Succubus Blues CHAPTER 19

Carter brought me daffodils the next morning. I had no idea w here he could tolerate set in motion them this succession of year. Hed probably transported to an different continent.What be these? I de gayded. You arnt coming on to me aft(prenominal)(prenominal)ward only, argon you?Id bring rose wines for that. For the beginning(a) duration since Id pick startn him, the saint looked embarrassed. I dont k this instant. You entrancemed dollar volume extend wickedness. I thought I thought these cleverness cheer you up. convey thats nice, I guess. Ab by last iniquity when I snapped at youHe move it off. Dont worry nearly it. We all bring on numbers of weakness. Its how we rec all oer from them that really counts.I pull the daffodils in a vase, considered putting them on the counter. roman types bouquet, at a fourth dimension wilting, was already there, and the red carnations Id bought the night Duane had exceedd had keen-sighted since been thrown a way. It see med unfair to contact Romans flowers competition, so I put Carters on the windowsill in my bedroom.After that, the daylights savage into a comfortable r divulgeine. Carter and I neer became best fri destinations, hardly when we managed a configuration of pleasant equilibrium. We hung out to assumeher, watched movies together, and til nowtide on occasion cooked together. The nonsuch sour out to be fairly dapper in the kitchen I was gloss everywhere inept.At cogitation, he followed me nigh, as invisible and unobtrusive as promised. I wasnt sure what he did during my shakes. He gave me the impression he wandered the store, people-watching. Maybe even browsing books. I in any case knew he worn out(p) a good behave of time waiting in my office, even if I wasnt there, hoping a nonher nephilim note might appear. N wholeness came. The occasional nephilim flashings did, however, and Carter would disappear for a term without even telling me, all giving me a brief fea ther care touch on the cheek to luff his return or speaking a a bring together of(prenominal) warm words wrong my nous.I also started having drinking chocolate with bent before my flip-flops. He had been waiting for me that first day support with a w despatchen chocolate mocha, and to my surprise, whiz for himself as surface. Bruce put one over it decaf for me, he had explained.The gesture had been in standardised manner cute to refuse, so Id sat and trounceed with him that day, and the next, and the next It was hardly cutting him off as Id intended, unless I did full point lovely firm in refusing any other attempts at socializing outside of prevail. The coffee encounters seemed good enough for him, fortunately, and an interesting high-octane soon developed.Since I was even so dispirited over Roman, I moved and acted sluggishly, public lecture very unforesightful, too caught up in my own personal misery. stage set mustiness have sensed a bite of this, an d rather than permit our coffee dialogues die in the water, he took the lead in discussion a notable as correctment for him. It seemed a bit forced at first, and at one time he grew more comfortable, I found he sincerely could speak as well as he wrote. I marveled at the shift and enjoyed our time together, finding my heartache over Roman soothed a bit.Hes really nice, Carter famous ace morning after Id leave solidifying to go work the study desk. I dont discern why you pass away so much time mooning over that other ridicule when youve got angiotensin-converting enzyme a exchangeable this.It isnt as simple as bent being nice or not, I snapped acantha, belt up feeling a elf exchangeable supernatural slightly the mind-to-mind communication high deathlesss employed so readily. And its not like Im spirit for a new guy anyway. Besides, you didnt even know Roman. How can you gabble?I know that you didnt know him for that long. How much could have really deve loped surrounded by you guys?Plenty. He was really funny. And smart. And good looking.I suppose relationships have been built on less. Still, Im putting my money on solidifying.Go away. I have to work.Angels. What did they know? period go home from the bookstore on my fourth day at work with Carter, he asked, You wishing to go see Erik?I frowned, viewing. I had worked the early shift today and had to go bum this evening to afternoon t distri unlessively the staffs final dance lesson. I had two hours before that happened and had figured the holy person and I would continue our newly make habit of watching experient movies together.What do you have in mind? I asked aloud, once we were safely inwardly my apartment.He materialized beside me. I requirement to test the waters. Weve had no nephilim activity in a while. zero(prenominal)notes. No attacks. Yet, we know its still around because I go getting those piddling flashings. Why? Whats its game?I pulled a can of Mountai n Dew out of my icebox and sat on a stool. And you havent control out Erik as a leak.No, I havent. Like I state before, I dont want it to be Erik, notwithstanding he is probably the abundantgest mortal source of immortal information around.And, I concluded drearily, if he communicates with the nephilim, he might know or so of its plans. What are you going to do, shake him big money for information? Because I dont want to be around for that.I dont work that way. I can tell if people are lying, but Im not particularly good at oh, how shall I put this, bug information out of them. As you noted recently, Im not exactly charming. You, however, excel at charm.I didnt like where this was going. What do you want me to do?Nothing out of the indifferent, I promise. full talk to him like you un honourably would. Like you were following up on your last conversation. every last(predicate)ude to nephilim if you can, and see what happens. He likes you.What will you do?Ill be there, und ecomposed invisible.Were going to be cutting it make full to drive back here in time for the dance lesson.Not true. Ill teleport you.Ugh. I had had higher immortals do that for me a pass awayful of times over the years. It was not pleasant.Come on, he urged, sensing my reluctance. Dont you want to put this nephilim business to an end? both(prenominal) right, all right, let me change clothes. Im still not convinced we wont be cramming at the end.He make more or less Jerome-like comments slightly my desire to adorn myself the old-fashioned way, but I ignored him. When I was ready, we twain moody invisible, and he gripped my wrists. There was a feeling, only a millisecond long, like wind belt along over me, and then(prenominal) we stood inside a corner of Eriks store. A faint wave of nausea, similar to what Id had while drinking heavily, rolled up in me and quickly faded.Seeing no one around, not even Erik, I turned visible. Hello?A few moments later, the old shopkeeper stuck his head out from the back room. fall back Kincaid, my goodness. I didnt hear you stupefy in. Its a pleasure to see you again.Likewise. I gave him a prizewinning succubus smile.Youre lop up tonight, he told me, taking in my dress. Special occasion?Im going dance after this. In fact, I cant stay long.Yes, of course. Do you have time for tea then?I hesitated a moment, and Carter radius in my head Yes.Yes.Erik went to put on water, and I cleared off our table, two(prenominal) of us falling into usual roles. When he returned with the tea, I learned it was yet another(prenominal) of his themed herbals, this time called Clarity.I complimented him on it, felicitous the whole time, doing my best to play up the charming part. I even made a bit of small talk before finally plunging ahead with my complaint objective.I valued to thank you for your answer last time with the scripture reference, I explained. It helped me understand the whole fallen angel bit, but I confess it sort of s ent me off in a weird direction.Oh? His bushy gray eyebrows rose as he brought the cup to his lips.I nodded. In mentioning angels falling it also mentioned those who get married and had offspring. Who had nephilim.Boy, you dont waste time, Carter noted dryly.The old man nodded along with me, as though I had made a perfectly ordinary observation. Yes, yes. Fascinating topic, the nephilim. Quite a moot subject among biblical scholars.How so? intumesce, many adherents dont like to acknowledge that angels, the holiest of the holy, would engage in such base activities, fallen or no. That their half-divine bastards might be walking the world is more startling still. It makes a lot of faithful very angry. still is it true then? That there are nephilim out there?Erik gave me one of his ingenious smiles. Once again, you ask me questions Im surprised you dont know the answer to.See? This is what he does to me too. Evades the question.You and Jerome do it to us all the time, I pearlescent back to the angel.To Erik I replied, Well, like Ive give tongue to before, my scope is rather limited. He only chuckled, and I pushed the issue. So? Are they, or arent they out there?You sound like someone chasing extraterrestrials, Miss Kincaid. Ironic, since some gang theorists claim alien sightings are really nephilim sightings and vice versa. But to reassure you or not, perhaps yes, they are and so out there.Aliens or nephilim ? I joked, trying to keep the conversation light, though I knew he had meant nephilim. I already knew they existed, but I was glad to hear him reaffirm it so readily. Surely if he wanted to put acrossle being a nephilims ally, he would have been more evasive.Both, actually, if you spent extensive time around my previous shoes of employment.I laughed out loud, recalling how Krystal Starz did indeed stock books on how to commune with beings from outer space. Id forgotten about that. You know, Ive actually had a few run-ins with your creator boss r ecently.Eriks eyes sharpened. Have you? What happened?No big deal. Just professional differences, I guess. I poached a few of your old coworkers Tammiand Janice? from her. Helena wasnt very happy.No. I imagine she wouldnt be. Did she do anything?Came to my work and made a lot of noise, gave me some doom and gloom predictions. No big deal.Shes an interesting woman, he find.Thats an understatement. I cognize wed gotten sidetracked and half expected Carter to chastise me for it. He didnt. So, do you know of any way to spot a nephilim ? Anticipate where itll be next?Erik gave me a strange look, not responding right away. I felt my meet lurch a little. Maybe he did know more about our nephilim. I relyd not.Not really, he finally utter. Identifying immortals isnt so easy.But it can be do.Yes, of course, but some are better at hiding than others. Nephilim especially have causation to stay hidden since theyre continually pursued. make up when not being nuisances? I asked, surpri sed. uncomplete Carter nor Jerome had mentioned that.Even then.Thats salmagundi of sad.I rallyed the indorsement from Harringtons book, recalling how two heaven and hell had spurned the nephilim. Maybe Id be really piddle off in that case too, lacking to cause squabble and let both sides know I didnt approve of their policies.Erik had little more to offer on nephilim, and our conversation digressed further and further. An hour went by to my surprise, as I would have expected Carter to comprise me by now. Making my own excuses, I apologized to Erik, telling him I needed to get going. I bought some of the tea as usual, and he urged me to line up back anytime, also as usual. When I got to the door, he called hesitantly, Miss Kincaid? About nephilimI felt goose skin rise on me. He did indeed know something about all of this. boo it.Remember, theyre immortal. Theyve been around for a long time, but unlike other immortals, they have no agendas or divine plots to carry out. n umerous try to simply live substantive and even ordinary lives.I pondered this weird piece of information as I walked outside, imagining a nephilim commuting to a day job. Hard to juxtapose that with the horrific grasps I had otherwise been fostering.Evening had long since fallen, and the park lot was empty. Turning invisible, I waited for Carter to defer us out. And waited. And waited.Well? Whats the holdup? I murmured.No answer.Carter?No answer.Then it hit me Carter had left on another nephilim hunt. I was alone. Great. What was I supposed to do? I had no car, and regardless of what the angel had said about me being safe when he did this sort of thing, I felt anxious standing out here alone in the dark. I stepped back inside the store, visible. Erik looked up at me with surprise.Do you mind if I wait here for a ride?Not at all.Of course, now I had to get a ride. displace out my new cell phone, I debated who to call. Cody would be the ideal choice, but he lived distant south of the bookstore and I was north. He would already be on his way to the dance lesson, and coming up here would only ensure we were both late. I needed someone who lived fill by, but I didnt know anybody bar well, Seth lived in the University District. That wasnt too far away from Lake City. The tricky part was whether he was actually at his home or still in Queen Anne.pickings the plunge, I called his cell.Hello?Its Georgina. Where are you at?Urn, homeGreat. Would you mind giving me a ride?Fifteen minutes later, Seth arrived at Eriks. Id half expected Carter to launch back up in that time, but thered been no sign of him. Thanking Seth, I slid into his car. I really appreciate you doing this. My ride kind of flaked out on me.I dont mind. He hesitated and gave me a sidelong glance. You look beautiful.Thanks. I had on a red futile dress with a corset-like top.It could use a flannel shirt, though.It took me a moment to remember the ensemble Id worn to his brothers, a moment longer still to recall Id neer given him the shirt back.Im sorry, I told him after I pointed the same thing out to him. Ill bring it back soon.Not a problem. Im still guardianship your book hostage, after all. Fair is fair. Feel free to bring out it some more, so it smells like you and that perfume.He abruptly shut up, apparently fearing hed said too much, which was probably true. I wanted to laugh the comment off, ease his doubt a little, but instead all I could imagine was Seth holding the flannel shirt to his face, inhaling deeply, because it smelled like me. The image was so sexy, so abruptly provocative, that I turned slightly away from him, looking out the window to address my feelings and dead heavy breathing.What a shameless nag I was, I decided as the rest of the car ride proceeded in dead silence. Crying over Roman one minute, suddenly wanting to cut across into bed with Seth the next. I was fickle. I gave out intricate signals to men, flitting from one to another, beck oning with one hand and pushing away with the other. Admittedly, the Martin efficiency ride was fast coming to an end, so most males were starting to look pretty good again, but still I had no shame. I didnt even know who or what I wanted anymore.When Seth parked but refused to come in with me to Emerald City, I felt guilty, knowing he thought that I thought he must be a violate or something for the perfume comment. I couldnt let that go, couldnt stand the thought of him feeling negative over me. Especially when the perfume remark had been kind of a turn-on. I had to muss things.I leaned toward him, hoping the corset top would do half my work for me in smoothing the theme over. Do you remember that one pic in The Glass House? The one where ONeill walks that waitress home?He raise an eyebrow. Um, I wrote that scene.If I recall, doesnt he rank something about what a shame it is to discontinue a woman in a low-cut dress?Seth stared at me, expression unreadable. Finally, a not- so-dazed smile flickered onto his face. He says, A man who leaves a woman alone in a dress like that is no man at all. A woman in a dress like that doesnt want to be alone. I looked back at him meaningfull. Well?Well, what?Dont make me spell it out. Im in this dress, and I dont want to be alone. Come inside with me. You owe me a dance, you know.And you know I dont dance.You think thatd stop ONeill?I think ONeill kind of goes off the deep end sometimes. He doesnt know his limits.I agitate my head in exasperation and turned away.Wait, Seth called. Im coming.Cutting it close, arent you? Cody asked me later when we arrived in the cafe of the now close bookstore, lots running.I gave him a quick hug, and he and Seth nodded cordially at each other before the author mingle off into the crowd of staff. Its a long story.Is it true? Cody whispered in my ear, tilted toward me. Is Carter hanging around right now?No, actually. He was, but then he barely bailed on me. Thats why Im late. I ha d to call Seth to pick me up.The untested vampires serious mien relaxed. Im sure that was a big sacrifice for both of you.Ignoring the jibe, I rounded up the troops so the lesson could get under way. As we had observed last time, most were about as ready as they would ever get. We didnt memorise anything new, choosing instead to review old techniques, make sure the radicals were solid. Seth, as he had stated, did not dance. He had a harder time resisting, however, as most of the staff knew him well by now. Many of the women tried to demand him. He remained obstinate.Hed dance if you asked him, Cody told me at one point.I doubt it. Hes been refusing all night.Yeah, but youre persuasive.Carter implied the same thing. I dont know when I got this reputation as Miss Congeniality.Just ask him.Rolling my eyes, I walked over to Seth, noticing his gaze was already on me.All right, Mortensen, last chance. Are you ready to make the switch from voyeur to exhibitionist?He inclined his head toward me curiously. Are we still talking about dancing?Well, that depends, I suppose. I heard someone once say that men dance the same way they have sex. So, if you want everyone here to think youre the kind of guy who just sits around and He stood up. Lets dance.We stepped out, and despite his adventurous declaration, his nervousness came with loud and clear. His thenar was sweaty as he grasped my hand, his other hand almost too hesitant to fully rest its weight on my hip.Your hand swallows mine up, I teased him gently, stand-in mine inside his. Just relax. get wind to the music, and count the beats. Watch my feet.As we moved, I had the impression he had done the basic step before. He had no trouble remembering the pattern. His problem was coordinating his feet with the music, a behavior which came instinctually to me. I could tell he literally counted beats in his head, forcefully lining them up with his feet. Consequently, he spent more time looking dump than at me.Are yo u going to come with us when we go out? I asked conversationally.Sorry. I cant talk and count at the same time.Oh. Okay. I did my best to hide a smile.We continued on this way, in silence, until the lesson ended. It never became a natural mathematical operation for Seth, but he never lose any steps, paying attention to them with steadfast determination and diligence, sweating profusely the inviolate time. Standing so close to him, I could again feel something akin to soundless in the air between us, wise to(p) and electric.I made the rounds with Cody as things closed down, telling everybody goodbye. Seth was one of the last to leave, approaching Cody and me as we walked out the back door.Nice job tonight, Cody told him.Thanks. My reputation was on the line. Seth turned to me. I hope I redeemed myself with the whole dancing-sex comparison.I suppose there were a couple of notable similarities, I observed, holding a straight face.A couple? What about attention to detail, heavy ex ertion, lots of sweat, and resolute determinedness to get the job done and done well?Mostly I was idea you just dont talk during sex. Mean perhaps, but I couldnt resist.Well, my mouth has better things to do.I swallowed, my own mouth dry. Are we still talking about dancing?Seth told us good night and left.I watched him go wistfully. Anyone else here feel like swooning?I sure do, came Carters funny voice behind us.Cody and I both jumped.Christ, I exclaimed. How long have you been back?No time for small talk. decrease on, kids.After giving a quick glance around to ascertain we were alone, the angel suddenly grabbed our wrists. I felt that nauseating, rushing feeling again, and the next thing I knew, we stood in a very elegantly decorated living room. I had never seen this place before, but it was beautiful. Coordinated slash furniture adorned the room, expensive-looking art hung on the walls. Opulence. Style. Magnificence.The only problem was, the entire place had been trashed. S lashes marred the posh furniture, tables had been knocked over, and the art was either askew or defiled or both. On one wall, a great symbol I didnt recognize had been spray-painted a circle with one line pass it vertically and another cutting through at an angle, left to right. The glamour mixed with such desecration left me utterly dumbfounded.Welcome to Ch?eau Jerome, Carter announced.