Succubus Heat

CHAPTER 20

Dante was waiting for me when I got home. I normally liked having the company, but after being with Seth, Dante's presence now made me feel uncomfortable and confused. He didn't seem to notice right away, though, and instead was immediately caught up by Maddie's condo packet.

"What's this?" he asked, leafing through some pages.

"Maddie's been playing real estate agent for me."

"Wow. I didn't think you were serious about that."

I leaned back on the couch, weary from dancing, sex, and the emotional miasma I seemed to be swimming through lately. Bringing up Maddie didn't make me feel so great. "I didn't think I was either. I mentioned it offhand, and she kind of went crazy."

"Alki Beach, huh? Some of these are pretty nice." He held up one print-out. "Brand-new condo, still being built. You can weigh in on the colors and trim."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have time to go shopping right now."

"One of the power spots on your list is near Alki. You could swing by."

I gave him a puzzled look. "Since when are you interested in me moving?"

He sat down opposite me, still looking through the listings. "Well, if you buy locally, I can rest easy that you're sticking around. Besides, get a bigger place, and we could try some cohabitation."

That caught me off-guard. "Oh?"

"You gave me a key. I might as well live here anyway."

"You're going to freeload off me for some more space, huh?" I teased.

He sighed, looking pained. "Man, you really do think the worst. I'd pay you rent."

"With what?" I asked incredulously.

"Business has been good. I think things are on the upswing."

"No offense, baby, but your business doesn't seem like the type that can maintain that kind of momentum. I think this has been a fluke." I spoke too soon and felt bad when I realized I'd hurt him. "But we can play it by ear if you want to move in. Maybe your reputation's spreading, and business will keep booming."

He seemed a little mollified after that, yet as I spoke the words, I found I wasn't overly thrilled at the prospect of us living together. I still had Seth on the brain. Obsessing on him was foolish, I knew. This fling of ours could only last a few more days at most. I shouldn't be mooning over him when I'd just be going back to Dante anyway.

Dante wanted to know how my beach investigation had gone, and I welcomed the change in subject. I gave him a brief rundown of my non-progress.

"You want me to look with you?" he asked. "I've finally got some time tomorrow."

I hesitated. The truth was, just before we'd parted, Seth had said he'd look with me and that he'd bring Kayla. The afterglow could be very persuasive. Still, I'd had to do a lot of convincing that she'd be safe, and honestly, I hoped I was right.

"I roped some other people into it," I said. "We should be fine."

I feared he'd question me further, particularly about whether I had a psychic to go with me or not. Mercifully, he let it go. I honestly didn't think he wanted to wander beaches and was grateful for the reprieve.

When we went to bed later, there was no way I could put his arduous advances off any longer, not without raising suspicion. I'd made a good recovery and no longer had my back excuse. Yet…something was nagging at me. Dante himself had been the one to first joke about whether I could get pregnant in my pseudo-human state. I still didn't know if that was possible, and even if it was, would it matter if I returned to my immortal state in a few days? I had no clue how any of this would work, but Seth and I hadn't used protection. And suddenly, I realized that if there were any chance in the world that I could get pregnant-if Nyx's vision might really come true-I didn't want to chance a paternity dispute.

So, I turned on the charm for Dante and went down on him again, something he didn't really seem to mind. He tried to get me off in return, but it was to no avail. After being with Seth, I had zero desire of my own and found I couldn't come. And so, for the first time with Dante, I faked it. I was a pretty good faker. He never suspected.

He slept late the next morning, so I slipped out early without waking him. Seth and I were meeting over at a restaurant in Bellevue, hopefully far enough away from anyone we knew to see us. While walking to my car, I felt someone fall into step beside me.

"So, I hear you're spreading stories about me," Cedric said amiably.

Startled, I glanced over at him, unease spreading through me. Cedric was my suspect du jour, and I'd already seen one demon's reaction to my theories. Of course, he didn't look particularly destructive at the moment, and there was also the fact that I had yet to tell anyone my latest theories about him implicating Nanette.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Kristin said you said that I told Nanette how you thought she might have summoned Jerome." He paused as though trying to make sense of that. "For the record, I didn't."

I nearly stopped walking. "Then who did?"

"Hell if I know. Just figured you should know I wasn't responsible for what happened to you." He offered no more, no condolences or queries to my health. I honestly couldn't expect that from a demon. The fact that he'd bothered to come talk to me was a rarity enough-and naturally, he could be lying.

"Well, I don't know who else could have told her, then. Or why. I only told a handful of people." The more I thought about it, the more I realized he had to be lying. I'd only told my friends.

He maintained his perfectly bland face. "Like I said, I don't know."

We reached my car, and I paused, leaning against it. "You came all the way here to tell me this?" Not that it would have been an arduous journey for him.

"Don't flatter yourself," he said with a smile. "I'm here to chat with your demonesses. Hell's pretty much ruled out Jerome coming back. There'll be someone official here in days to settle the matter."

I tried to ignore the chill that sent down my spine and parse the rest of his words. Cedric was cozying up to Grace and Mei. Not a surprise. Whoever came here to assign a new archdemon would question those two the most. "Well, thank you," I said. I didn't really know what else to say in that matter, so I switched to something else that had been on my mind. "Hey, I haven't heard much about your cult lately."

"Yeah, they've been pretty quiet. Maybe you helped after all."

"Well, I don't think I did much." I was also starting to suspect the cult had nothing left to do. Now that their "Angel" had used them as an effective distraction during Jerome's summoning, they were no longer needed. I clicked my door open, and another curious thought struck me. "How's it going with Tawny?"

Cedric grimaced. "Well…we went out a couple of times."

"And?"

"My private life is no concern of yours."

"Fair enough." I started to get in.

"But if you must know…"

I paused and arched an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Her conversation is…lacking a little," he admitted.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. "Are you seriously surprised by that?"

"Beauty's skin deep, I know…I guess I'd just hoped for a little more depth."

I chose not to comment on what he considered beautiful. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I figured you wouldn't really want more than cheap sex."

He cut me a look. "Because I'm a demon?"

"Don't look at me like that. Being romantic isn't really in your job description."

"True, true. But at the very least, I'd like to have a little understanding with my cheap sex. Someone who had some vague inkling of what I endure on a daily basis." He was still being gruff and demonlike, but there was a faint whisper of something surprisingly human under there.

I started to tell him that I didn't think that was very likely. Then, I thought of Kristin, Kristin who watched him with doe eyes and fretted over his well-being. "Someone who sort of gets your job and has an appreciation for its absurdity? Someone who's interested in helping you when you're stressed, in connecting with you and understanding things to an extent where you don't even have to say them anymore? Is that what you're looking for?"

He snorted. "Yeah, like that'll happen."

"I don't know. Maybe there's someone out there like that."

"You may not have been human for a long time, but you still cling to their delusions. That's fairy-tale stuff. You can't have that. I can't have that. See you later." He vanished, uncaring of any mortals who might see him.

I stared vacantly at where he'd been, wondering if what he said was true. Was he missing a good match right in front of him? Or was Kristin deluding herself with her crush on him? And was I deluding myself with my feelings for Seth? Was I really feeling connected to him or was it all just lust?

There was no use fretting about any of it now. Cedric didn't seem to want to kill me at the moment, so that was the best I could get.

I drove over to Bellevue, just in time for the morning commute out of the city to be winding down. Bellevue was a suburb, a city in its own right, and the restaurant we'd chosen was in Bellevue's old downtown, one that had eventually been supplanted when a mall rearranged the city's trendy areas.

The place was a quiet little bistro, tucked between a jewelry store and a bakery. Seth and Kayla were already there. She sat in a booster seat beside him, examining a stuffed unicorn while he leafed through a menu. Seeing both of them sent ripples of warmth and happiness through me.

"Hey guys," I said, sliding in across from them. Kayla gave me a shy smile, and Seth positively lit up. His hair was as messy as usual, and his T-shirt today advertised Trix, a cereal I'd forgotten even existed.

"Thanks for doing this," I said. "I really appreciate it."

Seth's smile grew, though I saw the tiniest bit of apprehension in his eyes. "Just so long as you're sure it's…you know…" He glanced over at Kayla, who was groping for her glass. Seth hastily intervened to help her before she could knock it over.

"It'll be easy," I said. "Maybe even boring. We'll just walk around and look for something resembling white stone or rock."

"And Kayla can help?"

I turned toward the little girl. She glanced between both of us, her blue eyes wide and eerily knowing.

"I think so. Again, at this point, she just senses stuff without really understanding why. If we get anywhere near Jerome, I think she'll show some sort of reaction, even if she doesn't know what it is." At least I hoped so.

After that, we didn't mention our mission for the rest of the meal. We made small talk instead and fawned over Kayla, but it was almost something we did on autopilot, something we weren't even paying attention to. Really, Seth and I were consumed by each other. It was more than just lust too, though I certainly hoped he'd noticed my low-cut top today. I found myself just aglow from his presence. I loved being close to him, feeling the joy that spread within me. It was like falling in love again. It was that connection and understanding that Cedric had said was a fairy tale.

And even when we finished up and went and scoped out our first beach, that electricity and warmth continued flowing between us. Kayla walked between us for a while, with each of us holding one of her hands. She struggled a little with the sand but seemed infinitely fascinated by the sights around her: the waves, the seagulls, other children. The rain had faded away today, and we had sunshine taunting us with the hope that spring had truly arrived.

We found no white rocks, however, and Kayla had no out-of-the-ordinary reactions like she'd had with me in the past, or even with Dante. When we got to our second beach, she began slowing down, and I realized this wasn't going to be the aggressive day of hunting I'd hoped for. After a while, Seth picked her up and carried her. She managed to stay awake until we finished our search but promptly fell asleep in the car.

I knew we'd have to call it a day, but we stopped off at a little café on the way home that served great desserts. We settled into a corner booth, Seth and me sitting side by side while I held Kayla on my lap. We decided to simply split a piece of cheesecake, and naturally, I required coffee. Kayla still leaned drowsily against me, but she'd valiantly woken up as though sensing the approach of sugar.

I brushed her hair back from her face. "Hey," I said gently. "Did you see anything magic today?" That was how she'd referred to me in the past.

She shook her head and reached up to touch my cheek in a mirror of my own gesture. "When will you be magic again?" she asked.

"I don't know," I told her. "Soon."

Seth's leg against mine was starting to stir up some illicit feelings, something I felt a little ashamed of with Kayla there. I was further startled when I glanced up at him and saw not lust in his eyes, but rather, something soft and tender.

"What?" I asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because of you," he said. "Just the way you interact with her…it's remarkable."

"Because I can get her to talk?"

He shook his head. "Nah. More than that. I've seen it with the other girls. You have a knack with kids. You'd make a great mother."

Maddie had made the same offhand comment. I don't think Seth had ever really and truly grasped how much I'd pined for children. His words filled me with both elation and sorrow. For an instant, I considered telling him about Nyx's dream and the bizarre pregnancy theory. Those things were too fragile and too precious to me, however, and the cheesecake's serendipitous arrival saved me from further deliberation.

The cheesecake was lemon raspberry, a bit adventurous for Kayla, perhaps, but she ate it without hesitation. Seth gave up on his share before us, and she and I finished it down to the last bite.

"Perfect," he mused. "I'll return her to Terry and Andrea, just in time for her the sugar rush to kick in. They'll never let her go out again." He frowned. "Will you need her again? I think she has some kind of play-date thing tomorrow."

I sighed, and reality dimmed my golden moment. "I don't know. I'm running out of close places. I'll have to head up north next, up around Edmonds, though Dante pointed out that Jerome could be farther out-out on the Olympic Peninsula or something. The summoners would want to keep him close, but 'close' could mean ten miles or a hundred."

"You're not going to be able to go out to the coast in an easy day trip," observed Seth. Under the table, his hand rested on mine out of sympathy. "I'm sorry."

I squeezed his hand in return. "It'll be as it'll be, I guess."

"I still want to help if I can."

I offered him a rueful smile. "You want to help me get back to being a succubus?"

His return smile was equally bittersweet. "There's no way any of this can end well, Georgina. Sometimes…sometimes we have to choose the lesser of evils and simply enjoy our sweet moments while we can."

Like this one. And through some shared instinct, we both fell silent, savoring this brief interlude, this dream we'd gotten ourselves ensnared in. For now, it was enough to just sit together like this. His hand moved idly on my leg, offering comfort and love…at least for a little while. Before long, the sweet affection turned into something with a bit more desire. I met his eyes, and while it wasn't the same animal intensity that had thrown me against the wall last night, there was still a longing in his eyes that told me how much he wanted me, to be closer to me. My body responded to it, and then we both glanced over at Kayla, who had fallen asleep again. We laughed, realizing the absurdity of our current situation.

"I should get her back," said Seth.

"Yeah," I said, sad at the thought of parting but certainly not aroused enough to make out while his niece was around.

He drove me back to my car in Bellevue. Our parting kiss was gentle and light, almost hesitant. It seemed typical of this entire affair, like it was hardly real and would blow away at any moment.

"Anything you need, Thetis," he breathed into my ear. "Anything you need, I'll do it. You know I will."

A flower of agony and euphoria burst open in my chest. He hadn't called me Thetis, his old pet name for me, since the day we broke up. "I know," I murmured into his shirt. "I know."

I returned to Queen Anne not long after that, getting a nice spot right in front of my building. My head was swimming with Seth and Kayla and Jerome and a hundred other things. I was so distracted that when I stepped into my apartment, I nearly walked right past Grace sitting on my couch. Of course, considering she was the first demon all week who hadn't attacked me the instant I cleared the door, my reaction to her subtlety was understandable.

"Grace?" I asked curiously, as though maybe it wasn't her.

She was leafing through a copy of Seattle Metropolitan magazine, their issue on Seattle's best brunches. When she glanced up at me, there was a tiredness in her eyes that even demonic perfection couldn't hide. Seeing her alone was almost as strange as her being here at all. I'd grown so used to her and Mei being a unit that their forced separation lately seemed almost as tragic as Jerome's summoning.

"There you are," she said. "I almost left."

"Sorry," I said. I meant it. I seemed to be on her and Mei's good side lately and wanted to keep it that way. Demons didn't like waiting, and without that innate connection of an archdemon, she couldn't instantly find me across time and space.

Grace gave a half-hearted shrug. "I don't mind. It's rather pleasant having a few moments' respite from all the politics and bickering."

"I can imagine." I frowned. "No, wait. I don't think I can."

I swear, I thought for a second she might laugh, but she kept that same stone face she excelled at.

"It'll all be over soon, which is why I came to see you. Mei and I have been talking to all of the other lesser immortals today. The day after tomorrow, a corporate demon named Ephraim will be making his final decision on who will replace Jerome."

A cold lump settled into my stomach. "So soon?"

"Hell doesn't like to waste time and resources."

"I guess not."

"Ephraim's already in the area and may come speak to you as he attempts to assess the situation. He'll want to know about your job, how things ran under Jerome, etc."

With each word, my spirits sank further and further. My window to find Jerome was shriveling up. We were going to get a new archdemon anytime now.

"Don't be afraid to speak the truth," she advised. "I know that's often a concern among lesser immortals, for fear of causing offense."

"Something like that," I muttered, thinking of Nanette.

"Clearly, you don't want to actively anger Ephraim, but he has no affiliations with anyone currently involved in the dispute here. He won't punish you for stating your opinion."

"I'm guessing he might not listen to it either."

There it was. A tiny quirky of her lips, gone so quickly that I wasn't even sure I saw it. She rose from the sofa and absentmindedly tugged on her blazer. It was deep, deep red, paired with sleek black trousers and patent leather heels. Underneath the collar of her coat, I caught a glimpse of that same chunky necklace she'd worn at the meeting. I recalled Mei's sleeker one and couldn't resist my next words.

"This may sound weird…but I can't help but notice you and Mei are dressing differently lately." As soon as I said that, I hoped she wouldn't get mad at me essentially calling her and Mei copycats. Fortunately, she remained as blasé as usual.

"In these times, it's wise to distinguish yourself. None of our jobs are secure right now."

I did a double-take. In all of this madness, it had never occurred to me that Grace and Mei might have something to fear. But of course they did. When Hell did re-orgs, they tended to tweak the larger structure. They could very well decide to transfer Grace and Mei and institute a whole new set of demonic leaders here. I didn't like that idea any better than losing Jerome. I wanted things to stay the same. And studying that fatigue I'd seen on Grace's face, I realized I wasn't the only one with a lot to worry about.

"Well…for what it's worth, I think you're doing a great job. You've had to do so much clean-up and damage control, and then with all these demons…" I shook my head. "I don't know. They'd be stupid not to recognize that."

The strangest look came over Grace's face. I would have almost called it surprise, but her careful, icy composure made it hard to say for sure. "Thank you, Georgina." Her voice was stiff, like dealing with compliments made her uncomfortable. "I hope you'll share your feelings with Ephraim, should he speak with you."

"Sure," I said. "No problem."

After a quick glance at my kitchen clock, she turned back to me and gave a smart nod. "I have to meet with the others. I'll speak with you again soon." She vanished, but I could offer no farewell in return.

I had just seen something. Something that changed everything.

I stood frozen. This whole time, for the last week, something had been percolating in my head. I'd noted Grace and Mei's dedication to their job, how they were always there to help when chaos broke out. I'd noted also how they'd been forced to split up a lot lately with the new workload, and as Grace had said, they would now probably be scrutinized individually. And why wouldn't they be? If someone was going to scout for a new demon to run Seattle, why not look at the ones who were already running it?

"Oh my God," I breathed.

But there was more to it than that. It wasn't just that Grace or Mei had the perfect motive to get Jerome summoned. I had more than motive before me. I had proof.

Sprinting to my bedroom, I searched frantically for the photo of Mary's medallion, certain it would be gone. Nope. It was still there, knocked off my nightstand to the floor. I picked it up.

"Oh my God ."

There it was. When Grace had turned her head, I'd caught a fuller glimpse of the chunky necklace and its network of brown and black stones. The answer had been right in front of me. At the Cellar meeting, I'd noticed a piece of the necklace's stonework shaped like a crescent moon. I hadn't recognized it as anything more than ornamentation, but now, comparing the photo to what I'd just seen on Grace, the truth was obvious.

Grace had part of the seal. It was the left side of the medallion, separated in an irregular way to give it that fanciful crescent shape. But I'd seen the fine etchings of the symbols when she tilted her head. They were the same. It was the seal.

The picture fell from my hands, and I ran back to the living room, grappling for my cell phone. My hands shook, and I could barely dial. Of course, for a second, I wasn't sure who I was dialing. Hugh, I decided. I had to tell him and the rest of my friends that-

"Drop it."

A strong hand covered my mouth and jerked me backward. My back hit somebody, a tall man with a rock-solid chest. His other hand reached out and wrapped around my wrist, making the links of my watch dig in painfully.

"Drop it," he said. "I know what you saw. I saw it too. But you can't tell anyone. Not yet."

I could barely hear through the pounding of my heart in my ears, but it didn't matter. I knew this voice, knew it intimately. It had haunted my dreams-or rather, my nightmares-for the last six months. It was a sign of how truly out of it I'd been after Nanette attacked me that I hadn't recognized his voice that day.

I dropped the phone.

He released his grip on my wrist, and a moment later, the hand on my mouth moved away as well. Miraculously, I didn't start screaming. Slowly, slowly, I turned around, knowing exactly what I'd find. Blue-green eyes, just like the sea I'd grown up around.

"Roman."