Succubus Revealed Page 0,71

together, something goes wrong."

"How did you even know Seth had a contract?" asked Hugh.

"Well, that's the thing. I didn't. And since Seth had never mentioned it before, it seemed he didn't know he had one either. And how could that be? I started thinking maybe it was because he hadn't made the contract in this life. I thought maybe Hell had a long game going on with him across lives, and hence . . . the hypnosis."

"Jesus Christ," said Hugh, shaking his head. "You made a fuckload of deductions there."

"And they were right," said Roman. "Georgina and Seth both have contracts with Hell. And those contracts don't work together."

"Why not?" I asked.

That zealous gleam was back in Roman's eye. "What were we able to deduce about Seth's contract? What did he get?"

The only thing I'd deduced was that Seth was never going to speak to me again. When I refused to answer, Hugh obligingly played student to Roman's teacher. "He got ten lives instead of one. The gift of reincarnation."

"Why?" asked Roman.

"To find Georgina," said Hugh. He paused, and I guessed he was replaying what Seth had described. "It sounds like he died in that first life, and when the time came for his soul to move on, he was aware of missing her. I'm guessing Hell wouldn't have gotten his soul then, so they made the deal to give him nine more chances to find Georgina and be reunited with her."

"He did find me," I said flatly. "Over and over." Betrayal after betrayal.

"Yes," said Roman. "And you were drawn to him without even realizing it. He certainly seemed to fit your dreamy artistic type each time. But you never made it work out."

"Which Hell was probably hoping for," said Hugh. The imp in him was coming out, puzzling over how a contract like this would have been designed. "Hell has to be fair, but they always want an advantage. So, they probably went into the deal thinking a guy hoping to make amends with his soul mate could never do it if she was a succubus. Seth - or whoever - certainly didn't know that. He only knew that he was supposed to have forgotten her." He thought about it a few moments more. "There's nothing wrong with that, though. That's hedging your bets on a contract. There's no violation."

"You're right," said Roman. "And that's not the problem." He focused back on me. "What was your deal? What was your contract for becoming a succubus?"

"You already know it," I said wearily. I was tired of the scheming and fallout. I want to crawl off, curl up in my bed, and sleep for the next five centuries. I wanted to renegotiate my contract and have my memory and heart purged of all pain.

"Humor me," he said. "Just tell me the basics again. The deal Niphon made with you."

"Roman, leave her alone," said Hugh.

I waved him off. "Fine. I sold my soul and became a succubus in exchange for everyone I knew as a mortal forgetting about me."

Roman looked so supremely satisfied and triumphant that I wanted to punch him just then. He nodded to Hugh. "And tell me Seth's again, to the best of your guessing."

"At a guess? He gets to live ten lives, all of which will put him near her, giving him the chance to find her and make amends with her. Hell gets his soul at the end of the tenth life."

"And why did Seth make the deal?" prompted Roman, practically trembling with excitement.

"Because he remembered that - " Hugh cut himself off, eyes widening.

"Exactly," said Roman. He shook me in his excitement when I didn't react right away. "Don't you get it? Your contracts contradict each other! In fact, Seth's should never have even been written! He remembered you. He knew that you were gone from his life."

"He knew his 'soul mate' was gone," I said bitterly. "I don't think he remembered specifics. You saw how much trouble he had."

Roman shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'm guessing your contract specifies forgetting you entirely. He remembered. By that happening, Hell violated your contract. Then, they wrote an impossible contract for him, claiming he'd have the chance to reunite with you - which again, implies a degree of remembering you."

"We don't know that exactly," warned Hugh. "We haven't seen the contract and didn't get all the details from him. I couldn't follow if he got anything for patching things up with her or not."

"We know enough," said Roman.