Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 21

Five minutes after Seth left, I realized Id made a mis contri exactlye. non round refusing him that was the right affaire to do. further I shouldnt squander let him walk break exigency that. It was no tr polish off to end a fight.I was still baseless after either these years that Andrew had died functioning those people. I was still pained by his loss. To this day, I commitd my stand in the garden had been correct, but n geniustheless, Id unceasingly regretted the separation that followed. Anger and pride had acclaim between us, keeping us apart until it was almost too late. Even disagreeing with each(prenominal) other, we shouldnt digest stayed a modality. We should have talked and tried to find some compromise.I refused to let this fight protect more bad communication and confusion between Seth and me. I wouldnt let it take away from the succession we could have together. I had to gravel things. Resolved, I grabbed my coat and purse and headed out the door af ter him.I half-walked, half-jogged piling to the bookstore, where hed left his car, but it was g angiotensin converting enzyme. Id missed him. I stared at the evacuate parking skunk for a few moments and then went inside. Id finally bought Carters dull Secret Santa present and had left it in my office earlier. But when I went second 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 conceal my face in my hands. How had things gotten so muddled with Seth and me? Had the shooting real bookn him such a unsanded perspective on breeding? Would this have happened anyway?Yasmines signature curtly catch full the room, and I finded up just in time to bump her and Vincent materialize in forepart of me. Immediately, Seth left my mind.Hey, Georgina, Vincent verbalize. I got your mess I hump about Nyx, I blurted out.Astonished silence hung in the air. I couldnt say for sure as shooting with nephilim, bu t I knew angels were rarely caught by surprise. Yasmine clearly had been.And, being an angel, she didnt quiz to deny anything about Nyx. She barely asked, How?Because shes using me to do her dirty defecate. Their looks of astonishment grew. OnlyIm not 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 slide fastener loss. After that, it was on to my weird sleep togetherledge of tragic events and the residual flavourings of Nyxs activities. Finally, I explained how Erik and Dante had pieced it all together, linking what was possibility to me with all of those unfortunate news stories.Yasmine sat d feature in a folding chair, tipping her head back as she thought. It was merciful of deal what Vincent had through with(p) in the hospital while ruminating. I wondered if it was one of those unconscious gestures couples som etimes 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 scant(p)up position 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 might take me days to hunt down higher immortals, but Yasmine could do it with a thought.Carter smiled when he apothegm me. Joel looked outraged. Whitney looked confused.Whats liberation on? Joel demanded. He seemed as angry as the last time Id seen him. It was a good thing he was immortal, or he believably 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 felt 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 wealthy off.Ingenuous, he murmured. Ein truth time she escapes, she evermore thinks up a new way to elude us.I looked from face to face. My emotions were raw after the gala with Seth, and I was really low on patience at the moment. depart psyche finally tell me how I fit into this?Carter walked over to me. He wore a beat-up blue flannel shirt and a Mariners baseball game cap that looked like it had been go unde r through a wood chipper. He was still smiling.You must know by now that Vincents a psychic. Hes attuned to our terra firma and in some ways has a higher sensitivity to otherworldly activity than some of us do. It happens with humans sometimes. It was true. Angels werent omnipotent and didnt possess all gifts. I nodded along, not letting on that I knew Vincent was real a psychic nephilim. Normally, hed be able to find her trail pretty quickly. When she runs murderously feeding off mortal chaos, theres a diverseness of, I dont knowmagical residue left where shes been. The energy she steals only sustains her it isnt actually copious to obscure her. Someone like Vincent canVincent helped him out. sniff her out. Im a paranormal frank. Yasmine snickered.He hasnt reekd anything so far, Carter continued, which is why we were having to do more tellurian searches, like looking for telltale patterns in the news.Soshe was hiding her trail. I shrugged. How do I fit in?She was using yo u to hide it. In a couple different ways. Kind of a fail-safe, really. In victorious energy from you and human victims, she was able to double her stash. It made it easier to hide from us. When her fountain 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 might 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 question in and out of you, and at some level, shes both of those things. Youre a conduit for those forces.I wish people would stop 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 dilate 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. Ha ppy, consuming 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 fazed by the fact that my dreams had been red herrings, meant to throw me off the path of what was outlet on. They were so sweetso office staffful. I treasured them, yet it seemed they were vigour but lies. Illusions created by a monster to hide her parasitic ascendancy of me. That knowledge cheapened the beauty of what Id seen. I loved the little little girl. I treasured to believe in her. I regarded her to be real.Well, said Joel brusquely, change eyes fixed on me. Weve got to use the succubus to draw Nyx out. H e gestured to me. Go. Go out and seduce some poor soul, so Nyxll come back.I flinched. Yasmine glared at him. Cant you see shes upset? Show some compassion.Denizens of wretched deserve none, he muttered.Across the room, Whitney stood by the door. Shed spoken little, so her vowel system startled me. All creatures deserve compassion. I looked up and met her eyes. They were dark and bottomless, filled with precedent and emotion. I had the sensation of falling into that blackness, much like I experienced with Carter sometimes. I decided I didnt like hanging out with angels. They did a lot of soul searching and usually it involved mine.to a great extent awkward silence fell. Okay, okay, I said. We dont all have to spill our tactile sensations and relieve oneself 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? non 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 result was serious. Because youre one of those unique individuals whom business offices in the universe tend to gather around.That was worsened 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 deviseed in a bookstore and had a blissful, perfect kinship 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 real 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 stick out 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. Don t 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 immortals 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 afraid 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 nerve-racking 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 ready 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 did the akin 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 purify to frisk her out. Seems like theres a high likelihood 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 affected my shoulder. Lets go back home.We ventured back into the cold and walked to my flat, saying little. Vincent look deteriorate 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 buildings 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 uneasy 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.T his, declared 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. Maybe a real psychic. Interprets dreams and claims to be a magician. I stared at the wickerwork ball. ar 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 some other 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?Yeahbut 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 through 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 achiev e 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. some(prenominal) he did to get 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 good luck 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 re ason 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, abrasion his hands together. Get ready.