Succubus Shadows Page 0,13

little rest and simply chose to sleep in as often as he did for the fun of it.

I left a message on Jerome's cell phone, which was useless more often than not. I also kind of wished I hadn't parted from Carter so soon. Caught up in the Pictionary absurdity, I'd totally forgotten about my siren song encounters. Indeed, I'd nearly written them off until last night's repeat. But if Jerome was hard to get a hold of, Carter was impossible. He kept no cell phone and seemed to take personal pride in showing up at unexpected moments.

Left with no other options, I called my friend Erik. He was a human who ran a store specializing in esoteric and pagan goods. He was often my backup for bizarre supernatural situations, sometimes knowing more than my friends did. As I dialed his store's number, I couldn't help but marvel at the circles my life seemed to run on. I was repeating the same pattern over and over. Something weird would happen, I'd fruitlessly attempt to contact my superiors, and end up seeking Erik for help.

"Why the fuck does this keep happening to me?" I muttered as the phone rang. Cody never got stalked by paranormal forces. Neither did any of the others. It was like I was specifically being targeted. Or cursed. Or simply imbued with bad luck. Yes, my life was a never-ending spiral, doomed to repeat the same patterns of annoying immortal threats - and miserable romantic situations.

"Hello?"

"Erik? This is Georgina."

"Miss Kincaid," he said in his usual genteel voice. "A pleasure to hear from you."

"I need your help with something. Again. Are you around? I wanted to swing by before work."

There was a pause, and then I heard regret in his voice. "Unfortunately, I have to run errands and close the store today. I'll be back this evening. When do you finish work?"

"I'll probably be free at ten." Another evening shift.

"I can meet you then."

I felt bad. His store usually closed around five. "No, no...that's too late. We could try tomorrow...."

"Miss Kincaid," he said gently, "I'm always happy to see you. It's no difficulty at all."

I still felt guilty when we disconnected. Erik was getting old. Shouldn't he be in bed by ten? Nine? There was nothing to be done for it now, though. He said he'd do it, and I'd seen him when he was obstinate. I had nothing to do but wait now and hope Roman would surface before I had to work. When he didn't, I simply left him a note saying I needed to talk to him immediately. It was the best I could do.

At work, no one was out or - best of all - hungover. I was caught up on my paperwork, which gave me a lot of free time. Whether that was good or bad, I couldn't say. It kept me from messing up my job but merely left me in a cycle of rumination.

It was nearly closing time when I noticed Seth at his usual station in the café. Maddie had worked the day shift, which meant I didn't have to face their cute couple antics. He caught my eye as I walked through, and against my better judgment, I sat down across from him.

"How goes it?" I asked. My usual romantic fixation with him was put on pause when I saw that he looked agitated.

He tapped the screen in annoyance. "Bad. I've been staring at this screen for two hours and haven't gotten anything done." He paused. "No, that's not quite true. I ordered a Wonder Twins T-shirt and watched some videos on YouTube."

I smiled and propped my chin up in my hand. "Doesn't sound like a bad day's work."

"It is when it's been going on all week. My muse is an ungrateful harlot who's abandoned me to actually come up with my own plots."

"That's a record for you," I observed. I'd seen him have fits of writer's block when we dated, but it never lasted more than a few days. "When's your deadline?"

"Not for a while, but still..." He sighed. "I don't like to be stalled out. I'm not really sure what to do with my days if I'm not writing."

I started to say that he must have wedding stuff to do but then thought better of it. I kept to lighter topics. "Maybe it's time to pick up a hobby. Fencing? Origami?"

That slightly bemused smile that was so characteristic for him crossed his lips. "I tried latch hook