Succubus Shadows Page 0,64

as he cast an uneasy glance at Cody. Half of Peter's question was probably a ploy to save his prot茅g茅 from being smote then and there.

Jerome sighed and stepped back. "Questioning others. Finding any trace - any at all - of another of our immortals who might have felt something."

Hugh, who was sitting on the couch and keeping his distance from our angry boss, cleared his throat nervously. "I don't want to bring this up...but, you're already kind of on probation after the, um, summoning."

Jerome's smoldering gaze fell on the imp, who flinched. "Don't you think I know that? Why is everyone here giving me useless information?"

"All I'm saying," said Hugh, "is that if someone wanted to take advantage of the situation, making you lose one of your immortals would be a good way. Someone who, say, maybe wanted a job promotion."

"Mei couldn't do this," said Jerome, catching on. He'd already had one lieutenant demoness turn, so Hugh's hypothesis wasn't that bad. "She couldn't hide Georgina like this...even if she was working with someone who could, she'd find a better way to get to me." There was almost a proud note in his voice.

"What about Simone?" demanded Cody. "She's out there impersonating Georgina, you know."

Both Peter and Hugh stared in astonishment. "She's what?" exclaimed the imp.

The attention from his friends seemed to fluster Cody more than Jerome's wrath. "Yeah, I was, um, visiting Gabrielle at the bookstore, and I saw Simone. She had Georgina's shape, but I could feel it was her."

"You saw Gabrielle?" asked Carter with interest, like my disappearance from the universe had now lessened in comparison to Cody's romance.

Cody flushed. "We...had a date. But I canceled it when I heard about Georgina. It's no big deal."

No big deal? My kidnapping was now ruining Cody's chances with the woman of his dreams.

"This is more useless information," growled Jerome. "And, yes, I know about Simone."

"Maybe you should be talking to her," said Cody.

"She didn't do it," said Jerome. The way he spoke implied that it was a closed case.

Peter was still treading cautiously around Jerome. "If you say she didn't...then she didn't. But why is she impersonating Georgina if she's innocent in all this?"

"She has her reasons," said Jerome vaguely.

Cody was outraged. "And you're just going to let her do it! How can you?"

"Because I don't care!" roared Jerome. A wave of power flared out from him like a shock wave. Everyone except Carter was blown back by it. The china in Peter's cabinet rattled. "I don't care what that other succubus does. I don't care about Georgina's human friends or what they think. If anything, you should be grateful. Simone's act is keeping the others from noticing what happened."

None of my friends had anything to say to that. With an exasperated snarl, Jerome turned toward the door. "I've had enough of this. I need real answers."

He stormed out into the hall, leaving the door open. Presumably, he did it as an act of angry defiance, but I knew it was so Roman could follow him. Normally, the demon would have simply teleported out, but for whatever reason, father and son were investigating together today. Once alone on the stairwell, Jerome muttered, "Hold on."

Roman must have because Jerome disappeared. He reappeared - and me along with him - in a new setting: Erik's store. It was evening, and Erik had shut down for the night. The fountains were off. The music had stopped playing. Yet, near the back of the store, a few notes of humming could be heard. They cut off almost immediately, and footsteps sounded as someone approached.

Jerome stayed where he was, not deigning to move. He knew his presence would have been promptly felt. He knew Erik would come to him.

And sure enough, gait still unsteady from being sick recently, Erik made his way to the store's front. He radiated wariness as he moved. For me, he always had a kindly smile and cup of tea. Even Carter, the most powerful immortal in Seattle, would earn a respectful smile. But Erik was on his guard now - which really wasn't that weird, considering who stood in his store.

Erik came to a stop a few feet from Jerome and straightened himself up as well as he could to his full height. He gave Jerome the smallest nod of greeting.

"Mr. Hanan'el," said Erik. "An unexpected visit."

Jerome had just taken a cigarette out of his coat, and it fell from his fingers. The look he gave Erik was a