I shivered. "Can you destroy it?"

Vincent nodded. "You want me to?"

A tiny part of me remembered that it had the ability to repel Nyx. But it wouldn't make her disappear, and we needed her to come back if we were going to stop her for good. Swallowing, I nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."

It took only a few seconds. Green light encased the wicker sphere, then Vincent's hand was empty. I'd felt no change in power or anything, but the nephilim looked relieved.

I exhaled. "Well. There's nothing to stop her now, huh?"

"Nope," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Get ready."

CHAPTER 22

Seth wasn't at the bookstore the next day, which I took as a bad sign. It was usually his passive-aggressive reaction to whenever we had a fight.

I thought about him a lot while I worked, thinking of that awful blowout. We'd had a lot of uncomfortable talks in our time together, but we'd never had anything like that. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what about it bothered me—aside from the obvious—but I kept feeling like it was a pivotal moment, something that was going to have long-reaching effects. It scared me, and I wanted to fix things.

And, of course, there was Nyx to worry about. I was going to find a victim after work, and then Vincent said the angels would come while I was asleep—when Nyx made her move.

"You okay?"

I looked up from the stack of checks I was signing in my office. Maddie stood there in a black pencil skirt and fitted white blouse that made her look super amazing. She'd worn her hair down too.

"Wow," I said. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing," she said, with a shrug. "Wardrobe overhaul." She lifted one foot, revealing three-inch black heels.

"Holy shit," I said. "You don't do anything in halves."

She beamed, and I noticed something about her that had nothing to do with the new clothes. There was joy in her eyes—a happiness that made her confident and even more radiant. She was a far cry from the bitter woman who'd shown up at the auction.

"What's going on?" I asked, not fixating on myself for the first time today.

Her grin widened, revealing her phantom dimple. A moment later, she turned more serious. "I'll tell you later. My news is good. But you…what's the matter? You look awful."

Yasmine had said the same thing last night. It really was a sad day when a succubus couldn't stay on top of her game. I shook my head.

"It's…complicated." I offered a weak smile. "I'll deal with it, don't worry. Now, come on. I'd rather hear something cheerful. Tell me what's going on."

"Can't. They need me out there. I just came to drop these off." She set a stack of papers on my desk. They practically melted into the other stacks I already had. My office was so chaotic, it could have been a lair for Nyx in and of itself.

"Come on, the suspense is going to drive me crazy," I teased.

"Well…you think you can give me a lift to the airport tomorrow? I'm going home for Christmas."

"You taking Doug with you?"

"Nope. He's your holiday gift. But I'll give you the scoop then if you can give me a ride. I'd probably need to leave around five."

"Five o'clock traffic on the Friday before Christmas. We're going to have a lot of time to talk."

A bit of her normal nervousness reappeared. "If it's a problem…"

"Nope. We're closing early anyway. We'll go then."

Maddie left, and I found myself momentarily distracted by whatever her news could be. Whatever it was, it was a good thing. I liked the change it had brought about. That sort of happiness and confidence suited her.

My thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. I answered and found Seth on the other end.

"Hey," I said, hoping I sounded cool and confident and not desperate and relieved.

"Hey." A long pause followed. "I…just…wanted to make sure we were on for Christmas."

My heart sank. No: "I've missed you." No: "I'm sorry."

"Sure. Wouldn't miss it."

Thinking about Christmas. I experienced a weird sense of déjà vu. We'd also been with his brother on Thanksgiving. And like now, we'd also been fighting. There it was again: my life, the endless loop. You aren't learning. You aren't changing.

Of course, Seth and I had patched up the other fight. Maybe that kind of resolution would repeat itself too. After all, holidays were supposed to be magic, right?

"Okay," he told me. "I'll pick you up."

"Okay."

Another long pause. "I'd come by today, but…well. The book…"

The book. Always the book. Then again, I was busy with chaos deities today. "Yeah, I know. It's fine."

"We'll talk on Christmas."

"Okay."

We hung up. A chill ran through me. There it was again. I had no gift for premonition, but an inner instinct—one that had nothing to do with Nyx's visions of the future—told me there was something big coming.

After work, I drove over to Bellevue, Seattle's richest and most pretentious suburb. A city in its own right, Bellevue was pretty much the polar opposite of SeaTac. Hotels, restaurants, and shopping were continually being added to its downtown strip, and the influx of money from Boeing and Microsoft was steadily replacing older, plain buildings with sleeker and more stylish architecture.

Bellevue was also home to a guy I knew named Kevin. I'd met him years ago in a bar. There was nothing overly extraordinary about Kevin. He was neither a sinner nor a saint, instead occupying some happy ground in the middle that yielded a decent amount of energy whenever I slept with him. His most notable trait was that he was perpetually available. He worked at home—some Web business, I believed—and never seemed to go out, despite being good-looking and sociable. I didn't question that too much, though, because it suited my purposes whenever I needed quick and easy sex with someone I didn't completely loathe.

"Sandra," he said happily, opening the door of his condo for me. He had dark brown hair and a closely trimmed, very new beard that I approved of. Dark brown eyes regarded me with amusement. "Been a while."

My "Sandra" form had a petite build similar to the one I usually wore. After that, the resemblance ended. My hair was now curly and black, my eyes a blue that looked violet sometimes. Underneath my long black coat, I wore a sleeveless navy blue dress that fit snugly and was far too skimpy for this kind of weather.

"It has been," I agreed. "Does that mean you aren't going to let me in?"

He smiled and stepped back, grandly waving me inside. "What, do you think I'm crazy or something? Only an idiot would turn you away."

I followed Kevin down the hall and into his living room. He'd redecorated since the last time I was here, and the change was nice. The furniture and décor were now all done in shades of a grayish blue that reminded me of winter twilights. A fireplace crackled on one side of the room, and a large bay window looked out to another set of condos. I draped my coat over a chair and smoothed miniscule wrinkles out of the dress.

"You want something to drink?" he asked, hands in his pockets.

I shook my head. "I don't have much time."

He gave me a rueful smile. "You never do. You know, sometimes I feel used."

"Is that a problem?"

"Problem?" he asked with a snort. "A beautiful woman who wants to have sex with me and no commitments? Hardly a problem." He took a few steps toward me. "Use me all you want."

He came closer still, and we met in a kiss. No delay, no preamble. I wrapped my arms around his neck and parted my lips, eager to feel him and taste him. His hands rested on my hips for a moment, then slid upward. He caught my dress's straps and pulled them down, baring my breasts and still kissing me the whole time. Pushing forward, he pressed me against the wall, near the fireplace. I felt its heat against the bare skin of my legs. His hands cupped my breasts, thumbs sliding to my nipples and squeezing them. He varied the intensity, sometimes hard and sometimes gentle.