'Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 25\r'

'Id curse Id n incessantly go screen into my provideroom, nonwithstanding further past, I needed my bed. I spent the equaliser of the day in it, curled up in the pr everywherebial fetal position. Much the handle when Id do Seth leave, I didnt feel any(prenominal) function. I was dead inside. There was secret code left, nothing in my career, nothing to keep me spillage. whatsoever wise part of my brain tell I should cry. I knew there was bustn nubedness inside of me, grief that would fifty-fiftytu in totallyy explode. al peerless I was blocking it for now, afraid to note that all of this was real or portray the consequences. This, I realized, was wherefore Yasmine had screamed. It was a terrific thing to be compress morose from somewhatthing you loved so a great deal. To be cut oblige from the thing that gave your existence meaning.\r\nHours passed, and swingy and shadows moved across my sleeping accommodation as the sun began its descent. My room grew dark, exactly I didnt bother flipping on the lights. I didnt cast the energy or motivation.\r\nI dont chi put upe how much time passed before I heard the knock. At first, I wasnt even certain(a) thats what it was. Then, it sounded again †definitely person knocking on my front door. I stayed in bed, not compulsioning to look on or talk to any unmatched. What if its Seth? some(prenominal) small part of me clung to that hope, that by chance hed changed his mind. The fill-in of me didnt be restve it. Id seen the look in his look. The resolve. He wasnt coming concealment. And if he wasnt coming back, thusly there was no point in organism social.\r\nMy visitor knocked a trio time, louder mum. Beside me, Aubrey turned her head toward the living room, thence toward me, no doubt wondering why I wouldnt entrust a take to the noise. With a sigh, I crawled prohibited of bed and stalked toward the front of the apartment. Half-way there, I stopped. It wasnt Seth.\r\nà ¢â‚¬Å"Georgina!” wailed a twangy soprano voice. â€Å"I deal youre in there. I can sense you.” Id sensed chromatic excessively, of course, which is why Id stopped walking. I sighed again, wondering if it would be possible to rebuff her. Probably not. Even if I didnt answer, shed in all likelihood stand disclose there all day, now that she knew I was here.\r\nI assailable the door, expecting to be barreled into with tears and fanfare. Instead, I found Tawny standing calmly asideside my door, hesitant to enter. Her eyes were taut aft(prenominal) all, exclusively she seemed to be stressful very hard to rein herself in. The trepidation of her lip suggested that wasnt vent to be easy.\r\nAnd she had a glow.\r\nâ€Å"C-can I come in?” she asked.\r\nI stepped to the side and waved her in. â€Å"You want me to take you out for a drink to celebrate your triumph?”\r\nThat was it. She lost it. Sobbing into her turn all over, she sank down on to my loveseat. Still numbed from the Seth fallout, I had no mental energy to deal with this. non enough energy to hate her, not enough energy to pity her. I was living apathy.\r\nâ€Å"Tawny, I †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Im sorry!” she interrupted. â€Å"Im so, so sorry. I didnt want to. I didnt want to do it. scarcely he told me if I did that itd pay off for both of us, that hed leave strings to narrow forth me faster climb up and that Id †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Whoa, hang on,” I verbalise. â€Å"Whos ‘he? Niphon?”\r\nShe nodded and produced a acquire of tissues from her purse. At least she traveled brisk now. She blew her nose loudly before press release on. â€Å"He told me to fake it †fake being freehanded. I mean…well, actually, I am kind of bad. Okay, a piling bad. I cant flirt like you. And I real cant dance.” She paused a moment, as though this caused her peculiar(a) pain. â€Å" however you were right in maxim it was imp ossible for me to not hire put forward from someone. I did. I just lie and state I couldnt.”\r\nIt was just as Id suspected for a while now, but hearing her confirm it didnt actually enliven me up. It was yet another reminder of all the miserable things in my life these persist couple of weeks. Staring at her, I still couldnt bring myself to feel uncivilised at her. Partially because I was still drained of feeling and partially because it just wasnt worth it. Niphon had used her to play me, but hed played her besides.\r\nâ€Å"Youre a good liar,” I told her finally. â€Å"I could never be true if you were weighty the truth or not †but you seemed to be. Im usually good at reading passel.”\r\nTawny smiled, just a little, with something almost like p liberatee. â€Å"I wheeld people a rush when I was mortal. Worked some con jobs.” The smile disappea inflamed. â€Å"Until that asshole dumped me for a cheap blond whore. She had no inclination what she was doing, but did he care? no Dick. Hes sorry now. They both are.”\r\nI blinked. I hadnt expected to hear that. I wasnt sure I valued to hear that. Suddenly, Tawnys initial desire to make men over suffer do a lot more(prenominal) sense †as did the dry land she top executive reach sold her mind in the first place. I hoped her legitimate appearance wasnt some spiritual bastardi sit downion of the cheap blond whore. Because that would just be kind of creepy.\r\nâ€Å"Well, um, Im…sure they are. And you study it away(predicate), the skills you need to hustle and con arent that different from seduction.” Maybe it was the sorrowful and talking, but as I sat there, my sluggish brain began to stir to life and analyze the situation. â€Å"Tawny, why are you telling me this? If youre working for Niphon, hes probably not loss to appreciate you blowing his cover.”\r\nâ€Å"Youre right. He doesnt make love Im here. But…but I was afraid. I know itll all come out if you tell, and I dont want to go down with him! I horizon if I came and talked to you and told you what happened that perchance…maybe you could forgive me. Im starting to like it here. I dont want to leave. And if they punish him, theyll punish me overly and †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Wait, wait. Stop again. Punish him for what? For getting you to lie?” I frowned. â€Å"And what is it Im going to tell?”\r\nTawny was so strike that she forgot to sniffle. â€Å"About her.”\r\nâ€Å"Her?”\r\nâ€Å"That †that hag. The one who came into my dreams…”\r\nâ€Å"Nyx? Oh. That really is how you hid your glow. Hugh was right.”\r\nâ€Å"I hated it,” tell Tawny vehemently. â€Å"Every time he do me go to her so she could dupe me out. And then Id have such weird dreams.”\r\n cypher, Georgina, forecast! It was all coming unneurotic here if I could just put my own romantic disaster off to the side of my mind for a moment.\r\nâ€Å"You…went to Nyx volitionally? To have your energy sucked out so I wouldnt incur out that you were deceitfulness?” Tawny nodded. My brain hurt. â€Å"And he †Niphon †made you, and †” I stopped. â€Å"Niphon knew nearly Nyx. You both did. And how to find her.”\r\nâ€Å"Hes the one who got her to come here when she escaped. Promised her cardinal succubi,” sniffed Tawny. She gave me a puzzled look. â€Å"I thought…I thought you knew all that? I heard you were there when they captured her…”\r\nTawny looked a little nervous, like she was wondering if maybe shed done the wrong thing in betraying Niphon. As for me, I was suddenly live over the battle back in my bedroom and Nyxs offer to help me get visit on the one whod sent her after(prenominal) me….\r\nNiphon.\r\nâ€Å"Niphon?” I exclaimed. â€Å"Niphon sent a unwarranted chaos goddess after me? wherefore ? Why does he hate me that much?”\r\nTawnys eyes went wide, no doubt surprised at my sudden outburst. â€Å"I…I dont know. He just said that he wanted to make things difficult for you. Screw up your life. Maybe get you sent away.”\r\nHughs linguistic communication came back to me. All I know is that when an imp shows up and is going to this much trouble over something, the evidence suggests its big.\r\nMy heart raced, and I grabbed hold of her hand. â€Å"Tawny. Did he ever say anything roughly my contract? any contract at all?”\r\nShe move her head frantically, tousling her blond curls even more than they already were. â€Å"No, not while I was close to.”\r\nâ€Å"Are you sure? Think! Think of anything, anything at all he might have said to explain why he did what he did.”\r\nâ€Å"No, nothing!” She broke her hand away. â€Å"Im telling you the truth this time. He just made it sound as though…well, like he didnt like you. H e wanted you to be unhappy. Suffer. I dont know.”\r\nNiphon. So many another(prenominal) things could be displace at his feet.\r\nAccording to Tawny, hed used her to make me look like a bad mentor (which I was, kind of) and mayhap get sent away. The imp had withal talked to Seth about selling his nous †despite my warnings. Seths last 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 spend time with Seth. Realizing how close hed been to selling his intelligence had driven Seth away. The caution of how that would relate him and me both had been too untroubled †strong enough that he chose to walk away from me.\r\nâ€Å"Georgina?”\r\nI 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.\r\nâ€Å"Georgina? ” reiterate Tawny, peering at me. â€Å"Are you okay? You arent going to get me sent away, are you? Georgina?”\r\nI rose from my chair, surprised at how my muscles had amaze kinked. No longer wanting to be loped up, I shape-shifted out of the dress and into jeans and an empire cut sweater. Black. Like my mood. I descryd over at Tawny.\r\nâ€Å"You want to go to a party with me?”\r\nI lot us over to irradiation and Codys, where the â€Å" horror” 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 resolute †and with enough speed that Tawny had to scuttle to keep up in her stilettos. When I felt the immortal signatures within the apartment, self-satisfied relief flooded me upon discovering Niphon was still there.\r\nPeter opened the door before I finished knocking. He wore a red sweater with an appliqu?¦ Santa on it. It matched his tree, of c ourse.\r\nâ€Å"Look at this,” he said sarcastically. â€Å"She deigns to show up and join us lowly †â€Å"\r\nI strode past him without a word. He gaped. abject with the room, I was vaguely witting of the others there. Jerome. Cody. Hugh. But I didnt want any of them.\r\nNiphon, standing with a glass of wine, regarded me with unusual amusement as I headed tasteful for him. Considering I usually avoided him if it all possible, my approach undoubtedly astonished him.\r\nBut not as much as when I punched him.\r\nI didnt even need to shape-shift much bulk 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 locker with a crash. Niphon slumped to the floor, eyes wide with shock. I kept coming. Kneeling, I grabbed his designer apparel and jerked him toward me.\r\nâ€Å"Stay the fuck out of my life, or I will destroy you,” I hissed.\r\nTe rror filled his features. â€Å"Are you out of your fucking mind? What do you †” Suddenly, the fear disappeared. He started laughing. â€Å"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 questionable ch blazonry werent enough to †ahh!”\r\nId 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 see was mere inches from his.\r\nâ€Å"Remember when you said I was nothing but a backwoods girl from some feisty fishing village? You were right. And I had to exit 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. â€Å"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 care you werent immortal. And I could do it over and over again.”\r\nThat wiped the smirk off Niphons position. Behind me, the rest of the room had come to life.\r\nâ€Å"For fucks sake,” holler Jerome. â€Å" raise her off him.”\r\nStrong hands pulled me back, Cody and Hugh separately grabbing one of my arms. I fought against them, struggling to get back to a cringing Niphon. My friends were too strong. I couldnt break free and didnt have the life left to shape-shift added bulk.\r\nâ€Å"Get rid of him, Jerome!” I yelled. â€Å"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 him!”\r\nI precept my bosss attend. 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.\r\nâ€Å"Get out,” the daemon said.\r\nNiphon stared open-mouthed. Very fishlike, actually.\r\nâ€Å"Jerome! You cant just †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"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.”\r\nNiphon 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 sit on the couch. With one more glance back at me, he ran out the door.\r\nJeromes gaze fell on Tawny, who was force per unit area herself against the wall in a faineant effort to disappear.\r\nâ€Å"Its not her fault,” I said quickly. â€Å"Dont punish her.”\r\nJerome studied her a hardly a(prenominal)er more moments before sighing impatiently. â€Å"Later. Ill deal with you later.” I wasnt sure if that was a good thing or not, b ut the fact that he hadnt smote her on the spot was a positive(p) sign. Judging from the grateful look on her face, she agreed.\r\nCody and Hugh still had a death captivate on me, but after some(prenominal) moments, they released me. I sagged with exhaustion, surprised to see I was breathing heavily.\r\nTension filled the room. Finally, Cody said, â€Å"Where did you subscribe to throw a right rear?”\r\nâ€Å"You dont live through the Dark Ages without information stuff like that,” mused Peter. He glanced at the spilled wine and sighed. â€Å"Club sodas not going to get that out.”\r\nâ€Å"Georgie,” said Jerome in a rumbling voice. â€Å"Do not ever speak to me like that.”\r\nI stabilize my breathing and swallowed back the bloodlust coursing through me. I met Jeromes dark eyes defiantly.\r\nâ€Å"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 flight o f stairs before collapsing and sitting on the landing. I buried my face in my hands and started sobbing. The grief had finally won.\r\nA 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.\r\nâ€Å"Youll get over this,” he said quietly.\r\nâ€Å"No. I will never get over this. Im alone. I wish I was dead.”\r\nâ€Å"No, you dont. Youre too wonderful and have too many people who love you.”\r\nI get up my head and looked at him. Id never seen his face so compassionate, so serious †pull out when hed yelled at Seth during poker. I sniffed and ran a hand over my miffed eyes.\r\nâ€Å"We broke up. This is what you wanted. You didnt want me and Seth to be unneurotic.”\r\nHugh shook his head. â€Å"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 thi nk this is best.”\r\nâ€Å"You told him the provided 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?”\r\nHugh looked surprised at the reference to Maddie. â€Å"I dont know, sweetie. I dont know what he was thinking.”\r\nSighing, I leaned back into him. â€Å"I will never get over this.”\r\nâ€Å"You will.”\r\nâ€Å"Its going to take a lot of time.”\r\nâ€Å"Well, you have a lot of time.”\r\n'