Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 21

Five minutes after Seth left, I realized Id made a mis aim. Not ab unwrap refusing him that was the right social occasion to do. But I shouldnt bewilder al hapless him walk out handle that. It was no way to end a fight.I was still angry after all these historic period that Andrew had died helping those people. I was still pained by his loss. To this day, I viewd my stand in the garden had been correct, but nonetheless, Id always regretted the separation that followed. Anger and pride had set out between us, keeping us apart until it was almost too late. Even disagreeing with distributively other, we shouldnt contribute stayed away. We should get to talked and tried to find some compromise.I refused to let this fight foster more bad communication and confusion between Seth and me. I wouldnt let it take away from the time we could have to take onher. I had to fix things. Resolved, I grabbed my coat and purse and headed out the door after him.I half-walked, half-jogged down t o the bookstore, where hed left his car, but it was gone. Id missed him. I stargond at the avoid parking lot for a few moments and then went inside. Id finally bought Carters stupid Secret Santa present and had left it in my office earlier. But when I went buns inside and stuffed the gift in my purse, I found I didnt have the will to head back out. Instead, I sank into my chair and buried my face in my hands. How had things gotten so muddled with Seth and me? Had the shooting really given him such a new perspective on life? Would this have happened anyway?Yasmines feeling suddenly filled the room, and I looked up just in time to see her and Vincent materialize in front of me. Immediately, Seth left my mind.Hey, Georgina, Vincent express. I got your spate I k outright about Nyx, I blurted out.Astonished silence hung in the air. I couldnt say for sure with nephilim, but I knew angels were rarely caught by surprise. Yasmine understandably had been.And, being an angel, she didnt try to deny anything about Nyx. She simply asked, How?Because shes using me to do her dirty work. Their looks of amazement grew. OnlyIm non exactly sure how shes doing it.The two of them glanced at each other, then back at me. Start from the beginning, said Yasmine. Thats usually the way to go.And I did, first telling them about the dreams and the sinew loss. After that, it was on to my weird knowledge of tragic events and the residual feelings of Nyxs activities. Finally, I explained how Erik and Dante had pieced it all together, linking what was happening to me with all of those unfortunate news stories.Yasmine sat down in a sheep pen chair, tipping her head back as she thought. It was kind of like what Vincent had through with(p) in the hospital while ruminating. I wondered if it was one of those unconscious gestures couples sometimes picked up from each other. Hmmbrilliant. Thats how shes doing it without us finding her.I never would have even thought of that, agreed Vincent , pacing. Which, of course, is the point.You know what shes doing to me, then? I asked eagerly. The not-knowing was killing me.Yep, said Yasmine. But lets get the others first.The other The question faded from my lips as three figures materialized in the room Carter, Joel, and Whitney. Angelic auras crackled around me. I couldnt help a little envy. It exponent take me days to hunt down higher(prenominal) immortals, but Yasmine could do it with a thought.Carter smiled when he saw me. Joel looked outraged. Whitney looked confused.Whats dismissal on? Joel demanded. He sum alonged as angry as the last time Id seen him. It was a good thing he was immortal, or he probably would have died from high blood pressure ages ago. Why have you brought us to thisthisplace. You would have thought he stood in an opium brothel, as opposed to a tiny office with badly painted walls.Yasmine leaned forward in the chair, hands clasped under her chin and elbows on her knees. Her dark eyes sparkled with excitement. Weve got her. We found her or rather, Georgina found her.Joel and Whitney appeared flabbergasted. Carter didnt. From the look on his face, I mat like hed been expecting it.I cant believe it took you this long to figure it out, he joked.Whitney was not amused. Explain this.Yasmine did, and when she was finished, the others were as impressed as she and Vincent had been earlier. Even Joel looked a little less pissed off.Ingenuous, he murmured. every(prenominal) time she escapes, she always thinks up a new way to elude us.I looked from face to face. My emotions were raw after the blowout with Seth, and I was really low on patience at the moment. Will someone finally tell me how I fit into this?Carter walked over to me. He wore a beat-up blue tweed shirt and a Mariners baseball cap that looked like it had been put through a wood chipper. He was still smiling.You must know by now that Vincents a psychic. Hes attuned to our world and in some ways has a higher sensitivity to supernatural activity than some of us do. It happens with humans sometimes. It was true. Angels werent omnipotent and didnt have got all gifts. I nodded along, not letting on that I knew Vincent was actually a psychic nephilim. Normally, hed be able to find her trail pretty quickly. When she runs amok feeding off mortal chaos, theres a kind of, I dont knowmagical residue left where shes been. The energy she steals only sustains her it isnt actually enough to confound her. Someone like Vincent canVincent helped him out. sniff her out. Im a paranormal hound. Yasmine snickered.He hasnt sensed anything so far, Carter continued, which is why we were having to do more mundane searches, like expression for telltale patterns in the news.Soshe was concealment her trail. I shrugged. How do I fit in?She was using you to cut through it. In a couple diametrical ways. Kind of a fail-safe, really. In taking energy from you and human victims, she was able to double her stash. It made it eas ier to hide from us. When her advocate dipped, I think she was actuallyhiding in you.Ew. I suddenly felt violated. How is that possible? Is sheis she there now? I glanced down at my lower body, as though I powerfulness actually see something.He peered at me. No, I dont think so. Shes probably got enough energy to run loose for a while. As for how she does itwell, life and energy move in and out of you, and at some level, shes both of those things. Youre a conduit for those forces.I wish people would s lapse calling me that. It makes me feel like a machine.Hardly. The merging she does with you is how you occasionally get a sense for what shes been doing. Some of the details of her mischief leak into you, though she goes to great pains to hide it and herself.How?The dreams, said Vincent. Shes distracting you with them. Happy, overwhelming dreams that youre starting to obsess on. Your subconscious is so enmeshed in them at night that you dont notice her leaching the energy while you sleep.I leaned back in my chair, dumbfounded. Id dealt with a lot of weird shit in my life an exceptional amount of it occurring in the last few months, actually but this was shooting to the top of the list. My skin crawled, and I had the surreal sense that my body was no longer my own.I was also kind of bothered by the fact that my dreams had been red herrings, meant to throw away me off the path of what was going on. They were so sweetso powerful. I treasured them, yet it seemed they were nothing but lies. Illusions created by a monster to hide her parasitic control of me. That knowledge cheapened the beauty of what Id seen. I loved the little girl. I wanted to believe in her. I wanted her to be real.Well, said Joel brusquely, narrowed eyes fixed on me. Weve got to use the succubus to lure Nyx out. He gestured to me. Go. Go out and cajole some poor soul, so Nyxll keep abreast back.I flinched. Yasmine glared at him. Cant you see shes upset? Show some compassion.Denizens of ev il deserve none, he muttered.Across the room, Whitney stood by the door. Shed spoken little, so her voice ball over me. All creatures deserve compassion. I looked up and met her eyes. They were dark and bottomless, filled with power and emotion. I had the sensation of falling into that blackness, much like I experienced with Carter sometimes. I resolved I didnt like hanging out with angels. They did a lot of soul searching and usually it involved mine.More awkward silence fell. Okay, okay, I said. We dont all have to spill our feelings and hold hands here. Tell me what you need me to do.Youre going to be bait, Georgina, said Carter.Im always bait, I grumbled. Why is that? Why do these things keep happening to me? Not too long ago, Id had to play bait for a date-raping demigod. I hadnt been any happier then than I was now.I expected a joke, but Carters response was serious. Because youre one of those unique individuals whom powers in the universe tend to gather around.That was wor se than being a conduit. I didnt want any of those things. I didnt want to be a target. I wanted my quiet life back where I worked in a bookstore and had a blissful, perfect race with my boyfriend. Okay, Id never had such a relationship yet, but a girl can dream.Dream.Bad choice of words.Unfortunately, said Yasmine delicately, Joel is right to a certain extent. We do need you to, um, replenish your energy in order to lure Nyx out. Joel grimaced.I sighed. I know this is importantI dont want her to hurt anyone else, but well, does it have to be tonight? Can we do it tomorrow? I justI just dont feel up to it. Not after Seth. Not after any of this. I was so, so mentally exhausted. Sex sounded nauseating, energy or no.Joel clenched his fists. Dont feel up to it? This is no time for whims Lives are at stake Joel, said Carter. It was one word, but it was hard and powerful. Id never heard lax, sarcastic Carter speak in that sort of tone. He and Joel locked gazes. I couldnt assess higher i mmortals power, but I knew Carter was pretty damned strong. Stronger than Jerome, even. Leave her alone. Nyx only attacks when she steals more energy anyway. We should be okay for one night.If I didnt know better, Id say Joel was horror-stricken of Carter. Joel looked very much like he wanted to say a lot more, but he backed down.Fine, he said through gritted teeth.I shot Carter a relieved glance. With the way I felt tonight, I probably would have had about as much luck trying to seduce someone as Tawny. Thinking of the other succubus, I wondered if I should mention my suspicions about Tawny being drained by Nyx too. In the end, I decided against it. That whole situation was still circumstantial. I let it go.Yasmine stood up and laid a hand on my shoulder. Rest up. You look terrible. You need to be ca-ca for tomorrow.Yikes. I can look like anything I want. When someone tells me I look terrible, its pretty serious.She smiled. Its more than physical.She vanished. Whitney and Joel di d the same a few moments later. Only Carter remained with Vincent and me.Its going to be okay, Carter told me.I dont know. Theres a crazy chaos-eating monster flitting in and out of me, I said. Youre going to try to frisk her out. Seems like theres a high likeliness things might end up pretty not okay.Ye of little faith. He too disappeared.Vincent and I stood there for several moments. Finally, I sighed once more.Fucking angels.He touched my shoulder. Lets go back home.We ventured back into the cold and walked to my apartment, saying little. Vincent look tired and thoughtful, no doubt from all the Nyx stuff. As we approached my apartment, however, his expression began to change. At first, he simply looked puzzled. Then he grew surprised, then startled, then horrified, and finally, disgusted. We stopped on the mental synthesiss steps.Whats wrong? I asked.He pointed upward. Theres somethingevil in there.Likemy apartment? Because, you know, Im technically evilVincent shook his head. No, no. Its a different kind of evil. Youre evil by nature no offense. This is something different. A created evil. Its black and wrong. Unnatural. You know of anyone else who lives in the building that plays for your side?No. Just me.He grimaced. Well, lets go in then and see where its coming from. Ugh. To my senses, its likerotting garbage.We went inside, and it didnt take him long to figure out where this different evil was coming from. My own apartment.Told you I was the only evil thing in here, I joked. But I was a little queasy at his reaction.Vincent didnt respond and simply pushed past me, searching in a way that brought the earlier hound reference to mind. He disappeared into my bedroom and reemerged with Dantes arts and crafts project.This, stated Vincent, holding it at arms length.That? I asked, astonished. Thatsnothing.Where did you get it?This guy I know made it. The one who was helping me. Hes, I dont knowa pseudo psychic. mayhap a real psychic. Interprets dreams and claims to be a magician. I stared at the wicker ball. be you saying he really is a magician?Oh, hes something all right. This thing is so filthy, I cant believe you cant feel it. Well, I can believe itI mean, its a different sort of magic than youre attuned to, but Jesus. It makes me feel like I justI dont know, went swimming in a sewer.WellI know hes supposed to be, like, badhe and another friend have said as much. ButI dont know. I thought it was just hype.Theres bad and theres bad, Vincent said. And this is bad. This things a repellent, right? Did he give it to you to keep Nyx away?yeabut he wasnt sure if itd workOh, itd work. Itd keep about anything away. To make something like thisman, Georgina. Its incredible the kind of power required. Very few humans are born with this kind of power. He certainly wasnt. This is stolen power.Everyone steals power, I noted dryly. Me, NyxVincents eyes were hard. You and she suck it from people. This was ripped out of someone. The way youd rip someones heart out of their chest.So, what I stared. Are you saying Dante killed someone to make this?To make this specifically? Perhaps. But someone would need to already possess great power independent of what he might put in this to even attempt making it. And to be someone with that kind of power in the first place, he had to have done something, at some point in his life, that was bad.Likekilling someone.More than that. A special killing something sacrificial. You know the kind of power those can yield.I did. I didnt have a choice in the succubus soul-stealing thing, but I tried to keep my hands clean of other atrocities. Still, you couldnt work for Hell and not know about the full range of evils out there and how to achieve them.And, continued Vincent, you know that the greater the impact the greater the meaning of a sacrificial killingRight. The greater the power. Goosebumps rose on my neck as I started to see where Vincent was going with all this. whatever he did to ge t this kind of power wasnt just some random, clean killing. It had meaning for him. And it was horrible. He would have had to turn on himself give up part of his humanity to get this kind of power.I stared at the wicker ball. I couldnt sense what Vincent could, but now I too was feeling disgusted and uneasy by its presence. And suddenly, Kaylas repulsion suddenly didnt seem so strange after all. Id had the charm in my purse when I saw her. Shed said I was bad because I was probably covered in the charms power. What had Dante done? What act could sarcastic, laconic Dante have done to achieve the kind of power both Vincent and Hugh had said would be needed to make this kind of charm? Whatever it was, it was the reason Erik hated him.I shivered. Can you destroy it?Vincent nodded. You want me to?A tiny part of me remembered that it had the ability to repel Nyx. But it wouldnt make her disappear, and we needed her to come back if we were going to stop her for good. Swallowing, I nodded . Yeah, go ahead.It took only a few seconds. Green light encased the wicker sphere, then Vincents hand was empty. Id felt no change in power or anything, but the nephilim looked relieved.I exhaled. Well. Theres nothing to stop her now, huh?Nope, he said, rubbing his hands together. Get ready.