"Georgina was sent to Canadian Boot Camp for sleeping with the therapist," explained Peter.
"Seriously?" asked Cody. I could already tell he was envisioning images of pine trees and snow-capped mountains.
I shrugged. "Figure of speech. It's some stupid job I have to do for him. I was there earlier today and got sent home empty-handed because there was nothing for me to do."
"I can't believe you'd do that," said Cody.
"Work for Cedric?"
"No. Go to Canada and not bring us back Tim Hortons."
The vampires invited me to stay for dinner, as I'd known they would, and we mulled over the mystery of last night's fight and other demonic politics. For the first time in a very long while, I had something to distract me other than Seth and the woes of my love life. There was nothing going on that really indicated some large, disastrous immortal scheme at work. A misunderstanding among vampires. A troublesome cult. An old grudge between demons. Yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on-something just beyond my reach. I kept thinking of what Tawny had said about scams and misdirection.
I eventually gave up on trying to figure out the mystery for now, and the vampires soon started replaying every last detail of the previous night's fight-a topic they never seemed to tire of. The stories bored me after a while, and I instead found myself studying little things, like the layout of the apartment, the new appliances, the granite countertops…
"Do you think I should move?" I asked abruptly.
Cody stopped mid-sentence. I think he'd been describing how he'd had Lenny the vampire in a chokehold. "What?" he asked.
"I'm thinking of getting a new place."
"Were you even listening to my story?" asked Cody, looking slightly hurt.
"You've lived over there for years," said Peter. "As long as I've known you."
"I know. Maybe it's time for a change. It's small, and it's old."
"That's because it's a historic building," argued Peter.
"And," added Cody, "it's close to where you work. You'd have to drive in if you moved-unless you're just going up the street or something."
My eyes focused on the far side of the room without really seeing it. I remembered talking to Seth the other night and how it had seemed like I couldn't get far enough away from him. I thought about our fight earlier tonight. "No," I told them quietly. "I'd move somewhere else. Somewhere farther out."
"Ah," said Peter in understanding.
Cody frowned. "I don't get it. Why would you want to move far away from your-ow!" Peter had kneed him. Cody started to demand why, but then he seemed to catch on too. He was naïve about immortal affairs, sometimes, but not human ones. His face turned sympathetic, which I hated. "Maybe change is good."
I didn't know if it was, but I didn't want them to sit and feel sorry for me, so I coaxed more fight stories from them for the next half-hour or so as a way to distract them and make amends for not paying attention earlier.
I left shortly thereafter, wondering about whether it really was time to shake things up a little and move. Seth had already shaken my life up for the worse, and part of me wanted to rid myself of all those memories. Changing everything that I'd had while we'd been together-like my apartment-could be a way to do it. A clean cut. If I was really desperate, I could even consider switching jobs or cities. I didn't know if I was ready to go that far. It all depressed me.
"Hey, succubus. You sure know how to keep a guy waiting."
I'd been walking up to my building without really paying attention, too lost in my own thoughts. Now, in the faint glow of the light above the building's entrance, I saw Dante sitting on the steps. His black hair was brushed away from his face, and he wore a light coat over his usual attire of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. He probably had a watch on under there too but almost never wore any other ornamentation or jewelry. I mustered a smile for him.
"Sorry," I said. "I called you earlier."
"And I called you back."
"Did you?" I pulled out my cell phone and saw three missed calls from him. "Oh, shit. I had the ringer off. Sorry."
He shrugged and stood up. "It's okay, just part of the endless torment I go through for you. One mysterious message saying you're going to Vancouver indefinitely. Another saying you're back but don't know for how long. Then no answer."
I realized I hadn't even thought much about how this international travel would affect Dante. That kind of radio silence would have never happened with Seth. I wouldn't have rested until we'd made contact and would have quickly noticed the ringer problem. With Dante, I'd left the voice-mail message and promptly put him out of my mind.
I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and unlocked the door. His face was scratchy and overdue for a shave. "Sorry," I said again. "How's it been going?"
"Same as it always does. Had a couple of drunk teens come in for palm readings last night, so that was a windfall. I could have taken you out someplace nice for a change."
"It would have beat what I was doing instead."
As we went upstairs to my apartment, I briefly gave him an overview of what was going on. As someone attuned to the paranormal world, there was little about demonic affairs that surprised him. I'd met Dante back in December, during the mess with Niphon. As part of his plan, Niphon had used a chaos entity named Nyx to suck energy from me in my sleep via realistic, emotionally charged dreams. Not knowing what was happening, I'd come to Dante for dream interpretation. He'd been abrasive, sarcastic, and infuriating throughout the entire process yet had steadily grown on me-until I learned the truth about his past. He'd done horrible things-hurt people, killed people, betrayed his own principles-in the name of selfish desires and a quest for power. Those atrocities had left him with an empty soul and bitter self-loathing. I'd loathed him too and swore I was done with him.
Then, things had fallen apart with Seth and me. My world had been torn apart, and I found myself with an empty soul and bitter self-loathing of my own. Seth had inspired me to believe in better things in the world, but all that hope had disappeared with our love. Dante's bleak, cynical outlook seemed more realistic now and more in line with my own worldview. He and I had hooked up, eerily compatible in our mutual despair. I didn't love him, but I liked him.
I poured us glasses of Grey Goose once we were inside. I preferred gimlets but didn't feel like going to the trouble of finding my lime juice. We settled on my couch with our drinks and cigarettes, and I finished up the story of my Canadian misadventures.
"Wow," he said when I was done. "All that because you fucked your therapist?" Unlike Seth, who hadn't liked knowing details about my succubus sex life, Dante took it all in stride.
I shrugged. "Well, I had nothing to do with the vampire gang war last night. But yeah, the rest is on me, I guess. You think they're related?"
He swirled his vodka around. "If you don't think Cedric did it, then probably not. The vampire thing is likely a coincidence. But that Portland demon was right. You probably are being played." There was almost a growl to his words, uncharacteristically protective.
I groaned. "But how? Everyone keeps saying that, yet I only got involved twenty-four-hours ago. How am I being manipulated in some huge affair in so short a time?"
"Because you've walked into something that's been going on for a while. It's not built around you per se, but now you're in it."
I leaned back against the couch and stared bleakly at the ceiling. "I should have never slept with Dr. Davies."
"Was he good?"
"Are you jealous?"
"Nah. Just trying to figure out what turns you on."
"Scathing wit, if present company's any indication."
"Somehow, I'm not convinced that's the allure. Besides, are you saying you're turned on right now?"