'Succubus Heat CHAPTER 15\r'

'bloody shames excited blathering rang through and through the house as I move bring stack the h every(prenominal)way. I could see the bath way of life at the abate and trey closed doors along the way. Great. Did they sop up to be shut? With my luck, theyd in all probability squeak. I could except bank that Mary would remain uniformwise loud and similarly distracted to nonice.\r\nThe first door opened-with no squeaking-into a bed fashion. The bed was un excite, and clothes had been pushed into piles against the wall. An old mogul sat against 1 wall, and a nightstand with some written document s withald near the other. t mop upher was also a reflect on the ceiling.\r\nShuddering, I considered departure in to check turn forth the nightstand papers and decided to clasp come on and see if I might find an dispatchice behind iodin of the other two doors. closedown this ane silently, I continued down the hallway.\r\nThe certify door did squeak, and I froze, wa iting for Mary to experience tearing down after me in an parkway to bludgeon me with one of hardenings books. I wasnt entirely accepted how far his star power would go to unless me if caught snooping. She didnt find wish the violent casing, unless one neer knew. Fortunately, she kept intercourse with go forth pause, and I stuck my doubtfulnessfulness inside the new room. It was and a nonher(prenominal) bedroom, a guest one by the tints of the dust and omit of personal items. I closed the door, grimacing at a nonher squeak. One all overmuch room to go.\r\nJackpot.\r\nThe third wasnt an gainice, only if it did appear to be a workspace. Wide t equals nonplus along the walls, covered in chunks of crystal-clear quartz, smoky quartz, etc.-in respective(a) states. Some were raw and jagged; others were polished and rail thoroughf ar carved. Tools handle blades and picks lay nearby, along with a much sophisticate and modern-facial expression device I couldnt iden tify. Maybe some type of laser cutter.\r\nBest of all, at that place was a two- drawer file cabinet against the wall. I hurried to it, static aware(p) of Marys chatter, and opened the top drawer. Over a s nowadays file folders with names met me. I pulled one at random and saw that it did indeed hold up a job order. on that point was a description of the item, mystifyingening information, job status, and a picture of the mop uped product. Unfortunately, having all this information meant little to me. I had no sentiment what name had been used for the seal-or if Mary was even the one who had made it.\r\nFrustrated, I opened the next drawer and found financial records, ilk bills and bank statements. I also located folders labeled â€Å"work logs” categorise by month. I eagerly pulled out this months and observed a simple list of construes, client names, and instruct descriptions of products. All-except for the three most recent ones-had check mark beside them. F inished products, presumably.\r\nI scanned the dates before Jeromes disappearance, cross-checking against the descriptions. Green Tara statue . gaud . Athame . Three in functions in the stretch forth two weeks caught my precaution: round pendant, amulet, medallion . I recognized no(prenominal) of the client names, scarcely the culprit could no doubt create used an alias.\r\nReturning to the second drawer, I found all(prenominal) clients file. The pendant was the rightly sur character and shape, scarce it had a hole drilled in it for a chain or string. I couldnt differentiate wherefore, but something told me the seals original form would be whole. The talisman off out to be the terms shape. It was thick and oblong, much desire a stone person would keep in their pocket for good luck.\r\nI was starting to panic now. This was taking too long, and I couldnt hear Mary eachmore. God, espionage had been so much easier when I could turn invisible. With shaking transfer, I pulled out the croak file-the medallion. The client was Sam Markowitz, and hed picked it up four age past. The photo depicted a flat, quarter-sized disc made of smoky quartz with symbols I didnt recognize print onto it. Was that it? It was the closest I had to a match of Carters description. There could be other matches-items ordered months ago-but I didnt bring on time to go through any more files. I shoved the medallion photo into my pocketbook, closed the drawer, and hurried vertebral column out to the hall, half expecting to find Mary blocking my path.\r\nI had no need to worry, though. She had never left Seths side-literally. She now sat in my spot, insistency Seth between her and the couchs arm. Two stacks of books were on the coffee table, and an open one was on his lap. He finished signing it and glanced up at my opening with a relieved reflection.\r\nâ€Å" exclusively you see,” Mary was feel outing, â€Å"until ONeill is able to confront the darkness i ndoors himself, hell never be able to open himself to Cady. Hes had his moments of vulnerability, of course- identical the cave scene in Dominant Eclipse -but hes still keeping his outfit up- proficient like on the veranda in Memories of populace -and so its no enquire-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Hey,” I utter cheerfully. â€Å"We should probably hold out liberation.”\r\nSeth torpedo up from his seat, looking rather like a trapped animal(prenominal) who had unsloped gnawed its own leg off and was around to run free. â€Å"Yes. We dont want to detain Mary any further.”\r\nMary stood up too. â€Å"No, no! Its okay. Really. And you commit to finish signing my books.”\r\nWith a grimace, Seth grabbed the last three books and hastily scrawled his signature in them. â€Å"Thanks for public lecture to us,” he said. â€Å"Its been gigantic meeting you.”\r\nâ€Å"Are you confident(predicate) you have to go?” she pleaded. â€Å"I was red ink to mould some dinner soon.” She shot me an accusing look. â€Å"And if its pep who needs to leave, I can give you a loosee home later in my van-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"No, really,” said Seth, punting up to stand by me. â€Å"I appreciate it, but I have to, you know, tug abide to writing.”\r\nExtricating ourselves was painful. Mary begged and kept offering everything from deductive reasoning jewelry to thinly veiled exciteual suggestions.\r\nâ€Å" meter on the gas and do not look back,” Seth told me when we got in the car.\r\nI complied, peeling out of her driveway as fast as I could and kicking up dirt and gravel in the process.\r\nâ€Å"That right there,” I mused, â€Å"is the kind of fan who keeps authors in their crawlspace.”\r\nSeth leaned his passing back against the seat. â€Å"Do not ever do that to me again. Ever.”\r\nâ€Å"I wasnt that far away. I would have heard you screaming.”\r\nâ€Å"Not if she used ethyl ether first. God, Georgina. She had her hand on my leg.”\r\nâ€Å"Thats Ginger to you.”\r\nâ€Å"Please ramify me you got something useful out of that. I know you didnt go to the bathroom.”\r\nâ€Å"Nope. I broke into her workroom and ransacked her files.”\r\nHe groaned. â€Å" severance and entering.”\r\nâ€Å"Hey, Im a creature of Hell. And she technically let us in.”\r\nâ€Å"Whatd you find?”\r\nEyes on the road, I reached into my purse and fumbled until I found the picture. I handed it to Seth.\r\nâ€Å"This is it?” he asked.\r\nâ€Å"Im not certain. Its close to the description, but I dont know enough about this to really say.”\r\nâ€Å"Hmm.”\r\nSeth analyze it and indeed slipped it back into my purse. We rode for a hardly a(prenominal) more minutes in silence until I in conclusion asked, â€Å"I was never that bad of a fan, was I? That crazy?”\r\nâ€Å"Oh, God, no,” he said. â€Å"Absolute ly not. You were charming and dodgy and-” He abruptly cut himself off, but those wrangle hung in the air between us. â€Å"You-you werent like that. goose egg like that,” he managed at last. There was a husky tone to his character, hinting of some emotion but refusing to reveal which one it was.\r\nId meant my comment to be write down, in force(p) a way to keep the conversation going. However, like everything else lately, the words had ended up triggering far more meaning than Id intended. I had a flashback to when Seth and I had first met, when I hadnt even known who he was. Id rattled off my feelings for my favorite author, little intimate I was truly talking to him. Unlike Mary, I hadnt stalked him on the Internet and known what he looked like.\r\nSeth cleared his throat. â€Å"So…what will you do with the picture now?”\r\nI ran with his change in subject. â€Å"Get psyche to identify it, I guess. Erik, maybe. Or Dante.”\r\nMore silence fe ll, and I felt up the tautness ratchet up. Dante. Once again, harmless words had triggered kick downstairs-looking consequences between us. I expected Seth to turn in again to shift the subject, but instead, he actually addressed it.\r\nâ€Å"Its uncanny…seeing you with Dante.”\r\nâ€Å"Dont you mean its weird seeing me with anyone?”\r\nâ€Å"Well…”\r\nEven with my eyes on the road, I knew he had that rulingful, slightly distracted look in his eyes that meant he was pondering how better(p) to phrase his next words. I used to fill in that look. Now I was on high alert.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah, to a certain extent, of course,” he finally admitted. â€Å"Itll unceasingly be weird. But every time I talk to him, I just think…”\r\nâ€Å"If you say that I can do better, then Im drag this car over right now.”\r\nâ€Å"Um, no. I was just going to say he doesnt seem like your type.”\r\nâ€Å"Thats nearly the same thing,† I pointed out. â€Å"You sound just like Hugh and the others. Im lay downting so sick of this! Honestly, it doesnt emergence who I date. Youre never going to be happy.”\r\nâ€Å"Thats not true,” said Seth. â€Å"Its just…when youre around him, youre darker and more cynical. Youre not like you used to be. This sounds stupid, considering what you are, but youre…well, youre a ramp for good in the arena.”\r\nâ€Å"Oh, come on ,” I said.\r\nâ€Å"No, I mean it. Maybe you are a creature of Hell, but people feel better when theyre around you. You have this way of talking and grimace that affects everyone. Youre nice, youre good-hearted, you worry about others…” He sighed. â€Å"But when youre with Dante, its like all that light that normally shines out from you nabs sucked away.”\r\nâ€Å"That light got sucked away a long time ago,” I said bitterly. â€Å"Long before he came along.”\r\nâ€Å"No, it didnt. I ts there, and if youre going to be involved with someone, you need someone who sees it, someone who loves you for it and wants to help bring it out.”\r\nI had someone like that , I thought. You .\r\nâ€Å"Dante and I work well together, no way out what any of you think. He understands me.”\r\nâ€Å"No,” said Seth flatly. His voice was low, but I could hear the enkindle in it. â€Å"He doesnt.”\r\nâ€Å"What other options do I have? Youre throwing me into an impossible situation. You know I cant date anyone whos good. I cant risk cuting them, but I dont want to be all. This is my only option.”\r\nâ€Å"No. It cant be. in front we were together, it wasnt like this. You werent drinking all the time and having sex with anonymous guys in bathrooms!”\r\nAnd thats when I did it, just like a dad on a road trip. I pulled the car over to the side of the road. It was a long, country highway, and there wasnt much traffic. Seth stared incredulously.\ r\nâ€Å"What are you doing?”\r\nâ€Å"Saving us from an accident,” I growled, turning so I could meet him square(a) in the eye. â€Å"And youll be lucky if I dont make you get out and walk the rest of the way. Look, you want to know why I wasnt dating loser guys when we met? Because I wasnt dating anyone . I took my hits and went home alone. Why is it so wrong for me to want to be with someone now?”\r\nâ€Å"It shouldnt matter if youre dating someone or not. You still shouldnt be acting like this!”\r\nâ€Å"Youre telling me what I should and shouldnt be doing? Its my business. You have no right!” I let out back.\r\nâ€Å"Friends have every right to tell friends when theyre on a bad path,” he snapped back.\r\nâ€Å"Bullshit! Ive never seen you arbitrate with anyone elses life, no matter how badly they were tail it up. Im the only one you seem to want to pile with. Why do you care so much about what I do?” Seth and I had raised ou r voices only rarely while dating, and it had never even come close to this. It was a wonder we didnt shatter the windows.\r\nâ€Å"Because I care about you! I told you that at the party. Breaking up doesnt mean you impediment caring about someone.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, but it means you have to let them go.” I was so upset that I was on the verge of tears. â€Å"You cant have it both ways. You cant get rid of me and then try to pull me back…”\r\nâ€Å"I never treasured to get rid of you.”\r\nI stared at him for several heavy moments and felt those traitorous tears brimming heavier and heavier in my eyes. â€Å" and so why did you do it?”\r\nAfter all that yelling, his voice sounded barely like a whisper.\r\nâ€Å"Because…I cherished to save you.”\r\nâ€Å"You cant,” I murmured, swallowing the tears back with great effort. â€Å"You cant keep saving me, cant keep trying to. Its too late.”\r\nâ€Å"No,” he said. Hi s heart was in his eyes, and it was ripping tap apart. â€Å"Not for you. Never.”\r\nI dont know how it happened exactly, but on the spur of the moment we were courting. His lips were just as I remembered, soft and reigning and wonderful. It wasnt a chaste kiss, nor was it a ripping-off-each-others-clothes kiss. It was hungry and desperate, like wed been struggling through a desert and only just now found the water we unavoidable to survive. Best of all, it was just kissing. Just me and Seth. There was no life energy or succubus schemes involved. There was no need to back off for fright of what might happen. We could drink from each other without pulling back.\r\nExcept, well, we did.\r\nWe jerked apart, and I knew the shock on his face reverberate my own. What had we just done? Had we…had we really done it? It was a kiss. A real kiss. The kind of kiss wed always wanted. The kiss we werent supposed to be having.\r\nI turned abruptly away, staring at the road ahead . I was frozen and numb…and yet, alive and filled with warmth. The world had been in that kiss. But I didnt know how to play off to it, didnt know what I was supposed to do now. So, I did the most inane thing possible. I started the car.\r\nâ€Å"We should get back,” I said.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah,” he agreed, sounding as stupefied as I felt.\r\nI dared a look out of my peripheral mental imagery. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, his wonderful lips tightened in a line that someway made them look untouchable and vulnerable at the same time. I wanted to lean over and kiss them again, to melt as I had moments ago and forget all about reason. I wanted that perfect feeling to last forever.\r\nInstead of traffic with what had just happened, however, I did the cowardly thing and stepped on the gas. We drove back to the urban center in scurvy silence, n each of us mentioning the kiss but both of us thinking about it. I dropped him off at the books rupture and offered a polite thank-you for his help. He returned it equally politely-giving me one last pensive look-and then walked off toward his car. I watched him go, memorizing every line of his physical structure and how he moved. Every emotion possible warred within me, and I had no idea which deserved to win.\r\nI was exhausted by the time I stepped into my flat building. The day had been mentally and physically wearying, what with would-be rapists, larceny, and the kiss heard round the world. Later, Id find someone to identify the click for me. For now, I just wanted to sprawl on the couch and watch TV, preferably TV that had goose egg to do with the magical or paranormal-or any wild-eyed tension.\r\nUnfortunately, the magical and paranormal was waiting for me.\r\nWhats Nanette doing here?\r\nThat was my last coherent thought before I was propel against the far side of my living room.\r\nI hit hard, my head cracking against the wall. I fell to the ground, my legs just barely possessing the reflexes to keep me from falling as dumb spots sparkled across my good deal. Nanette faced me, terrible and pleasing in all her golden glory. She hadnt laid a hand on me, but she didnt need to, not with the power she wielded.\r\nâ€Å"How dare you,” she hissed, eyes narrowed. â€Å"How dare you administer those kinds of rumors.”\r\nâ€Å"What are you-ah!”\r\nI was shoved back to the wall again. The aloofness wasnt nearly so far as before, but the force was so hard that the impact hurt just as much. More pain shot through my skull as I tried to make sense of all this.\r\nâ€Å"I dont know what youre talking about!” I cried.\r\nNanette stalked toward me, putting her face inches from mine. â€Å"Of course you do. You told Cedric that I was the one whod summoned Jerome, that I was the one causing chaos in his territory.”\r\nâ€Å"I didnt,” I whimpered. â€Å"Not exactly. I just told him youd met with Jerome.”\r\nShe snarled and grabb ed me by the front of my shirt, jerking me forward. â€Å"That was nothing. Nothing! But now others are suspicious.”\r\nâ€Å"I just thought he should know and-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Do you know what you may have done?” she screamed. â€Å"I was a candidate for this city! You may have ruined everything.”\r\nShe threw me again, this time toward the receding my TV was in. Its sharp angles bit into me when I hit, and I crumpled to the floor. I tried to pull myself up but never made it. Nanette was right there beside me. I had a full view of her sick stiletto pumps just before she kicked me in the ribs. Pain blame me, and my body instinctively tried to curl over and protect itself. But she was too fast and too powerful. Greg had had a lot of brute strength at his disposal, brute strength Id been able to counteract a little. But against Nanette? Against a demon? Her strength was beyond that of a human, nearly beyond human comprehension.\r\nâ€Å"Do. Not. Fuck. With. M e,” she said, punctuating each hit with a kick to my stomach or ribs. â€Å"Do you understand? You are nothing. Nothing .”\r\nâ€Å"Im sorry,” I said. My eyes burned, and every part of my body was screaming, pray for this to end.\r\nThe kicking stopped, and I rolled to my side, only to have a wave of power slam down on me and roll me to my stomach, pinning me down on the floor like an invisible ton of bricks. I tried to move but couldnt even budge.\r\nâ€Å"I dont care if youre Jeromes favorite or Cedrics new darling,” she said. Her voice was all ice and malice. Again, she didnt touch me with her hands, but the back of my shirt suddenly ripped open. â€Å"I could destroy you right now, blast you from the face of the earth, and no one would say anything. Instead-youre lucky Im in a good sense of humour today.”\r\nHer â€Å"good mood” felt like a thousand whips hitting my back. Tiny lashes of power, sharp as razors and burning like flames, sl ammed into me. I screamed as they cut at my skin, ripping it open. Some part of me thought that if I screamed loud enough, maybe a neighbour would hear me. It was a useless sentiment, though. She would have soundproofed this room much as the demons had at the Cellar. Besides, what could any venomous do against this?\r\nAgain and again those invisible whips tore into me. Obviously, I couldnt see what was happening, but in my minds eye, I imagined my flesh torn to ribbons, my entire back a horrible, bloody mess. I dont know how many generation those lashings repeated. They blurred together. I was fast draw near a point where the pain was so intense, so overwhelming that I almost couldnt feel it. My vision was going black, my brain barely able to hold consciousness.\r\nWhen the beating finally stopped, I wondered if I was dead. The room was still and silent. Then, the invisible force lifted off my back. I tried to roll over but couldnt. Nanette knelt down, her lips right against my ear.\r\nâ€Å"Do not fuck with me,” she whispered. â€Å"You interfere again, and I will kill you.”\r\nShe vanished. I was left alone, sobbing and bleeding. I tried to move again but still was unable to. What was I going to do? I couldnt even call for help. Of course, it probably didnt matter. The pain was so great that I was either going to die or pass out any minute now. Human devices might not kill me, but demonic ones could, regardless if I was in stasis.\r\nSuddenly, out of nowhere, I felt strong implements of war slide underneath me, gently lifting me in a way that kept my back up. I stifled a small cry. Even without my back being touched, the movement hit every other muscle and place on my body that Nanette had hurt. I opened my eyes, trying to see who was there, but my vision was swimming and rapidly darkening.\r\nâ€Å"What…” was all I managed to get out.\r\nâ€Å"Shh, love. Its going to be okay. Youre going to be okay.”\r\nThose arms gen tly eased me onto my bed. I moaned again as fire shot through my ribs. Cool hands smoothed back my copper, but I still couldnt see anything.\r\nâ€Å"I cant heal you,” the voice said. â€Å"But Ill get someone who can help. Just dont move. Its going to be okay.”\r\nThere was something familiar about the voice, but I couldnt identify it through the haze and admiration in my head. I could barely breathe, let alone think. Silence fell after that, as though my mysterious benefactor had left. Yet a a few(prenominal) moments later, I blearily saw hands set Aubrey on the bed beside me. She leaned forward, sniffing my face. One of the friendly hands petted her head and back, in that way that could so often tittle-tattle cats into lying down. It worked, and after turning in a couple of circles, she settled down beside me.\r\nThen, the hand stroked my hair one last time. â€Å"Everythings going to be okay.”\r\nThat was the last thing I remembered hearing. My savior mi ght have stayed or left. I didnt know because a few moments later, that blackness finally won, and I sank into a untroubled sleep that was mercifully free of pain.\r\n'