the wrist? I survived it, and I was still in pretty bad shape.'
'You said you were going to kill Carter. And I didn't know who else you'd go after,' I said quietly. 'I didn't know what else to do. There was no easy option for me.'
'There would have been if you'd really loved me like you said you did,' he replied bitterly. 'And I told you I'd leave the rest of them alone.'
'It was too late when you told me that. By then, I'd already called for help.' I didn't add that in a way, I really had loved him. It had been different from the way I loved Seth, but it had been love nonetheless.
'Well, whatever. It's not relevant now. Finding Jerome is what's important.' Out of the side of my eye, I saw him study my profile. 'Of course, I'm surprised you've been so eager…it's going to put an end to your little affair.'
'It's going to come to an end anyway. I'd rather have Jerome in my life afterward than some other demon.' In my mind, I could see Seth's kind eyes and gentle smile. I could almost feel the way his hands touched my body. 'I'll have the memories, at least. They'll stay with me.'
'Memories.' Roman shook his head. 'How the hell can someone who fucks random men for a living be such a romantic idiot?'
I didn't answer that, and the rest of our drive contained little conversation. The place we were going to in Edmonds was another park. Funny, I thought, that humans kept sectioning off these magical places and preserving them. I wondered if they sensed that power on some inherent level. I'd read up a little on this park and how it had some significance to Native Americans in the area. Surely that was promising. It was a small beach flanked by a woodsy area with picnic tables. Children ran around while their mothers watched.
'This place isn't very strong,' said Roman, once we were out of the car. 'There's a little magic in the earth but not much. I can't imagine they'd hide Jerome here-they'd want a lot more to mask it.'
I refused to let that drag me down. 'We have to look. We don't know anything for sure.'
The park wasn't huge. I suspected it would take us less time to search it than it would to drive back. Just as we'd stepped out of the parking lot, my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number. 'Go on without me,' I told Roman. When I answered, the voice was no one I recognized.
'Is this Letha, also known as Georgina Kincaid?'
I grimaced. Only high-up hellish employees called me by my original name. 'Yes.'
'This is Ephraim, from Internal Affairs.' The demon's voice was clipped and hurried, giving the impression that I was the one who'd called him and interrupted something. I found it amusing that he'd called me rather than speak in person. More efficient, I guessed.
I sat down at a picnic table. 'What can I do for you?'
'Nothing, I'm sure. But I've been instructed to interview all lesser immortals in the area about The Jerome Situation.' I could hear the capitalized letters in his voice, kind of like The Manhattan Project. 'First, I'd like to know where you were when Jerome disappeared.'
'On my way to Canada. Jerome had been lending me out to help Cedric.'
There was a moment's pause. 'My records say that Cedric was in Seattle when Jerome disappeared.'
'Well, when I left, Cedric was still up there, yeah. But then when the Army of Darkness did their thing on the Space Needle, I called Cedric because I figured he'd want to know. I thought that was when he came down here.'
'Did you say Army of Darkness?'
'Um, yeah. It's this cult in Vancouver that was doing embarrassing things.'
'Ah. The ones with the spray paint.'
'Yup. I'd been helping Cedric with them, and when he heard they were down here, I guess he came to talk to Jerome and do some damage control so Jerome wouldn't think he'd sent them.'
'Your information's incorrect. Cedric never met with Jerome.'
'What?' I frowned, thinking back to my conversation with Kristin. I'd asked if Cedric had come to talk to Jerome, and while she'd confirmed that he'd been down here, she hadn't mentioned them actually speaking.
'When Cedric came, Jerome was already missing. He and Mei attempted to find him, and when the lesser immortals began showing the effects of the summoning, we knew what had happened.' Ephraim's words were still brisk. Clearly, he had no interest in discussing what he already knew.
I was close to something here-so, so close. Had Jerome been summoned before Cedric arrived? That would rule him out as the summoner. Of course, if Ephraim had received his information from Cedric, then it could have been a lie. Maybe Cedric was being framed. Maybe he'd actually been here the exact moment Jerome was summoned. Mentioning Mei meant that she had probably corroborated Cedric's story. Which meant what, exactly? Was she in on this too? I knew Grace was involved already. It was possible Mei and Cedric were working with her, but that meant three demons were in the conspiracy now. There was only one reward in Seattle, and I couldn't see how they'd all benefit. Getting a large group of demons to organize was hard. Getting them to do it when it offered no advantage for all of them? Impossible.
Ephraim was eager to get back on track. He asked me a few more questions about Jerome's disappearance and a bit about my day-to-day affairs. He never asked for my opinion about who should replace Jerome or what I thought of other demons. That wasn't particularly surprising, however. As my friends and I had discussed, our input probably wouldn't play a large role here.
I hung up and went to find Roman. I expected him to have practically finished the search, but instead, I found him playing ball with some kids over in a clearing near the trees. They were pretty little, and there wasn't much to the game. Mostly everyone stood in a circle and tossed the ball back and forth. Roman's throws were gentle and carefully aimed so as to make it easy for the kids to catch the ball. I stood off to the side, watching them in wonder. He actually seemed pretty into it, and the oddity of a sociopathic half-angelic bastard playing with small children wasn't lost on me.
Roman caught sight of me watching them and tossed the ball over to a little girl. He left the circle to approach me, much to the dismay of the kids left behind. They entreated him to stay, but he merely waved and told them he had to go.
'Maybe we can come back later,' he said jovially.
'I can't decide if that was cute or creepy,' I told him. 'Maybe a little of both.'
'Why creepy? I only kill immortal beings. Not kids.'
'The fact that you just said all that with a straight face is proof enough.' I gestured around. 'Did you check this place out?'
'Nope. Didn't want to steal the fun from you. Who was on the phone?'
We started walking along the beach, and I recapped what Ephraim had told me. 'I almost told him what I knew about Grace,' I admitted.
'No, better that you didn't,' said Roman. 'We still need more information.'
'We're running out of time,' I grumbled. 'There's not much more info we can get. And there's something there…something weird about the day Jerome was summoned. I just can't-' I froze, staring off down the beach. 'Roman. Look.'
He followed my gaze. There, near a trash can, was a patch of small, rough rocks mixed in with the sand. Gray and white. I ran off down the beach, ignoring the sand filling my shoes. Holy shit. After all these fruitless searches, after relying on all these sketchy half-assed clues, we'd actually found something. We'd found Jerome, and not a moment too soon.
Ignoring the looks of some startled kids, I knelt down near the rocks and began pushing them aside, digging through the sand. I realized then I should have brought a spade or something. A few moments later, Roman arrived and stood over me.
'Well, what are you doing?' I demanded. 'Help me.'
'He's not here, Georgina.'
'He has to be! We're near salt water. There's sand. There's white stones. For the rest of the seal's camouflage to work, he's buried here somewhere.'
'I can't sense anything. He's not here.'
The rocks were cutting my hands as I dug, and I felt tears stinging my eyes. Until that moment, I didn't realize just how horribly and truly afraid I'd been of Jerome not returning. My time as a succubus had been filled with upheaval. I liked the small piece of tranquility I'd carved out here in Seattle. I didn't want that to change. I
