said after a moment. “Do you know who this is?” A pause. “No, it’s okay. Don’t be scared. I’m not going to do that to you.” Another pause. “Seriously, I’m not. Evisceration is extremely messy and the cleanup is a—Come on. Stop crying. Be a man.”
That Darrak’s “outside help” required contacting Stanley didn’t fill Eden with a great deal of confidence. Stanley worked as a minion for just about any supernatural creature who paid or threatened him. Not exactly her favorite guy in the city.
“Is he back?” Darrak asked. “He is? Why didn’t you let me know this already? Oh, come on. Stop crying.”
Eden’s hands tingled. It was so tempting to throw out a spell right here, right now. It still seemed like just a dream that all of this had happened to her. Demons were real. Angels were real. Witches were real, and they came in a few different varieties.
White witches—the good and beneficial nature lovers. Among other things, Eden had heard they could make flowers grow and dying trees come back to life. How nice for them.
Gray witches—able to blend both white magic and black magic with the ability to do this successfully without damaging their souls provided they maintained a perfect balance.
And then there were black witches—able to destroy or kill things with a mere thought if they were so inclined. Not exactly the life of the party.
“We need to see him as soon as possible.” Darrak paced back and forth between her kitchenette and the dinette area. “That sounds fine. Why are you still crying? Suck it up, dude. Seriously.”
He hung up.
“You upset Stanley,” Eden said. “Actually . . . I’m fine with that.”
Darrak shrugged. “He’s still intimidated by my fearsome archdemon reputation. Nice to know somebody is.”
“Are you going to share what that was all about?”
“We’re seeing Maksim. Today.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment. “The wizard.”
“The one and only. Sounds like he’s finally back from his vacation.”
Maksim the wizard had gone on vacation after surviving a torture session by Theo—Darrak’s former demon friend—a couple of weeks ago. Before he went AWOL, the wizard was supposed to help them find a way to break his curse, even though rumor had it only the witch who’d originally cursed him could do something about that. Since she was now dead it was a moot point.
“You really think he can help me?” She didn’t want to hope for too much from a simple phone call. Disappointment was a heartless bitch.
“I don’t think he can hurt. Wizards and witches go hand in hand, after all. Didn’t you read Harry Potter?”
Eden stared at him. “Well, yeah.”
“I didn’t read the books,” he continued. “But I did get to see the movies. A previous host was a fan. He even wore dress robes and pretended he’d been sorted into a house. Hufflepuff, if you can believe it. Who liked Hufflepuff best? I mean, seriously.”
“Not sure that’s really helpful in this situation.”
“A wizard, especially one at Maksim’s level, will know how to control black magic, even yours. I’m sure of it.”
It was worth a shot. “Okay, so when do we see him?”
“Now.”
“Now?” She glanced at the clock that read eight thirty. “But Andy’s going to want us in the office.”
“He can wait a couple of hours. He can wait a whole day if necessary. Figuring out how to control your magic is much more important.”
She took a deep breath. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right.” Darrak’s smile had returned, although this time it didn’t completely reach his eyes. He still looked worried.
Which was worrying.
“Fine.” Eden nodded and clenched her magically tingling hands into fists at her sides. “Then I guess we’re off to see the wizard.”
“Don’t make me start singing.” He snatched the fallen newspaper from the floor and put it back on the table. “You know, he just might be the person from your past whose destiny is intertwined with yours, according to your horoscope.”
“I think I’d remember meeting a wizard named Maksim.”
Darrak crossed his arms. “Then who do you think it was referring to?”
She waved her hand flippantly. “It was just a horoscope. It’s fiction. Totally meaningless.”
“If you say so.”
Out of all the drama in Eden’s life lately, an entertaining but silly horoscope was the least of her problems.
Caroline Riley watched from the shadows as her daughter left the apartment building and headed toward her rusty Toyota. She was about to run up and give Eden a big hug, but held back when the demon came into view.