and Lucifer at the same time.”
Andy blinked. “Women are moody sometimes.”
“My thoughts exactly. I better go fetch her. Pardon the expression.”
“Yeah, you go. Wish me luck with my . . . well, you know,” Andy said, his tone turning serious.
Darrak turned to face him and took Andy’s outstretched hand, shaking it firmly. “You won’t need it. But good luck.”
“Thank you.”
Darrak turned toward the door, twisting the handle and pushing forward, but it didn’t budge.
“What the hell?” he mumbled. He checked the lock to see if it had been turned, but it wasn’t. “The door’s stuck.”
“Use your demonic superstrength.”
“Right.” Not exactly as strong as he once was, but he could probably take at least twenty humans on in a fight if he had to without resorting to firepower. He pushed the door as hard as he could.
Nothing happened.
He frowned deeply. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
Andy was at his side and he tried the door. “It’s sealed shut.”
“Sealed?” Darrak shook his head. “But Eden hasn’t done the spell yet. She wouldn’t do it with me still in here.”
Andy shrugged. “She’ll be back any second. If she hadn’t destroyed her stupid BlackBerry we could give her a quick call.”
No, something was very wrong. “I need to break this door open.”
“Do you know how much it costs to fix something like that?”
“I’ll repay you.”
“With what? Uneaten donuts?”
But Darrak had already grabbed a chair. Another wave of pain shuddered through him as he slammed it against the door. It would normally be more than enough to shatter the glass.
But nothing happened. It barely rattled.
He swore under his breath.
“It’s the spell,” he confirmed. “It’s working exactly how Maksim told us it would. But where’s Eden? Why would she do this already? Doesn’t she know that it would trap me in here with you? We don’t have time for games.”
“Not good.” Andy sounded worried. “You’ll be trapped in here with a werewolf. A potential werewolf.”
“Believe me, Andy, you turning furry is the least of my worries at this exact moment.” He moved toward the phone on Eden’s desk, grabbed the receiver, and pecked out the numbers to Maksim’s house. It went directly to voice mail.
“Damn it.” He slammed the phone down.
Fine. He would just be strong for as long as this took—until Eden returned. But he felt the sun slip fully behind the horizon moments later. He knew when it happened since the pain blossomed out from inside of him.
Light and dark. Just like what was going on inside of him. The light helped. The dark hurt.
Based on his history, it seemed like the wrong order to things.
Andy moaned, a long sound that ended in a tiny wolflike howl. He clamped his hands over his mouth. “Oh shit! Was that me?”
“This is not good,” Darrak muttered. “You’re starting to shift. Go with it, Andy. Don’t try to fight it.”
“Like what you’re doing?”
“I have no choice. I have to fight this. I have to wait till Eden gets back. Where the hell is she?” He went to the glass door and pounded on it. “Eden! Damn it! Where are you?”
“So if she doesn’t get here soon, if you’re trapped in here and can’t get out because this place is sealed up tighter than a nun’s panties”—Andy’s voice shook—“you won’t be able to possess her.”
Darrak’s jaw clenched. “Exactly.”
“So what then?”
“Then . . . then I’m in serious trouble.” He gasped for breath. “Why would she do this to me? Did she say anything to you?”
“No, nothing!” Andy shook his head violently. “Something must have happened to her.”
Yes, of course something happened. Her mother is what happened. She’d wanted to get rid of Darrak from the first moment she strolled her shiny new body in here. Caroline had known what Darrak was without asking any questions or being told anything at all. She’d just known he was a demon.
Was Eden okay? Was she hurt? Had Caroline done something to her? Maybe convinced her to get rid of Darrak once and for all?
No, that couldn’t be it.
Fury rose in his chest that Eden might be hurt right now, unable to return to him, but anger wasn’t going to help him. There was no way he was escaping from this room. The spell had worked perfectly. Nobody was getting in, and nobody was getting out. It had been meant for a werewolf, but it worked on a demon just as well.
Just what kind of a spell was this?
Andy began to shift to werewolf, but he still looked more worried about Darrak.