Succubus Blues

 He unbuttoned his coat. 'Here. You're freezing. Wear this while I take you home. My car's around the corner.'

 'I live within walking distance.' His coat was still warm from his body and smelled nice. A combination of cK One and, well, man. Yum.

 'Then let me walk you home.'

 His persistence was charming, which was all the more reason I had to end things now. This was exactly the kind of quality guy I needed to avoid.

 'Come on,' Roman begged when I didn't answer. 'This isn't much to ask for. I'm not a stalker or anything. All I want is one walk home. Then you never have to see me again.'

 'Look, you barely even know me...' I paused, reconsidering what he'd said. 'Okay.'

 'Okay what?'

 'Okay, you can walk me home.'

 'Really?' He brightened.

 'Yup.'

 Three minutes later, when we arrived at my apartment building, he threw up his hands in dismay. 'That wasn't fair at all. You're practically next door.'

 ' 'One walk home.' That was all you asked for.'

 Roman shook his head. 'Not fair. Not fair at all. But'—he looked up hopefully at my building—'at least I know where you live now.'

 'Hey! You said you weren't a stalker.'

 He grinned, gorgeous white teeth flashing against his tanned skin. 'It's never too late to start.' Leaning down, he kissed my hand and gave me a wink. 'Until we meet again, fair Georgina.'

 He turned and walked off into the Queen Anne night. I watched him go, still feeling his lips on my skin. What an unexpected—and perplexing—twist to the evening.

 When he was no longer in sight, I turned around and went into my building. I was halfway up the stairs when I realized I was still wearing his coat. How was I going to get it back to him? He did that on purpose, I realized. He let me keep it.

 I suddenly knew then that I would be seeing wily Duke Roman again. Probably sooner, rather than later.

 Chuckling, I continued on to my apartment, halting after just a few more steps.

 'Not again,' I muttered in exasperation.

 Familiar sensations swirled behind my apartment door. Like a glittering tempest. Like the humming of bees in the air.

 There was a group of immortals inside my home.

 What the fuck? Did I need to start charging admission to my apartment? Why did everyone suddenly think they could just go right inside when I wasn't there?

 It occurred to me then, ever so briefly, that I had not sensed Jerome and Carter's presence earlier. They had caught me completely unaware. That was weird, but I had been too distracted by their news to pay much attention to anything else.

 Similarly, my current anger did not allow me to further ponder that odd piece of trivia now. I was too annoyed. Slinging my purse over one shoulder, I stormed into my home.

CHAPTER 5

 'For someone who just orchestrated a murder, you're kind of overreacting.'

 Overreacting? In the last twenty-four hours, I'd had to endure virgins, scary vampires, murder, accusation, and humiliation in front of my favorite author. I really didn't think coming home to a quiet apartment was too much to ask for. Instead, I found three interlopers. Three interlopers who were also my friends, mind you, but that didn't change the principle of the matter.

 Naturally, none of them understood why I was so upset.

 'You're invading my privacy! And I didn't murder anybody. Why does everyone keep thinking that?'

 'Because you said yourself you were going to,' explained Hugh. The imp sprawled on my love seat, his relaxed posture indicating I might actually be the one in his home. 'I heard it from Jerome.'

 Across from him, our friend Cody offered me a friendly smile. He was exceptionally young for a vampire and reminded me of the kid brother I'd never had. 'Don't worry. He had it coming. We stand by you all the way.'

 'But I didn't—'

 'Is that our illustrious hostess I hear?' called Peter from the bathroom. A moment later, he appeared in the hallway. 'You look pretty snazzy for a criminal mastermind.'

 'I'm not— ' My words died on my lips as I caught sight of him. For a moment, all thoughts of murder and apartment intrusion blanked out of my mind. 'For God's sake, Peter. What happened to your hair?'

 He self-consciously ran a hand over the sharp, half-inch spikes covering his head. I couldn't even imagine how much styling product it must have taken to defy the laws of physics like that. Worse, the tips of the spikes were white-blond, standing out boldly against his normally dark hair color. 'Someone I work with helped me with it.'

 'Someone who hates you?'

 Peter scowled. 'You are the most uncharming succubus I've ever met.'

 'I think the spikes really, um, emphasize the shape of your eyebrows,' offered Cody diplomatically. 'They just take... some getting used to.'

 I shook my head. I liked Peter and Cody. They were the only vampires I'd ever been friends with, but that didn't make them any less trying. Between Peter's assorted neuroses and Cody's dogged optimism, I sometimes felt like the straight man— er, woman—on a sitcom.

 'A lot of getting used to,' I muttered, pulling up a bar-stool from my kitchen.

 'You're one to talk,' returned Peter. 'You and your wings and whip getup.'

 My mouth dropped, and I turned an incredulous look on Hugh. He hastily shut the Victoria's Secret catalog he'd been leafing through.

 'Georgina—'

 'You said you weren't going to tell! You sealed your lips and everything!'

 'I, uh... it just sort of slipped out.'

 'Did you really have horns?' asked Peter.

 'All right, that's it. I want you all out of here now.' I pointed at the door. 'I've been through enough today without you three adding to it.'

 'You haven't even told us about taking the contract out on Duane.' Cody's puppy-dog eyes looked at me pleadingly. 'We're dying to know.'

 'Well, Duane's the one who technically did the dying,' pointed out Peter in an undertone.

 'Watch the snide comments,' warned Hugh. 'You might be next.'

 I half expected steam to pour from my ears. 'For the last time, I did not kill Duane! Jerome believes me, okay?'

 Cody looked thoughtful. 'But you did threaten him...'

 'Yes. And from what I recall, so have all of you at some time or another. This is just a coincidence. I didn't have anything to do with it, and...' Something suddenly occurred to me. 'Why does everyone keep saying things like 'arranged his death' or 'got someone to murder him'? Why aren't you saying that I did it myself?'

 'Wait... you just said you didn't.'

 Peter rolled his eyes at Cody before facing me, the older vampire's expression turning serious. Of course, 'serious' means all sorts of things when paired with a hairstyle like his. 'No one's saying you did it because you couldn't have.'

 'Especially in those shoes.' Hugh nodded toward my heels.