Jerome was waiting for me in my apartment as soon as I stepped through the door.
“You have some nerve,” he growled.
I set my suitcase down. Normally that tone of voice would have set me hiding, but I was in no mood to listen to him now after my long drive—or rather, lack of a drive. There’d been an accident that had put traffic at a standstill, and I’d sat in my car for a very long and very annoying time.
“Look, Cedric told me to,” I said, crossing my arms as though they might actually shield me from him. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You’re not supposed to do what he says.” Jerome sat on the arm of my couch and flicked his cigarette over a nearby ashtray, which I took as a great courtesy on his part. “You’re supposed to do what I say.”
“He told me to go home. He didn’t have anything for me to do until the Satanists had their breakfast meeting.”
Jerome’s glare momentarily faltered. “What are you talking about?”
“What are you talking about? I’m talking about Cedric sending me home early.”
“And I’m talking about your failure to notify me of his little stunt last night.”
Last night? I racked my brain. Last night I’d been killing time shopping and destroying a man’s self-esteem. To my knowledge, Cedric had done nothing after I left except continue his quest to destroy Wikipedia’s informative empire.
“What’d he do?” I asked. “I didn’t even see him.”
Jerome didn’t answer right away, his face thoughtful. I realized then he was reassessing his initial anger. It wasn’t my early return that had upset him.
“There was a vampire brawl last night,” he said finally. “Somehow, a few of them thought their hunting ground lines had been rearranged. So they started roaming into others’ areas…”
“…and bad things ensued.” Vampires were as territorial as demons in some ways. Vampires had specific areas that they guarded to stalk victims and were very touchy about other vampires using them. The archdemon of a region usually drew up vampiric lines and enforced them through force and will.
“Unfortunately, yes. Grace and Mei are still sorting it out.”
A panicked thought suddenly struck me. “Are Cody and Hugh okay?”
He shrugged. “A little bruised and battered, but nothing that won’t heal on its own.”
My fear was unfounded, of course. Lesser immortals, like vampires and succubi, couldn’t kill each other, and we healed extremely quickly. Still, the instinct to worry about my friends was one that would never leave me. “Why were you yelling at me over this? I certainly didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Because the vampires who thought they’d been reassigned got official notification that said they had: a stamped and sealed demonic missive. They thought it was from me.”
“But it wasn’t,” I guessed, seeing where he was going with this. Jerome had the area comfortably parceled out and would have no desire to change the status quo. He was too lazy. “There was no name?”
“No, clearly. But they don’t need it—not if the seal is good. It was, and only another demon could have drawn something like that up.”
“And so you assumed Cedric did it,” I finished.
Jerome nodded. “Yes, and I’m going to let him know exactly what I think of this. I’m not happy over that—or you slacking off in reporting his activities to me.”
“You’re giving my spying ability more credit than I deserve here,” I warned. “It’s kind of limited. He’s not really sharing his inner secrets with me, and anyway, he already knows that’s what you want me to do.”
“Of course he does.”
I sighed. “Look, if you want my opinion…” The look Jerome gave me suggested he really didn’t put a lot of stock in my opinion. “…I don’t think Cedric’s the type to do anything like that. He’s more interested in Web surfing.”
“After all this time with demons, you really should know better than that, Georgie.” Jerome smashed his cigarette into the ashtray and stood up.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, you sound just like Nan—” I frowned. His wording had tickled a memory. “Oh, I do have some info for you. Cedric was meeting with Nanette.”
Jerome had been straightening his sleeve, but his head jerked toward me at the mention of the archdemoness’s name. “Nanette?” The word was carefully enunciated, icy in its tone.
I relayed what I knew. Jerome’s face grew dark as I spoke. Whatever his thoughts on the new development were, however, he didn’t share them with me. “Looks like you might be doing your job after all.” He paused. “But why are you back?”
“There’s nothing to do until Saturday. Cedric sent me home.” I held my breath, waiting for him to blow up, but it didn’t come.
“Well, seeing as you aren’t being too much of a bitch for a change, I suppose that’s okay.” By that wording, I was apparently still being kind of a bitch.
Jerome vanished.
Aubrey immediately came out from behind the couch, giving me the censuring look cats always give owners who have been away for a while. I knelt down and scratched her chin. She was solid white with a few black specks on her forehead, often giving the impression that she couldn’t keep her head clean.
“Yeah, I know,” I told her. “Believe me, I don’t want to go back there either.”
Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was dinnertime. Too early to see the vampires quite yet, particularly since the days were getting longer. I’d have to wait until after sunset to get their version of the bloodsucking showdown. I gave Aubrey a few more conciliatory pats and then straightened up to call Dante. He didn’t answer, and I wondered if he actually had a customer for a change. When not concocting vile spells, he made his living giving fake Tarot and palm readings. I left a message, telling him I was back.
With time on my hands, I started fretting about Emerald City. I knew the bookstore really could function without me, but the motherly instinct kicked in nonetheless. And since I did have the time, I decided to go over and check on things.
As expected, all was well. It was almost seven, and people on their way home from work were stopping in to pick up things. Business was steady but not crazy.
“Georgina! You’re back.”
I’d been watching the registers from a distance and turned to see Maddie standing behind me, lugging a cardboard display for a new book coming out tomorrow. I smiled. No matter how hard things had been for me with her and Seth, there was something about her bright, open personality that could lighten dark moods.
“For a while. I just wanted to check on things.”
She grinned back. “That’s just like you. Get time off, and come back to work. How are things? Still crazy?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, a little. But it’s nothing I can’t manage. I’m hoping it’ll improve soon.”
“Is it something that might improve with a drink?” She wore a mischievous look, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Only if I’m drinking alone. You’re still here for a couple more hours.”
“Nope. I had to come in early to cover someone, so Janice is going to close.”
It was always nice if a manager could close, but Janice was certainly competent enough. I hesitated. I’d been avoiding Maddie since Christmas, but before Seth, I’d always really liked her a lot. We’d had a lot of good times together, and our personalities