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Isabelle smiled. "He's closer than you think."
"Typical angel answer," I groaned. I turned around to leave and then yelped.
Carter stood by the club's entrance.
Abandoning Isabelle, I hurried across the crowded room. Oblivious to the dress code, Carter wore his typical grungy clothing, ratty jeans and a plain gray T-shirt. A flannel shirt was tied around his waist, and his blond hair could have handled a good washing and brushing. He smiled expectantly at my approach and stepped outside to the crowded street. I followed.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, taking out my cigarettes. I grabbed one for myself and then offered him the pack. He took one too.
"What are you doing here?" he returned pleasantly.
"You know what I'm doing here. Everyone knows what I'm doing here." I fumbled in my purse for my new lighter and found a matchbook instead. I pulled it out. Mark's Mad Martini Bar. I'd forgotten them.
"What's wrong?" asked Carter, noting my frown.
I shook my head. "Nothing." I traded the matches for my lighter, and we lit up. "You were lurking with your signature hidden," I continued. "Why?"
"Element of surprise," he said. "It was worth it to see your face."
We walked past the club lines and drunken groups, no clear destination in mind-at least none that I knew of. "You haven't been around in a while," I accused.
"Why, Daughter of Lilith, have you missed me?"
"No! But I was starting to feel like you were only interested in me while I was dating Seth."
"Of course not." There was a long, overly nonchalant pause. "So...have you talked to him lately?"
I rolled my eyes. "You are only interested in Seth! You're going to have to let it go, Carter. Seth and I are finished. Why can't you obsess on me and my new boyfriend instead?"
"Because you can do better."
"Everyone keeps saying that. But I'm a succubus. How much better can I do?"
"The fact that people keep telling you that should be answer enough."
"Seth broke up with me ," I said through gritted teeth. "He doesn't want me anymore, end of story."
"Oh, come now. Do you really believe that?"
"Seeing as I was there at the break-up? Yes."
Carter tsked. "Georgina, Georgina. You're letting your anger and other emotions cloud your reason, which is unfortunate since you're a lot smarter than people give you credit for. Go back and think. Why did Seth break up with you?"
I stared off at the far side of the street, refusing to look at him. "Because he thought if we stayed together, we'd both get hurt. That it would be better if we split, no matter how painful at the time."
"And you think that makes him a bad person?"
"Yes." I turned back toward Carter. "Because I didn't agree. I was willing to take the risk. He gave up."
"Sometimes it takes more courage to know when to retreat than to keep fighting."
"I don't think it could have taken that much courage. He ended up with Maddie pretty quickly." No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep the bitterness from my voice.
"That takes courage too, forcing yourself to start over with someone new, to keep moving on with your life."
"Seems more like a rebound to me."
Carter took a long drag on his cigarette. "Seth didn't leave and go to Maddie because he stopped loving you. If there were no complications in the world, you would be the one he chose. You are his ideal, his first choice."
"That's not flattering to Maddie."
"It doesn't make her less. It just means he loves her differently. And when you decide you have to move on, that's how it is. Just because things don't work out, it doesn't mean there aren't other people you can't love. Love is too big a thing for you to go without it in life."
"Oh yes," I said. "I have so missed these cryptic conversations."
Carter crooked me a grin. "I'm glad to see you're back to your old self."
"I've missed the sarcasm too."
"No, I'm serious. You weren't a lot of fun these last few months. You were kind of..."
"...bitchy?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. You were angry and depressed and frustrated. You stopped caring about the people around you. You weren't...well, you."
"You don't know me or what I am."
"I know you better than you think. I know you're still hurting and think the universe has given up on you. It hasn't. I also know that as far as all this demon business is concerned, your curiosity is going to tangle you up further in something you shouldn't be involved with in the first place. Jerome," he declared, "is a fool."
"Do you know what's going on?" I asked eagerly, coming to a stop. "Who's leading that cult? Who's supposedly running this huge game that's going on that I can't see?"
"No," said Carter, expression dark. "I don't know any of that. But if I were you, I'd get back to Seattle soon. Stay close to Jerome."
"He hates me right now."
"No, he doesn't. Stay close to him. He'll protect you. If he can't...well, I will. If I can."
There was nothing romantic in his offer of protection. It wasn't spoken with chivalrous fierceness. His manner was uneasy, like he was dealing with a last resort. I also couldn't help but replay his last words: if I can . Angels-or demons-didn't use the word "if" very often.
"What do you mean if-"
"Go back home, Daughter of Lilith." He tipped his head back to stare at the night sky, blew smoke into the air, and then looked down at me with his silvery gray eyes. "We'll talk soon."
He dropped the cigarette to the sidewalk and vanished.
I glanced around, worried someone had seen us, but we'd walked far from the partiers. I stamped out the cigarette, turned, and headed back in the direction of all the nightlife to go find some guys I'd noticed checking me out. A night with drunken men might still leave me feeling hollow, but at least their motives were easier to understand than angels'.
CHAPTER 9
I was starting to envy the teleportation that higher immortals used. I'd always complained about it in the past (it tended to be a bit disorienting), but suddenly, a spot of dizziness seemed trivial compared to doing the Vancouver-Seattle drive yet again. Annoying or not, I was anxious to talk to Jerome, so as soon as Cedric gave me leave to go home the next day, I hit the road back to the States.
Isabelle had seemed convincing enough in denying her role in the Army's shenanigans, and both Carter and Cedric seemed certain she wasn't involved either. I couldn't dismiss any leads here, however, not when my permanent return to Seattle was on the line and certainly not when someone was actually messing with Seattle itself. Isabelle might truly be innocent, but I wasn't going to shut the door on this until I'd run it by Jerome.
"It seems like you're here more than you are there," noted Hugh when I called to tell him I was back in town. "Doesn't really seem like you're being punished all that much."
"Punishment's subjective. Do you know where Jerome's at?"
"Last I knew, he was meeting someone."
"The Cellar?"
"Mmm, no...that new bar in Capitol Hill. Clement's."
"Is he going to be mad if I show up while he's at a lunch meeting?"
"If he doesn't want to be interrupted, you won't be able to find him."
Fair point. Without going home, I drove straight to Capitol Hill, finding street parking that wasn't actually too far from Cody and Peter's apartment. Clement's was a new place that had gone in recently, a bit sleeker and trendier than the Cellar, which was a divey haunt in Pioneer Square we immortals often frequented. Clement's had the same upscale feel and designer drink menu that Mark's had had, and I had a hard time convincing myself that a drink probably wasn't the best idea while I was here in the midst of demonic business.
I spotted Jerome right away. He was at a back table, facing the doorway. His eyes met mine as I approached, my signature declaring my presence, just as his came through to me. Only, his wasn't the only immortal aura there. I recognized the bearer's identity before the woman seated across from him even turned around.
Nanette.
I came to a stop by their table, speechless more from surprise than fear. Jerome and Nanette together? When had this come about? There was a sly smile on her face, like she was in on some joke the rest of us weren't. She had on another cute sundress, lavender silk that looked great with her blond hair, though the spring weather didn't quite seem warm enough for it yet. Of course, when you were a demon, I supposed the fires of Hell kept you warm.
