Succubus Revealed (11 page)
“Here,” said Seth, standing up as Hugh was about to finish a frame. “Can I do it? I used to roll exactly like you do.”
Hugh relinquished the ball willingly, and Seth stepped up to the line. I sat up with interest, never having seen Seth bowl. He showed Hugh his technique first, miming a throw that curved slightly left. Then Seth threw for real, releasing a fast, neat ball that cleaned up Hugh’s leftover pins.
“Jesus Christ,” said Jerome in disgust. “I’m going to have to see if Nanette will let me put mortals on the team. It’s the only way I’m going to save face.”
“Hey,” said Roman. “Give them a chance. I can work miracles in a week.”
Jerome stood up. “Miracles generally aren’t in our repertoire. I’ve seen all I need to. I’m going to go drink now in a futile effort to wipe away the memory of this debacle. When I show up for your next practice, I expect to see significant improvement in
all
of you. If I don’t, you’re all going to learn a new definition of teamwork through your shared misery and suffering.” He turned abruptly on his heels and nearly ran into a waitress approaching us. She yelped in surprise when she saw the furious look on his face. “Do
not
serve them alcohol,” he warned her. “We can’t risk any chance of this getting worse—not that that’s probably possible.”
all
of you. If I don’t, you’re all going to learn a new definition of teamwork through your shared misery and suffering.” He turned abruptly on his heels and nearly ran into a waitress approaching us. She yelped in surprise when she saw the furious look on his face. “Do
not
serve them alcohol,” he warned her. “We can’t risk any chance of this getting worse—not that that’s probably possible.”
We watched them both hurry away. Once Jerome left the bowling alley, Roman exhaled in relief and sat down with us. “Okay, now that he’s gone, can we dispense with this bowling nonsense and get down to business? Cody, we need to talk to you about Milton.”
“Whoa, whoa,” said Peter. “Was I the only one who heard that part about ‘shared misery and suffering’? We need to practice.”
Roman waved a dismissive hand. “We’ll get back to that.”
“What about Milton?” asked Cody, looking puzzled for any number of reasons.
“You told him,” said Hugh. “Shit.”
“What’d you expect?” I asked. “You had to have known I’d do something about it.”
“Milton’s a hit man for Hell,” said Roman.
“Milton . . . not Milton that asshole vampire that was here a while ago?” asked Peter incredulously. “A hit man? Come on. He was a fashion nightmare, but that’s about it.”
“We have good reason to think he really is an assassin,” I said slowly. “He travels a lot, and when he’s in town . . . people die. Like Erik.”
“Erik was killed by a robber,” said Cody. “There was no sign of a vampire.”
“Well, of course not,” said Roman. “Hell doesn’t want its murders to look obvious.”
“Yeah,” said Peter, “but that implies Hell had a reason for killing Erik.”
“Hell did,” said Roman. He nodded toward me. “Her. Erik was investigating Georgina’s contract when he was killed.”
I swallowed, taking a moment to find my voice. There was a small, small comfort in thinking there was a reason for Erik’s death and not just some random chance of the universe. But that comfort was negated by the fact that
I
was the reason.
I
was the reason.
“Roman thinks there’s some nefarious explanation for me being transferred. Some larger plot. And that Erik’s death was part of it,” I said at last.
Seth stared at me in astonishment. “I thought you said this was routine.”
I shrugged, unable to meet his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t.”
“It isn’t,” said Roman fiercely. “There are too many things going on, too many things that don’t add up. Erik got too close to something, and Hell got rid of him. Which brings me back to my original point. Cody. You and Gabrielle followed Milton around, right?”
“I . . . yeah . . .” Cody was still in shock. “But I mean, we didn’t see him kill Erik! We didn’t see anything like that.”
“Did you ever see him in Lake City?” I asked. That was where Erik’s store had been.
Cody shook his head. “Never that far out. We just followed him mostly to some clubs. It was a game, that’s all. She wanted to see a vampire, so we watched him for a while. We never followed him outside of downtown.”
“I did.”
Everyone turned to stare at Peter.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he demanded.
“I didn’t know about that,” said Cody. “Why did
you
follow him?”
you
follow him?”
Peter snorted. “Why do you think? He was in our territory. I was seeing if he was really just on vacation like he claimed. I had to make sure he wasn’t out hunting victims.”
I grew so complacent sometimes with the idea of my silly, laid-back friends that it was easy to forget their true natures. Peter and Cody were the most deceptive of all sometimes. They were goofy and absurd in most of their normal living, but at the end of the day, they
were
vampires.
were
vampires.
“And?” asked Roman, getting that zealous look again. “Did you see him in Lake City?”
“No. I followed him once to the Eastside and once to West Seattle.”
A chill ran down my spine. “West Seattle? What was he doing there?”
“Nothing,” said Peter. “He drove though some neighborhoods, sat in his car for a while. I figured he was stalking prey but saw me and gave up. Which he was smart to do.”
“He might very well have been stalking prey,” I murmured. “Erik lived in West Seattle. Do you remember the neighborhood?”
“If I saw it, maybe,” said Peter. “But I couldn’t lead you back there. I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Roman. “This is all we need. This is enough proof.”
“It’s circumstantial at best,” argued Hugh. “Which I told Georgina initially. And it doesn’t explain why Hell would want him killed—especially after he helped Jerome. I know, I know.” Both Roman and I had started to protest, and Hugh held up a silencing hand. “The contract. But remember, Kristin checked it for you. She said there was nothing wrong with your contract.”
Kristin was an imp who worked in Vancouver. I’d done her a favor, and in return, she’d dared to look in Hell’s archives and review my contract for me, back when I’d clung to the hope that there might be an error. The imp who’d brokered my contract, Niphon, had been in town behaving suspiciously, and I’d been certain we’d learn that the contract was faulty. Kristin had come back with disappointing news: everything was in order.
“Erik said it wasn’t mine that was the problem, though. He said it was a different one,” I said.
“What other contract? And how is this connected to your transfer?” asked Hugh. When none of us had an answer, he sighed. “Look, sweetie. I’m as much for a good caper as any of you, but not at the expense of being stupid.” He glared at Roman. “You’ve been around for a while, I’ll give you credit for that, but you haven’t lived our lives. You haven’t had to answer to the system. We do. Don’t fuck things up for her with some far-fetched, crazy-ass theory.”
“What if it’s more than a theory?” asked Roman. “What if it’s true?”
Hugh met his gaze squarely. “Then make damned sure uncovering it is worth the consequences.”
Silence fell over us. At long last, Cody said, “How much do you think Jerome scared that waitress? Because I could really use a drink.”
Roman resumed his coaching, but a weird mood had descended upon us in the wake of the Milton and Erik revelation. We went through the motions, but it was clear no one’s heart was really in bowling. When we finally called it a night, Roman declared that we’d all improved but were still in need of more practice. Since that wasn’t a mystery to any of us, we set up a schedule for the rest of the week before dispersing. Roman caught a hold of my arm as I was walking out.
“I won’t be home tonight,” he said. “I’ve got some . . . things to do.”
“Things that are going to get you in trouble?” I asked warily.
“No more than I already am. Just figured I’d let you know in case . . .” He glanced at Seth, then me. “You know, just in case you wanted to know.”
“Thanks,” I said. Taking the hint, I turned to Seth once we were alone in the parking lot. “What do you think? Do you want to come have a sleepover? Or do you have to go back to Terry’s?”
Seth put his hands around my waist and drew me close. “Actually, I have the night off. Andrea was having a good day today.”
I remembered yesterday, how, despite her fatigue, it had been clear she’d significantly improved. I felt a flutter of hope in my chest and rejoiced at finally having something that was clear-cut and good in the world for a change. “Do you think she’s really healing? That the treatment’s working?”
“I don’t know,” he said wistfully. “I’d like to believe it. It would be . . . amazing. More than I could hope for.”
My heart ached for him and for the whole family. I didn’t know what to say, so I simply brushed a light kiss across his lips. They were warm in the chill air.
“Georgina,” he said, when I’d pulled back. “All this other stuff . . . about your contract and the transfer. This is the first I’m hearing about it.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you. It’s just . . . so much is still unknown. I didn’t want to bring it up when I don’t even fully understand what’s happening.”
“And I understand even less than you,” said Seth.
I nodded. “I didn’t want you to worry.”
He gazed down at me, eyes honest and full of affection. “You have to stop that. I’m not going to break. You can always talk to me about anything. We won’t get anywhere without things being open between us. We’re in this together, Thetis. What happens to you affects me. I want to be there for you.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s a hard habit to break . . . wanting to protect you.”
“One thing struck me . . . what Hugh said. Are you doing something dangerous? He’s right about Roman, isn’t he? That Roman doesn’t face the same consequences as the rest of you? I hate the thought . . . I hate the thought of you getting caught up in one of his schemes, that you might suffer for his rash actions.”
“I’m not sure they’re so rash,” I said. “At first, I did. But now, I think he really might be onto something. About Erik. About my transfer.”
“And if he is? What is there for you to gain? I mean, from what I know about Roman and nephilim, it’ll be enough for him if he can catch Hell in a cover-up. That’s what he gets his kicks from. But you . . . you answer to Hell. What do you get for uncovering some grand plan of theirs? Unhappy employers.”
I leaned against his chest, staring off into the night. The sky was clear, but we were too close to downtown to see much in the way of stars.
“I get the truth,” I said at last. “I don’t know how my transfer plays into Erik’s death—or if it even does—but if it’s true that Erik wasn’t killed by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, then yeah. I need to know that. I need to know the truth.”
“It’s worth it?” He squeezed me tight. “Worth the risk to yourself?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “It’s worth it.”
Yet, even as I spoke, I thought of Erik—kind and wise Erik who did so much for others, with little regard for himself. Generous, wonderful Erik who had done so much for me and possibly lost his life for it. Finding out the truth of that, what he’d died for . . . yes, I’d meant what I said. It was worth any risk to me, but that didn’t negate the terribleness of it all. It couldn’t change what had happened to Erik. He was still dead, and the intrigue around us was only growing thicker and thicker.
“What’s the matter?” asked Seth. Without even thinking about it, I’d closed my eyes and buried my face closer to his chest, perhaps in some subconscious effort to hide from the storm I felt was brewing around me and my immortal world.
I opened my eyes and sighed. “Nothing. Everything. I don’t . . . I don’t want to think about any of it. At least for a little while. Tomorrow . . . this is all going to be waiting, I know. But please . . .” I pressed myself even closer to him, keeping my lips only a couple inches away. “Let’s go home. Help me to forget about this . . . just for tonight.”
Seth didn’t need to be told twice. His lips found mine, and we locked in a kiss that was both hungry and desperate. Heat and electricity coursed through me, making me oblivious to the winter night. When we broke away, both breathless, I just barely managed to say, “Meet you at my place.”
We each headed off for our own cars, which was a good thing since we probably would have been hazardous together if attempting to drive home in the same vehicle. As it was, I was kind of amazed at my ability to get back to my condo on Alki Beach without breaking any traffic laws. But once we reached my place, pulling into the lot at almost the same moment, that was it. We were all over each other and just barely had the sense to make it through my door before letting go completely.
I’d tried to put up a good front about resisting sex, but the truth was, I’d missed it as badly as Seth. All the flings in the world couldn’t make up for not doing it with
him,
the one I loved. My succubus duties were becoming even emptier and more hollow than usual. I still believed rationing our sex life was the smart and safe thing to do, but right now, I was willing to bend the rules.
him,
the one I loved. My succubus duties were becoming even emptier and more hollow than usual. I still believed rationing our sex life was the smart and safe thing to do, but right now, I was willing to bend the rules.
He swept me into his arms as soon as we stepped inside my condo, still managing to kiss me at the same time. The cats, normally ready to pounce with love on anyone who came through the door, had enough sense to give us our space as we stumbled back toward the bedroom. Seth lost his balance while carrying me and only barely managed to make it to my bed when he stumbled, depositing us both in an unceremonious heap.
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