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Tom glowered. "That was not my fault."
So it began. The meeting slowly degenerated into chaos and mostly became about each demon talking about why he or she was the best choice-and why all of the others were completely unfit. It was like a year of presidential campaigning condensed into an hour.
"Look at Grace and Mei," noted Hugh. "They look like they want to smite this entire room."
"Well," I said. "That's the thing. All these demons are talking about keeping hellish affairs in order here, but those two are the ones who are actually doing it right now."
"Hell should just let them take over if Jerome doesn't come back," said Cody. I gave him a sharp look. "Er, I mean, not that there's any question of that. He'll be back."
"Let's hope so," a new voice said. Cedric had strolled over and joined our circle, Kristin in tow.
"Whatever," I said, unable to hide a smile. "You can't tell me you want him back. This is your perfect chance to create your great Northwest empire."
He shook his head. "No, believe me, I want nothing to do with any of this. Compared to some of these losers, Jerome suddenly seems like an ideal neighbor." It was very much like what Isabelle had said. "I don't suppose," Cedric added, "that you're going to be coming back up to Vancouver?"
I hesitated. Was I? Who did I answer to now? Did Jerome's orders still stand? "I...I don't know," I admitted. "I don't know what I'm supposed to. If I should leave."
"Well," he said. "It wasn't like you were doing that great a job."
"I was too! I'd gotten them to back down before their so-called angel spoke to them. She told them not to trust me." I frowned, wondering if I should go on. I didn't know who to trust without Jerome around, and as Hugh had said, Cedric was still a very likely candidate for Jerome's summoning, in spite of my gut instinct. "And you know...I think I have an idea about who did this and who that angel is..."
Cedric groaned. "Will you give up on Isabelle already?"
I shook my head and lowered my voice. "I don't think it was her. I think it was Nanette."
The incredulous look on his face didn't change. "That's as ridiculous as Isabelle. You were there. You saw Nanette come to me because she was simply worried about managing her own territory."
"Funny, she had a similar meeting with Jerome not long after that."
Cedric's face kept that cool, skeptical expression that demons excelled it. But, I was pretty sure I could see a spark of interest in his blue-gray eyes. "That doesn't mean anything." Another gut feeling told me he was lying. He started to turn, but then Cody spoke, voice hesitant.
"Excuse me...do you know...are we mortal?"
Cedric hesitated a moment and then laughed. When none of us said anything, he glanced between all our faces. "Oh. You're serious?"
"Why is that such a crazy question?" I demanded. "We've lost everything else that makes us immortal."
"You've lost it to keep you out of trouble," said Cedric. "Nobody wants you guys running around unsupervised with your normal abilities. So when you lose an archdemon, you get cut off. But you're still immortal. You think you can get out of your contract with something as easy as death?"
"So we could get hit by a car and still be okay?" asked Cody.
"Of course. Sure, it'd take awhile to recover. You'd heal like a human, but you'd eventually heal."
"What if we got decapitated?" asked Peter.
"Yeah," agreed Cody. "Like in Highlander ?"
Cedric rolled his eyes. "Don't get decapitated, and we'll never have to find out." He focused on me. "Look, stay here for a while. Something tells me that the Angel of Darkness isn't going to be making any appearances anytime soon. I suspect the distraction is over."
"I agree. Thanks."
He gave me a curt nod and started to turn. Then, he glanced back at Tawny and did a double-take. "What's your name?"
"Tawny," she replied.
He eyed her from head to foot and then turned to Kristin. "Get her number and set up a date."
I saw a spark of something in Kristin's eyes, and it took me a moment to identify it. Jealousy. Reflecting back on the way she doted on his affairs, I shouldn't have been surprised that she had a crush on him. She flipped through a few pages in her clipboard, her lips tight and disapproving.
"You've got a lot of appointments this week. You hate it when you've got back-to-back events." She spoke levelly, but I could tell that while part of her warning came from true concern, another part of her welcomed the chance to throw a kink into his dating life. Cedric didn't appear to notice.
He waved a dismissive hand. "Cancel something unimportant. You'll know what to do."
He wandered off while Kristin took down Tawny's number. "We'll be in touch," Kristin said flatly.
"Huh," said Tawny, once Kristin was gone. "He's kind of cute. Maybe this body isn't so bad after all."
I exchanged glances with Hugh and Peter. They looked a lot like I felt: weary and frustrated, with the secret suspicion that this was all almost funny.
"Well," I said, watching Tawny smile with delight. "At least someone's happy with all this."
CHAPTER 13
Hearing Cedric assure me I couldn't die lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. I left the Cellar with much less anxiety, though I still had no intention of doing anything that might test how exactly we'd heal from decapitation. So, while I still operated with caution, I no longer felt suffocated or threatened by every aspect of the world.
Rather than go home, I drove down to Dante's shop. His store/apartment was in Rainier Valley, on the southeast side of Seattle. He had no regularly posted hours for his assorted "psychic" services, but he would usually hang around there at night if he had nothing else to do. It tended to be the time drunk people or couples out on dates (or high teens) would wander in looking for fun and novelty. Daytime business hours didn't generally bring out that many who were seeking help from the divine unless, perhaps, it was someone seeking advice on stock trading.
Dante had no customers tonight, however. The shop and its flickering neon sign seemed sad and lonely. I pushed through the unlocked door and found him leaning against the checkout counter, leafing through a copy of Maxim .
"What gives?" I asked. "Your subscription to Frauds and Scams Weekly run out?"
He glanced up at me with a smile, flipping black hair out of his face. "Just needed something pretty to look at since I didn't know when I'd be seeing you again."
I planted a kiss on his cheek. "Holy shit. That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."
"Yeah, well, I can make some filthy sexual suggestions to you if you'd prefer."
"What, and ruin foreplay for next time?"
This made his grin grow, and he shut the magazine. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Shouldn't you be visiting our neighbors to the north? Or is that done? I honestly can't keep track."
"Well. About that." God, how I was going to explain what had happened? Had all of this seriously happened in just one day? It felt like a year had gone by since I got woozy in the car. "Something strange happened today."
"Strange like you sold out of Jane Austen books at the store or strange like the rules of time and space as we know them are about to be ripped apart?"
"Mmm...more like that last one."
"Shit."
I took a deep breath, figuring I should just get the big stuff out of the way. "There's no easy way to put this, but...I'm not a succubus anymore."
"I never believed you were a succubus."
I groaned. That had been an old joke between us when we'd first met. Oh, the irony. "I'm serious," I said. "No more succubus. And Jerome's disappeared too, possibly opening up Seattle to a new demonic reign."
Dante stared at me, eyes speculative as he assessed me for the truth. He was speechless for the first time I'd known him. Not waiting for more witty commentary, I plunged forward. I explained about the summoning, what it had done to all of us lesser immortals, how demons everywhere were now sizing up Seattle, and why I needed to find Jerome as soon as possible.
When I finally finished, it took Dante several moments to gather his thoughts. "So...you've seriously lost your succubus powers?"
