Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid 1)

"Ah. Lots of those."

On impulse, I walked over to him and opened up Genesis 6. "See?" I pointed to the appropriate verses. "All these mentions of men taking women. They say it, like, three times."

Warren studied the book with a frown, and I remembered that he had not opened this place without a substantial background in literary study. "Well... it's repeated because here when it says 'men began to multiply on the face of the earth,' it's referring to human men."

I looked up sharply. "What do you mean 'human'?"

"Here. The 'sons of God' aren't human men. They're angels."

"What?" If I'd been holding the book, I would have dropped it. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Like I said, years of church services. They use this term throughout the Bible." He flipped to Job. "See?

Here it is again. 'Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.' It's referring to angels - fallen angels in this case."

I swallowed. "What... what were they doing in Genesis then? With the 'daughters of men'? Were... were the angels having sex with human women?"

"Well, it says the women were 'fair.' Hard to blame them, huh?" He gave me an admiring sweep as he spoke. "I don't know. This isn't a point discussed a lot in church, as I'm sure you can imagine. Mostly we emphasized human sin and guilt, but I ignored that."

I continued to stare at the book, dumbfounded, yet suddenly ablaze with ideas and theories. Warren eyed me curiously when I didn't respond to his joke.

"Does that help you any?"

"Yes," I said, recovering myself. "It helps a lot."

I surprised him with a soft kiss on the lips, took the Bible, and left.

CHAPTER 14

"You called us together for biblical  p**n ?"

Hugh turned away with disinterest from where the vampires and I huddled around my kitchen table. Barely a bruise showed on him anymore. Putting a cigarette to his lips, the imp produced a lighter from his coat pocket.

"Don't smoke in here," I warned.

"What do you care? Are you saying you didn't smoke throughout most of the twentieth century?"

"I'm not saying that at all. But I don't do it anymore. Besides, it's bad for Aubrey."

The cat, sitting on one of my counters, paused mid-bath at the sound of her name and eyed him askance. Hugh, glaring back, took a long drag on the cigarette before putting it out on the countertop next to her. She returned to her cleaning, and he paced around the apartment.

Beside me, Cody leaned over the table, studying my proffered Bible. "I don't get how these guys are actually angels. 'Sons of God' seems like a generic term for humans. I mean, aren't we all supposed to be children of God?"

"Present company excluded, of course," called Hugh from the living room. Then: "Jesus Christ! Where'd you get this bookcase? Hiroshima?"

"Theoretically we are," I agreed, ignoring the imp and answering Cody's question. I'd done a lot of biblical perusal since my earlier discovery today and was growing tired of looking at the book. "But Warren's right - that term is used throughout to refer to angels. Plus, the women here aren't called 'daughters of God.' They're called 'daughters of men.' They're human, their husbands are not."

"Could just be good old-fashioned sexism." Peter had finally taken the plunge and shaved his hair off. I did not find the look flattering at all, considering the shape of his head. "It's not like that'd be a new concept in the Bible."

"Nah, I think Georgina's right," said Hugh, returning to us. "I mean, we know something made angels fall. Lust is as good a reason as any, and it beats the hell out of gluttony or sloth."

"So what's the point then?" Peter wanted to know. "How does this relate to the not-just-a-vampire hunter?"

"Here." I pointed to verse 6:4. "It says, 'There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.' The key words here are 'in those days' and 'also after that.' It's saying angels have fallen for human women more than once. This answers our question about whether angels still fall anymore. They do."

Cody was nodding along with me. "Which backs up your theory that one is trying to fall right now."

"It doesn't sound like lust is going to be his catalyst, though," Hugh noted. "I think assault and battery will do it first."

"Unless it's lust for Georgina," suggested Peter dryly. "He seems to think you're pretty enough."

Something odd struck me at Hugh's observation. "Would assault and battery really do it, though? Especially of vampires and imps? It might be frowned upon by the other side, but I'm not convinced taking out evil agents would necessarily warrant an angel turning into a demon."

"Past evidence suggests the other side isn't exactly... flexible with transgressors," observed the imp.

"And ours is?" wondered Peter.

Cody gave me a sharp look. "Are you backing out of your own theory?"

"No, no. I'm suddenly reconsidering the falling bit, that's all. The 'rogue' or 'renegade' part might be more accurate."

"But your note did mention angels falling," Hugh pointed out. "Surely that's indicative of something? A meaningful clue and not just a bad attempt at humor?"

I thought about the note. Yes, Hugh was right. I felt certain the note's content played a role here; I just couldn't yet grasp what it meant.

"Bad humor is par for the course with angels," Peter reminded us. "At least if Carter's any indication."

I hesitated a moment, nervous about bringing up my secondary theory. They all seemed to be going along with the angel idea, however, so I figured it was now or never.

"Do you guys think... do you think it's possible Carter might be the one behind all of this?"

Three sets of eyes turned on me in astonishment.

Hugh spoke first. "What? Are you crazy? I know you two spar a lot, but Christ, if you think..."

"Carter's one of us," agreed Cody fiercely.

"I know, I know." I proceeded to explain the reasoning behind my accusation, citing his weird shadowing of me and subsequent conversation at Erik's.

Silence fell. Finally, Peter said, "All of that is strange. But I still can't buy it. Not Carter."

"Not Carter," agreed Hugh.

"Oh, I see. Everyone's quick to implicate me for Duane, but not perfect Carter?" My ire rose at their automatic solidarity, at the idea that Carter would be above reproach. "Why does he hang out with us then? Have you ever heard of an angel doing anything like that?"

"We're his friends," said Cody.

"And we're more fun," added Hugh.

"You can believe that if you want, but not me. Going from pub to pub with a demon and his cronies is the perfect setup for sabotage. He's been spying on us. You're just biased because he's such a good drinking buddy."

"And don't you think, Georgina," warned Peter, "there's just the slightest possibility that you're the one who's biased? I admit, this crazy angel theory makes more and more sense as time goes on, but where'd Carter come from?"

"Yeah," said Hugh. "Seems like you just sort of threw him in for no good reason. Everyone knows you two don't get along."

I stared disbelievingly at the three sets of angry eyes. "I have plenty of good reason. How do you explain him being at Erik's?"

The imp shook his head. "We all know Erik. Carter could have been there for the same reasons you were."

"What about the things he said?"

"What did he say really?" Peter asked. "Was he like, 'Hey Georgina, hope you got my note'? It's all pretty flimsy."

"Look, I'm not saying I have strong evidence, just that circumstantially - "

"I need to go," interjected Cody, standing up.

I gave him a cold look. Had I pushed them that far? "I understand if you don't agree with me, but don't just walk out."

"No, there's something I've got to do."

Peter rolled his eyes. "You're not the only one dating now, Georgina. Cody won't admit it, but I think he's got a woman stashed somewhere."

"A live one?" asked Hugh, impressed.