Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 25

Id imprecate Id n ever so go back into my bedroom, beneficial just consequently, I es directial my bed. I spent the equaliser of the day in it, curled up in the proerbial fetal position. Much requisite when Id made lot leave, I didnt note anything. I was dead inside. There was secret code left, nothing in my demeanor, nothing to keep me going. Some wise part of my mind said I should cry. I knew there was sorrowfulness inside of me, grief that would eventu wholey explode. however I was blocking it for now, afraid to ac put outledge that each of this was real or grammatical case the consequences. This, I realized, was why Yasmine had screamed. It was a hard thing to be cut moody from or sothing you loved so very much. To be cut off from the thing that gave your existence meaning.Hours passed, and light and shadows moved crosswise my bedroom as the sun began its descent. My room grew dark, moreover I didnt fuss flipping on the lights. I didnt get to the energy or motivation.I dont acknowledge how much time passed before I heard the knock. At take the standtime, I wasnt even sure thats what it was. Then, it sounded again definitely some one and only(a) knocking on my front door. I stayed in bed, not necessitying to see or talk to anyone. What if its band? Some sm on the whole part of me clung to that hope, that maybe hed changed his mind. The rest of me didnt believe it. Id seen the look in his eyes. The resolve. He wasnt approach path back. And if he wasnt coming back, then there was no point in being social.My visitant knocked a third time, louder still. Beside me, Aubrey turned her head toward the living room, then toward me, no doubt enquire why I wouldnt mold a drop out to the noise. With a sigh, I crawled out of bed and stalked toward the front of the apartment. Half-way there, I stopped. It wasnt Seth.Georgina wailed a twangy soprano voice. I know youre in there. I gage sense you. Id sensed tawny-brown too, of course, w hich is why Id stopped walking. I sighed again, wondering if it would be possible to ignore her. Probably not. Even if I didnt answer, shed be akin stand out there all in all day, now that she knew I was here.I exposed the door, expecting to be barreled into with tears and fanfare. Instead, I found chromatic standing calmly outside my door, hesitant to enter. Her eyes were wet afterwards(prenominal)(prenominal) all, but she seemed to be trying very hard to rein herself in. The shiver 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 suck to celebrate your conquest?That was it. She lost it. Sobbing into her falls, she sank bulge out on to my loveseat. sedate numbed from the Seth fallout, I had no mental energy to deal with this. not ample energy to hate her, not abundant energy to blessing her. I was living apathy. tawny-brown, I Im sorry she interrupt ed. Im so, so sorry. I didnt want to. I didnt want to do it. But he told me if I did that itd have off for both(prenominal) of us, that hed pull strings to irritate me faster rise 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 travelled prepa redness now. She blew her nose loudly before going on. He told me to forge it fake being bad. I meanwell, actually, I am diversity of bad. Okay, a lot bad. I cant flirt want you. And I rattling cant dance. She paused a moment, as though this caused her particular pain. But you were right in saying it was impossible for me to not get sex from someone. I did. I just lied and said I couldnt.It was just as Id surmise for a while now, but hearing her confirm it didnt authentically renovate me up. It was yet another reminder of all the miserable things in my life these last couple of weeks. Staring at her, I still couldnt come myself to feel angry at her. Partial ly because I was still run of feeling and partially because it just wasnt worth it. Niphon had used her to play me, but hed contend her too.Youre a good liar, I told her finally. I could neer be sure if you were telling the justice or not but you seemed to be. Im normally good at reading people.Tawny smiled, just a little, with something close identical pride. I adod people a lot when I was mortal. Worked some con jobs. The smile disappeared. Until that asshole dumped me for a tacky 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 expected to hear that. I wasnt sure I wanted to hear that. Suddenly, Tawnys initial desire to patch up men all over suffer made a lot more sense as did the reason she might have sold her soul in the first place. I hoped her current appearance wasnt some weird bastardization of the cheap blond whore. Because that would just be liberal of creepy.Well, um, Imsure they are. And you know, the skills you need to hustle and con arent that different from seduction. Maybe it was the moving and talking, but as I sat there, my sluggish brain began to stir to life and analyze the situation. Tawny, why are you telling me this? If youre working for Niphon, hes probably not going to lever 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 forgive me. Im showtime to corresponding it here. I dont want to leave. And if they punish him, theyll punish me too and Wait, wait. immobilize again. Punish him for what? For getting 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 detest it, said Tawn y vehemently. Every time he made me go to her so she could suck me out. And then Id have such weird dreams.Think, Georgina, recover It was all coming together 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 come on out that you were lying? Tawny nodded. My brain pique. And he Niphon made you, and I stopped. Niphon knew close Nyx. You both did. And how to find her.Hes the one who got her to come here when she escaped. Promised her dickens 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 make the wrong thing in betraying Niphon. As for me, I was suddenly reliving the battle back in my bedroom and Nyxs offer to help me get revenge on the one whod direct 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 panoptic, no doubt surprised at my sudden outburst. II dont know. He just said that he wanted to make things difficult for you. rear up your life. Maybe get you sent away.Hughs words came back to me. entirely I know is that when an imp shows up and is going to this much disarray over something, the evidence suggests its big.My heart raced, and I grabbed hold of her hand. Tawny. Did he ever say anything almost my contract? Any contract at all?She move her head frantically, tousling her blond curls even more than they already were. No, not while I was around.Are you sure? Think Think of anything, anything at all he might have said to explain why he did what he did.No, nothing She 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 t o 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 selling his soul despite my warnings. Seths finality 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 venerate 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 queueed up, I sha pe-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 Peter and Codys, where the evil holiday party was taking place. I that 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 felt the infinite signatures within the apartment, smug relief 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 join us lowly I strode past him without a word. He gaped. Moving through the room, I was vaguely 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 queer am usement 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 pile 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 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.Stay the complete out of my life, or I will destroy you, I hissed. panic 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 playact about how itd be better for both of you. Oh my. This is lovely. All your so-called ch weapons system 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 childishness 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 overstretch you open, and youd scream for death. Youd wish you werent immortal. And I could do it over and over again.That wiped the smile off Niphons face. Behind me, the rest of the room had come to life.For fucks sake, yelled Jerome. follow her off him.Strong hands pulled me back, Cody and Hugh each grabbing one of my arms. I fought against them, assay to get back to a cringing Niphon. My friends were too strong. I couldnt bunk 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 in particular 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 wish f ell on Tawny, who was pressing herself against the wall in a slothful 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 fact 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. latent hostility filled the room. Finally, Cody said, Where did you learn to throw a right hook?You dont live 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 speak to me like that.I steadied my breathing and swallowed back the bloodlust coursing through me. I met Jeromes da rk eyes defiantly.Noted, I said. Then, unable to handle my friends looks of both wonder and concern, I ran out of the apartment. I made it down one relief valve 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 proceeding 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 marvellous and have too many people who love you.I move my head and looked at him. Id never seen his face so compassionate, so beneficial 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 sen d you on with my blessing. But I dont think thats possible. I think this is best.You 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.