Succubus Heat gk-4

by Richelle Mead

  "Who's stronger?" he asked as the sounds of fighting raged behind us. If Roman's appearance startled him, he was ignoring it for now.

  "I don't know," I said. The ground was getting harder to dig in. It was damp and caked together from a recent rain, and I could feel it building up under my nails. "Roman can theoretically be as strong as Jerome, and I'm guessing she's less powerful than Jerome. I don't know for sure, and he might be holding back. The more power he uses, the more he alerts others that he's here."

  My fingers hit something hard, and Seth and I both worked to pry it out. It was a wooden box, an old cigar case from the looks of it. I managed a good hold on it, and it began lifting out.

  "Here," I said, pausing. I tossed him my purse and then immediately returned to my digging. "Get my phone. Look in the numbers, and you'll find Mei. Call her. Tell her where we're at." The cigar box came up out of the earth.

  "You want me to call a demon?" he asked in shock.

  "We need her. Tell her where we're at. Then get away from here. Get in my car and go."

  "Georgina-"

  "Go!" I shouted.

  Seth hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then got up and ran with my purse, keeping well away from the combatants. I didn't know if Mei would react to a call from a mortal. I didn't even know if she'd answer, nor did I know if she could be trusted. I was relying on instinct-and that naïve hope about everyone's good side-that she and Grace weren't collaborating.

  Roman's scream caused me to look up sharply. He was on his back, Grace advancing. What looked like lightning crackled toward him, though just with the fire, it split away. Only, it got a lot closer to him than before. He was weakening.

  Frantically, I scraped sand off the cigar box. It looked deceptively easy to open, but when I attempted to pry the lid up, nothing happened. It wouldn't budge, and I knew no efforts of mine would make it happen. Turning to the watch I'd taken from Dante, I peered at it. The face was a pale brown marbleized pattern-one that easily blended in with the seal. It was an ingenious hiding spot. I smashed the watch against the cigar case, and on the third try, the glass cracked. I plucked away the pieces and tried to pull up the face. It was embedded firmly. Taking a small shard of the watch's surface, I slipped it under the seal's edge, and after a few moment's pressure, everything fell apart, and…there was no seal.

  I stared. Gears, watch hands, pieces of glass, and the face…but no seal. Seth had been certain. I had been certain. Dante had no other place on him that he would keep it. Carter had said it was possible that the summoner might hide the seal elsewhere, and if Dante had done that, we were screwed.

  "Fuc-"

  I cut my own profanity off and stared at my wrist, at the glittering watch winking up at me. No. Surely it wasn't this obvious. Dante had given me the watch before Jerome had been summoned, and then I'd lost it right around the time of the summoning. I'd blamed it on myself, but was it possible that Dante had actually briefly taken it back…?

  Jerking the watch off my wrist, I didn't hesitate to give it the same treatment as Dante's watch. It killed me to shatter that beautiful gold-and-glass piece of work, but when the filigree face popped out, I found a piece of smoky quartz that complemented Grace's. Dante needed more credit. He'd kept the seal close to him and hidden it where no one who was looking for it-i.e., me-would ever think to search.

  The seal was useless, though, without the other half. Looking up, I saw that Grace had her hand around Roman's neck and was lifting him off the ground. He was completely limp. I didn't quite understand, but something told me he'd completely shut off all his power. Why? It was suicide. I wanted to scream, to run over and save him, but there was nothing I could do. Her back was to me, but I could imagine the gleam in her eyes.

  "When I kill you," she hissed, "my position will be secured."

  Suddenly, she jerked her head back toward me. For a moment, I thought I'd attracted her attention, but she wasn't looking at me. She was looking beside me, having sensed what I no longer could: the signature of another greater immortal. Mei stood there, hard and grim. I'd always considered her stone-faced, but the look she wore was truly terrifying, and I cringed.

  She and Grace locked gazes, and then a few seconds later, Grace flung Roman away. He landed with a hard thud and lay still for a moment. Then, he lifted his head and slowly began crawling across the sand toward me, every movement seeming to cause him agony.

  "You have seriously screwed things up," said Mei.

  "I have improved my situation," said Grace evenly. "And I can improve yours."

  "I don't need your help-especially when I reveal that you were behind all this. The others will reward me. Jerome will reward me."

  "You're an idiot! Do you want to spend the rest of eternity working for someone else?"

  "My time will come," Mei returned smoothly. "And I'd rather work for him than you."

  And without any more banter, they lunged at each other. It was a bizarre fight. Half of it seemed very human, complete with physical blows and grappling. At the same time, there was definitely a supernatural element to it, as they wielded the same kind of elements and invisible blows Grace and Roman had. The rain was pouring down, drenching both of them. With their abilities, they could have remained impervious, but they were too distracted by each other.

  Roman was still crawling toward me. Holding onto the seal and the box, I hesitantly moved to meet him half-way.

  "Can you open it?" I asked, handing him the box.

  His breathing was heavy and pained, but he gripped the box like I had and tried to pry the lid open. His fingers clenched the wood, and I saw exertion on his face, both of a physical and magical level. At last, he grimaced. "No. Not a greater immortal power I inherited."

  I looked up at the demonesses. There was a slight shimmer around both of them. As the battle intensified, they were in danger of shifting to their true immortal forms, which would be bad for me to see. "Who's stronger?" I asked.

  "They're evenly matched," said Roman, following my gaze. "Grace is a little worn down, though."

  I hoped it would be enough. Hugging the box to my chest, I watched them fight, ready to look away if they totally shifted form. I'd always thought they had a hard sort of beauty, but now, it was all hardness and no beauty, and it wasn't difficult to see that under their human facades, they were truly demons of hell. I could also see what Roman meant about them being evenly matched. Each time one gained an advantage, the other took it back.

  Until, just when it seemed Grace might be getting the better of Mei, Mei suddenly came on full force with an attack of unseen blasts that caught Grace off-guard and made her stumble back. With inhuman speed, Mei reached forward and ripped the choker from Grace's neck. Equally fast, she threw it toward me and then turned back to block Grace, who seemed to realize the end was near.

  I grabbed hold of the necklace with trembling fingers and pulled off the crescent-shaped piece of the seal. I placed it next to Dante's half, unsure what to do, but as soon as they were close enough, they merged together into one whole disc.

  "Put it on the box," said Roman. "Hurry."

  I pressed the seal onto the box's top, and again, it seemed to know what to do, embedding itself in the wood's surface, almost like it melted. And with that, there seemed to be no other option. I opened the lid.

  The power that blasted out of it knocked both Roman and me backward, and at the same time, I felt a different sort of power snap into my body. The strings that bound my soul to Hell reattached. My immortal essence coursed through me, and with it, I felt all the other abilities Hell had granted me return. I felt strong. Charged. Invincible. My senses tuned back in to the unseen world, and the blast of powerful immortal auras filled the air.

  And there, in the rain, light and color slowly coalesced out of the box and into a man-shaped form. A few minutes later, it took on a completely human appearance. One that looked like John Cusack. Grace and Mei halted their attack, both staring.

  Carefully, hesi
tantly, Mei then took a few steps back. Jerome paid her no attention. He was focused on Grace.

  "Oh man," I said softly. "You are so fucked."

  CHAPTER 25

  To her credit, Grace didn't cower. She stood firm, regaining her composure as she matched Jerome's stare with one of her own. In fact, she regained enough of herself that she remembered to avoid the rain. The drops parted around her, much as the fire had parted around Roman. Her suit and hair were dry again, crisp and perfect.

  "You would have done the same thing," she told Jerome.

  I couldn't see Jerome's face when he spoke. "I wouldn't have got caught. You did. You failed."

  "You should be impressed with my ingenuity." She crossed her arms, almost defiant. "I'm useful to you."

  "You are meaningless. I could blight you out of existence, and no one would think twice about it."

  I wasn't sure about that. Demons smote each other all the time, but that didn't mean Hell liked it. It created paperwork, and if you were caught, you got sent to Hell's equivalent of prison. Grace apparently shared my doubts about how easy it would be for Jerome to kill her.

  "I don't think so. As it is, you'll be lucky if you have your job when you get back. You got yourself summoned." Her eyes flicked to me and Roman, huddled together on the sand. "Your territory's in chaos. They'll send you off to a desk job-or make you somebody else's subordinate. Quite a fall from an archdemon's position."

  "Not likely," said Mei, speaking up. "Not if we spin this right. Jerome's got powerful connections. So do I. And Cedric will advocate for him."

  Her willingness to help and assurance about Cedric surprised me, but then, perhaps it was back to the know-thy-enemy philosophy. Grace glared at her former counterpart.

  "You're the biggest fool of all here."

  "Enough," snapped Jerome. "There's been enough villainous exposition here. The matter's done." I didn't have to see him to know he was smiling at Grace-only, I suspected it wasn't a very nice smile. "I will see you in Hell."

  He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, what looked like black ice sprang up from the ground and crawled up Grace's body. She hardly had any time to scream because it coated her so quickly and then froze into place, leaving her immobile. She had become a thorny black statue.

  "What is that?" I breathed.

  "Kind of a demon stasis," Roman murmured back. "A prison of sorts. He's ten times more powerful than her-it's an easy thing for him to do."

  I wondered then just how powerful Roman really was. He'd seemed matched against Grace, but I still wasn't sure if he'd been holding back or not, for fear of detection. As it was, he now had his signature turned off, appearing as a human for all intents and purposes. He'd done it just before Mei fully materialized.

  "You need to get out of here," I told him.

  "Wait," he responded.

  Indeed, Roman seemed the least of Jerome's concerns as the archdemon studied Grace's frozen form. Her defeat had been anticlimactic, really. There had been no flashy brawl as everyone else seemed to have had today, but then, I supposed when you wielded the kind of power Jerome did, there was no need. I also had a feeling that Grace had been right about something. Even if he did have connections, Jerome probably couldn't risk doing anything rash to reestablish his control back in Seattle. He probably did want to torture her and blight her from the face of the earth, but binding her and taking her to face hellish justice-such as it was-was going to do him more good. Hell would be more kindly disposed to him if he followed their rules.

  He turned and faced Mei, who stood off to the side. It was the first time I'd gotten a good glimpse of my boss since his return. His face was blank and cold, but I was pretty sure I could see the fury kindling behind his eyes. Being summoned was pretty much the worst thing that could happen to a demon.

  "She was right to a certain extent," he told Mei. "It could have been advantageous to turn against me."

  "And be second to her?" Mei shook her head. Like Grace, she had put herself back together. "No. I won't serve you forever, believe me, but for now, I see what my best course of action is. I'm throwing my lot in with yours."

  "Your loyalty is appreciated." Mei gave a small nod of acknowledgment. Unlike Kristin and Cedric, where she served him out of love as much as duty, Mei's loyalty was all pragmatism and assessment of what could advance her. Jerome knew this and accepted it. "And it will be rewarded."

  "I know it will be," she said evenly. "And I'll have no co-lieutenant when we return?"

  "No. Not if I have anything to do with it."

  And for the first time since I had known her, Mei smiled.

  Her eyes then flicked to the Grace statue. "Do you need me…?"

  "No," said Jerome, seeming to remember us. "You can go."

  Mei wasted no time. She vanished, and Jerome turned around and stared down at Roman and me. His eyes fell on me first.

  "So. You're here, Georgie. Why am I not surprised?"

  "Because I'm the only one who cared about getting you back and wasn't too lazy to do anything about it?"

  The ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. "Fair enough. And you will be rewarded too."

  I wanted to tell him that I didn't need a reward, but Jerome had already shifted his attention to Roman. The smile faded. "You, however, have some balls in coming here."

  "Must run in the family," said Roman. As beat up as he was, he still managed mockery.

  "A suicidal nature does not, however. You know you're seconds away from being destroyed, don't you?"

  "Yeah, yeah," said Roman. "And I'm sure killing me would help reinforce your badass status. But the truth is, I helped save you. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me."

  I wasn't entirely sure if he'd done as much work as me in all this, but he had certainly made it easier for me. Nonetheless, even if he had actually single-handedly saved Jerome, it meant nothing. Demons didn't operate by a sense of fairness or feel obligations. Jerome affirmed as much.

  "I owe you nothing. If you want to risk your life, that's no concern of mine. I don't care whether you live or die."

  Roman struggled to his feet. "That's not true, or else you would have killed me already. Maybe you don't owe me anything…and yet, you're indebted to me, even if you don't believe in paying off debts-and I think you do. You can't stand knowing you owe me."

  Jerome narrowed his eyes. "What is it you want?"

  "Amnesty."

  "What?" I squeaked. No one paid any attention to me. As far as they were concerned, they were the only two people in the world, father and son.

  "I'm tired of running, tired of hiding. I want a place to stay. A place I can settle down in for a while."

  "You don't need me for that."

  "Don't I?" asked Roman. "Any place I live, even with my signature masked, I live in fear of being discovered by the greater immortals who control it. I'm always watching my back. I want to be somewhere where I can walk around knowing I have at least some measure of protection."

  "If someone else wants to kill you, I'm not going to stand in their way."

  "I know that. But at least I won't have to worry on a daily basis about you being one of them."

  Jerome fell silent, and to my complete and utter astonishment, I realized he was deliberating about this. I never would have thought it possible…and yet, as Roman had said, if Jerome's mind had been made up, he would have smote Roman already.

  Last fall, when we'd learned Jerome had his twin nephilim, we'd also learned that he'd had a wife long ago, a woman he loved so much that he'd fallen from grace to be with her. Did any of that love remain? Had it burned out over these millennia as a damned creature? Did he see any of her when he looked at Roman? When Jerome had helped hunt Roman and his twin, it seemed as though he didn't care. He'd even helped kill Helena.

  Now, I wondered if Jerome was truly as indifferent as he appeared, and I wondered if Roman had long suspected that. I knew Roman hated Jerome-probably more than he hated me-but was it worth an uneasy all
iance with Jerome to have some peace? Had Roman realized playing off this paternal relationship might be the only way to buy him a temporary reprieve? Of course he had. That had been Roman's plan all along. Lingering love for Roman's mother…and a bit of obligation thrown in. That was why Roman had helped free Jerome-and why he hadn't wanted me to let anyone else in on what I learned, I realized wryly. Secrecy might have been a true concern, but he would have undoubtedly wanted to minimize others' involvement so that he could play a major role in Jerome's rescue and use that as leverage.

  "Mei knows," said Jerome. "I can't control what she'll do."

  "She doesn't," said Roman. "I knew what Georgina sent Seth off to do, and I had shut down just before Mei arrived. She never saw my face last time, so she didn't recognize me now. She doesn't realize what I am."

  "He's right," I realized, recalling how Grace had had him in a chokehold. Roman had been gradually letting go of his power and had had very lucky timing.

  "Even if that's true," said Jerome, who seemed to be growing frustrated by the logic, "I can't control what others'll do. The angels will always be a problem."

  "Well, not that much of a problem." The new voice was accompanied by the arrival of an all-too-familiar aura, one that felt crystalline and cool. Carter now stood beside us. "Welcome back."

  Jerome glanced over at the angel, and for half a second, he almost looked pleased. The two of them appraised each other, probably communicating telepathically. Or maybe not. Maybe after so many eons of friendship, they no longer needed to.

  "I suppose you're going to advocate for him too," said Jerome.

  Carter shrugged and glanced over at Roman. "I don't know." Angels had as much of an instinct to hunt down nephilim as demons did. I thought of Carter as benevolent, but he too had helped destroy Helena. "He did help. Maybe he'll stay on good behavior."

  It was a sign of how crazy things had become when Jerome and Carter seemed on the verge of letting a nephilim stick around-and that I was the one who protested.