A few moments later, reality sunk in. There was no desk or bulletin board of book notes, no teddy bear in a University of Chicago shirt. It was my own dresser that looked back at me, my own tangled pale blue sheets wrapped around my legs.
With a sigh, I clambered out of bed and walked out to the kitchen, wondering what was going on. To my astonishment, it was Roman playing chef at my stove, both cats sitting at his feet—no doubt hoping for a bit of dropped bacon.
“You cook?” I asked, pouring a cup of coffee.
“I cook all the time. You just don’t notice.”
“I notice you heating up a lot of frozen food. What’s all this?”
He shrugged. “I’m starving. You don’t get a lot of time to eat when you’re on stalking duty.”
I eyed the eggs, bacon, and pancakes. “Well, I think you’ll be good to go for the rest of the day. Maybe the next two days. You sure did make a lot,” I added hopefully.
“No need to be coy,” he said, trying to hide a smile. “You can have some.”
This was the best news I’d heard all day. Of course, I’d only been up for five minutes. Then, last night’s events came slamming into me. “Oh, shit.”
Roman glanced up from where he was flipping a pancake. “Hmm?”
“A funny thing happened last night….” I frowned. “Well, not so funny…”
I explained that mystery force’s reappearance last night, as well as my unexpected swim from the other day. Roman listened quietly, the earlier levity rapidly disappearing from his face.
When I finished, he dumped his skillet of eggs into a bowl so hard that the bowl shattered. I took an uneasy step back. “Son of a bitch,” he growled.
“Whoa, hey,” I said. An angry nephilim was nothing I wanted around. “That’s part of a matched set.”
He glared at me, but I knew the anger wasn’t toward me, exactly. “Three times, Georgina. This has happened three fucking times, and I wasn’t around.”
“Why should you be?” I asked in surprise. My surprise then took an odd turn into outrage. “You aren’t my keeper.”
“No, but some entity is invading my home.” I decided not to point out that it was my home. “I should be dealing with that, not chasing some boring succubus for Jerome.”
“Ask, and ye shall receive,” a familiar voice suddenly said. Jerome’s aura washed over us as he materialized by the kitchen table.
“About time,” snapped Roman, that dark look still on his face. “I’ve been waiting forever for you to show up.”
Jerome arched an eyebrow and lit a cigarette. “Forever, huh? It hasn’t even been a week.”
“Feels like it,” said Roman. He handed me a plate of food, and I sat quietly at the table, deciding I should wait for this status report to unfold before delivering my latest problems to Jerome. “You guys should add following Simone to your list of punishments for the eternally damned.”
Jerome smiled and flicked his ashes into a vase of gerbera daisies on my table. I wasn’t thrilled about that, but at least it wasn’t on my floor. “I take it you’ve seen no noteworthy activities? Mei reported the same thing.”
Roman sat down beside me with his own food, setting the plate down with more force than he needed. I winced, but it didn’t break. “She’s done nothing but shop and take victims. Oh, and hit on Mortensen.”
Both of Jerome’s eyebrows rose this time. “Seth Mortensen?”
I started to ask how many Mortensens he knew, but Roman’s next words cut me off. “Yeah, she’s shown up a couple times, attempting some sort of lame seduction.”
My anger started to kindle again and then—
“Wait. A couple times?” I exclaimed. “More than the coffee shop?”
Roman looked at me, a brief glint of apology showing through his angry expression. “Yeah, I didn’t have a chance to tell you. She came to the bookstore while you were out with Maddie yesterday. Very nicely timed with your absence.”
I slammed my fork down on my plate. Really, it was a wonder I had any dishes left. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I kind of didn’t have the chance, seeing as we had bigger problems!”
Jerome had stiffened when Roman mentioned Simone attempting to seduce Seth. The reaction was weird, like he’d been caught by surprise. That was rare for a demon, rarer still for one to show it. Several moments later, he regained his composure, turning his attention to Roman’s comment. “Bigger problems?”
“Georgina’s being stalked,” declared Roman.
“Georgina’s always being stalked.” Jerome sighed. “What is it this time?”
He kept his features neutral, but as we explained the situation, I saw something spark in his eyes…some sort of interest. At the very least, speculation.
Silence fell when Roman and I finished our story. I glanced at him, both of us waiting for my overlord to offer some sort of explanation.
“Your job with Simone is done,” Jerome said at last.
“Thank God,” said Roman.
“You’re going to follow Georgie instead.”
“What?” Roman and I exclaimed in unison.
“Same deal,” added Jerome. “Invisible, no signature. Except when you’re here, of course. Most know you two are roommates. It’d be odd if you disappeared off the face of the earth.”
The last couple times that siren song had shown up, I’d desperately wanted Roman. I should have been glad to have him now, which is why the outrage that followed next was completely irrational.
“But he needs to follow Simone!”
“Oh?” asked Jerome. “Pray tell why? She’s made no contact with anyone from Hell. Either she is here for innocent reasons, or she’s too good at hiding her reports.”
“But…but…she’s following Seth. We need to figure out why!”
“I don’t think it takes a genius to deduce why,” said Jerome dryly.
“We have to stop her, though.”
The demon snorted. “Georgina, do you have any idea how much I don’t care about your ex-boyfriend? There’s more in this universe than your absurd love life—or lack of one.” I flinched. “Especially since he’s sleeping with someone else now. If he’s so in love with her now, Simone shouldn’t be an issue. And don’t glare at me like that,” he added. “You already screwed his soul over when you fucked him last spring. Simone won’t make any difference.”
I gritted my teeth. “I still don’t think—”
“No.” Jerome’s voice was hard, and he was using that tone you didn’t argue with. He turned his attention to Roman. “You’re done with Simone. You’re with Georgie now. Understood?”
Roman nodded, not sharing my outrage. “Understood. Do you know what this is? What’s happening to Georgina?”
“I’ve got a few ideas,” Jerome growled. And like that, he vanished.
“Son of a bitch,” I said.
Roman swallowed a bite of egg and looked remarkably relaxed, compared to his earlier state. “Was that a general statement of frustration or a slander on Jerome?”
“Both. Why do you look so pleased all of a sudden? You were ready to go on a rampage earlier.”
“Because I’m done with Simone. And I get to chase better prey now.”
“And because you don’t care about Seth at all.”
“That too.”
I stared at my food without really seeing it. My appetite was gone. “I need to see him. I need to see her and find out if she’s following him.”
“No good can come of that,” warned Roman.
I didn’t answer. My mood had crashed. I was grateful for Roman’s protection now, but in a lot of ways…well, I wanted to put Seth before myself. I wanted to defend him from…what? Having his life shortened by a succubus? Having his soul further darkened? Or were my motives more selfish…did I just not want him to sleep with another woman? Accepting him and Maddie was hard enough…and yet, if Simone did woo him, would that break up the impending marriage? No, I decided, Seth would stay true to Maddie. He wouldn’t cheat on her. Wouldn’t he? a nasty voice in my head asked. He cheated with you….