Succubus Dreams Page 0,62

talking little. Whenever he expressed any interest in something - food, drink, etc. - I was quick to jump up and get it for him. I was the perfect nurse/servant. Finally, around dinnertime, he looked like he was nearing a breaking point.

"Arent your friends doing something tonight?" he asked stiffly.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Just asking."

"They're having a card game."

"You aren't going?"

"No, I'll stay here with you."

"You should go."

"I don't want to leave you. In case you need something."

"Then take me with you."

"What?" I exclaimed. "But you need to - "

" - take it easy, rest, not strain myself. I know, I know. But look, I'm kind of getting cabin fever here, and honestly, I think you'd benefit from a little distraction."

"Seth - "

"Georgina," he interrupted. "It won't be much different than this. More sitting around, except with - "

"Better company?"

"That's not what I mean," he said.

We went back and forth, and as we did, I wondered when we'd reached this point in our relationship. Hitherto everything had been giddy and sentimental with us. How had we crossed the line into nagging? When had we started getting on each other's nerves? In movies, life-threatening experiences are supposed to bring people together.

I finally relented, and we went over to Peter and Cody's place. The gang - consisting of Hugh, Peter, Cody, and Carter tonight - was surprised to see us since Seth often avoided immortal social events. But socially inept or no, Seth liked playing cards. It was the kind of analytical activity he enjoyed, and he could often get by without talking very much.

Just before the game started, Niphon showed up. He and I exchanged brief glares and then proceeded to ignore each other.

Inevitably, Seth getting shot came up in conversation.

"You threw yourself in front of a gun for her?" asked Peter, clearly impressed.

"Well," said Seth, a little uncomfortable at all those eyes on him. "Mostly I tried to jostle it away."

"You mean, disarm him?"

"Well...no. More like...jostle. I don't really know how to 'disarm' anyone."

"I figured maybe you took combat classes in order to write those fight scenes in your books," explained Peter.

Seth shook his head. "Never been in a fight in my life. Until last night."

"That's awesome," said Cody. "Risking your life in the name of love."

I stared at the vampires disbelievingly while they babbled on about how amazing Seth's feat had been. They peppered him with more questions about the attack, and the anger I'd been trying to squelch since last night kept building and building. Across the table, Niphon listened with a smirk. Carter, in his usual way, concealed his feelings. I wanted to know why he wasn't out with the other angels, but the Seth thing was taking precedence over my curiosity.

One thing struck me as odd. Hugh, listening quietly, seemed as angry as I did. I would have expected him to jump right in with the vampires, blithely pestering Seth for action-packed details and waxing on about how cool Seth's heroics had been. But the imp's face looked dark and stony, his eyes fixed pointedly on his cards.

"The guy was probably high," remarked Peter. "Never know what that might bring out. You jumping in like that was pretty ballsy when you think about it."

I couldn't take it anymore.

"It was stupid!" I cried. Everyone's heads jerked in my direction. I ignored them, my eyes on Seth. "It was foolish and idiotic and, and - " I couldn't think of any more synonyms, so I let it go. "You shouldn't have done it. He couldn't have hurt me. He couldn't have killed me. You should have let me handle it!"

I knew that Seth despised being the center of a commotion like this, but he returned my gaze with a surprisingly fierce one.

"Georgina, there was a man with a gun in a dark alley. You were in front of him. Do you really think I was running through all sorts of logical scenarios at the time? 'Oh, let's see. She's immortal, so even if she gets shot, there's nothing to worry about.'"

"Yes," I growled. "That is what you should have been thinking."

"What I was thinking was 'The woman I love is in danger, and I would rather die myself than see anything happen to her.'"

"But nothing would have happened to me!"

"It's a basic human instinct to protect the ones you love. Even if they're immortal."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"That's because it's been too long since you were human," he snapped.

It was like being hit. I shot