“You have proven to me that you’ve changed. You have enough darkness in you still to not let this place or the shadows here drive you insane. But you now have enough light to make you the perfect, levelheaded choice to maintain and control the balance down here.”
Darrak couldn’t remember anyone ever calling him levelheaded before. “I can’t do that.”
“But it was what you and Theo once planned, wasn’t it? To rule Hell together. To take over each demon lord’s throne until you managed to seize control of them all. It would have been quite the coup if you’d succeeded.”
“We never would have succeeded. Lucifer knew too much.”
“You’re right. But he doesn’t know this. His head is full of plans for the future once he takes Eden’s angelic energy.”
“Is it enough to get him back to Heaven? To break his ties here to the shadows?”
“It is. And as an angel he will be accepted again in Heaven if he succeeds in sloughing off his darkness. It’s everything he wants.”
Darrak thought it through. “But nobody would be here, despite him lining up a candidate. Whether he succeeds or I succeed in destroying him.”
“Correct. He doesn’t have the final say on who would take his place. I do.”
“The Prince of Hell.” Saying it out loud didn’t help it sound any more logical than it did in his head. Darrak the incubus turned archdemon, turned cursed and bodiless possessor of humans, turned part angel — although still ridiculously good-looking…
The Prince of Hell.
There was a time when this would have been the best offer ever.
Those days were long gone.
Darrak shook his head. “I don’t want this. I want to be with Eden.”
“I know. Which is all the more reason for you to agree to this. Knowing what you’ll be giving up will make your oath to follow through that much stronger.”
Darrak laughed hollowly. “You and your sacrifices. I’ve never really bought into that line of thinking much.”
“Of course not. You’ve been only a demon until recently. Not the most self-sacrificing of creatures.”
Darrak crossed his arms and cast a look around the area once again, his attention resting on Eden, who’d sat down on the ground next to Andy while she waited for him to return. “What will happen if I say no?”
For the first time, a trace of doubt crossed Theo’s dark eyes. “You know very well what will happen.”
He did. He wished he didn’t, but he did. The shadows of Hell would not be kept under control and they would spread — much like Eden’s darkness, but much bigger, much broader. The Void would grow larger than it already was and begin to consume everything in its path, like a black hole sucking in matter from everywhere in the Netherworld. It would consume the human world then, and go on to devour the heavens as well.
Lucifer was more than just a hellish dickwad. He, just by his very existence and position, held those shadows back. He was the vessel for them, just as Eden had been the vessel for Darrak when he’d been cursed.
Because of this trip to the Netherworld, which was supposed to be one-way only, Darrak was free from that curse for the first time in over three centuries. Free to go where he wanted, do what he wanted. Be who he wanted.
And be with who he wanted.
Or whom. Whatever. Proper grammar could bite it.
“Eden’s black magic,” Darrak whispered after a full minute had gone by in silence — a minute Andy really didn’t have. “When I take Lucifer’s place, I want you to make sure it never hurts her again. So she and the baby will be safe.”
“Is that all you want? To ensure the safety of the woman you love and your unborn child?”
He swallowed hard and nodded with a firm jerk of his head. “Yes.”
“Then it shall be done. Do you want her to forget that you ever existed? I can do that. She will fondly remember the father of her child, but his absence will not weigh heavily on her mind. She doesn’t need to know what happened to you. You know she would want to be with you if she does. And you know that she can’t be here — even the short pass Lucifer has given her, it will not last, especially if she loses the darkness inside of her. She’s still essentially human.”
“Yes.” Darrak could barely hear his own voice. “Make her forget me. But not yet. Not until it’s time.”
“Fair enough.” Theo nodded and extended his hand. “So do we have a deal? Once Lucifer has abandoned his throne, you will take it of your own free will. You will become the new Prince of Hell.”
He nodded tightly and shook Theo’s hand. “We have a deal.”
“Thank you, Darrak.”
Seemed like a deal that should have a more solid agreement than a firm handshake. But it was what it was.
As he shook Theo’s hand, he got an image of Lucifer doing the exact same thing. Agreeing to become the Prince of Hell of his own free will. He’d been given the choice a very long time ago just like this.
Darrak had never known that. He’d always thought Lucifer had no choice and been cast out of Heaven, which was why he’d always had such a huge chip on his shoulder about it.
Theo said he’d forgotten this.
But why? And how?
He released Theo’s hand and glanced at Eden. Just the sight of her made his chest tighten. Soon she’d forget him.
It was for the best since there was no other way this could work, but it was the hardest thing he’d ever had to face before.
When he turned to look at Theo again, the entity had disappeared.
“What, no good-bye and good luck?” Darrak murmured. “God, what a jerk.”
He turned and walked directly to Eden’s side.
“Are we good?” Andy asked. “Because I’m not really feeling so hot right now.”
“Believe me, if we stay here much longer, you’re going to be feeling much hotter… by about two thousand degrees. So let’s skedaddle.”
Eden grabbed his arm and looked up at him with concern. “Is everything all right? Why was Theo here? How did he manage to survive what Asmodeus did to him?”
“That’s a lot of questions,” Darrak said. “We’ll deal with them later, okay? But everything’s fine. Everything is exactly how it’s supposed to be. I see that now.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. She touched his face as she kissed him back and then smiled at him.
“So you’re talking cryptically now?”
“It’s my new thing. Now hold on tight.”
Eden did as he asked, sliding her arms around his waist. It felt good to be close to her again. To know how she really felt about him.
Darrak loved her more than anything in the universe and he always would.
He wasn’t doing this for the universe. He was doing it for Eden. He’d anchor himself to this rotting hellhole in order to ensure her safety. She just never had to know the truth.
So be it.
He was finally able to phase the three of them out of Hell without any issues this time and back to the comfortingly bland interior of Triple-A.
Okay, he thought with grim resolve. Time to go kill Lucifer.
Dawn wasn’t far off.
Ben paced outside the motel where he’d taken Leena, his cell phone pressed to his ear.
“What is it?” Caroline asked when she answered on the third ring. It didn’t sound as if he’d woken her up.
“I need your help.”
“Haven’t we already made a mess of everything? My daughter hates me. And she hates you, too.”
“Why quit when you’re ahead?”
She sighed. “What can I do?”
“I need you to take over the body of a guard at the Malleus so I can break out someone they’re holding prisoner.”
There was a long silence. “You’ve got to be joking.”