Succubus Takes Manhattan by Nina Harper Read Free Book Online Page A

probably he who was the ultimate victim.
    Or maybe not. Marduk, not Meph, had been set up to take the fall. What if the purpose of this whole plot was to discredit and eliminate Marduk, not Meph?
    Could Meph even be behind it? No, I couldn’t believe that. Meph, as CEO of Hell, was certainly capable of such an action, but what would it benefit him? He and Marduk might be rivals, but I had the impression that Meph was just as happy to have Marduk in Budget. He’d called it a boring department more than once, and considered it to be no more than support for his own Operations.
    I was musing over these possibilities so deeply that when someone called my name I jumped.
    “Lily? Is that you, Lily?” The voice was full of pleasure and excitement, the accent was familiar and entirely unexpected. The speaker was a handsome blond man with brilliant blue eyes and a great tan, dressed in Helmut Lang. The very accountant I had thought of for Marduk had just materialized in front of me.
    Marten? What was Marten doing here? He didn’t belong here. He had just been a brief fling in Aruba. How had he managed to get to New York? To this party? I was in shock, and after three thousand years I had thought I was impervious. But I had never, ever, in my wildest imagination thought that I would see Marten again. I gaped at him silently.
    “You didn’t tell me that you were in New York,” I finally mumbled, because I had to say something.
    “This was, hmm, not exactly a planned trip. I was asked to come only yesterday. This is my first experience of your fair city. I have not been cold in two years now, and it is very surprising.”
    Azoked had done this before. She’d misled me. She had warned me, yes, but it wasn’t Nathan she had meant. It was Marten. Who had never been my boyfriend. He had just been a guy who’d picked me up in Aruba and had been a good enough lover that I’d let him live. But the deal was that I left Aruba and it was over. He hadn’t been any more interested in a real relationship than I had been. I’d been in love with Nathan then.
    I was still in love with Nathan.
    But Nathan had dumped me.
    And here was Marten. Hmmmm . . .
     
    “How long are you in town?” I asked.
    “I will be here until Tuesday,” he said. “And I came to this party hoping to see you.”
    “You could have sent e-mail.”
    He shrugged. “You did not give me your address, or even your last name. This is easier.”
    Yes. Easier. Because since we were both here, we knew we were both associated with the Underworld.
    “I am surprised,” I admitted. “I had not thought you were demonkind.”
    “I am not,” he said, and shrugged. “But you are. And I, I have dealings with many demons. I am, what would you say, amicus demoni? ”
    “Really?” I asked. One thing to be a ceremonial magician. But to identify as a demon friend was something very different indeed. Unless it was his English. Or Latin. Or something.
    “But since we are both here, and I will be in town until Tuesday, perhaps you and I could get together?” His grin was close to irresistible. “Perhaps you could steer me to a good place to eat? Or to have fun? You must know the very best of these places.”
    “Sure,” I said, pleased at the prospect. “Where are you staying?”
    “A very interesting boutique hotel—Hotel Gansevoort? It is very new, I think. I love the Dutch name.”
    I managed to bite my tongue before I asked how an accountant could afford one of the hippest hotels in New York. “That hotel has one of the best restaurants in New York, and one of the trendiest clubs.”
    “Then we must go there. I insist! Tomorrow night?” Marten was quite enthusiastic.
    “Well, maybe dinner,” I agreed. “It’s a work night for me, though. I’ve got to be at meetings on Monday morning and we’ve got editorial on Tuesday.”
    Marten raised an eyebrow. “You are a succubus. Surely you do not need to work. Doesn’t Satan take care of you in the finest