Succubus Shadows Page 0,62

wear, but that wasn't really work appropriate."

He laughed and pulled her closer. "I think Georgina thinks her wit and charm can let her get away with anything she wants."

"Yeah, well, she's not as funny as she always thinks she is," grumbled Maddie. "And all she got away with today was looking like she was trying to pick up some guy at the store."

"Wouldn't be the first time," said Seth with a shrug.

"What?"

"You didn't know? She sleeps with Warren all the time. Usually in his office."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Not only were the two of them mocking me, Seth had also told Maddie about my on-again off-again affair with the store's owner Warren. Doug had always had his suspicions, but other than Seth, no one else knew. I had never expected Seth to betray that secret.

"I had no idea," said Maddie. "And yet...I don't know. Maybe I did. I mean, everything she wears is kind of slutty."

"She sleeps around a lot. She'll pretty much go home with anyone." He paused. "She even tried it with me once."

"Really?" Maddie's eyes went wide. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing. I have no interest in that. I couldn't handle being with someone so easy. She'd probably sleep with all my friends while we were dating." He cupped Maddie's face in his hands. "Not that it matters. I have no reason to even go looking, not when I have the best thing right here."

He drew her to him, and they kissed again. It wasn't the earlier hello kiss either. It was deep and ardent, both of them eagerly trying to get as much of the other as they could. His hands gripped hold of the bottom of her tank top and jerked it over her head, revealing a black satin bra I was pretty sure I'd helped her pick out. Never breaking the kiss, his hands then went around her waist as he half-carried, half-stumbled out of the office and into the bedroom. They fell onto the covers, hands moving all over each other's bodies and kisses starting to spread beyond lips.

No, I thought, unsure if the Oneroi could hear me or not. No. I don't want to see this. Take me back. Take me back to the box. Send me to another dream.

But if they were there, they weren't listening. I had no eyes to close. I couldn't look away. There was no way to unsee what I was seeing. I'd experienced a lot of heart-wrenching things in my relationship with Seth, things that had hurt me so badly that I swore I wanted to die. But nothing, nothing could have prepared me for seeing him have sex with another woman. And it wasn't just watching the act itself, the way their naked bodies intertwined with one another and the cries of pleasure elicited in the height of orgasm.

It was the look on his face as he did it. There it was. The love I'd been searching for earlier. I'd thought before he only regarded her with a strong affection, similar to the fond love he had for his nieces. No. This was passion I saw on his face, the kind of love that burned so deeply, it connected two people's souls.

He was looking at her the way he'd once looked at me.

I had never thought it was possible. Somewhere, somehow, I'd been convinced that he loved her in a different way from me. Maybe their love was strong, but I'd felt certain it could never match what he felt for me. Ours was different. Yet, seeing them now, I saw that wasn't true. And when, at the end, he told her she was his world - just as he'd once told me - I knew that I really was nothing special. The love he had for me was gone.

And in the terrible, excruciating pain of that moment, I no longer wanted to die. There was no point because I was certain just then that I had died - because surely, surely, Hell couldn't be worse than this.

Chapter 14

I was never entirely sure how much of that dream was true and how much was a lie. That it was a mix, I felt certain. I couldn't think of any reason the Oneroi would show me Kayla noticing my absence when no one else did. That had to be true. Yet, I also couldn't imagine Seth and Maddie slandering me so much. I especially couldn't imagine him breaking a confidence. Surely that was a