Richelle Mead - Succubus Heat

It took a little less than two hours to get there. We'd accidentally left the atlas at home but had all but memorized the directions anyway, which were straightforward. When we'd almost reach the park where the aforementioned rock was, I had the sense to call Peter and tell him not to go outside.

"You think I'm stupid?" he asked. "I know as well as you the stasis is about to end."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But it might not end like you're thinking." We disconnected.

"This is it, isn't it?" asked Seth. A sign directed us to the beach's parking lot, and I turned toward it.

"Yeah, I think so." I could feel myself starting to panic. "God, I'm afraid…I don't know what'll happen…" Seth reached over and patted my shoulder.

"Easy, Thetis. This'll end the way it's supposed to. Do what you have to do, and we'll manage the best we can."

I parked the car and looked over at him. So much burned between us, it was a wonder it didn't suffocate Roman. Seth was right. This was the end, and we would face it and do what needed to be done, no matter how hard. That was one of the wonderful things about Seth. He knew what the right thing was. We got out of the car.

Seth and I headed off down the beach, hand in hand. It was low tide, and the receding waters had revealed a landscape that had almost as much gravel as sand. Once you moved farther inland, though, the terrain turned green and grassy-probably the result of park maintenance crews. Semiahmoo Bay itself stretched off into a dark, choppy vastness that would have probably been blue and beautiful on a nicer day. Heavy gray clouds obscured most of the land surrounding the far sides of the bay, and I thought I heard a rumble of thunder, something that wasn't so common in the mild Pacific Northwest. I hoped we'd find what we needed soon because it looked like a storm was about to break out. Ah, metaphor.

Seth interrupted my ponderings. "That," he said, "is a white rock."

I came to a halt, turning my attention from the larger panorama to the path in front of me. There, about eighty feed ahead of us, was a white rock-a huge, white rock. And from the looks of it, Evan hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said it was about five hundred tons.

"I kind of feel stupid wasting my time with scraps of white gravel," I mused, brushing hair out of my eyes. The wind promptly whipped it back.

"It was so obvious…and yet not. Shall we?"

I nodded, and we approached the rock, our steps filled with both eagerness and apprehension. After all this time and all the failed efforts, it didn't seem possible that we'd really done it. Something was going to happen. Something had to happen.

"Whoa," I breathed, staring up at the rock's top when we reached it. It was so massive that it covered us in shadows. "I can see why people thought this came from the gods."

Seth was looking down. "Unfortunately, we've got to direct our attention to less lofty places. How are we supposed to find this? Just dig at random?"

If Seth and I were alone, that would have been the method. Now, I was hoping Roman would reveal some insight about where the vessel was-if it was even here. A small part of me panicked that us ending up here might have been the biggest misdirection of all.

I scanned the ground around the rock, but there was nothing indicative of a recent digging. On a beach like this, all of the ground was uneven. "Something like that," I said, needing Roman to pick up on his cue.

Seth had let go of my hand when we reached the rock, but now he caught hold of it again and pulled me to him. "Georgina…"

I dragged my eyes from the ground and met his. My adrenaline was up, ready for the conclusion to this adventure…and yet, my heart was heavy, knowing what the consequences of this would be. I squeezed Seth's hands and stepped closer, resting my head against his chest. His heart beat heavy within. No doubt his emotions were tangled up as well.

"I know," I said softly. "I feel the same way."

He held me tight and kissed my forehead. "When we find Jerome…when you free him…it'll go quickly, won't it?"

"Yeah. I don't know how long it'll take, but…well, I think it'll be pretty fast. That's how it was when he was taken."

"And that's it."

"I guess."

We stood there, both of us hurting and confused. I didn't think anything could be worse than when Seth had forcibly ended things back in December. I understood now that he'd done it because he thought it would be for the greater good, but it still smarted. And this…this was a pain of a different type. When Seth and I first kissed back at my apartment, I thought this could all be a vacation for me, just as it was for the vampires. Seth would be my sunshine, something I could have a brief fling with before returning to my dreary immortality. I could take the memories with me, and that would be enough.

Only now, standing with him, I realized it wouldn't be enough. It would only hurt more now, knowing exactly what I could never have again. I would never make love with Seth again, never have these intimate moments of comfort and rapport. He wasn't mine anymore. He never could be again.

"I don't know what to do," Seth said, kissing my forehead.

"What do you mean? We don't have a choice."

"We always have a choice, Thetis. After this, even when you're a succubus again…I don't know. I wanted so badly to protect you from all the world's hurts. I still do. But after being with you this last week, I'm starting to wonder if-"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Seth and I looked up in surprise. I would have expected Roman to come bust up our romantic interlude or maybe even Grace, in defense of her prize. What I was not expecting, however, was Dante.

I didn't know where he'd come from. He stepped around the side of the rock like he'd been lurking behind it, but I suspected he'd just walked up to us unnoticed in our moment of lovers' angst. Anger radiated off him, and his eyes were as dark and stormy as the sea beyond us. And as soon as I saw him, I needed no drawn-out questioning, no build-up to a revelation. I didn't need to ask what he was doing there because I suddenly knew.

"You're the summoner," I said.

"Of course." There was a dismissive tone to his voice as he said that, like it was an insult that anyone else could have played that role. "Who else? I wasn't kidding when I told you I was the best in the area. I can't honestly believe you never even considered me. No, scratch that. Of course I can believe that. No matter how jaded or sorrowful you get, there's still that Pollyanna piece of you that wants to believe the best in those you care about."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I said, feeling my own anger grow. Being played this whole time was bad enough. But being played by my own boyfriend? Unacceptable. And yet…he was right. It had been stupid of me not to consider him, yet I couldn't believe he would have subjected me to all this torment.

"It is a bad thing. I was hoping I could break you of it, but I guess not." His eyes flicked to Seth's face and then back to mine. "Of course, I can't really talk about naïveté since you were screwing me over this whole time. Or, well, screwing him."

There wasn't really anything I could respond with. I could hardly say, "It's not what you think," because…well, it was exactly what he thought. Regardless of his role in Jerome's summoning, the fact remained that I had cheated on Dante, and I'd been caught.

"I'm sorry," I said lamely, my hand still clutching Seth's tightly. He'd taken a step forward. He wasn't blocking me from Dante, but there was definitely a protective stance going on.

"Yes, yes, I know." Dante gave an exasperated sigh. "Damn it, Georgina. What does it take with you? I never gave you shit about your job. I was trying to make a good life for us. And yet…you still went back to him . As soon as you could fuck him without hurting him, you jumped right on it."