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Seth and I looked up in surprise. I would have expected Roman to come bust up our romantic interlude or maybe even Grace, in defense of her prize. What I was not expecting, however, was Dante.
I didn't know where he'd come from. He stepped around the side of the rock like he'd been lurking behind it, but I suspected he'd just walked up to us unnoticed in our moment of lovers' angst. Anger radiated off him, and his eyes were as dark and stormy as the sea beyond us. And as soon as I saw him, I needed no drawn-out questioning, no build-up to a revelation. I didn't need to ask what he was doing there because I suddenly knew.
"You're the summoner," I said.
"Of course." There was a dismissive tone to his voice as he said that, like it was an insult that anyone else could have played that role. "Who else? I wasn't kidding when I told you I was the best in the area. I can't honestly believe you never even considered me. No, scratch that. Of course I can believe that. No matter how jaded or sorrowful you get, there's still that Pollyanna piece of you that wants to believe the best in those you care about."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," I said, feeling my own anger grow. Being played this whole time was bad enough. But being played by my own boyfriend? Unacceptable. And yet...he was right. It had been stupid of me not to consider him, yet I couldn't believe he would have subjected me to all this torment.
"It is a bad thing. I was hoping I could break you of it, but I guess not." His eyes flicked to Seth's face and then back to mine. "Of course, I can't really talk about naïveté since you were screwing me over this whole time. Or, well, screwing him."
There wasn't really anything I could respond with. I could hardly say, "It's not what you think," because...well, it was exactly what he thought. Regardless of his role in Jerome's summoning, the fact remained that I had cheated on Dante, and I'd been caught.
"I'm sorry," I said lamely, my hand still clutching Seth's tightly. He'd taken a step forward. He wasn't blocking me from Dante, but there was definitely a protective stance going on.
"Yes, yes, I know." Dante gave an exasperated sigh. "Damn it, Georgina. What does it take with you? I never gave you shit about your job. I was trying to make a good life for us. And yet...you still went back to him . As soon as you could f**k him without hurting him, you jumped right on it."
"Trying to make a good life...is that why you did all this?" I remembered Greg's comments about how anyone assisting a demon in this affair would be getting paid in concubines and TVs. In Dante's case, it had been much more basic. He'd simply been paid in money, enough to buy me jewelry and flowers and start talking about sharing a home with me.
"Succubus, what else was I supposed to do?" He was still speaking to me in a mocking tone, but I could see the raw anguish on his features. It tore at my heart. "You can enslave kings and rock stars. There was no way you were going to stick with me forever, not where I was going. The palms barely pay the bills, and the window for when my spells could really pay off has passed."
"None of that mattered," I said resolutely. "I would have stayed..." Yet, even as I spoke, I recognized the contradiction. So did Dante, as he gestured at a thus-far silent Seth. Seth seemed very intent on something.
Dante rolled his eyes. "Yes. Clearly."
"I never wanted this...never wanted you to literally make deals with the devil."
"What did you expect from me? You know what I am. You got involved with me because you wanted to walk on the dark side. This deal was my biggest chance-the biggest payoff I was going to get for my power. She needed the best, and she could pay for my services."
"She...Grace."
Dante gave me a twisted smile. "I should have known you'd figured that part out too and had been sitting on it. Even when you trusted me...you still didn't really trust me. Maybe you aren't as oblivious as I thought. And when I got to your place and saw the atlas-well, that's when I knew I'd underestimated you. You're lucky Grace just sent me up here and didn't come herself. We might get you out of here alive after all."
Seth and I still stood close, close enough that when he spoke into my ear, he barely had to raise his voice at all. "The watch," he breathed. "It's in the watch."
I had no time to process that further because suddenly, Seth broke from me and advanced on Dante. "Look, just leave her alone, okay? You caught her. She caught you. Call it even, and let us go." I stared. It was uncharacteristically aggressive for him.
"Even?" exclaimed Dante. "It is not even. I did what I did because I love her."
Seth's voice was level yet hard. "Love her? You got her caught up in that cult mess. You nearly got her killed by a demon."
Dante glowered and took a step toward Seth. "That wasn't supposed to happen. Jerome came up with the Canada thing on the fly. She wasn't supposed to be caught in the middle of this. The plan was for her to wait out the stasis like everyone else, and then return to normal once Grace was in power. Grace messed up when she told Nanette about her meddling, but then Grace made sure Nanette wouldn't f**k with her again. I worked to keep Georgina safe." Cedric had told the truth. He really hadn't told Nanette about my theories; Grace had.
"Yeah, you did a great job."
"It's not my fault!" yelled Dante. "Say what you want about me, my reasons were noble. Whereas hers"-he pointed at me-"were in keeping with the selfish little whore she's been her entire life."
And then...the unexpected truly happened. Seth sprang forward and punched Dante. I didn't know what was more surprising, that Seth would be so aggressive or that he could throw such a clean punch. He'd thrown himself at a mugger once, and while it had been wonderfully brave, it hadn't been nearly as precise or coordinated. I had no idea where he'd learned that. Dante appeared as startled as me. He staggered back from the blow and took a moment to recover. Then, with a snarl, he leapt toward Seth. Seth only partially dodged the blow-on purpose, it seemed-and fell back with the impact, causing both men to collapse to the ground.
They grappled around a bit, trying to get leverage and blows in, and for a moment, I was too stunned by it all to react. Then, finally, Seth's words hit me. The watch . I hurried over to them, careful not to get hit by a flailing limb. Seth caught a glimpse of me and did his best to grab a hold of Dante's wrist and thrust it toward me. Dante kept squirming, however-I had a feeling he'd been in a few more fights in his life than Seth had-and increased his struggles once he realized what was happening.
The watch. It made sense, really. Grace wore her part of the seal around her neck. Dante would want to keep his safe as well, and why not hidden in the only accessory that he-by his own admission-ever wore?
At last, Seth managed to immobilize Dante's wrist just long enough for me to get my fingers under the watch's straps. I gave a hard jerk, using more strength than I thought possible, and the strap broke. The watch came away in my hand, and I scurried back as Dante yelled in rage. Seth eased up on restraining Dante, now that our goal was achieved. As soon as he was free, however, Dante came after me, and Seth shot up to catch a hold of him.
I continued backing up, the watch clutched in my hand, until I hit something-or rather, someone. I turned and found myself staring into Grace's cold, hard eyes. Whereas Dante had seemed to appear out of nowhere, I knew Grace actually had. I froze, and behind me, the sounds of fighting stopped. I think the guys were just as surprised as me to see her-or maybe not. Dante had all but said he'd told Grace we were here.
"Georgina," she said. "You are such a good employee...and yet, you're also a bad one." Her voice was as flat and emotionless as ever, except unlike in the past, I had a feeling she was actually planning to kill me now.
"Why?" I asked, playing for time. "You had a good job under Jerome."
"Under being the operative word. I wasn't going to spend the rest of my existence as someone's second-in-command and certainly not their co-second-in-command."
"She has the seal," I heard Dante say behind me.
"I know she does," Grace replied. "You gave it to her."
"Hey, I-"
She raised her hand, and Dante screamed. Jerking my head around, I saw him writhing in pain, like he was suspended by strings that she controlled. After enduring Nanette's wrath, I knew how truly excruciating demonic torture was, and I couldn't stand to see anyone else go through that. Seth looked from me to Dante, clearly unsure what to do. Fistfights might be out of his comfort zone, though they were something he could do. But this? Totally different.
