Page 31 of Succubus Shadows (Georgina Kincaid 5)

"How's work?" he asked her, smiling fondly. Was that his way of showing love too? How had he looked around me? For some reason, I was certain he'd been different...hadn't he? I couldn't remember.

Maddie gestured to the desk she shared with Doug. "A little crazy. Yet strangely boring. I'm stuck on paperwork all day. Performance reviews."

"Hey, I'm stuck on paperwork every day."

She rolled her eyes. "Bad joke. And not the same at all."

"Try putting some sex and violence into the reviews, and they might go faster."

I was too disturbed by their banter to pay much attention to the fact that Maddie was doing my job. Brandy looked equally pained by the conversation. As Maddie and Seth spoke, I studied him further, trying to read his feelings. Yes, there was affection...yet, it reminded me a little of the warm indulgence he showed his nieces.

At last, Maddie produced a shopping bag full of shoes. Brandy's dress was hanging in the office, and Maddie ordered Seth to leave while his niece changed.

Just before he was shooed out, Maddie remarked to Brandy, "I'm glad this color looks good on you. I decided to do everything purple because of how great it looked on Georgina. I found some awesome flowers that go with it all too."

Oh, f**king fantastic. I had influenced the color scheme for their wedding.

Seth left, and I went with him. He wandered through the store, browsing through books - an activity he never tired of. Several employees said hello to him as they passed by.

Including me.

Seeing as the Oneroi had put me in dreams a couple times now, I shouldn't have been surprised. Except, whenever I was a character in the theatre of these dreams, I'd always had awareness of it. I'd watched me and felt me. Now, I saw myself approach Seth exactly the same way I'd seen Maddie and Brandy approach him. I was still objective. No inner connection. Again, just like watching a movie. I didn't entirely understand it, but nothing the Oneroi did should really shock me anymore.

"Hey," I (she?) said, shelving a couple books. They were copies of The Scarlet Letter, and I'd set them in new releases.

"Hey," said Seth, a weird mix of shyness and familiarity in his manner. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," I said. "Quiet day. Mostly just putting away books."

"You've got Maddie doing reviews."

"Yeah, well, I thought she could handle it. Besides, this dress is new. It'd be a shame to keep it hidden."

My watching self had already noticed the dress because that was second nature to me. It was a great dress but not necessarily one to wear to work. It was a silk sheath that stopped high on the thigh, with straps tying around the neck and a scoop neckline that showed a considerable amount of cle**age. There was no bra anywhere. I looked like I should have been clubbing, not shelving. Seeing as this whole vision was no memory of mine, the dress only furthered the fact that this was one of the lies. I wasn't afraid to tart it up, but even I had boundaries at work.

Seth seemed surprised at the dress but not unappreciative. "You should be hand-selling," he said. "Go outside with a book, and I bet you could push it on anyone."

"This dress might not work on everyone," I pointed out.

He gave me one of those little smiles of his, and I wondered if the other Georgina melted like I did. "The dress is only half of it. You're charming enough to talk anyone into anything."

I gave him a smile in return, one that was both cheery and sly. "Anything?"

The innuendo didn't progress because Kayla suddenly pranced over and wrapped her arms around Seth's legs. He scooped her up and glanced around. "What happened to Kendall? No finance books for bad babysitters."

My alter ego peered over toward the magazines. "Is that her?" I sounded uncertain, which was odd because when Seth turned to see, it was perfectly obvious it was Kendall. She was reading Forbes.

Seth sighed and called her over. She brightened when she saw me. "Hi, Georgina! You're so pretty today."

"Thanks," I said, beaming.

"You were supposed to be in charge," said Seth. "Go get the twins. Hopefully they haven't wandered out into traffic."

Kendall shook her head. "They're playing with puzzles." But she raced off nonetheless.

Kayla was staring around the store in that distracted way children her age had, watching the people and sights. Seth gave her a slight nudge. "What about you? Aren't you going to say hi to Georgina?"

Kayla glanced in the direction he indicated, looked me over, and then continued her survey of the store. It wasn't so much she shunned me or was repulsed by me; it was more like she was disinterested. I didn't stand out to her more than any other patron or even one of the shelves.

"One of her moods," said Seth apologetically.

Brandy surfaced, still annoyed by the shoes, but immensely happy to see me. The rest of the girls were rustled up, and after a bit more chatting, Seth and the nieces left me to my bad shelving. He'd continued holding Kayla in his arms, and she suddenly turned to him in all seriousness.

"When are you going to find Georgina?" she asked. Her voice was small and sweet. She rarely spoke, so I always loved the sound of it when she did.

He frowned, trying to open the van door with one hand. Brandy helped him. "We just saw Georgina," he said. "Inside."

"No, we didn't," said Kayla.

"We did. You snubbed her," he teased. "I told you to say hello."

"That wasn't Georgina. You have to find her."

"What have you been smoking?" Brandy asked, taking over to buckle Kayla into her booster. "That was Georgina."

Seth sighed. "Be careful with your choice of expressions."

The topic dropped after that, but as they drove back to Terry and Andrea's, a chill ran through me. Kayla knew. Kayla knew I was gone. This must be a true dream after all. We'd learned recently that she had the faintest stirring of psychic powers and the ability to perceive some things on the supernatural plane. She had a vague sense of my aura, and she'd realized that it wasn't me in the store. That's why she'd been so disinterested. It was also why I hadn't been inside that Georgina. It wasn't Georgina.

Then who was it?

With a sinking feeling, I immediately answered my own question. Who else would have an interest in looking like me and flirting with Seth?

Simone. Simone was impersonating me in my absence, I was certain of it. Son of a bitch. I couldn't feel her aura in this dream form, and no mortal could, period. Except for Kayla. Fuck. This was not what I needed.

The rest of Seth's day was uneventful, though he thankfully never ran into "me" again. Andrea returned, and it was then I learned she'd been at a doctor's appointment. She thanked Seth for his help, though it took a long time for him to leave, due to all the younger girls' good-byes.

Seth finally returned to his condo and spent the day writing, which was boring for me to watch. I didn't get why the Oneroi hadn't pulled me out yet. Sure, it had been disheartening to see that no mortal knew I was gone, but this dream hadn't had the devastating effects of the others.

Evening fell, and Maddie returned home. Seth, engrossed in his work, stayed at his desk until she found him and spun his chair around. She climbed onto his lap, wrapping her legs around him in a way very similar to what I used to do.

He smiled at her, wrapping his arms around her as well and returning her hello kiss.

"How was your paperwork?" he asked.

Maddie ran her fingers along the side of his face, that love radiating off of her. "Nonstop. Georgina left it all on me today. I don't know what was up with that."

"She said she thought you could handle it."

Maddie pulled a face. "More like she wanted to take the day off and prance around. Did you see that dress she was wearing? I mean, yeah, she can pull off anything she wants to wear, but that wasn't really work appropriate."

He laughed and pulled her closer. "I think Georgina thinks her wit and charm can let her get away with anything she wants."

"Yeah, well, she's not as funny as she always thinks she is," grumbled Maddie. "And all she got away with today was looking like she was trying to pick up some guy at the store."

"Wouldn't be the first time," said Seth with a shrug.

"What?"

"You didn't know? She sleeps with Warren all the time. Usually in his office."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Not only were the two of them mocking me, Seth had also told Maddie about my on-again off-again affair with the store's owner Warren. Doug had always had his suspicions, but other than Seth, no one else knew. I had never expected Seth to betray that secret.

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