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His return smile was equally bittersweet. "There's no way any of this can end well, Georgina. Sometimes...sometimes we have to choose the lesser of evils and simply enjoy our sweet moments while we can."
Like this one. And through some shared instinct, we both fell silent, savoring this brief interlude, this dream we'd gotten ourselves ensnared in. For now, it was enough to just sit together like this. His hand moved idly on my leg, offering comfort and love...at least for a little while. Before long, the sweet affection turned into something with a bit more desire. I met his eyes, and while it wasn't the same animal intensity that had thrown me against the wall last night, there was still a longing in his eyes that told me how much he wanted me, to be closer to me. My body responded to it, and then we both glanced over at Kayla, who had fallen asleep again. We laughed, realizing the absurdity of our current situation.
"I should get her back," said Seth.
"Yeah," I said, sad at the thought of parting but certainly not aroused enough to make out while his niece was around.
He drove me back to my car in Bellevue. Our parting kiss was gentle and light, almost hesitant. It seemed typical of this entire affair, like it was hardly real and would blow away at any moment.
"Anything you need, Thetis," he breathed into my ear. "Anything you need, I'll do it. You know I will."
A flower of agony and euphoria burst open in my chest. He hadn't called me Thetis, his old pet name for me, since the day we broke up. "I know," I murmured into his shirt. "I know."
I returned to Queen Anne not long after that, getting a nice spot right in front of my building. My head was swimming with Seth and Kayla and Jerome and a hundred other things. I was so distracted that when I stepped into my apartment, I nearly walked right past Grace sitting on my couch. Of course, considering she was the first demon all week who hadn't attacked me the instant I cleared the door, my reaction to her subtlety was understandable.
"Grace?" I asked curiously, as though maybe it wasn't her.
She was leafing through a copy of Seattle Metropolitan magazine, their issue on Seattle's best brunches. When she glanced up at me, there was a tiredness in her eyes that even demonic perfection couldn't hide. Seeing her alone was almost as strange as her being here at all. I'd grown so used to her and Mei being a unit that their forced separation lately seemed almost as tragic as Jerome's summoning.
"There you are," she said. "I almost left."
"Sorry," I said. I meant it. I seemed to be on her and Mei's good side lately and wanted to keep it that way. Demons didn't like waiting, and without that innate connection of an archdemon, she couldn't instantly find me across time and space.
Grace gave a half-hearted shrug. "I don't mind. It's rather pleasant having a few moments' respite from all the politics and bickering."
"I can imagine." I frowned. "No, wait. I don't think I can."
I swear, I thought for a second she might laugh, but she kept that same stone face she excelled at.
"It'll all be over soon, which is why I came to see you. Mei and I have been talking to all of the other lesser immortals today. The day after tomorrow, a corporate demon named Ephraim will be making his final decision on who will replace Jerome."
A cold lump settled into my stomach. "So soon?"
"Hell doesn't like to waste time and resources."
"I guess not."
"Ephraim's already in the area and may come speak to you as he attempts to assess the situation. He'll want to know about your job, how things ran under Jerome, etc."
With each word, my spirits sank further and further. My window to find Jerome was shriveling up. We were going to get a new archdemon anytime now.
"Don't be afraid to speak the truth," she advised. "I know that's often a concern among lesser immortals, for fear of causing offense."
"Something like that," I muttered, thinking of Nanette.
"Clearly, you don't want to actively anger Ephraim, but he has no affiliations with anyone currently involved in the dispute here. He won't punish you for stating your opinion."
"I'm guessing he might not listen to it either."
There it was. A tiny quirky of her lips, gone so quickly that I wasn't even sure I saw it. She rose from the sofa and absentmindedly tugged on her blazer. It was deep, deep red, paired with sleek black trousers and patent leather heels. Underneath the collar of her coat, I caught a glimpse of that same chunky necklace she'd worn at the meeting. I recalled Mei's sleeker one and couldn't resist my next words.
"This may sound weird...but I can't help but notice you and Mei are dressing differently lately." As soon as I said that, I hoped she wouldn't get mad at me essentially calling her and Mei copycats. Fortunately, she remained as blasé as usual.
"In these times, it's wise to distinguish yourself. None of our jobs are secure right now."
I did a double-take. In all of this madness, it had never occurred to me that Grace and Mei might have something to fear. But of course they did. When Hell did re-orgs, they tended to tweak the larger structure. They could very well decide to transfer Grace and Mei and institute a whole new set of demonic leaders here. I didn't like that idea any better than losing Jerome. I wanted things to stay the same. And studying that fatigue I'd seen on Grace's face, I realized I wasn't the only one with a lot to worry about.
"Well...for what it's worth, I think you're doing a great job. You've had to do so much clean-up and damage control, and then with all these demons..." I shook my head. "I don't know. They'd be stupid not to recognize that."
The strangest look came over Grace's face. I would have almost called it surprise, but her careful, icy composure made it hard to say for sure. "Thank you, Georgina." Her voice was stiff, like dealing with compliments made her uncomfortable. "I hope you'll share your feelings with Ephraim, should he speak with you."
"Sure," I said. "No problem."
After a quick glance at my kitchen clock, she turned back to me and gave a smart nod. "I have to meet with the others. I'll speak with you again soon." She vanished, but I could offer no farewell in return.
I had just seen something. Something that changed everything.
I stood frozen. This whole time, for the last week, something had been percolating in my head. I'd noted Grace and Mei's dedication to their job, how they were always there to help when chaos broke out. I'd noted also how they'd been forced to split up a lot lately with the new workload, and as Grace had said, they would now probably be scrutinized individually. And why wouldn't they be? If someone was going to scout for a new demon to run Seattle, why not look at the ones who were already running it?
"Oh my God," I breathed.
But there was more to it than that. It wasn't just that Grace or Mei had the perfect motive to get Jerome summoned. I had more than motive before me. I had proof.
Sprinting to my bedroom, I searched frantically for the photo of Mary's medallion, certain it would be gone. Nope. It was still there, knocked off my nightstand to the floor. I picked it up.
"Oh my God ."
There it was. When Grace had turned her head, I'd caught a fuller glimpse of the chunky necklace and its network of brown and black stones. The answer had been right in front of me. At the Cellar meeting, I'd noticed a piece of the necklace's stonework shaped like a crescent moon. I hadn't recognized it as anything more than ornamentation, but now, comparing the photo to what I'd just seen on Grace, the truth was obvious.
Grace had part of the seal. It was the left side of the medallion, separated in an irregular way to give it that fanciful crescent shape. But I'd seen the fine etchings of the symbols when she tilted her head. They were the same. It was the seal.
The picture fell from my hands, and I ran back to the living room, grappling for my cell phone. My hands shook, and I could barely dial. Of course, for a second, I wasn't sure who I was dialing. Hugh, I decided. I had to tell him and the rest of my friends that-
"Drop it."
A strong hand covered my mouth and jerked me backward. My back hit somebody, a tall man with a rock-solid chest. His other hand reached out and wrapped around my wrist, making the links of my watch dig in painfully.
"Drop it," he said. "I know what you saw. I saw it too. But you can't tell anyone. Not yet."
I could barely hear through the pounding of my heart in my ears, but it didn't matter. I knew this voice, knew it intimately. It had haunted my dreams-or rather, my nightmares-for the last six months. It was a sign of how truly out of it I'd been after Nanette attacked me that I hadn't recognized his voice that day.
