eyes turned on me in astonishment.
Hugh spoke first. "What? Are you crazy? I know you two spar a lot, but Christ, if you think..."
"Carter's one of us," agreed Cody fiercely.
"I know, I know." I proceeded to explain the reasoning behind my accusation, citing his weird shadowing of me and subsequent conversation at Erik's.
Silence fell. Finally, Peter said, "All of that is strange. But I still can't buy it. Not Carter."
"Not Carter," agreed Hugh.
"Oh, I see. Everyone's quick to implicate me for Duane, but not perfect Carter?" My ire rose at their automatic solidarity, at the idea that Carter would be above reproach. "Why does he hang out with us then? Have you ever heard of an angel doing anything like that?"
"We're his friends," said Cody.
"And we're more fun," added Hugh.
"You can believe that if you want, but not me. Going from pub to pub with a demon and his cronies is the perfect setup for sabotage. He's been spying on us. You're just biased because he's such a good drinking buddy."
"And don't you think, Georgina," warned Peter, "there's just the slightest possibility that you're the one who's biased? I admit, this crazy angel theory makes more and more sense as time goes on, but where'd Carter come from?"
"Yeah," said Hugh. "Seems like you just sort of threw him in for no good reason. Everyone knows you two don't get along."
I stared disbelievingly at the three sets of angry eyes. "I have plenty of good reason. How do you explain him being at Erik's?"
The imp shook his head. "We all know Erik. Carter could have been there for the same reasons you were."
"What about the things he said?"
"What did he say really?" Peter asked. "Was he like, 'Hey Georgina, hope you got my note'? It's all pretty flimsy."
"Look, I'm not saying I have strong evidence, just that circumstantially - "
"I need to go," interjected Cody, standing up.
I gave him a cold look. Had I pushed them that far? "I understand if you don't agree with me, but don't just walk out."
"No, there's something I've got to do."
Peter rolled his eyes. "You're not the only one dating now, Georgina. Cody won't admit it, but I think he's got a woman stashed somewhere."
"A live one?" asked Hugh, impressed.
Cody put his coat on. "You guys don't know anything."
"Well, be careful," I warned automatically.
The tense mood was suddenly shattered, and no one seemed to be angry with me about suspecting Carter anymore. It was clear, however, that no one believed me about him either. They were dismissing my ideas like one does a child's irrational fears or imaginary friends.
The vampires left together, and Hugh followed soon thereafter. I wandered off to bed, still trying to put the pieces into place. The note writer had made a reference to angels falling for beautiful women; that had to be significant. Yet, I just couldn't reconcile it with this bizarre pair of attacks on Duane and Hugh, which had more to do with violence and brutality than beauty or lust.
When I got to work the next day, my e-mail inbox revealed a new message from Seth, and I feared some sort of follow-up to his date request from yesterday. Instead, he merely responded to my last message, which had been one in an ongoing conversation about his observations of the Northwest. The message's writing style and voice were as entertaining as ever, and he seemed for all the world not to have minded - or even noticed - my wacky rejection yesterday.
I verified this further when I went upstairs to buy coffee. Seth sat in his usual corner, typing away, oblivious to it being Saturday. I paused and said hello, getting a typically distracted response in return. He did not mention asking me to the party, did not seem upset, and indeed apparently didn't care at all about it. I supposed I should have been grateful that he'd recovered so quickly, that he wasn't pining or breaking his heart over me, but my selfishness couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I wouldn't have minded making a slightly stronger impression on him, one that elicited some regret over my refusal. Doug and Roman, for example, hadn't let one rejection deter them. What a fickle creature I was.
Thinking of both of them reminded me I was meeting Roman later to go to Doug's concert. I grew heady at the thought of seeing Roman again, though apprehension tinged the feeling. I didn't like him having this effect on me, and