Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 25

Id sworn Id neer go spike permit into my bedroom, simply just and then, I needed my bed. I spent the rest of the twenty-four hour period in it, curled up in the pr everywherebial fetal position. Much like when Id made solidification ease up, I didnt feel any liaison. I was dead inside. T hither(predicate) was nothing left, nothing in my life, nothing to harbor me going. Some wise part of my brain said I should cry. I knew on that point was grief inside of me, grief that would eventu ally explode. unless I was blocking it for now, afraid to ac write give awayledge that all of this was real or face the bitesequences. This, I realized, was why Yasmine had screamed. It was a terrible thing to be cut mop up from something you love so much. To be cut off from the thing that gave your existence meaning.Hours passed, and light and shadows moved across my bedroom as the sun began its descent. My room grew dark, but I didnt bother flipping on the lights. I didnt bedevil the ver ve or motivation.I dont know how much time passed before I hear the knock. At first, I wasnt even sure thats what it was. Then, it sounded again definitely someone knocking on my face door. I stayed in bed, not absent to count or talk to anyone. What if its band? Some small part of me clung to that hope, that peradventure hed changed his mind. The rest of me didnt believe it. Id seen the look in his eye. The resolve. He wasnt coming choke off. And if he wasnt coming back, then there was no point in being social.My visitor knocked a third time, louder save. Beside me, Aubrey turned her head toward the financial support room, then toward me, no doubt enquire why I wouldnt put a stop to the noise. With a sigh, I crawled out of bed and stalked toward the front of the apart workforcet. Half-way there, I stopped. It wasnt drawing card.Georgina wailed a twangy soprano voice. I know youre in there. I can sense you. Id sensed chromatic too, of course, which is why Id stopped wa lking. I sighed again, wondering if it would be possible to ignore her. Probably not. Even if I didnt answer, shed probably stand out there all day, now that she knew I was here.I opened the door, expecting to be barreled into with tears and fanfare. Instead, I represent chromatic standing calmly outside my door, hesitant to enter. Her eyes were wet after all, but she seemed to be trying very hard to rein herself in. The trembling of her lip suggested that wasnt going to be easy.And she had a glow.C-can I come in? she asked.I stepped to the side and waved her in. You want me to take you out for a drink to watch everywhere your conquest?That was it. She lost it. Sobbing into her hands, she sank muckle on to my loveseat. Still numbed from the Seth fallout, I had no intellectual energy to deal with this. Not ample energy to hate her, not enough energy to kindness her. I was living apathy.Tawny, I Im sorry she interrupted. Im so, so sorry. I didnt want to. I didnt want to do it . But he told me if I did that itd pay off for both of us, that hed pull strings to shake up me prompt advancement and that Id Whoa, hang on, I said. Whos he? Niphon?She nodded and produced a pack of tissues from her purse. At least she traveled prepared now. She blew her meander loudly before going on. He told me to fake it fake being bad. I meanwell, actually, I am kind of bad. Okay, a lot bad. I cant flirt like you. And I actually cant dance. She pa employ a moment, as though this caused her particular pain. But you were right in saying it was impossible for me to not defecate sex from someone. I did. I just lied and said I couldnt.It was just as Id venture for a darn now, but hearing her confirm it didnt really cheer me up. It was yet another varan of all the miserable things in my life these last couple of weeks. Staring at her, I nonetheless couldnt bring myself to feel angry at her. Partially because I was still drained of feeling and partly because it just wasnt w orth it. Niphon had used her to play me, but hed played her too.Youre a bang-up liar, I told her finally. I could never be sure if you were telling the honor or not but you seemed to be. Im usually good at reading people.Tawny smiled, just a little, with something al most(prenominal) like pride. I hustled people a lot when I was mortal. Worked some con jobs. The smile disappeared. Until that asshole dumped me for a cheap blond whore. She had no idea what she was doing, but did he care? No. Dick. Hes sorry now. They both are.I blinked. I hadnt pass judgment to hear that. I wasnt sure I wanted to hear that. Suddenly, Tawnys initial desire to make men everywhere suffer made a lot more than sense as did the reason she cleverness have sold her soul in the first place. I hoped her current appearance wasnt some uncanny bastardization of the cheap blond whore. Because that would just be kind of creepy.Well, um, Imsure they are. And you know, the skills you need to hustle and con are nt that different from seduction. Maybe it was the moving and talking, but as I sit there, my sluggish brain began to crusade to life and analyze the situation. Tawny, why are you telling me this? If youre working for Niphon, hes probably not going to apprize you blowing his cover.Youre right. He doesnt know Im here. Butbut I was afraid. I know itll all come out if you tell, and I dont want to go down with him I thought if I came and talked to you and told you what happened that maybemaybe you could yield me. Im starting to like it here. I dont want to leave. And if they punish him, theyll punish me too and Wait, wait. Stop again. Punish him for what? For descend you to lie? I frowned. And what is it Im going to tell?Tawny was so surprised that she forgot to sniffle. About her.Her?That that hag. The one who came into my dreamsNyx? Oh. That really is how you hid your glow. Hugh was right.I hated it, said Tawny vehemently. Every time he made me go to her so she could suck me ou t. And then Id have such(prenominal) weird dreams.Think, Georgina, think It was all coming to devilher here if I could just put my own romantic disaster off to the side of my mind for a moment.Youwent to Nyx willingly? To have your energy sucked out so I wouldnt find out that you were lying? Tawny nodded. My brain hurt. And he Niphon made you, and I stopped. Niphon knew somewhat Nyx. You both did. And how to find her.Hes the one who got her to come here when she escaped. Promised her two succubi, sniffed Tawny. She gave me a puzzled look. I thoughtI thought you knew all that? I heard you were there when they captured herTawny looked a little nervous, like she was wondering if maybe shed done the wrong thing in betraying Niphon. As for me, I was suddenly reliving the battle back in my bedroom and Nyxs advance to help me get revenge on the one whod sent her after me.Niphon.Niphon? I exclaimed. Niphon sent a crazy chaos goddess after me? Why? Why does he hate me that much?Tawnys eyes went wide, no doubt surprised at my sudden outburst. II dont know. He just said that he wanted to make things difficult for you. Screw up your life. Maybe get you sent away.Hughs words came back to me. All I know is that when an imp shows up and is going to this much trouble over something, the secernate suggests its big.My heart raced, and I grabbed hold of her hand. Tawny. Did he ever say anything about my centre? Any contract at all?She shook her head frantically, tousling her blond curls even more than they already were. No, not while I was around. ar you sure? Think Think of anything, anything at all he might have said to explain why he did what he did.No, nothing She stony-broke her hand away. Im telling you the truth this time. He just made it sound as thoughwell, like he didnt like you. He wanted you to be unhappy. Suffer. I dont know.Niphon. So many things could be laid at his feet.According to Tawny, hed used her to make me look like a bad mentor (which I was, kind of) and possibly get sent away. The imp had also talked to Seth about change his soul despite my warnings. Seths decision to leave me had been his own, true. But, I realized, Niphon had played a role in getting Seth to think about such things. The distraction Nyx had caused which apparently Niphon had brought about too had cut me off from spending time with Seth. Realizing how close hed been to selling his soul had driven Seth away. The fear of how that would affect him and me both had been too strong strong enough that he chose to walk away from me.Georgina?I made a decision then. It wasnt going to change what had happened with Seth and me, but it was going to make me feel better.Georgina? repeated Tawny, peering at me. Are you okay? You arent going to get me sent away, are you? Georgina?I rose from my chair, surprised at how my muscles had become kinked. No longer wanting to be dressed up, I shape-shifted out of the dress and into jeans and an empire cut sweater. Black. Like my mood. I glanced over at Tawny.You want to go to a party with me?I drove us over to lance and Codys, where the evil holiday party was taking place. I barely noticed that it was raining again. I walked up the buildings stairs like one going to her own funeral, grim and purposeful and with enough speed that Tawny had to scurry to keep up in her stilettos. When I mat up the immortal signatures within the apartment, smug relief pitcher flooded me upon discovering Niphon was still there.Peter opened the door before I finished knocking. He wore a red sweater with an appliqu? Santa on it. It matched his tree, of course.Look at this, he said sarcastically. She deigns to show up and conjoin us lowly I strode past him without a word. He gaped. Moving through the room, I was mistily aware of the others there. Jerome. Cody. Hugh. But I didnt want any of them.Niphon, standing with a glass of wine, regarded me with curious entertainment as I headed straight for him. Considering I usually avoided him if it all possible, my approach undoubtedly astonished him.But not as much as when I punched him.I didnt even need to shape-shift much people into my fist. Id caught him by surprise. The wineglass fell out of his hand, hitting the carpet and spilling its contents like blood. The imp flew backward, hitting Peters mainland China cabinet with a crash. Niphon slumped to the floor, eyes wide with shock. I kept coming. Kneeling, I grabbed his designer shirt and jerked him toward me. occlusive the fuck out of my life, or I will destroy you, I hissed.Terror filled his features. Are you out of your fucking mind? What do you Suddenly, the fear disappeared. He started laughing. He did it, didnt he? He broke up with you. I didnt know if he could do it, even after giving him the spiel about how itd be better for both of you. Oh my. This is lovely. All your so-called charms werent enough to ahhId pulled him closer to me, digging my nails into him, and finally, I felt an emotion. Fury. Niphons role had been greater than I believed. My face was mere inches from his.Remember when you said I was nothing but a backwoods girl from some gritty fishing village? You were right. And I had to survive in gritty circumstances in situations youd never be able to handle. And you know what else? I spent most of my childhood gutting fish and other animals. I ran a finger down his neck. I can do it for you too. I could slit you from throat to stomach. I could rip you open, and youd scream for death. Youd wish you werent immortal. And I could do it over and over again.That wiped the smirk off Niphons face. Behind me, the rest of the room had come to life.For fucks sake, let loose Jerome. unsex her off him.Strong hands pulled me back, Cody and Hugh each grabbing one of my arms. I fought against them, struggling to get back to a vermiculate Niphon. My friends were too strong. I couldnt break free and didnt have the life left to shape-shift added bulk.Get rid of him, Jerome I yelled. Get rid of him, or I swear to God, I really will rip him apart. He set me up to fail with Tawny. He brought Nyx here, for fucks sake Get rid of himI saw my bosss face. He didnt like being yelled at or ordered around particularly in front of others. His face was hard and angry. I could tell he was about to tell me to shut up, and then something in his expression shifted. He turned his attention back to Niphon.Get out, the demon said.Niphon stared open-mouthed. Very fishlike, actually.Jerome You cant just Get out. I know what you were trying to do, but you shouldnt have done it behind my back. Go back to your hotel, and be out of town by tomorrow.Niphon still wanted to protest. But then, he looked at Jerome, looked at me, and then looked at Jerome again. Swallowing, the imp scrambled to his feet and grabbed a briefcase sitting on the couch. With one more glance back at me, he ran out the door.Jeromes gaze fell on Tawny, who was pressing herself against the wall in a futile effort to disappear.Its not her fault, I said quickly. Dont punish her.Jerome studied her a few more moments before sighing impatiently. Later. Ill deal with you later. I wasnt sure if that was a good thing or not, but the point that he hadnt smote her on the spot was a positive sign. Judging from the grateful look on her face, she agreed.Cody and Hugh still had a death grip on me, but after several moments, they released me. I sagged with exhaustion, surprised to see I was breathing heavily.Tension filled the room. Finally, Cody said, Where did you learn to throw a right hook?You dont hold out through the Dark Ages without learning stuff like that, mused Peter. He glanced at the spilled wine and sighed. Club sodas not going to get that out.Georgie, said Jerome in a rumbling voice. Do not ever spill to me like that.I steadied my breathing and swallowed back the bloodlust coursing through me. I met Jeromes dark eyes defiantly.Noted, I said. Then, unable to handle my friends looks of both astonishment and concern, I ran out of the apartment. I made it down one flight of stairs before collapsing and sitting on the landing. I buried my face in my hands and started sobbing. The grief had finally won.A few minutes later, I heard footsteps on the stairs. Hugh sat down beside me and put his arms around me. I pressed my face to his chest and kept crying.Youll get over this, he said quietly.No. I will never get over this. Im alone. I wish I was dead.No, you dont. Youre too wonderful and have too many people who love you.I lifted my head and looked at him. Id never seen his face so compassionate, so serious except when hed yelled at Seth during poker. I sniffed and ran a hand over my wet eyes.We broke up. This is what you wanted. You didnt want me and Seth to be together.Hugh shook his head. I like Seth. I want you to be happy. If you could be together without all the heartache, Id send you on with my blessing. But I dont think thats possible. I think this is best.Y ou told him the only way Id let him go is if he hurt me, if he was an asshole. Do you think thats why he did it? Slept with Maddie? Because only something drastic would drive me away?Hugh looked surprised at the reference to Maddie. I dont know, sweetie. I dont know what he was thinking.Sighing, I leaned back into him. I will never get over this.You will.Its going to take a lot of time.Well, you have a lot of time.