I thought about it. One of my best friends was marrying my ex—an ex whom I was starting to fall for all over again. An ex whose soul I had inadvertently damned to Hell and who was now being stalked by another succubus. My own soul had long since been Hell-bound, and I was committed to an eternity of sleeping with men whom I often didn’t like. Oh, yeah. Let’s not forget that my roommate was given to sociopathic tendencies and had me on his hit list.

“That might be easier said than done,” I told Erik.

“I can imagine,” he said ruefully. “But it may be the only way to protect yourself. That and your own willpower—the strength of which I firmly believe in.”

Erik’s faith in me warmed up a piece of my heart, even though the rest of today’s insight hadn’t been all that insightful. I thanked him for his time and headed off to work, grateful Roman offered no “witty” commentary during our drive.

At the bookstore, Seth worked alone in the café. Simone was nowhere in sight, which was one bonus. The fact that it was Maddie’s day off also improved my mood. Maybe staying away from my usual glum state wouldn’t be as hard as I thought.

“Yo, Kincaid.”

Doug found me putting stickers on our rack of clearance books. They mostly consisted of out-of-print coffee-table books, things like Stone Arches of Tuscany and The Complete Book of Bridal Cross-stitch. I wasn’t entirely sure what that last one was, but maybe it’d make a good wedding present for Seth and Maddie. The price was certainly a bargain. We’d reduced it three times now, and still no one wanted to buy it.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’ve got news that’s going to rock your world. And make you think I’m even awesomer than you already do.”

“That’s a bold statement.”

He paused, apparently trying to decide if he’d been complimented or insulted. “I just found out that Gabrielle’s a fan of Blue Satin Bra.”

“She never struck me as that type. I figured all of her lingerie would be black.”

Doug gave me a withering look. “No, Kincaid. I don’t mean that she wears one. I mean that she likes the group. Haven’t you heard of them?”

“There’s a group called Blue Satin Bra?” I shook my head. “Sorry. I can’t keep up with every new garage band in Seattle.”

“They aren’t a garage band! They’re the hottest thing to hit the metal scene. They’re going to make it big.”

I tried to hide my skepticism. Doug himself was in a band called Nocturnal Admission, and whenever he spoke about local bands, it seemed like everyone was on the verge of making it big.

“What’s this got to do with Gabrielle again?”

Doug was clearly growing frustrated with me. “She’s a huge fan—and they’ve got a concert tomorrow night. Unfortunately, it’s all sold out. She was pretty bummed about it.”

Despite his annoyance with me, I could sense the smugness within him. “Here it comes….”

Pride lit his features. “I’m friends with the bass player and managed to score some tickets. If your pal Cody approaches her with them…”

I paused in my stickering. “You’re right. You did just get awesomer.”

“You’ve got to go too, you know.”

“I—what?” Me trailing along didn’t sound romantic in the least.

Doug shrugged. “He can’t just ask her out for an actual date. Not yet. He’ll spook her.”

“Then what exactly is he supposed to ask her out for?”

“I do the asking. I’ll just be all like, ‘Hey, Gabby, I got some extra tickets to the show. You want to go along with me and my friends?’ Then she’s off guard. She comes along, Cody’s there, magic happens….”

“Wow,” I said. “Looks like you’ve got it all figured out. And I don’t think she likes to be called Gabby.”

“This is a good plan.” He was clearly very pleased with himself. “I’ve been around, Kincaid. When you get mad romantic skills like me, you’ll understand.”

I rolled my eyes. “We can only hope. So how many friends are going along exactly?”

“I scored four tickets. So: you, me, Cody, and Gabrielle.”

“Sounds suspiciously like a double date. You trying your mad romantic skills on me?” It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Hell no. Do I look suicidal? You’re already claimed.” For a minute, Seth came to mind, then Doug added: “I’m not getting on the bad side of that guy you’re shacked up with. I mean, I can hold my own in a fight, but he looks like he could seriously fuck someone up.”

“You have no idea,” I muttered. No doubt Roman—lingering nearby invisibly—was loving this. “But we aren’t involved. He’s just my roommate.”

“For now,” said Doug ominously. He began a retreat. “I’ll go invite Gabs. You tell Cody the deal and that you’re going to be his wing-woman.”

I shook my head after Doug left, wondering what I’d gotten myself into. His absurd comments about mad skills and wing-women aside, the whole casual group thing might be a gateway outing to get Gabrielle closer to Cody. I just hoped word of his Goth getup the other day hadn’t gotten around to her. I also wondered what kind of experience I was getting myself into with Blue Satin Bra. Doug’s bizarre industrial alternative music had grown on me over the years, but I had a feeling this concert would be a very different experience.

About an hour later, I was in my office when some unexpected guests popped their heads in. Well, one wasn’t entirely unexpected. I’d found that even when Maddie wasn’t working, there was never any real security. You couldn’t count on her absence, not when her boyfriend and brother were often in the store. I could feel some safety when we didn’t have the same shift, but I’d long accepted that Maddie could really show up at any moment.

No, the real surprise was that Maddie was in my office with Brandy Mortensen, Seth’s niece. He had five of them, and she was the oldest. When Seth and I had dated, I’d grown pretty attached to that brood. My longing for children and the girls’ total adorableness made it easy for me to love them. They’d grown close to me too.

Of course, at fourteen, I suspected Brandy wouldn’t appreciate being called “adorable.” She stood with Maddie, who was holding a garment bag on a hanger. Brandy wore a surprisingly sullen teen expression. She seemed taller to me than when I’d last seen her. Just like with Erik, time was passing quickly for these humans.

“Hey, guys,” I said, setting my paperwork aside. “What’s up?”

“More wedding errands,” said Maddie cheerfully. “We just came by to pick up Seth. We went back to that shop and got a dress for Brandy. She’s a bridesmaid too.”

Maddie lifted the edge of the bag, revealing the same dress Maddie had bought me the other day.

“How embarrassing,” I told Brandy. “We’re going to show up in the same outfit.”

She gave me the ghost of a smile but stayed silent.

“We also went and talked to some florists but didn’t really come up with any ideas on what to get. If I get something purple, will it be too monochromatic? And if I get a different color, will it look weird?”

“Hard questions,” I said solemnly. Ones I didn’t want to answer.

“Maybe you can come back with me and take a look at some of their books?” Maddie was giving me that hopeful, cheery smile that was so good at inspiring guilt in me.

“I don’t know,” I said vaguely. “Depends on my schedule.”

“Well, let me know. Let me go grab Seth—maybe he has some ideas.”

Good luck with that, I thought. Seth was notoriously awful at offering opinions, and he’d seemed particularly non-committal about this wedding stuff, no pun intended. Maddie left Brandy with me, and I gave her a genuine smile.

“So how’s it been going?” I asked. “Did you have fun shopping?”

Brandy crossed her arms over her chest and tossed her blond hair over one shoulder. She was wearing a formfitting Rocky Horror Picture Show T-shirt. Really, I thought. She was one step away from turning into her uncle.