Page 16 of Succubus Shadows (Georgina Kincaid 5)

"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 f**k 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.

"No," she said bluntly.

I arched an eyebrow in surprise. Last I'd known, shopping and having people buy you clothes was pretty sweet when you were a teenage girl. Maybe I was out of touch. "Why not?"

"Because," she said dramatically. "This wedding is a joke."

I cast an uneasy glance at the doorway. "Better not let them hear you say that."

Brandy looked unconcerned. She wasn't exactly scowling, but it was pretty close. "Uncle Seth isn't supposed to be marrying her."

"Why not? They've been dating for...well, a while." That was kind of true, guilt-induced engagement or no. "He proposed. She accepted. Easy as that."

"She's not the one," said Brandy stoutly. "He's supposed to be marrying you."

Yeah, I really wished the door was closed. "Brandy," I said, pitching my voice as low as I could. "Your uncle and I broke up. That's how it is. People move on."

"You two weren't supposed to. You guys were in love."

"He loves her too."

"It's not the same."

This was not a discussion I'd ever expected to have. I'd known Seth's nieces still liked me, but I'd hardly thought I'd left this sort of impression. "Do you not like Maddie or something?"

Brandy gave a half-hearted shrug and averted her eyes. "She's okay. But she's not you."

I didn't say anything for several moments. I wondered if Brandy's resentment toward the wedding was because she had greater devotion to me than Maddie - or if it was part of some romantic ideal girls her age often had about love and soul mates.

"I'm sorry," I said. "Love in the real world doesn't usually work out the way stories make us think it should. We don't always get fairy-tale endings. People split up and move on. Just because you love someone doesn't mean you can't love someone else." I shivered. This was remarkably similar to a conversation Carter and I had once had, shortly after the (first) break-up with Seth.

"It's still not right," said Brandy obstinately.

Seth and Maddie retrieved her shortly thereafter, for which I was grateful. I really didn't want to have to play devil's advocate and defend a marriage that I was hardly thrilled about myself. I felt that sorrow that always seemed to plague me when I thought about them surface...and then remembered Erik's comments. Don't give in to it. Stay away from it - that was what kept leading me into trouble.

Easier said than done, just as I'd told him. Distraction seemed to be the key to it all, and I just didn't feel up to another liaison tonight. I certainly didn't need the energy.

"Distract me," I murmured when I was seated in my car. "Annoy me with your 'wit,' or just make me outright mad."

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