"I don't know," I said helplessly, still a little stunned by Andrea's words. "Maddie said he'd packed up, and I figured you guys were keeping his location a secret from her." I eyed them suspiciously. "And me?"

"No," said Terry. "We really don't know." I didn't have an angel's talent, but I believed he was telling the truth.

Andrea nodded in agreement. "He just called us a couple days ago and said he'd ended things. Didn't give any explanation-but well, you know how he is. He doesn't explain much anyway. Then, when Maddie and no one else had seen him, we started to get worried."

A couple days ago. Seth had ended things with her a couple days ago-when the whole soul retrieval gig had gone down.

"We actually tried calling you," added Terry. "But never got an answer."

"Ah, yeah. I've been sick this week too." Eyeing Andrea-who looked exhausted-I suddenly felt bad for taking up any more of their time. "Look, I should go. Thanks for the info. Will you...let me know if you hear from him?"

Andrea smiled again. "Something tells me you'll hear from him before we do."

I wasn't as confident. Leaving the house was a little tricky since the other girls didn't want me to go, but I managed to escape their adorable clutches at last and make a break for it. I was walking toward my car when a voice said, "She's sick, you know."

I turned, startled, and saw Brandy standing near a gate that led to their backyard. She had the same sullen look about her she'd had for so long. "Hey," I said in greeting. "Where'd you come from?"

"I was around. I heard you talking to Mom and Dad."

I replayed Brandy's initial words. "Your mom...you mean she's sick, right? I could tell."

"No, I mean she's really sick. She's really sick, and they won't talk about it." Brandy gave a nod toward the front door. "No one else knows. Not even Uncle Seth knows just how sick she is."

A chilly breeze stirred dried leaves around my feet, but it was nothing compared to the cold starting to fill me. "Just how sick are we talking, Brandy?"

Brandy scuffed her feet against the driveway, eyes averted. "She has ovarian cancer. It's bad...but they're still trying to figure out just how bad it is."

"She was going to the doctor that day I was here," I recalled aloud. Andrea had been so bright and cheery, I'd assumed something routine was going on. I also realized I hadn't technically been here; I'd seen it in a dream. Fortunately, Brandy was too distracted to notice my slip.

"She's been at the doctor a lot. Dad's missing tons of work. Uncle Seth's helped out sometimes, and I've been babysitting all the time."

I suddenly felt incredibly selfish. I'd been assuming Brandy's moodiness was all over me and Seth breaking up. But that was only a symptom of the larger problem. Her mother was dangerously ill, and every part of her world was destabilizing. Her own life was probably being put on hold to watch her sisters, and even something like her uncle's romantic life could ripple what she'd regarded as the norm. All the constants in her world were disappearing.

"Brandy, I-"

"I have to go," she interrupted, heading back toward the gate, face stony. "Kayla'll be up from her nap soon. I'm supposed to keep an eye on her today."

Brandy disappeared around the corner before I could say anything. I stood there, feeling lost. I didn't know who I felt worse for: Brandy and Terry for knowing what was going on or the little girls for being oblivious. I felt bad enough for myself because there was nothing I could do. There was never anything I could do. I had powers beyond human imaginings, but they were nothing that could actually help humans.

I drove downtown with a heavy heart, trying hard-and failing-not to overreact. Brandy herself had said things were bad but that they were still learning the extent of it. Surely there were more tests, tests that would give some hope. And surely there was treatment. Humans could do that much on their own.

Jerome was where I'd hoped he'd be. Really, I decided, the Cellar was nearly as good as him having an office. Carter was by his side at the back table, both of them doing shots from a bottle of Jagermeister. Those two didn't discriminate among their liquor. I wondered if they were drinking away the hardships of the other day or toasting their success over it.

It must have been the latter because Jerome almost smiled when he saw me. "Georgie, out among the living and back to your petite self. Yet...so blue. Blue like always."

Yes, they'd been drinking. Angels and demons could sober up at will, and he was apparently indulging in the full effects.

"I got some bad news," I said, sitting opposite them.

"What, about losing Mortensen?" asked Jerome.

"How do you know about that?"

"I talked to Roman. He recapped your day-the old man checking in, you comforting your romantic rival...it was quite moving."

I scowled. "Great. You have Roman spying on me."

"It's not spying. I just demand answers from him. If it makes you feel better, he's never very happy to give up those answers."

"How often do you do it?" I asked incredulously.

"Not that often." A waiter set down a new bottle. "Mostly I wanted to see how you were recovering post-dream."

"Fine. I'm fine." I glanced at Carter. "No comments from you today?"

"Leave me out of this," he replied. "I'm just drinking." So he said, but he was also watching and listening very carefully. He was not letting the alcohol affect him.

I turned back to Jerome. "I've come to call in my favor."

The dark amusement in his eyes turned to suspicion. "What favor?"

"The one you promised me for helping save you from Grace, remember?"

Yes, no amusement at all anymore. "I just rescued you from another plane of existence from creatures who were torturing your mind."

I flinched but pushed on with my words. "You promised a favor, and I didn't call it in for that. Besides, you would have done it anyway so that you wouldn't get in trouble."

"That favor offer was brought on by the drama at the time," he countered. "I probably said all sorts of things."

"You promised," I repeated.

"I can understand you just fine without putting italics in your voice, Georgie," he snapped.

"You did, though," pointed out Carter. Demons could lie-and did-but certain deals they were bound to. Jerome had said he'd grant me a favor out on the beach, and it had been a true promise.

"Fine," he said irritably, gesturing for another shot. "What is it you want? And I don't have to grant it if it's something totally unreasonable."

"I want to know-"

"Careful," interrupted Carter.

I paused, and Jerome glared at the angel. Carter offered no other insight, but those gray eyes were still watchful-and cautious. Which was what I needed to be. Jerome had promised me a favor, and like all demons, he would try to find as many loopholes in it as possible. I had been about to ask where Seth was, but that wouldn't necessarily do me any good. I wouldn't be able to get to Seth.

"I want you to send me to Seth so I can spend a few days with him."

Jerome studied me, expression shrewd. "There's a couple problems. One is that you've kind of asked for two things. The other is that I'm not omniscient. I don't know where he is."

"You can find out," I said. "At least, if he's flown anywhere, you can find out."

Seth packing indicated serious travel. Maddie had said his car was still at the house, meaning he hadn't driven somewhere. If he had, he'd be harder to track. But airports had records, and Hell had its hand in that kind of thing. Jerome could easily get an imp or lesser demon to access Sea-Tac's records this week and see where Seth had gone. I probably could have asked Hugh to do it, but that wouldn't have gotten me leave to actually go to Seth, hence my wording.

"And we both know it'd be stupid for you to send me right there and right back. Asking for a few days makes it worthwhile or else it's a shitty favor."

"Debatable," Jerome replied.

"It could be worse," said Carter. "She didn't ask for world peace or anything."

"Stay out of this," returned the demon. "I know what you want."

Carter shrugged and ordered another drink.

"Fine," said Jerome at last. "I'll have Hugh check travel records. You know there might not be a paper trail."

"I know. But if you find him?"

"Then you can go to him. For now, go home. You're ruining my good mood. I'll find you if there's news."

I didn't need to be told twice. "Soon," I said. "You have to search soon."

Jerome's lips quirked. "You didn't put that into the wording."

Carter elbowed him, and I had to take it on faith that Jerome would act in a timely manner. My words had implied that I wanted to be where Seth was now. One could argue that waiting meant Seth would change locations, meaning I couldn't have what I wanted. I also had to believe that Carter had a point in saying this was a relatively easy favor. I could have demanded more.

Simple or not, it was hard to wait to hear back. Roman was gone when I returned to my condo, and I had nothing to do but ruminate. I'd given myself a leave of absence at work and didn't regret it. Still, being alone with my thoughts was never a good thing, and I had far too many to trouble me: the Oneroi, Seth, Andrea...

"Okay, Georgie."

It was four hours later when Jerome appeared in my living room with a pop.

I sagged in relief. "You found him?"

"I did."

"And you'll send me to him-for a worthwhile amount of time?"

"Three days," the demon said. He sounded irritable and impatient. I'd wondered if he'd been drinking this entire time and was angry at the interruption. "I want you back here in seventy-two hours, and you're on your own as to how you do it. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said eagerly. "Just send me to him." I had to talk to him. I had to find out exactly what had happened. I had to make sure he was okay.

"And that settles the favor. Agreed?"

"Agreed," I said. There was power in that word, just as there had been in Jerome's initial promise. I could ask for nothing else.

"Then go," he said.

I vanished from my living room......and reappeared on a busy sidewalk. People swarmed around me, none of them seeming to notice I'd appeared out of thin air. The sun was on its way down, but the sky was bright and clear-and hot. Very hot. The masses around me were dressed in beach clothes and had the feel of tourists. I stepped out of their path and found myself standing in front of a large, resort-type hotel.

The abrupt change in location-and discomfort of teleportation-had left me disoriented, and I needed to get my bearings. Taking in more of my surroundings, I could hear people speaking in both Spanish and English. I turned to the closest person near me, a short, deeply tanned man in a hotel uniform who was directing taxis around the building's driveway.

I started to ask where I was and decided that would be a little too stupid sounding. I pointed at the hotel and asked him what its name was. I knew tons of languages perfectly, and Spanish rolled off my lips easily.

"El Grande Mazatlan, senorita," he replied.

Mazatlan? This time, I did ask a stupid question: "Estoy in Mexico?"

He nodded, giving me the are-you-crazy look I'd expected. It was probably made worse by my jaw dropping.

Well, I supposed if you were going to run away, you should run away somewhere warm.

Chapter 22.

I wandered into the hotel, still a bit stunned by the situation I found myself in. Seth was...in Mexico. Presuming Jerome was holding true to his bargain, of course. I had to believe he was, but the question was if he'd actually sent me near Seth. That was a wording in my request that could be blurred a little. Glancing up at the hotel, I hoped Jerome's minions had gone as far as to search local hotels for Seth's name when they tracked the plane ticket. With a quick smile to the man who'd helped me, I headed toward the hotel's entrance.

In a place that catered to so many tourists, plenty of the staff spoke English, not that it mattered much to me. I went to the front desk, asking if they had a guest named Seth Mortensen. The woman working there looked it up, and when she found him in their computer, I caught my breath. He was here. I'd really found him.

Well, kind of. When I asked her for his room number, she told me the hotel couldn't disclose that information. She could, however, connect me to his room. I hesitated before accepting. If Seth truly didn't want to be found, he might change his hotel or even city once he knew I'd located him. Still, I didn't necessarily have any other way to get in touch, so I let the woman connect me. It did no good. There was no answer.

Thanking her, I headed out to the back of the resort, figuring I'd walk off my frustration and hopefully clear my thoughts as I determined my next course of action. The pool and beach stretching out behind the building were intended for guests only, but it was easy enough to slip past security. I even took the opportunity, when briefly alone in a hall, to shape-shift into more appropriate clothing: a red bikini and sarong.

Outside, the heat hit me once again, and I paused, letting the sun soak into me. The time zone wasn't far off from Seattle's here, but even in early evening, the temperature was intense-which I loved. Beyond the pool and its bars, I could see a stretch of soft golden sand curving around blue, blue water. Still not as vivid as what I'd grown up with, but beautiful nonetheless. Lounge chairs and cabanas were scattered along the beach as sunseekers tried to grasp the last of the day's rays.

I walked toward it, hoping to find a chair of my own and maybe a mai tai. If I wasn't going to find Seth right away, I might as well- There he was.

I came to an abrupt halt, nearly causing a young, giggling couple to walk into me and spill their drinks. I couldn't believe it. God might work in mysterious ways, but Hell worked in efficient ones.

I murmured apologies to the couple and started toward Seth, stopping again after a few more steps. What would I do? What would I say? Seth had broken an engagement and fled from everyone he knew. Now, here I was, intruding on his escape. I'd run through a few mental scenarios but hadn't decided on anything concrete. With a deep breath, I decided to just push forward and wing it.

I came up behind his chair, my shadow falling over him as I grew closer. He lay sprawled out in shorts and a Tootsie Pops T-shirt. A drink that looked suspiciously alcoholic sat by his side, and he was reading a book whose cover I couldn't see from this angle. Once more, I halted, confused over how I felt.

"The perfume," he said without warning. "Even out here, I can smell it. I'd know you anywhere. Tuberose and incense."

I walked around, coming to stand off to his right side. I put my hands on my hips. "You don't seem surprised to see me."

He took off his sunglasses and studied me, one of those small, amused smiles on his face. "I am...and I'm not. I thought I did a good job of disappearing. But I knew if anyone did find me, it would be you."

"Because I'm well connected?"

"Because you're you."

Searching for a clear spot of sand, I lowered myself to sit, but Seth scooted over on his lounge chair and indicated the space beside him. Hesitating only a moment, I sat next to where he lay, looking over him as our legs touched. He reached for his drink-a peach-colored monstrosity with enough sliced fruit for a salad in it-and took a sip.