That Old Black Magic lie-3

by Michelle Rowen

  A demon who hoped. Sure, that made sense.

  What was down there? Would he land somewhere eventually? Is that where the rumor of the torturous pain came from before you were finally gone forever? Who started that rumor if no one had ever survived the plunge? He was in pain right now, but it was still manageable. He’d experienced much worse in his long existence.

  “What do you care about, demon?” Theo asked.

  Strange question. “Care about?”

  “Is it only yourself? In these last minutes, are you only concerned about yourself and your own well-being?”

  “It is top of mind.”

  “But not completely. If it was, then you’d already have given me your answer. I need you to speak the words, demon. Say you’re willing to devote your future to killing innocent humans in order to save your own skin. Come on, it’ll be totally fun. Any normal demon would have already jumped on this opportunity, and you know it.”

  “Can’t it be evil humans?” Darrak hated the catch in his voice as he said it. “Criminals, serial killers, blackhearted assholes with no chance at redemption?”

  Theo laughed. “You’re hilarious. Of course not. What value does a black soul have down here? Zero. Just more cannon fodder. The true value in a place of ultimate darkness comes from the smallest infusion of light.”

  He wanted to say yes. He did. But something stopped him, something apart from the invisible ropes that now tied him to the Void. Something else wrapped around his chest and squeezed tight.

  “Thirty seconds, demon.” Theo crossed his arms.

  Thirty seconds to decide his ultimate fate.

  That redhead… had he really seen her? Was she just a figment of his imagination? Why did he think of her now when he was so close to the end? This was it. If he wasn’t able to wrap his mouth around the word yes—such a simple word considering how much it would mean — then it was all over.

  His mind went again to the kids — his first assignment after saving his own sorry neck. It was a deal he once would have taken in a second and not given it another moment’s thought.

  But he wasn’t that demon anymore. And he never would be again.

  Oh, hell.

  “That deal of yours?” Darrak said.

  “Yes?”

  “Why don’t you go ahead and shove it right up your ass?”

  Theo’s lips curved. “Is that your answer? Are you saying no to me?”

  A small part of him was screaming, wanting to change his mind while there was still a chance to survive, say anything to get out of this. But a larger part of him knew without any doubt that this was the right thing to do.

  The right thing. A demon choosing to do something because it was the right thing to do. Hilarious.

  “I’d tell you to go to Hell,” he said firmly. “But that would be a bit moot. My answer is no. Capital N, capital O. And that is my final answer, asshole.”

  For emphasis, he gave the grinning entity the finger.

  Theo cocked his head. “So it’s true, you have changed.”

  Darrak just glowered at him. Then he staggered back a step as the Void’s hold on him tightened another notch.

  “One final chance, demon.”

  Darrak’s fists clenched. “Blow me.”

  “No, thanks.” Theo shrugged. “Okay, I asked three times. You answered three times. It is decided. For the record, I think you should feel really good about yourself. Go you! Buh-bye now.”

  The Void’s grip tightened like an iron fist, pulling Darrak backward. He fell to the ground and clawed at the cement. The very edge of the cliff face pushed against his shoe before it broke away, and then he was hanging on to the side of the Void by only his hands, his feet dangling over endless darkness.

  So this is how it ends, he thought. Awesome.

  Was this really it? Was he willing to give up?

  Something kept him holding on. Something with as much of a grip on him as the damn Void had. He couldn’t let go. Not yet.

  “Theo! Get back here!” he yelled, calling the name of the friend he’d already lost. The entity using Theo’s face didn’t reappear. He was gone, his job was done, and Darrak was alone to face his chosen fate.

  No rewards in Hell for making the selfless decision, that was for damn sure.

  This wasn’t a huge surprise.

  It felt as if they’d been walking forever when a voice echoed off the dark brick buildings surrounding them.

  “Theo! Get back here!”

  Eden gasped. “That’s Darrak! It’s him!”

  “I think you’re right!”

  Andy started running then, although it wasn’t without effort. Whatever was in the air around here was starting to cause him some pain.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Watch out!”

  A hand clamped down on her shoulder. She spun to see who it was and was shocked to see the face of Theo, Darrak’s demonic BFF who’d been destroyed two weeks ago.

  He didn’t exist. Not anymore. And yet here he was.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Theo said.

  “Let go of me.” She tried to summon her magic, but it fizzled in her hand before she could get even a spark going.

  “It’s too late, Eden. Let him go.”

  She glared at him. “Never!”

  She turned and ran, racing around the corner up ahead and then skidded to a halt, shocked at what she saw stretching out before her. There was a huge crater in the ground that reminded her of the Grand Canyon. She’d been there once as a kid; her mom had taken the day away from the tables to take Eden on a helicopter ride above the canyon. It seemed so big and vast and expansive. A world wonder. At the time it had filled her with awe.

  This, on the other hand, filled her with fear because she knew what it was.

  The Void.

  And Darrak was nowhere to be seen.

  Theo was right. It was too late.

  No, damn it, it wasn’t! She’d just heard him. She couldn’t have missed him by mere seconds. Life wasn’t that unfair.

  “Darrak!” she yelled. “Where are you? Answer me!”

  TWENTY-ONE

  The sound of her voice brought Darrak’s memories back so forcefully it almost made him lose his already shaky grip on the side of the cliff.

  The redhead.

  Eden.

  Terrific. Now he was hallucinating. In his last moments of existence, he thought of her. Not a huge surprise, really. After all, she was the only thing in the universe he cared about.

  She’d be proud he’d made the right decision about the kids. So selfless. So unlike him. It almost made him smile.

  Demon-angel, the wraiths called him.

  This, too, came back to him now at the end of everything. He’d thought there was some hidden meaning, but it was exactly as they’d said. The wraiths sensed both demon and angel in him because that was exactly what he was.

  It was his angel side, the annoyingly do-gooder side, that had shifted his morals enough to make his final decision — sacrifice himself rather than take a job that would force him to hurt others.

  He didn’t want to hurt anyone. Now he wanted to help them.

  The demon side of him thought this was all kinds of lame.

  Darrak was the ultimate teeter-totter of good and evil. Black and white. He’d fought it from the beginning. He refused to accept that he’d been tainted with humanity, let alone celestial energy. The two sides of himself had remained apart like oil and water. It was what had caused him the tearing pain when Eden had shifted those parts of him a bit too close together. They hadn’t wanted that.

  He hadn’t wanted that.

  It was clear to him now: The decision had always been in his hands. The pain resulted from his failure to accept that he’d changed.

  But he had. And that the change had come because of Eden — well, that made it a good change as far as he was concerned. He could accept this now at the end of his existence. He was a demon-angel, filled with equal parts li
ght and dark.

  So be it.

  He felt something fill him then, easing his tense muscles and relaxing his mind. The peace of accepting who he was, once and for all. Even if it was just for a moment before he ceased to exist.

  Embrace your inner freak, Darrak thought. For better or for worse.

  At the moment, it looked like it was for the worse. The Void wasn’t going anywhere but down. And down.

  He’d thought Eden had destroyed him by giving him her celestial energy, but she hadn’t destroyed him. Instead she had made him better than he was before.

  If only he’d realized this sooner.

  “There you go, Eden,” he whispered. “You did make me a better man after all. Thank you for that.”

  An animal howled in the distance. Great.

  Well, any hellbeast sniffing around for scraps would be out of luck very soon. Nothing to see here. Move along.

  “Where are you?” Eden’s apparition yelled again. “Darrak! Say something! Say anything!”

  He already missed her so much. “Good-bye, Eden.”

  Some of the cement fell away as his grip loosened. Only seconds now.

  But then a hand reached down and grabbed tightly onto his wrist. With surprise, he looked up into the most beautiful face he’d ever seen.

  Her green eyes were filled with tears and she smiled down at him. “There you are, you jerk!”

  He guessed he’d memorized her face perfectly because this apparition was as real as they came. Or maybe it was her angel side coming to visit him in his last moments. He almost expected to see white fluffy wings stretch out behind her.

  Sharp nails dug into his skin. “Darrak! Snap out of it!”

  He blinked. “Wait a minute, you — you’re not an angelic apparition?”

  “Not the last time I checked. What the hell do you think you’re doing right now?”

  “Oh, you know.” He glanced at the bottomless drop below him. “Just hanging around.”

  Determination filled her gaze. “I won’t let you fall.”

  He snorted. “You’re going to pull me out of the mouth of the Void.”

  “That was my general plan, yes.”

  This earned a full laugh. “I’m imagining you right now. Or maybe that damn entity is using your face to mess with me some more.”

  Eden’s fingers dug hard into his arm as she grappled for a tighter hold on him, but he slipped a few inches farther down. “Darrak, I’m really here. I came to the Netherworld to find you before it was too late. What you see is what you get.”

  This was impossible. “Tell me something to make this real. It can’t be real.”

  She hissed out a breath of frustration, but then locked gazes with him. “I’m here because losing you made me realize I don’t want to live without you. Ever. I love you more than anything, Darrak, and I want to be with you forever, no matter what the future brings. Now pull your ass out of that goddamned Void right now!”

  It hit him like a monster-sized fist. This was real. He didn’t know how, but Eden was here.

  And she loved him.

  Hope flooded through him, and it gave him enough strength to grab hold of her. Enough strength to fight against the pull the Void had on him.

  He spoke through gritted teeth. “Just for the record, you’re crazy for doing this.”

  “Less talking, demon. More climbing. Come on!”

  He braced his feet against the side of the cliff, and began dragging himself upward, fighting with every ounce of his strength against the Void’s tight grip on him. Finally, he breached the edge of the cliff, gasping from the effort.

  He looked back at where he’d come from. That was close. That was so unbelievably close.

  “Darrak… we did it!” Her voice was filled with pure joy and relief.

  A smile spread over his face and he turned to look at her, to take her in his arms and never let her go. They made it. He survived and it was all thanks to her.

  But then Eden shrieked and suddenly she was being dragged backward from him. He scrambled to grab hold of her but she was pulled out of his reach.

  He leapt to his feet. “Eden, no!”

  The wraiths had returned, and they surrounded Eden in shadows.

  “My magic…” Eden managed. “I can’t use it…”

  Wraiths leeched any sort of power from their victim. Made it easier for them to ensnare their prey.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Darrak noticed an unconscious black hellhound lying off to the right. That must have been the source of the howl he’d heard earlier.

  He’d been willing to let himself go, to be swept into the Void in order to not hurt anyone now or in the future. But seeing Eden in the grip of the wraiths was enough to bring forth the side of him that enjoyed a bit of destruction. And then some.

  He wouldn’t lose her only a moment after they’d found each other again.

  Not like this.

  Darrak wrenched himself farther away from the edge of the Void, and it was like pulling himself slowly out of quicksand. But he did it. He ignored the pain, got to his feet, and moved closer to the wraiths now twenty feet away from him.

  “Demon-angel,” one snarled. “We have something it loves.”

  “Let go of her,” he warned.

  “She doesn’t belong here, but we’re happy she has traveled so far.”

  The other wraith drew her pasty-white fingers over Eden’s stomach. “Two lives, twice as sweet. A taste we’ve never experienced before. So delicious.”

  “Two lives?” he growled. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Small life, it is. Created from two places, two worlds, two beings of opposite means.” Wraiths were known to be cryptic double-talkers. It just made them more annoying. “And the demon-angel had no idea, its senses dulled from its curse, no true idea of what the small life created from two worlds—”

  “Oh, for the love of—” Eden fought against the choke hold the wraiths had her in. She looked at Darrak. “This wasn’t how I wanted to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” he asked tightly.

  Her gaze locked with his. “I’m… pregnant.”

  “What?” He gaped at her. It felt as if he’d just been shoved back into the Void and was holding on by his fingernails.

  Eden watched him uncertainly before her eyes narrowed. “You heard me. Now do something, will you?”

  Pregnant. Eden was pregnant.

  This unexpected piece of news changed pretty much everything in his entire universe in one split second.

  His hands tightened into fists. “Let go of her or you’re going to be very sorry.”

  “A strongly worded warning. That should work perfectly,” Eden said dryly. “Thanks.”

  The wraiths circled Eden, their hands brushing against her enough to keep her from moving, keep her from protecting herself with her magic. “All will be sorry soon. The shadows are restless. Their master stays away looking to take a trip to a place with no shadows.”

  “Shadows,” Darrak repeated, glancing around. He knew what the wraith spoke about. The Netherworld was filled with the shadows. It was what made it eternally night here. No light could broach darkness like this. The darkness was what fueled Hell — evil without form.

  Lucifer controlled those shadows, the darkness, keeping it from spreading, growing, branching out past the Netherworld. It was what gave him his vast power, but also what kept him chained here even while able to take mortal form in the human world.

  But he’d been neglecting his duties in Hell lately, whining about wanting to go back to Heaven. What a total crybaby.

  “Are you afraid?” he asked the wraiths. “Is that what this is? Afraid of the shadows? I can help you.”

  “It can’t help. It’s tainted. It’s part angel now.”

  “Sweetheart, that only makes me more powerful. I’m an archdemon with a shiny gold star.”

  That was a nice way to think of it, actually. Less “freak of nature,” more “awesome upgr
ade.”

  “This woman and her unborn child are too delicious to give up at any price. They are ours now.” They tightened their hold on Eden and she let out a shriek of fear.

  Darrak finally had had enough.

  He phased from where he stood near the edge of the Void to reappear right in front of the wraiths in a flash of fire. Grabbing each by their throat, he squeezed until they released their grip on Eden.

  “Did you say she’s yours?” he asked.

  “Yesss.”

  “Pardon the expression, bitches, but possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

  He launched the pair of them backward. They made a lovely arc through the dark sky as they flew, screaming, into the gaping mouth of the Void.

  A couple less wraiths in the Netherworld was like stomping on a couple of cockroaches in a seedy motel. It didn’t make much of a difference, but it was still extremely satisfying.

  Darrak quickly moved toward Eden and checked her throat. Luckily, the wraiths hadn’t done any damage. She stared at him with wide, shiny eyes.

  “Are you okay?” he demanded.

  Eden grabbed hold of him, and he crushed her against his chest. She felt so good, better than anything. How could he have forgotten her for even a moment? He’d been forced to forget, by someone, something, but he’d remembered anyway. First with the vision of her and now with the real thing.

  He pulled back and took her face between his hands. “Is it true? Are you really pregnant?”

  She studied his face and nodded. “Yes.”

  “Is — is it mine?”

  Her warm gaze turned into an icy glare very fast. “Are you kidding me?”

  Darrak cleared his throat. “Uh, well, it’s an honest question. Demons created from hellfire aren’t usually able to—”

  “Unbelievable. No, it’s not yours. It’s Ben’s. Or Lucas’s. Or maybe it’s Stanley’s. Not sure, I’m such a tramp.”

  She went to pull away from him, her cheeks flushed red with anger, but he caught her hand to draw her back. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I get it. It’s mine. But just so you know… that’s impossible.”

  “There’s a lot of things that are impossible. And yet here we are.”