throat. “Yup. Kind of amateur, I’ll admit it, but it worked well enough.”
Unbelievable. How many times did she have to say she didn’t need anyone’s help before they’d leave her the hell alone?
“I don’t have time for this.” She glared at them. “You have no right to approach me ever again, you hear me? I swear to God, if you do then you’re both going to be sorry. I don’t want your help or your stupid intervention.”
“It had to be done,” Ben said. “You’ll see that eventually. Maybe not today, but soon. And you’ll thank us for this.”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “You know, I once thought you were a really nice guy, Ben. Someone who wanted to do the right thing, even at a cost. I heard you’d left the police force.”
“Couldn’t balance things as well as I thought. Had to choose.”
“I guess that brand on your arm made that choice nice and simple for you.”
“I know you think the Malleus are evil, but they’re not. Not all of them, anyway.” His jaw clenched as if he didn’t entirely believe his own words.
“Let me out of here. Now.”
They exchanged a look. Great, Ben and Caroline had forged a bond of some kind. United to save Eden from the big bad demon. How did they even meet?
She felt magic spark in the palms of her hands, ready, willing, and able to be used whenever she liked. “You have three seconds to get out of my way. Three, two, one.”
When they didn’t do anything, she cast a focused look at the back doors of the van and they swung wide open. She scooted toward the exit before she noticed something that made her gasp out loud and her heart start pounding hard in her chest.
“Why is it dark out?” She didn’t get an immediate reply so she turned to look at them. “What time is it? How long was I out?”
Caroline pressed her lips together and glanced away.
Ben held Eden’s gaze steadily. “It’s six o’clock. You were out for a little over an hour.”
Eden began to tremble. “No… but — but I need to—”
She leapt out of the van and scanned the parking lot. They hadn’t gone anywhere. They were still here, next to her Toyota. Next to Triple-A. She ran so fast she nearly twisted her ankle. The door was locked and she yanked on the handle so hard it hurt her hands.
Fumbling in her pockets for the spell, she realized with a horrible sinking feeling that it wasn’t there anymore. Suddenly, Caroline was next to her, the paper clutched in her hand.
“We had to do it to save you, Eden,” she said, her voice shaky. “It’s going to be better now. You’ll see.”
Tears blurred her vision, and she snatched the paper away, quickly speaking the Latin words to break the spell that had sealed the office up. There was a slight swell of light to show it worked.
She grasped the door handle and pulled, bursting into the office. “Please, please still be here.”
A large doglike creature scrambled toward her, and she reacted instinctively, balling her hand, ready to unleash magic to protect herself if the werewolf attacked. Instead, it sat down on its haunches in front of her and whined, raising its front leg to paw at the air.