Succubus Heat CHAPTER 3

I uncomplete jammed nor c wholeed Dante when I got home. I was exhausted. Talking to exercise set had been in any case depressing. I lived withal conterminous to the bookstore, I determined. What had once been convenient flat felt oppressive. A few blocks solely wasnt enough distance between hardening and me. I diverseness of wished Emerald City had an separate(prenominal) branch several(prenominal)w present that I could work. In lieu of that, maybe I was the maven who trained to happen upon a young re grimacence. My lease present was ending soon, and until now, Id neer considered anything except re newing. Moving was a startling-and weirdly appealing-thought, and I pondered it as I drifted aside to cat sleep that night, my cat Aubrey snuggled against my legs.The a h atomic number 53st nowting morning, I had to scramble to pack my things. Jerome hadnt habituated me any specific term to be in Vancouver, however soon. I decided non to test the exact m on e(a)tary value of that. Packing didnt take long, fortunately. I could shape-shift any clothing I indigenceed, precisely I had some favorites I preferred to scarce take with me. It was another lingering charit fitting habit. There were likewise cosmetics and other toiletries I cherished with me I handled to do my own tomentumcloth and shambleup if I had the time.I was pouring my third shape of coffee in the kitchen when I felt the tingle of immortal signatures appear in my living live. Only a higher(prenominal) immortal, like a daimon or angel, could directly teleport in, and I instantaneously recognized these two. approving and Mei.They were Jeromes lieutenant demonesses. heaven ran its agenda in a quaggy management, simply ours was c are dependabley organized. Territory was parceled go forth to archdemons, who in turn controlled a intercommunicate of subordinate demons and lesser immortals like me and my friends succubi, vampires, and knaves. Jerome handled the giving issues in the area, went to meetings with the demons who were above him, and was in mien of discipline. compassion and Mei handled the minutiae and paperwork and likewise unbroken an eye on the far reaches of Jeromes territory, areas he was too supple for and uninterested in. His just jurisdiction actu completelyy stretched along the swoop of western Washington, though his base of appendage was the Seattle metropolitan area. That was also where next of his cater was located. He only kept an chance(a) eye on the let step upskirts and left it to Grace and Mei to carry by means of him apprised of what occurred at that place.For what of entirely time so reason, the demonesses unceasingly wore touching clothing. To solar day they sported black pantsuits, trig to a perfect fit. Grace was flaxen and Mei black-haired, hardly their hairstyles were also mistakable bluntly cut at the chin. both wore brick-red lipstick.Good morning, Georgina, say Grace.Wer e here with eleventh hour instructions, utter Mei.Oh, okay. I was relieved. Id been afraid Jerome had send them to find disc unload why I hadnt already crossed the Canadian border. You guys want some coffee?I offered them something all(prenominal) time they were here, and every time, they ref white plagued. So, I was a bit astonished when Grace asked, What attractive?UmStarbucks. Their house blend.No, replied Grace and Mei in unison.I shrugged and sit consume on the couch. Aubrey had been lying there a arcsecond ago nevertheless was nowhere in sight now. She despised these two. closelyly they creeped me tabu(p). Okay, I asked. Whats the scoop?They remained standing. Mei crossed her arms. Jerome wants you to visualise the situation with Cedric. The two of them stir had adisagreement oer territorial lines.This perked my interest. Ah. Its him, then. Wed perceive Jerome had something loss on with another demon.The two of them had been eyeing each others areas, explained Grace. In the hopes of expanding their own boundaries into one large Pacific Northwest She pa utilize thoughtfully. conglomerate? I suggested. She shrugged by way of agreement. both(prenominal)thing like that, said Mei. besides eventually, they put the strife aside and gave up, each settling for their genuine territories. Thats why Jerome is contri unlesse you to Cedric, as a sign of good will.I was too intrigued to retort approximately the degradation of Jerome lending me to anyone. Jerome muscularitysnt do things come on of good will, I pointed out, recalling his snide remark almost altruism last night. Theres to a greater extent than crack game on.Grace nodded. Indeed. Jerome suspects that Cedric actually hasnt given up the dispute and is still plotting against him. Jerome wants you to spy and report tooshiewards.Oh, I didnt like that. non at all.He wants me to spy on another demon? An arch demon? Do you make out what descriptor of trouble I could pack in if Ced ric finds out?Neither demoness said anything. It was no concern of theirs if I got smote. Considering Jeromes actual attitude toward me, it probably wasnt much of a concern for him either, aside from having to send a requisition to Personnel for a new succubus.So, continued Mei, youll have two agendas. You deprivation to let Jerome recognise what Cedrics doing. And, you need to dawn Cedrics problem cult and keep them in line-although, if you make things a little ill at ease(predicate) for Cedric along the way, Jerome wont mind.Right. The Canadian the Tempterists. What on mankind are they doing thats such a full-size draw? Putting 666 on the backs of field hockey jerseys?My joke had no military unit on either demoness. Someday, I thought, Id bug out one of them to crack a smiling. Theyre attracting attention, enough that Cedrics superiors are embarrassed. Theyd prefer this cult conduct its blueness in more subtle ways. lowest I knew, true Satanists arent actually wr ong per se, I mused. The rep aside, most Satanists were more into serious ac go to buttocksledging chaos and humanitys wild, base nature. Most arent actually out conducting bloody rituals or spray- put outting pentagrams on walls.Actually, said Mei, this group is spray-painting pentagrams on walls.Oh, I said. Thats lame.They rec everywhere theyre evil began Grace.but theyre not, finished Mei. They need to be reined in.Okay, sure enough. No problem. Influencing wannabe Satanists was a piece of streak compared to spying on a demon. I glanced at the time. Anything else? I should probably heading out.Yes, said Mei. Jerome wants you to square off in on tawny.Seriously? I groaned. He hates me.The demonesses neither confirmed nor denied this statement.See you around, Georgina, said Grace.Well check in, said Mei.They vanished.With a heavy heart, I finished my packing and told Aubrey good-bye. Then I lugged my suitcase down to my Passat, off to tender Mata Hari. I just hoped my end w ould be better than hers.Once you clear Everett, a naval city just northmost of Seattle, the drive up to Canada is pretty easy. The give way rapidly limit goes up, and the most exciting attractions along the way are casinos and outlet malls. roughly a half(prenominal)-hour from the border, I reached Bellingham, the certain residence of tawny-brown Johnson.Tawny was a succubus, a very new succubus. Technically, I was her mentor, but her assignment in Bellingham mercifully limited our interactions. Shed come to Seattle back in December and had gotten involved with an imp named Niphon whod been laborious to make my life more of a living hell than it already was. Hed roped her into his plans, and as angry as Id been slightly it, I knew the fault was his more than hers. She hadnt real cognize what she was doing and had been persuaded he could help fast-track her career. Nonetheless, shed gotten in enough trouble that Jerome had sent her out of the city. It was better than wo rld sent back to blaze, so really, the arrangement suited all of us just fine.I gave her a call, and we met up at a caf? just off I-5. Tawny was easy to imperfection when she entered the place. Despite the fact that Tawny had been kind of a con artist when she was a mortal-a profession youd mean would lend itself healthy to succubus work-she was actually pretty painful at seduction. Oh, she could still get guys to sleep with her, but it was more thanks to her availableness rather than any separateicular wiles on her single-valued function. In bad-tempered, she was convinced that the most tantalizing form she could take was that of a six-foot nordic with breasts that would have given a human a back injury. Tawny also had a penchant for spandex and metallic fabrics that I found disturbing but that felicitous Hugh and the vampires to no end. I made a mental note to enunciate them some the chartreuse hot pants she wore today.Georgina she exclaimed, move all everyplace to my table on favorable stilettos. Im so happy to sop up you. She held out her arms, like maybe I was supposed(p) to stand and hug her, but I remained sitting. Taking the hint, she sat down as well. What are you doing here?Im going to Vancouver, I said, wrapping my hands around my discolour chocolate mocha. Jerome wanted me to stop by and see how things were going.Her eyeball lit up. huge Ive been spending a lot of time over at Western. She leaned forward and communicate in a sage voice. You know, if youre ever having trouble getting someone into bed, you should go check out college guys. Theyre so easy. convey for the tip, I said dryly. Ill keep it in mind.She pursed her lips and eyed me. Doesnt locution like you need it, though, she added wistfully. I could never get a glow like that.Too worse she hadnt seen the glow in full effect yesterday. It would have be adriftn her away. You will, I said. Someday. Some day far, far away. Tawny had miles to go before gaining the subtl eties required to land really moral guys.I dont know how you do it. You arent even blond. I mean, maybe a little, but mostly youre a brunette. I just dont see guys going for that.My hair was long and light brown, lightly highlighted with gold. My eyes were a hazel-green that I also hazard didnt fit in with her worldview of what was sexy, at least if her baby blues were any indication. Yeah, well, some wad are into kinky gorge, I guess.The waiter showed up and took our luncheon orders. I made myself comfortable and prepared to do some mentoring.So, I said. You got any nouss?Tawny titled her head, long-lashed blue eyes alter with thought. Yeah. Theres something Ive been wondering some.Okay, go for it.These colleges guystheyre kind of, like, fast. unshakable?Yeah. You get them into bed, and its over before it begins.Theyre 18 or twenty. Still pulsing with youthful hormones. They dont really know what theyre doing yet.Yeah, yeah, I know, she said. Except, when youre going down o n them, it takes forever . You know what I mean?I strained a straight position. Its one of the mysteries of the universe, Tawny. You just gotta roll with it.But my sass gets sore, she whined. Makes my taunt ache the next day Isnt there any way to zip up it up?My immortal friends would die if they could hear this conversation. You pukenister try the dont stop trick. Or maybe verbalise them you want them to come on your face. Thatll get things moving.Ew Thats disgusting.I shrugged. Dont ask the question if you dont want to hear the answer.But how can I even say anything when my mouth is, well, you knowThus went the rest of our lunch conversation, and blow jobs dark out to be the mildest of topics. Fortunately, no one sat in spite of appearance listening distance. I ate my volaille salad as fast as I could, eager to be on my way. As we were paying the bill, a thought came to me.Hey, Tawny. Youre a good deal on top of Cedrics turf here. You ever see any signs of him and Jerom e fighting?She agitate her head. No. Ive never even met Cedric. But theres a vampire here in town whos mentioned them fighting before. He seems to think its a big deal. allone seems to, and yetI dont know. I have a weird feeling or so all this. kindred that someones hard to cover up something.Tawny placed some cash on the table, her clawlike nails lacquered and red. For half a moment, she looked outstandingly wise. Back when I was doing cons, the best way to pull one past batch was to make a big deal intimately something else. Misdirection.It was quite possibly the most intelligent thing Id ever comprehend Tawny say. Yeah, but if so, what are we being misdirected from?Hell if I know. Thats for smart throng like you to figure out. Im just trying to get college guys to induce up their blow jobs.My first minute in Canada, I got pulled over.Right after you go by means of customs, theres a short stretch of the expressway with an incredibly low fixity limit. Every time I driv e by means of there, I try to drive that speed. And Im the only one who ever does it. All the locals accelerate through that area, already driving the speed that the freeway clicks up to about half a mile (or kilometer or whatsoever) later. Every time, just before I officially hit the higher speed zone, I finally crack and speed up too-and thats always when the cops get me. Ive been pulled over three quantify.This was my quartetth.I handed over my license and other pertinent paperwork to the cop. American, eh? he asked, like it wasnt perfectly obvious.Yes, sir, I said.You know you were speeding, dont you? He mostly sounded curious, not harsh.Was I? I asked blankly, looking at him with doe eyes. I saw the succubus enchant seize him. But the sign said sixty-five.Sixty-five kilometers per hour, he corrected gently. We use the metric system here.I blinked. Ohhhh. God, I forgot. I feel so stupid.It happens a lot, he said. He handed my nip back without even running it. Ill tell you what. Ill let you go this time. middling make sure you get the units skillful, eh? Your speedometers got kilometers per hour underneath the miles per hour.Oh, thats what the little numbers are for, huh-er, eh? I gave him a dazzling smile. Thank you so much.So help me, he leaning his hat. Happy to help. Be careful now, and wassail your stay.I thanked him again and headed off. Its worth noting here that while Ive been pulled over four times in this stretch, Ive also gotten off four times.Canadians. So nice.I made it into business district Vancouver without except incident and checked into my hotel. It was a boutique one over on Robson Street, and I decided maybe Jerome didnt hate me after all. Or at least, Hells travel agency didnt hate me. Robson was a drama neighborhood, full of restaurants and shopping. I threw my stuff into my fashion and then headed off to meet Cedric. He would have sensed me crossing into his territory, but I wanted it officially say for the record that I was here so that I didnt get in further trouble with Jerome.Unlike Jerome, who was impossible to find sometimes, Cedric actually had a suite of offices over in the Financial District. I kind of liked that. The front desk was staffed by an imp named Kristin. She seemed pleasant enough, just incredibly busy. She told me Id lucked out and that Cedric could fit me in right now. manner of walking into his office, I found him at his desk, variant something on Wikipedia. He glanced up.Oh. Jeromes succubus. He turned from the monitor and gestured to a chair foeman his desk. Have a seat.I sat down and immediately began assessing the office. Nothing about it screamed evil. It was neat and sleek, with an expansive window full of office prepareings beyond him. Silver changeless motion balls sat on his desk, and one of those framed motivational posters hung on the wall. It had a picture of a struggling pine away sapling in front of a large tree and read, DETERMINATION .Cedric himself d idnt look too evil either. He had an average build and pretty blue-gray eyes. He kept his hair shaved army-style, and like Kristin, the biggest vibe I got off him was busy. Inasmuch as one could be busy surfing Wikipedia, that is. I glanced at the screen, curious as to what hed been looking at. goddamned takeovers, perhaps?Oh, that, he said, following my gaze. respectable a hobby of mine. Its the entry on marsupials. I just like going in sometimes and putting in incorrect information. Its always fun to see how long it takes them to notice. Theyre better about it than they used to be, but that just makes it more of a challenge. I just wrote about how marsupials are an integral part of the Lutheran Eucharist. He chuckled at his own ingenuity. God, I hated the Reformation.I smiled, not entirely sure what to say.Cedric clasped his hands in front of him, face turning serious. So, lets get down to business. Youre here to spy on me.My mouth opened, but nothing coherent came out right aw ay. UmHe waved his hand. No, no, its fine. You dont honestly expect me to suppose Jerome would do me a favor without string section attached? Whatever. I dont have anything to hide. He can keep his territory-Im too busy watching my own. You can tell him any(prenominal) you want so long as you do what I need you to.Right, I said, finding my voice at last. Your mucilaginous Satanic cult.He grimaced. God, those guys are such a pain in the ass. What do you know about them?That they arent Satanists like the prevalent groups, not like Anton LaVeys followers or the anti-Christians. I felt like a student reciting in front of a class.They think theyre anti-Christian, but mostly, theyre just ridiculous. Just some flakes in search of individualism who got together and thought itd be calm down to be evil. They have meetings in robes and keep making up secret handshakes.And thats a problem?Nah, I dont care about any of that. They can play dress-up all they want. Whats annoying is that they re doing all the things tribe think evil people do but dont actually do. They ripped up a tidy sum of bibles once and left them on this churchs lawn. They also appear to have a kernel for spray paint.I heard about that.They keep writing stupid stuff like The Angel of Darkness is Lord and What Would Satan Do? Cedric rolled his eyes. Yeah, like thats original.I can see why youd be embarrassed, I admitted.No kidding. The worst part is that theyre attracting some media attention- peculiarly among local churches. So, now those guys are doing their own sort of kick back and triggering a whole bunch of demonstrations about faith and light and all that stuff. Not what we need. Kind of defeats our purpose, really.What do you want me to do?Kristin hangs out with them sometimes. They know her and recognize what side she works for, but frankly, she doesnt have the people skills to manipulate them. Shell take you to them and give them some bullshit about how youre high-ranking in the ways o f evil or something every bit absurd. Then, I want you to hang out with them and just be part of their group. preventive them from doing more stupid things. Get them to go back to their role-playing in the basement. Hell, if you can convince them to disband, go for it. He eyed me. Youre a succubus. Youve been around for a while. You should be able to talk them into anything.I nodded. I can.Good. Im stock(a) of them. Im not allowed to interfere directly, and my own people are too busy. He stood up and walked toward the door. I took the hint and followed. Do whatever you want the rest of the day. Kristinll take you over to them tomorrow. Check them out. See what you think. Ive got some appointments in the morning, but stop by at any rate and give me your impressions of those fools.Is there anything in particular you want me to find out for you?Yes, he said. In addition to keeping them out of trouble, I want you to simply unwrap them. Theyre not just attracting media attention-they re attracting attention from my superiors. Ah, yeah. Hell could get pissy about that kind of thing. If someones by choice manipulating them, I want to know.Okay.He gave me a narrow-eyed look. And I hope its not Jerome.He still had that mild, businesslike exterior, but I heard the stern note in his voice. I shivered but gave him a smile anyway, trying not to think about misdirection.I hope not either.I was a bit surprised at how short my meeting with Cedric had been. I was more surprised still that after all the grief Jerome had given me about the emergency of this trip, I now had nothing to do. Of course, if he was trying to get rid of me, this was as good a way as any. My bad attitude and I were out of Seattle.It was dinnertime when I got back to Robson Street, so I found food at an Ethiopian restaurant a few blocks from my hotel and lingered over the remains of my meal with a novel Id picked up a few days ago. Afterward, I wandered up and down the street, looking at various shop s and designers, but eventually had to stop after passing two T- garb stores. One interchange retro stuff and had a dark purple Quiet Riot shirt in their window. Another sold Canadian souvenirs and displayed a shirt showing a map of Canada in red with a map of the U.S. below it in blue. The legend read Canada Likes It on Top. If Id still been geological dating curing, I would have bought him both. He would have shaken his head and given me a slight quirk of the lips as he tried to hide his smile.The thought cast down me, and I found myself growing sadder and sadder as I walked back to my hotel. In that moment, I would have given anything to be with solidifying again, to right the wrongs wed done to each other back around Christmastime. Losing him was losing a part of me that-Searing, white-hot anger suddenly dick through me. What the fuck was I whining about? wherefore should I miss him? Why should I pine for someone whod betrayed me and get me with my friend , of all people ? exercise set didnt deserve my longing or my love, and as I continued walking, that dark desperation within me transformed to rage and spite-just as it had done nearly every day for the past four months.When I got back to the hotel, I was no longer sad. I was pissed. I hated everyone and everything, but especially Seth. I wanted to make him pay. Unfortunately, there was no way to do that, not here in Vancouver. Passing near the hotels bar on my way through the lobby, I paused and surveyed the patrons. It was a veritable change of men, most of them lone travelers making flying friends over their drinks. My succubus lust sprang up in me, and suddenly, all I wanted was to get drunk and go to bed with some guy. I wanted to lose myself in the haze of alcohol and fucking, in the hopes that it might all dull the pain that lay buried under my anger.And as I scanned the room, one guy in particular caught my attention. The face was all wrong, but he had hair almost the very(prenominal) c olor as Seths. It was worn mussy too, though it appeared as though hed achieved that look with gel, rather than the lack of brushing Seth employed. No, this guy wasnt a perfect match by any means, but he was close, and there was an aura of shy photograph about him that I liked.Putting on a smile, I strolled across the room to introduce myself. I might not be able to actually visit Seth, but at least for tonight, I could pretend that I could.