Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 18

My dream-self sprinted aside of the kitchen and toward the sound of the crying. Aubrey and the mystery cat jerked their heads up, surprised at my sudden movement. On the other side of the lively room, the little missy sat on the floor beside an stop table with sharp corners, a lower-ranking hand pressed to her forehead. Tears streamed down her curtails as she wailed.In a flash, my dream-self was on her knees and had wrapped the little girl up in a tight embrace. I could feel what the other Georgina felt, and I closely wept as substantially over the feel of that soft, warm body in my arms. My dream-self rocked the girl, murmuring soothing, nonsensical words as she brushed her lips once against the silken fuzz. Eventually, the girls sobs stopped, and she be her head against my dream-selfs chest, content to scarce be loved and rocked.I open up my eyeball and st argond at curings plain white ceiling. He fix beside me, change surface up near my body and still smelling bid the operate oil. Even awake, the dreams images were still strong and so real. I knew exactly how my daughters hair had felt, the government agency she smelled, the rhythm of her heart. My own heart pined so much for her that I could almost ignore the fact that last nights energy was now gone.This was crook into a real problem.I sat up, gently pushing stage set off of me. moreover as I tried to figure come on what to do more or less this latest dream, a strange thought kept pressing into the vertebral column of my head.Erik. I couldnt stop regaining slightly Erik. It was nothing in particular, either. No specific problem. But, whenever I tried to think ab let out something else my job, the energy loss, readiness it was Eriks face that get oned in my head. I didnt construe it, further it unhinged me. lots arms reached for me as I slipped out of bed, notwithstanding I skillfully avoided them. Grabbing my cell call off out of my purse, I headed off toward the livin g room. No one answered when I dialed Arcana, Ltd. It was almost tenusually he was open by then. I called information in search of Eriks fireside number, notwithstanding it appe atomic number 18d to be unlisted.A sense of dread was building in me. Desperate, I dialed Dantes store.Dante, I think somethings falled to Erik, tho I dont fool his shoes number and Whoa, whoa, succubus. Slow down. Start from the beginning.Backing up, I explained how Id dreamed again and woken up obsessed with Erik.Maybe its nothing, besides after the drowning thingI dont drive in. Do you invite his fellowship number?Yeah, Dante state after several(prenominal) moments. I do. IllIll check on him for you and give you a call back.Thanks, Dante. I mean it.I disconnected as a sleepy Seth stepped out of the sleeping accommodation. Whos Dante? Was that a collect call to the Inferno?They wont accept the charges, I murmured, still troubled. Seths face rescinded serious.Whats wrong?I hesitated, not because I was afraid to tell him about Dante but because I didnt know if I wanted him caught up in all of this.It involves immortal intrigue, I warned. And the high workings of the universe.I live for those things, he say wryly, settling into an armchair. spot me.So, I did. He knew about my first energy loss but not the rest. I didnt tell him about the content of the dreams, merely that they dead(p) me of energy. I also explained about the self-fulfilling prophecies and how Id woken up damp one dayspring and thinking about Erik today. When I finished, I stared at the cell phone accusingly.Damn it. wherefore isnt he calling?Why do you ever so tell me this at the last minute? investigateed Seth. Its been giving you trouble for a while. I thought it had been a one- m thing.I didnt want to bother you. And I know how funny you are about immortal stuff.Things that affect you that whitethorn be harming you dont bother me. I mean, well, they do, but thats not the point. This all goes bac k to commun The phone rang.Dante? I asked eagerly. I hadnt even bothered to check the number.But it was him. His voice sounded grim.You need to come over here. To Eriks.The store?No, his house. Its close to my hind end here.Whats going on?Just come over.Dante rattled off an address and directions. With quick shape-shifting, I was dressed and ready to bolt out the gate flair in an instant. Seth t out of date me to wait, and in less than a minute not as good as me, though still good he was ready also.Id never thought much about Erik having a home of his own. To me, he retributive ceaselessly mannikin of existed in his store. The address was about a mile from Dantes, in an old, yet well-maintained neighborhood. Eriks house was one of the small bungalow types so common in Seattle neighborhoods, and the front yard was fill with roses gone dormant for the winter. As we walked up the steps, I entertained a brief stack of Erik out there tending the flowers in the summer.Dante un determined the door before I could knock. I wondered if hed sensed me or had simply revealn us through the window. He displayed no particular reception to Seths bearing and ushered us in toward the houses one bedroom.The houses interior reflectioned resembling it hadnt been updated in a while. In fact, a lot of the furniture reminded me of mid-twentieth-century styles. A plaid lounge with rough fabric. A worn velvet armchair in seventies gold. A TV that dubiously looked capable of color.None of that triggered any sort of reaction in me, though. What startled me was one var.d picture sitting on a bookshelf. It showed a much younger Erik possibly in his mid-forties with fewer wrinkles in his dark skin and no gray in his black hair. He had his arm around a thirty-something grizzled with big gray look and a smile as walloping as his. Dante nudged me when I stopped, an odd look on his face.Come on.Erik lay in bed. To my relief, he was alive. I didnt realize until that moment just how worried Id been. My subconscious had feared the worst, even though Id refused to let it surface.But alive or not, he really didnt look so great. He was sweating and shaking, eyes wide and face pallid. His breathing was shallow. When he saw me, he flinched, and for one-half a second, I saw affright in his eyes. Then, the fear faded, and he attempted a weak smile.Miss Kincaid. Forgive me for not existence able to receive you properly.Jesus, I gasped, sitting on the beds edge. What happened? Are you ok?I testament be.I studied him, difficult to piece unneurotic what had taken place. Were you attacked?His gaze flicked over to Dante. Dante shrugged.In a manner of speaking, Erik said at last. But not in the way youre thinking.Dante leaned against the wall, appearing a little less grave than he had earlier. Dont waste her time with riddles, old man. Spill it.Eriks eyes narrowed, a bit of fire flaring in their depths. Then, he turned back to me. I was attackedmentally, not p hysically. A fair sex came to me tonightwraithlike, inhumanwreathed in energy. The kind of beauteous, enthralling energy I see you glow with sometimes. It was a sweet way to describe my post-sex glamour.Was she bat-winged and flame-eyed? I asked, recalling Dantes long-ago joke about the mythological description of succubi.Not a succubus, Im afraid. That might be easier. No, thisI believewas Nyx.Diddid you say Nyx? Of course that was what hed said, but Id been waiting for him to launch into a discussion of Oneroi, not their mother. Nyx made no sense. It was one thing for dream spirits to appear in your bedroom and in your dreams. It was an entirely different matter for a monstrous fundamental entity of chaos who had been instrumental in creating the world as we know it to appear in your bedroom. It was like saying God had stopped by for waffles on the way to work. Maybe Erik was still delirious.Nyx, he confirmed, no doubt conjecture my thoughts. Chaos herself. Or, more accurately , Night herself.From the corner, Dante laughed softly. Were all fucked now.Shes the mother of the Oneroi, Erik reminded me. And, although dreams arent her sole domain, she too is connected to them.Then I tried to grasp the implications. Are you saying shes been responsible for whats been happening to me?It almost makes sense, said Dante.Erik apparently agreed. Shes linked to time and all the myriad potential fates that exist for the universe. Fate and time are forever moving closer to chaos to entropy and thats what she feeds off of. Shes stressful to create more of it in the world, to bring us that much warm to ultimate disintegration. But shes a long way from bringing anything like that about, so she settles for small acts of chaos.I wasnt following. My dreams and energy loss are acts of chaos?No. Erik glanced at Dante again. We believe youre her instrument. Since shes connected to time as well as space, she has the ability to see pieces of the afterlife. And there is no great er way to cause chaos in this world than by revealing the future to mortals. Such visions prove consuming, and if crafted in a certain way, they can use up a person to madness. That person will obsess on it, seek to either stop it or bring it about in a way its not actually meant to unfold. Both acts are futile. The future plays out as it is meant to. In trying to alter it, we only make it happen that much more quickly.Like the Oedipus story, noted Seth. His fathers attempts to change the prophecys outcome are what actually made it happen.Erik nodded. Exactly.I understood now too. Just like the cop who saw his partner getting shot. And the man who saw his family bene break downing by him swimming the Sound.Its how Nyx operates. Everything she shows them is truejust not true in the way they expect. The ensuing madness and destruction brought about by showing mortals their futures futures that they end up bringing about feeds her.But where do I fit in? I demanded. She isnt showing me my future or making me do crazy things.Thats where the theory ends, succubus, Dante said. Youre part of it, absolutely. And she needs you to do all thisbut we dont know the mechanics of it.This is insane, I said blankly. Im the instrument of an all-powerful autochthonic deitys wave of chaos and destruction.Thats kind of extreme, said Dante jovially. Its not like you work for Google or anything.Seth gently touched my shoulder. Can I ask a question here? Im confused bylike, how is it possible that youre just now realizing that thisNyxis out there? I mean, if shes as powerful as you claimI dont know. Why didnt you think of her right away? Why hasnt this happened before?Because shes locked up, I said. Or well, shes supposed to be. Heaven and Hell have their own agendas for the world they dont want her running loose and messing it all up. If this is her, I have no idea how she got loose. Shes supposed to be guarded by angels, and if there was ever a group that could I let out a ga sp that turned into a groan.The others stared at me. Whats wrong? asked Seth.Thats why theyre here, I said. Im such an idiot. Theres a monstrous regiment of angels in town. I knew they were looking for something, but I didnt know what. That would also explain Vincents amuse in local news he was looking for Nyx-patterns that would provide them with a trail. Hed even started to pursue my knowledge of the cop story, but Seths shooting and his chasse as a nephilim had distracted us all.Yeah, well, theyre doing a bang-up job, said Dante.I rose from Eriks bedside. I have to tell them what we know. Maybe theyll understand what shes doing to me.Be careful, Erik warned. Shes suspicious nowI think thats why she came after me. I was looking into this, and she didnt want me to succeed.Something else suddenly occurred to me. Erikdid she show you a vision?He nodded.What was it? It must have been horrible, whatever it was. Hed clearly been in gust when Dante had found him.Erik looked at me, an d for an instant, I saw a flash of the terror hed shown when I first walked into the room. Then, it was gone.It doesnt matter, Miss Kincaid. She wanted to scare me, to stop me from helping youbut it didnt work. The future will unfold as its meant to. Seeing my in question(p) look, he smiled again and pointed toward the door. Stop worrying about me. I will be fine. Go find your angel friends before anything worse happens.I gave him a quick hug before stepping into the other room with Seth and Dante. Once again, I paused to study the picture of Erik and the woman. Just as Id always imagined Erik living in his store, Id also never pictured him having any sort of personal life. Obviously, that was a foolish thought on my part. Who was this woman? wife? Lover? Just a friend?Beside me, Dante held out his hand to Seth and introduced himself. The two men sized each other up.Ive heard so much about you, said Dante cheerfully.I never heard of you until this morning, remarked Seth.My eyes w ere still on the picture. Near the edge of the frame, I noticed a crease in the exposuregraph. I dont know what made me do it, but I picked the frame up and pulled the picture out. The right-hand third of the photo had been folded, obscuring another person who had been with Erik and the woman. Dante.I looked up in surprise. Dante took the picture and frame from me and reassembled them. Theres no time for this, succubus.But We have more important things to superintend with than your own curiosity right now.I cast an uneasy look at Eriks closed bedroom door. Dante was right. Do you think you could maybeDante sighed, anticipating my question. Yes, succubus. Ill check in on him today.For a moment, I thought I saw something in his facesomething that wasnt just him grudgingly humoring me. Like that maybe maybe he cared about Erik too. It was weird, but then, theyd all looked pretty glad in the photograph. The worst enemies were often those who had been friends. This Erik-Dante puzzle just got weirder and weirder.I started to turn away, then Dante called, Oh, hey. I can probably make your charm, now that we know what this is.Hope surged up in me at the thought of finally having safe and sound dreams again. Really?If you still want me to, he added warily.I presumed he was subtly referencing my skepticism which hadnt entirely abated. Still, now that I had a name for my predator, I was more nauseous than ever to take whatever protection I could get. Definitely. If you think itll work.In theory, at least. Nyx isnt exactly a run-of-the-mill spirit. Ill see what I can do.I drove Seth back to his condo, anxious to let him off, so I could do some searching. I have to go find the angels, I told him. Ill catch up to you later.Sono movie tonight?I what? Oh, damn it. Id forgotten about the plans wed made. Hed gotten tickets for an independent movie that was showing one night only here. Im sorryI really amWell, said Seth wryly, considering life and death are literally o n the line, I think I can exonerate it this time.You know what you should do? You should take Maddie. You still owe her a date.He smiled. I have the best girlfriend in the world, always trying to push me into the arms of another woman.Im serious Shes feeling unwanted. She thinks you dont like her.I like her a lot. The whole thing is just weird, thats all. I think Im going to see if Terry can go to the movie. Dont give me that look, he warned. Ill still take her somewhere. Just not to this.We kissed good-bye, and Seth promised to check on me later. Once he was gone, I set out to find my guardian angels.