A Demon's Desire by Lizzy Ford

the
Chesapeake found his body on the shore near the bridge, and the
police ruled his death a suicide. Olivia couldn’t help but feel
guilty. She’d left him again after the Emma episode. He’d claimed
to be sorry and begged her forgiveness, but she’d walked away. If
she’d forgiven him, as her heart urged her to, maybe he wouldn’t
have taken his life.
    She knelt in the grass before his grave. She
had eternity to make it up to him.
    “Soon, my Adam,” she murmured, a new kind of
excitement lighting her blood. “Dig him up, slave.”
    She had Jeffrey to help her raise Adam, and
now she had Adam’s body. Jeffrey was dealing with Emma. Everything
was as he promised: perfect.
    The shadow demon disappeared into the ground.
She rose and stepped aside. A few minutes later, the demon
reappeared clenching a body that reeked with the scent of death.
She didn’t care; she stepped forward, gaze taking in her lost lover
hungrily. She saw him not as he was in his decomposed state but as
he had been and would be again.
    Her eyes glowed.
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    Tristan stood in Emma’s cluttered living room
the next morning, taking in her jewel-toned apartment. Mama had
intended to drop by Emma’s for clothes, but he’d convinced her to
stay with Sissy and send him on the errand. While he felt bad about
entering her apartment without knowing, he needed to know what she
wouldn’t tell him. He didn’t know what he was looking for but hoped
his shadows keyed on something.
    The apartment was larger than his but not by
much. Her collection of … things made it feel cozy and small. He
gazed around, growing more amused. Books took up what space
trinkets and brass and ceramic figurines had not already invaded.
There was no smooth surface left untouched. The TV in the
entertainment cabinet was stacked high with DVDs despite the mostly
open DVD rack beside it. The window sills were burdened with
trinkets, some of which had blown onto the floor, and even the
dining room table was a depot for mail, two purses, and a small
basket of junk.
    He moved into the kitchen and almost
grimaced. There was nothing natural about the processed food she
preferred. Appliances were aligned haphazardly according to which
she used last, and her fridge was cluttered with cheerful magnets
holding up two different calendars turned to two months-- neither
of which was the current month.
    He avoided the cabinets, suspecting what kind
of messes he’d find. Instead he went to her bedroom. The bed was,
unsurprisingly, unmade. The room smelled like her. He relaxed and
breathed deeply. She slept with a teddy bear. Somehow it didn’t
surprise him. According to Mama, Emma hadn’t dated in a couple of
years.
    He entered the walk-in closet. She liked
clothes and shoes, all of which were piled or stacked in the
closet. Tristan’s eyes settled on two small shoeboxes scrawled with
the words don’t lose! They were stacked on one shelf, and he
walked over to them. The first box contained her passport, birth
certificate, and photos of her family.
    The second box contained three letters, two
addressed to her from Adam Merchant in Baltimore and one addressed
to Adam that had been stamped unable to deliver and
returned . Interested, Tristan opened a card from Adam
Merchant. It was a birthday card with nothing more than a signature
and a picture of the two of them in daylight making faces at the
camera. Adam was a handsome man with dark blond hair, friendly
brown eyes, and a lean frame.
    Tristan ignored the stirring of agitated
darkness at seeing Emma with her arm around another man’s waist.
The shadows within him growled, joining the male part of him that
wanted no man within a mile of the woman he claimed as his.
    This, his shadows told him. He didn’t
know why, but he listened. He pocketed the picture, replaced the
card, and opened the second card, drawing out a letter sent from
Adam to Emma.
    Emma –
    I’ll always love you with all my heart. I’m
sorry about