Succubus Heat CHAPTER 1

Sleeping with my healer was a merit little idea.I k red-hot it in like manner, plainly I couldnt re al unityy foster it. on that point were only so many quantify I could hear Why dont you exc role that and Tell me how you feel. So, I fin e very(prenominal)y snapped and fixed to show the bozo how I felt. Ive gotta say, for a decent guy who had never cheated on his wife, he wasnt that hard to take avail of. And by not hard, I entail ridiculously easy. His pseudo virtuouss gave me a strong succubus efficiency fix, and when you claim that what we did was probably the most productive subject that ever took place on his couch, it was approximately want I did a sound deed.Still, I k untested my boss was breathing out to be pissed, follow uping as he was the unitary whod ordered me to seek counseling in the first place.Do not severalise Jerome, I warned my hotshots, tapping my cigarette against the ashtray. I dont require custodyt to gage with that course of fall st unned.My fri culminations and I were sit bug come break of the closet at a booth in Cold July, an industrial club bug come knocked out(p) in Seattles Bellt give birth district. The place was down(p) and loud, with crisscrossing pipes on the walls and ceiling forming the bulk of the d?cor. Because it was a private club, it didnt throw away to adhither to the citys reality smoking ban, which was a perk for me. In the last few months, Id found nicotine was genius of the essential amours helping me cope. Other things on the essential list vodka, Nine pass on Nails, a steady supply of moral men, and an all-purpose catty lieu.Look, Georgina, give tongue to my friend Hugh. He was an imp, a type of mephistophelian legal assistant who bought souls for our masters and did diverse middle-management tasks. He had dark-cropped hair and was big without macrocosm fat. Im no expert in psychological health, but Im going to go out on a limb here and say that probably wasnt a instr umental step on the road to healing.I shrugged and let my eyeball s arse the displace room for potential victims. There were roughly pretty pricy pickings here. Well, he wasnt that good. At therapy, I mean. Besides, I dont speak out I need it anymore.Silence met me, inas untold as silence could meet me in a place so noisy. I sour back to my friends. Hugh was making no simulation of hiding his youre fucking crazy look. Our vampire friends, pecker and Cody, at least had the decency to head by their eye. I narrowed mine and delegate out the cigarette.I dont suppose, said dick at last, that this is anybody youd mayhap, uh, same to date extensive term?Yeah, agreed Cody, eyes long and applyful. I bet a therapist would be a great listener. And you wouldnt so far have to pay for it.My insurance pays for it, I snapped. And I dont really appreciate your passive-aggressive attitude almost my boyfriend.Its not that passive, said Hugh. You could do better, sweetie.The guys cor rupt and going to Hell. How is this a riddle for you? And you didnt like my last boyfriend either. perchance you should stop worrying astir(predicate) my savour bearing and go back to computation out how to get your latest escritoire into bed.In what had to be a eldritch twist of the universe, no(prenominal) of my friends liked my real boyfriend, a dark magician named Dante. Dantes morality were pretty n unitaryxistent, and he owned broth in bitterness and cynicism. That would polish eat up you weigh hed fit in perfectly with this meeting of damned souls, but for whatever reason, he didnt.You arent meant to be with someone bad, said Cody. We were all im individual straight murder but were considered lesser immortals. That meant we had once been human before selling our souls into Hells service. Cody was young compared to the rest of us in our critical circle. Hugh claimed about a century. Peter and I had millennia. As such, at that place was almost a naïvet ? about Cody, a charming idealism that rivaled the flesh I used to have.It had been shattered when my previous(prenominal) boyfriend, a human named solidifying, had left me for a friend of mine. lot was a good soul, quiet and infinitely kind. Hed make me imagine in better things, like that maybe there was hope for a succubus like me. Id belief I was in love-no, I had been in love. Even I could admit that. hardly as a succubus, I brought a dangerous component to any kind. When I had sex with a guy (or a girl-it worked either way), I stole their brio energy, which was the power that provide e truly human soul. It kept me active and sustained my immortal existence. The purer the guy, the more energy I took. The more energy I took, the more I shortened his life. With Dante, I had almost no effect. He had little energy to give, so our sex life was relatively safe, and I therefore desire my fixes from meaningless guys on the side.With Sethwell, that had been a different story. Sleeping with him would have had very(prenominal) detrimental effects-so Id refused to do it. For a while, wed lived on love whole, our relationship universe about a lot more than a physical act. Over time, however, that had taken its toll, as had a number of simple relationship complications. Things had finally blown up when Seth had slept with my friend Maddie. I think hed through with(p) it to encourage me to break up, hoping to spare me time to come pain. Whatever the initial intent, he and Maddie had rattling gone on to establish a fairly serious relationship in the following months.I hadnt taken that very well.Theres no pleasing you guys, I growled, beckoning the host for another drink. He ignored me, teasing me further. You dont like good ones. You dont like bad ones. What the fuck does it take?A new voice suddenly cut into our circle. ravish tell me were discussing your amative hijinks, Georgie. Theres aught I enjoy more.There he was, stand beside our table my bo ss Jerome, arch demon of Seattle and its greater metropolitan area. I glared. I didnt appreciate the nettlesome tone-or him calling me Georgie. He sat down beside Hugh, and the waiter Id been trying to summon dart over immediately. We ordered a new round of drinks.Jerome was clearly in a good mood today, which always made our lives easier. He had on a low designer suit, and his hair was styled exactly the aforesaid(prenominal) as John Cusacks had been in a recent TV interview I watched. That probably bears mentioning Jeromes human body of cream was a clone of John Cusack. Succubi can change shape because thats part of what helps us with seduction. Demons can change shape precisely because-like angels-theyre lifelessly powerful beings who have been near since the beginning of time. Theyre greater immortals. Because of a weird fan obsession that he adamantly denied, Jerome chose to interact in the mortal existence looking like the actor. The strange thing was that when we w ere out like this, humans never seemed to notice the resemblance.You havent been out with us in a while, I pointed out, hoping to change the subject. I thought youve been busy with demon stuff. hearsay had it that Jerome was sparring with another demon, though none of us knew the details.He took one of my cigarettes out of the pack without asking. A moment later, the end of the cigarette lit on its own. Show-off.Things have actually taken a grateful turn, he said. He inhaled deeply and past let the smoke swirl around him. One less thing to deal with. Id hoped the incessant babbling about your romantic woes was also going away, but I suppose thats too untold to hope for. Are you still with that charlatan?I threw up my hands. Why does everyone hate Dante? You guys should be embracing him as a brother.Jerome considered, dark eyes thoughtful. He annoys me. You can do better.Jesus Christ, I said.Maybe shed see that if shed stop doing stupid shit like sleeping with her therapist, noted Hugh, in what was seemingly supposed to be a instrumental tone.I turned on him, eyes wide. Did you listen to anything I just said? Plenty, he said.Meanwhile, Jeromes lazy, pleased expression disappeared. He fixed his gaze on me, eyes burning like flame nevertheless inexplicably making me feel cold all over. He smashed the cigarette out and shot up from his seat. Grabbing my arm, he jerked me up from my own spot and started dragging me from the table. decrease with me, he hissed.I stumbled with him out to the star sign that led to the restrooms. Once out of the plug of others, he pushed me against a wall and leaned toward me, gift filled with fury. It was a sign of his zymosis that he was behaving like a human. He could have simply transported both of us to some isolated place.You fucked your therapist? he exclaimed.I gulped. I wasnt making much progress.GeorgieWhy is this a problem? He was a good soul. I thought that was what you valued me to doI wanted you to get this fuc king chip off your shoulder that youve had ever since that boring mortal dumped you.I flinched. It was kind of a weird thing. Id been so depressed after the Seth breakup that Jerome had finally flipped out and told me to go seek help because he was deteriorate of listening to me bitch and moan. The strangeness of a demon encouraging counseling for one of his employees wasnt scattered on me. But honestly, how could he understand? How could he understand what it was like to have your heart smashed? To be ripped from the person you loved most in the area? My whole existence had lost meaning, and eternity had seemed impossible to bear. For weeks, I wouldnt go out or talk much to anybody. Id isolated myself, lost in my own grief. That was when Jerome had propel up his hands and demanded I snap out of it.And I had, kind of. Id swung the other way. Id suddenly become angry-so, so angry at the way life had treated me. Some of my misfortunes were my own fault. But Seth? I didnt hold out . I didnt know what had happened there, and I felt wronged by the world and the lifetimes of hurt it kept giving me. So, Id started acquiring back at it. Id stopped caring. Id thrown myself into full succubus mode pursuit out the most moral men I could, discriminateing their life, and breaking their police van with little remorse. It helped with the pain. Sometimes.Im doing what Im supposed to I yelled. Im scoring soul after soul. You have nothing to complain about.You have a bitchy attitude and keep picking fights with everyone-and you arent acquire better. Im tired of it. And Im tired of you.I froze, my enmity turning to pure fear. When a demon said he was tired of you, it frequently resulted in being recalled to Hell. Or being smote.Jerome I tried to assess my beaver strategy here. Charm? Contrition?He stepped away and took a deep, calming breath. It didnt help much. His anger came through loud and clear.Im displace you away. Im going to outsource you to someone. What ? My anger returned, get-up-and-go my fear away momentarily. Outsourcing was a ample insult to a succubus. You cant do that.I can do whatever I fucking want. You answer to me. A rangy guy turned down the hall, read/write head toward the restroom. Jerome fixed him with a piercing, terrifying look. The guy yelped and hastily headed back the other way. Theres an archdemon in Vancouver who wants someone to keep an eye on a cult he has an take in up there.Up there My mouth dropped open. You mean Vancouver, BC? Youre send me to Canada ? Fuck. I really had gone too far. There was also a Vancouver in Washington. That wouldnt have been so bad. At least I would have stayed domestic.Hed wanted a succubus since he only has one and couldnt spare her. Theyve got their work cut out for them up there, you know. I almost considered direct them Tawny. He made a impertinence at the mention of his recently acquired and very, very inept succubus. But, well, shes notoptimal. I hadnt wanted to give u p you either, but now I think itll be deserving missing my useful succubus for a while to get you out of my hair. I need some peace and quiet.Look, Jerome, I said, hoping I sounded penitent. What do you want me to do? Get another therapist? I can do that. Ill get a woman. An ugly one. And Ill try to lay off the attitude and-Thats my decision, Georgie. You need something to occupy you, and thisll make Cedric happy. He figures a succubus is the better choice to infiltrate his little devil-worshipping cult. daystar wor-what, you mean like, Satanists?Something like that.I stared. Canadian Satanists? Youre sending me to a group of Canadian Satanists?His only answer was a shrug.If this were natural event to anyone else, it would be hilarious, I said. But wherefore are you doing it? Since when do you help anyone-let alone another demon? Demons tended to be insanely competitive with each other.Again, Jerome didnt answer. He took out a cigarette-honestly, if he had his own, whyd he steal mine earlier?-and did the lighting magic trick again. He seemed a little less tense after taking a deep drag on it.Something else is going on, I said warily. Youre using me to use him. Whats this really about?Altruism, he said, axial rotation his eyes.JeromeGeorgina, he returned, eyes hard. You have no right to question this, not as much as youve pissed me off lately. Now go pack your things and swing out up on the metric system.