Succubus Takes Manhattan Read Online Free Page B

off the new shoes that had been packed down with stacks of proof sheets.
    She seemed to take no notice of my rudeness, but licked her whiskers and her fingers (which were surprisingly human looking, for her face mostly resembled a Siamese cat. A very large cat in a sky blue silk robe and glasses hanging from a matching macramé cord around her neck). Something about the steel gray coloring and the glasses made her appear the perfect blend of feline and strict head librarian. Not the nice librarian who suggested really good books and set aside the latest Janet Evanovich, but the nasty head of department who shushed you as soon as you even thought above a whisper.
    “I thought the case of the Knight Defenders was on hold for the time being,” I said. “Have they found a new leader so quickly?”
    “They have not,” Azoked answered, not looking up from her grooming. “But I have not come on Satan’s business. I have come as your friend.” Friend? Since when had Azoked ever been anything but a thorn in my side? For any of us? My actual friends, who had met her only briefly in Aruba, thought I must secretly belong Upstairs just for dealing with her.
    She had been some use when we were being attacked, and even then it was hardly worth dealing with her. But—a friend? Not in this universe.
    “Do you know who was following me in Venice?” I asked immediately. “Was it the Knight Defenders, or was it just some random thing?”
    She shook her head. “I have seen nothing in the Record about the Knight Defenders. If you were followed, perhaps it was your succubus pheromones.”
    I didn’t think so, but I remained silent. Azoked didn’t have the one piece of information I cared about, at least that she could give me. She couldn’t tell me anything about demonkind, and that was where Meph’s enemy lay.
    “I have some information that may be of use to you,” she continued, as if she thought my behavior perfectly normal. “About your boyfriend. He is planning to come to Hatuman’s party, it appears. How very odd indeed. I do not know whether he is searching for you, or if he has reasons of his own for attending.”
    I shook my head. “Impossible. He can’t deal with me being a succubus. That’s why he isn’t my boyfriend anymore.”
    Azoked shrugged. “I only know what I read in the Akashic. I thought you would want to know, to be prepared.”
    “Thank you,” I said. “Is that all?”
    She licked her fingers delicately. “You could offer to take me out to Balthazar. You could invite me to join your brunch at Public.”
    “Not even Satan joins our brunch,” I told her. Which is true, but Satan would have been most welcome at any time. She was just too busy, especially on Sunday mornings, and we were thrilled on the very few occasions She could snatch a few minutes and grace us with Her company.
    “Well, you could take me out to dinner tonight. I will accept that as a deposit on what you owe me for my assistance.”
    “I did not request your help,” I said, pronouncing each word carefully. “I do not owe you. You have never shown any interest in being a social friend.”
    Her eyes narrowed and she hissed.
    “Unless you can tell me who in Hell is gunning for Mephistopheles,” I amended, knowing full well that she couldn’t find any information on Hellspawn. The Akashic Record is the Book of Life. Immortals leave no traces in the Book, no resonance in the threads of Fate for a Librarian to trace. Only the living, the mortal, are recorded in the Book of Life.
    And everything about them is recorded. What they think, what they consider, what they discard, as well as what they actually do. Which is why Librarians were so highly skilled. They didn’t simply look up information—though I’d seen Azoked use Google.
    “If I find this, you will include me in your brunches forever,” she pronounced.
    “Forget it,” I told her. “It’s a Hell matter anyway. No mortals involved anymore. Sorry.”
    She hissed