Page 20 of Succubus Shadows (Georgina Kincaid 5)

I wanted to tell him that I had loved him, in a way. But that probably wouldn't be useful right now. "Well, watching this Seth drama unfold is probably giving you lots of material when it comes to something awful happening to me."

"No," he said, with a weary head shake. "I don't like this. Like I said, I'd rather see you leave and start a new life. Every time I see you now, it's like...it's like watching you die. Over and over."

I stood up, suddenly wanting to sleep. "Yeah," I said softly. "That's kind of what it feels like." I hesitated. "Thanks for listening. And understanding."

"Anytime," he said.

This also caught me by surprise. Somewhere in these last few crazy months, I realized, Roman and I had become friends again. "I hate to ask you this, but, well, I'm not doing a very good job with keeping an upbeat mood tonight. Would you - "

He rose as well. "Yup. I'll watch you sleep. If you can handle the creepy factor."

"It's an acceptable trade," I said with a smile. "Thanks."

And maybe it was the vodka, but I stepped forward and hugged him. He was stiff for a moment, clearly caught off guard, but then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head against his chest, taking small comfort in someone warm and alive who wasn't a stranger. He smelled like I remembered, the clean, sharp scent of his cologne surrounding me in a way very different from Seth's woodsy smell.

I was just thinking I should pull away when a voice asked, "Am I interrupting anything?"

I jerked away from the embrace and found Carter standing in the living room, arms crossed and one eyebrow arched. Roman seemed equally flustered and took a few steps back as well, getting as far away from me as he could.

"Don't you ever knock?" I asked.

"Not sure you'd answer," said Carter good-naturedly. "Especially with the news I've got."

I groaned. "That was fast. Does it have to do with Simone?"

He nodded. "Afraid so. She met up with Seth again."

Chapter 9

"She couldn't have!" I exclaimed. "He was with me all night."

"Not after the concert ended," pointed out Roman. "You know, I think that band might really be going somewhere." Whatever trace of sentiment he'd shown earlier with me had vanished in Carter's presence.

"Simone was hanging out in that twenty-four-hour coffee shop," Carter said. "Seth went there to work after - what was it you said? You were at a concert?"

"Yeah," I said. "Blue Satin Bra."

The angel gave Roman a nod of agreement. "Those guys are great."

"Hey, can we stick to the issue here?" I gave both of them glares. "What happened with Seth and Simone?"

Carter shrugged. "Same as usual. He came in and noticed her first, though. She had her head in a book - didn't even look up until he walked over."

"Well played," I said. "Forces him into the aggressive role."

"I don't think Seth's ever really in an aggressive role," mused Carter. "It just put him in a position to make the first move, if he wanted to be polite."

During our brief affair, Seth and I had made love so tenderly and so sweetly that poets would have wept at its beauty. Other times, things had been downright dirty, and I think Carter might have reconsidered his comment about Seth being aggressive, had the angel known.

"Then what?" I demanded.

"Like I said, the same. They talked about different things - a lot of topics interesting to Seth, really. I think she might have done some research on him."

"Fucking lovely." I collapsed onto the couch, and then I promptly shot back up. "I'm going over there - "

"Gone," interrupted Carter. "They went separate ways, and then she bagged some guy, and I decided it was time for me to fly away."

"Lucky bastard," grumbled Roman. "You have no idea what kind of shit I had to sit through."

The hint of a smile flickered on Carter's face before he turned back to me. I sighed and sat back down. "Confronting her's no good anyway. You already did it, and nothing came of it. I'm guessing this would just be a repeat."

Probably a good point. Being in a conflict with a succubus kind of sucked. I could punch Hugh or the vampires, and even with immortal healing, they'd still sport a black eye for a few hours - longer if I was really good. But with a succubus? I could smack her around, and she'd shape-shift the damage. And as for verbal fighting? Well, seeing as I had no real leverage, I'd probably just fuel her further and provide more cat fight entertainment for my friends.

"Well," I said to Roman. "I think I'm pissed off enough now that you don't have to go to bed with me."

Carter's eyebrow rose again.

"I mean, he doesn't have to watch me sleep," I explained. "I was kind of glum earlier, and we were worried my mystery...thing...might show up again."

"Why glum?" asked Carter. He attempted innocence, but I wasn't fooled. Even without being at the concert, he could easily figure out what had me down.

"Long story."

Those silvery gray eyes bored into me, and I shifted and looked away. I hated when he did that. It was like he could see into my soul. That was a place I didn't even want to look at - let alone have others do it. I attempted a change in subject.

"You know, I was thinking about this thing that's going on...this force or siren song or whatever. It's not like what happened with Nyx, but there's still a dreamlike quality to it, you know? I mean, it certainly seems like I'm sleepwalking. Do you think she could be back?"

"Nope," said Carter. "She's definitely still locked up. I checked myself."

"Really?"

"Really."

I didn't follow up with the obvious question. Had Carter done it for me? I mean, checking up on Nyx probably wasn't too hard for him. He probably just asked some angel buddy who asked another angel...etc. It still made me wonder about Carter's endgame. Why go to such trouble for me? Why look into this? Why track Simone?

His expression made me think he guessed my thoughts, something I hated. "Thanks," I said. "But I think I'm heading to bed now."

"And I," said Carter, "am going to get a drink."

"Done with Simone for good?" asked Roman.

Carter made a dismissive gesture. "At least for tonight. I'll find her in the morning."

"You're kind of a slacker spy," I pointed out, though I definitely understood his reasons for avoiding the other succubus' liaisons.

His only response was another smile before he vanished.

"Now what?" I wondered aloud.

"Now," said Roman, "you get your beauty sleep so that I can have another captivating day of listening to you give recommendations for people who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code."

"You know you love it," I said, walking off toward my bedroom.

"Sure you don't want company?"

I glanced back at him and studied his face, the lovely lines of it and blue-green eyes like the Mediterranean of my youth. His expression was speculative, wry humor twisting his lips. I couldn't entirely tell if he was joking. Or what his exact meaning was.

"Positive."

My words were a little bolder than I felt, but the night passed uneventfully, again furthering the idea that my blue moods were the target. Consequently, this put me in a good mood when I went to work the next day. I even wore yellow in an attempt at further cheeriness and greeted my coworkers with such enthusiasm that Doug wanted to know what drugs I was taking - and if he could have some.

All of that changed when, while headed for the science fiction section, I felt something totally unwelcome: an immortal signature. A succubus immortal signature. And I knew exactly which succubus it belonged to. I did a 180, took a few steps, and tried to pinpoint its direction. Fiction.

I headed straight over there, and sure enough, there was Simone - with Seth. She wore that guise I'd heard reports of, the bookish - yet sexy - brunette. They were standing by Seth's section, and she was holding up one of his paperbacks, Idiosyncraso. I knew she could feel my signature as I approached, but her eyes stayed on Seth, her conversation not missing a beat.

"You really wrote this in college?"

"Yup," he said. "It wasn't the first I had published, though. I shelved it for years before digging it out and revising it."

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