throw away from my building, separated only by the small road and narrow strip of grass. I watched the waves break against the shore and realized this was where I needed to be.
'I want to make an offer,' I told him.
I knew Maddie would want to know, so I made sure she was the first one I told when I ended up back in Queen Anne later that night. It was early evening, my last day before returning to a real full-time schedule, and I swung by the store to catch her and tell her. Only, she sought me out first, with news of her own.
'Georgina!'
I'd barely entered when she grabbed my arm and pulled me off into the cookbooks. 'Hey,' I laughed. 'Glad you're in a good mood. I've got news.'
'Me too!'
Her face was radiant, and after all that had happened, it made me happy to see her like this. I couldn't help a return grin. 'What's up?'
She glanced around covertly, then lowered her voice. 'You were right.'
'About what?'
'About Seth needing time-about him being preoccupied.'
Oh lord. He'd finally slept with her again, now that things had ended with us. I can't say I was happy to have this news delivered to me, but for her sake, I was at least glad she could stop worrying.
'Wow, that's great, Mad-'
'He was waiting to propose!'
She shot her hand up to my face so quickly that for half a moment, I thought she was going to punch me. But, no, there was no impact-unless you counted the brilliant glitter of the engagement ring dazzling my eyes.
'Oh my God. But it…it's so soon…'
'I know,' she said, breathless from her excitement. 'I can't believe it. And I mean, yeah, we've only been going out for about four months, but Seth says we can have a long engagement, that he just wanted to commit things between us.'
Of course he did. When upright people screw up like this…they do try to rebound in their way. The guilt's got to be eating him. People like that try to do things to make up for it. Rash things. How could I be surprised? I'd become a succubus because I'd cheated on my husband and been caught. I'd sold my soul in an effort to blot that act out, to make him and everyone else I knew forget me. Why was this any different?
'You don't think…' Maddie turned uneasy, once more seeking my approval and advice. 'You don't think it's too fast, do you? Have I made a mistake? I mean, even if we wait awhile for the wedding…'
I kept smiling. 'It's fine, Maddie. There's no time frame that's set for everyone. If it's what feels right to you, then you've got to do it.'
Her grin lit back up. 'Oh, thank you. I'm so glad to hear you say that. I mean, I said yes, and I've been excited…I just didn't want it to seem like I was rushing in.' She glanced back down, admiring the ring. I realized something.
'It's a diamond.'
She gave me a curious look. 'Of course. Why wouldn't it be? Most engagement rings are.'
Last year, I'd teased Seth about getting married, and he'd said that if he ever did, he'd give his bride-to-be a ruby because he thought diamonds were ordinary, and getting married was extraordinary.
I stared into the stone's glittering facets, puzzled. 'Did you pick it out? Had you told him you wanted a diamond?'
'Nope. It had never come up. He just got it for me. Why?'
I shook my head and tried to look happy for her. 'No reason. It's beautiful. Congratulations.' I turned to leave. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'
'Georgina, wait.'
I paused and looked back.
'What was your news?'
'Wh-oh. Yeah. I'm buying the place in Alki.'
'Seriously?' I swear, she almost seemed more excited about that than the engagement. 'When will it be done?'
'July.'
'Oh, wow. That's great. You could have such great summer parties.'
'Yep. Let's hope it gets finished on time.'
She sighed happily and gave me a quick hug. 'Isn't this a great day? Good news for both of us.'
'Yeah,' I agreed. 'Great.'
I walked home, too stunned over the engagement news to process it much. Considering Hugh's prediction, there wasn't much to process. I'd convinced Seth that he and I were a fantasy, that he needed to settle into reality and take what good he had with Maddie. Seth had believed me and tried to make it up to her-make it up to himself, even-with this hasty engagement. He was not a rash person usually, but the extreme circumstances had turned him into one.
My phone rang about half a block from the store. I could recognize Vancouver's area code by now, but I didn't know the number. For all I knew, Evan wanted me to smuggle them some spray paint across the border. To my relief, it was Kristin.
'Hey,' I said. 'How's it going?'
'Fine. Well, better than fine. Great actually.' There were a few awkward seconds of silence. 'Me and Cedric…we're…'
The first spark of enthusiasm I'd felt in a while leapt up in me. 'Really? You guys are a…thing?'
'Yeah.' There was wonder in her voice, like she could hardly believe it. 'He told me that you were the one who said that he should go out with me.'
'Oh, well. I…just suggested he was looking in the wrong places.'
'Georgina, there is no way I can thank you enough for this.' Her voice was brimming with emotion, something I wouldn't have thought possible of the businesslike imp. 'This is…I've wanted this for so long. Loved him for so long. And he never noticed me until you made him just pause and look. That's exactly how he said it too. That he'd been so busy chasing everything else that he'd never seen what was in front of him.'
I thought I might get choked up too. 'I'm glad for you, Kristin. Really. You deserve it.'
She laughed. 'Most would say us damned souls don't deserve anything.'
'We're like anyone else, deserving both good and bad. I'm not sure being damned has anything to do with it.'
She was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was low, almost hard to hear. I actually stopped walking and stepped off down a side street to get away from the din of traffic.
'It's funny you mention that,' she said slowly. 'Because…well, I did something for you.' I suddenly had an image of Tim Horton's donuts showing up on my doorstep.
'Er, that's really not necessary. I didn't do that much.'
'You did, though. To me, at least. And so…I wanted to do something just as big for you. I, uh, went and looked at your contract.'
I caught my breath. 'What?'
'We've had a lot of paperwork to file, and I managed to work in a corporate trip.'
'Corporate trip' was a nice way of saying she'd visited the inner offices of Hell.
'Kristin…if you'd been caught…'
'I wasn't,' she said proudly. 'And I found your contract and read it.'
I'd come to a complete stop now. The world around me didn't exist. 'And?'
'And…nothing.'
'What do you mean nothing?'
'I mean, there's nothing wrong with the contract. I went over and over it. Everything's in order.'
'It can't be! Niphon was trying so hard to mess with me…to get me recalled. Hugh was certain it meant he was trying to shift attention from the contract.'
'I don't know about any of that,' said Kristin, sounding truly sympathetic. 'All I know is what I read. You sold your soul and took on standard succubus servitude in exchange for every mortal you knew forgetting who you were.
