by KT Strange
The engine roared to life, and Eli scowled at Charlie from the front of the van. Had he been sleeping in the front seat instead of up in the big bed he now had all to himself since we’d messed around with our night-time arrangements?
“Get the fuck in your seats, and let’s go, we’re late to pick up Max.” Eli jerked his thumb over his shoulder to the empty seats. Charlie gave him a sloppy salute.
“Yessir Captain, my Captain.” He sat down in one seat. Cash was a little slower to pull out of his bunk, giving me a quick hug before he sat up next to Eli, in the front passenger seat. He was only in his pajama pants and I frowned.
“You’re gonna need to put on a shirt.” Cash threw me a laugh over his shoulder.
“What, you scared Max is gonna see my shirtlessness and fall hopelessly in love with me?” He raised an eyebrow. I growled at him, and Charlie tossed him a shirt. The air-conditioning kicked in with the engine turning on, which was good. The mornings were starting to get a little sticky-hot, snuggled in between two warm werewolves.
“Maybe you want to meet her and look like an unwashed hippy, but I don’t.” I dressed in the back, modesty long gone. The guys were good enough to not stare at me anyway, although I was pretty sure they were sneaking peeks. I rifled around in my bag for a clean shirt. We seriously needed to stop to do more laundry. I was running out of clothes. Ace peered over my shoulder into my bag.
“You need more stuff,” he commented.
“Maybe if you’d stop ripping my underwear.” I smiled up at him because honestly, it was sorta hot. He rubbed the back of his neck and bent down to steal a kiss from me. I sighed, clinging to the front of his shirt. His kisses still made me shiver. Finn grumbled.
“Morning kisses and I don’t get one?” he asked, adorable jealousy in his voice.
“C’mere,” I said, leaning past Ace to give Finn a soft, slow kiss. Ace’s fingers pressed up my spine, steadying me and caressing me at the same time.
“Clock’s ticking,” Eli’s voice rang out and I pulled away. Ace and Finn set the back bed back into the bench seat formation, tucking away sheets and blankets.
“I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat,” Charlie said, observing how our things were strewn across the small tour van. Cash groaned.
“Bad movie references, not acceptable before noon,” he said.
“Maybe if we’re on time, for once in our fuckin’ lives, the label will spring for a bigger tour bus for us,” Eli said. He seemed to be taking this picking-up-Max thing pretty seriously. I’d have to thank him for it later.
“Yeah, let’s hurry the hell up,” I said, pulling my t-shirt on. Finn ruffled my head when I popped free of the neckline of my shirt.
“You’re pretty keyed up,” he commented.
“She’s my best friend. Like, the closest thing I have to a pack. My real family, or the only family I consider real to me,” I said. “Now, remember, no talking about werewolf stuff. No growling. No purring. Nothing. None of it-“
“We remember,” all five of them chorused at once, and I wrinkled my nose. Well, maybe I was being a little over-cautious. It’s not like this was the first time in their lives they were hiding their true nature from somebody. It’s not like they’d spent their whole existence in hiding from humans, hunters, and witches. Plus I’d maybe lectured them for hours when Max had first confirmed her visit with me. I was pretty sure things were done with her and Craig, but if he was running in bad circles, I definitely didn’t want her to know about the boys and their true nature. For her protection as much as the pack’s.
It felt like forever before we were all dressed properly (Cash still wasn’t even wearing socks, the heathen), and rolling down the highway to the airport.
My phone buzzed as we were pulling into the arrival’s pickup zone.
Hey woman, where are ya? I got my bag. My body is ready, Max’s text message read. My heart gave an excited thump and Finn, sitting close to me, planted a soft kiss on my cheek. He knew I was feeling nervous and excited all at once.
Giant white tour van, trailer attached. I’ll be standing outside, waving like crazy, I sent back. She returned it with a smiley face.
“Hang on,” I said as we pulled into the stopping lane. “I think I see her.”
Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wasn’t wearing much makeup cause it was so early in the day, but I thought she looked amazing anyway. I tumbled out of the van and screamed her name.
“Max!!!” I yelled her name again, “Max!!”
She turned, the morning sunlight glinting off the patent leather of her black purse. Her mouth split into a wide grin and she ran, her long legs eating up the pavement. We crashed together like two boulders, arms flung around one another.
“Oh my god, I missed you, I missed you so much,” she whispered into my ear, hugging me tightly. When I pulled away to look at her, tears were sparkling in her lower lashes.
“Don’t cry,” I said, half-laughing, half near tears myself.
“Don’t cry? Don’t cry, she says like I didn’t almost lose my best friend. Oh, Darce.” Max shook her head and hugged me tight again.
“So this is Max,” Cash’s voice cut through our reunion. We looked over at him. He was half-hanging out the open window of the passenger door, a smile on his face. He saluted her.
“God they’re hot up close,” Max muttered to me. I swore Cash’s smile got wider.
“They have really good hearing,” I said, “musicians, y’know… good with… sound and stuff.”
“Oh. Oh, really? Uh, good to know. Thanks for the heads up.” She pitched her voice lower and added,” so which ones have you-“
“Max,” I hissed. She giggled nervously as we walked over to the van. The guys had shuffled around inside to give us the middle captain seats, with Charlie, Finn, and Ace sharing the back bench seat. They looked squished, their shoulders pressed against one another.
“Hey,” Finn said, waving. “I’d get up but I’m pretty sure I’m wedged in here.”
“Stop pushing,” Ace muttered. Charlie looked like he was trying not to breathe in too deeply.
“So this is your life now, huh?” Max asked as we pulled away from the curb. I eyed Cash where he was talking animatedly with his hands to a clearly exhausted Eli who was ignoring him.
“Yup,” I said, turning to face her. “You’re gonna love it.”
“Oh my fucking god,” Max breathed the words all at once. “That’s-“
“Hi, I’m Chelsea Sawyer,” Chelsea said. The sun beat down on us in the cordoned off parking lot, waiting for that night’s show. She held out her hand for Max to shake. Max glanced at me as if to ask is this okay? Are you serious? Is this okay? That’s Chelsea Sawyer!!!!!!
Don’t ask me how I knew exactly what Max was thinking, but we had been roommates for almost four years. Reading her mind wasn’t a power or anything, but more of an acquired skill.
Max shook Chelsea’s hand.
“I love your songs, all of them, like every single one,” Max said and bit her tongue, shutting up fast. That was a bit much even for Max, and I glanced at my friend with concern.
“Breathe,” Chelsea said with a warm smile. “It’s all good. We’re about to do a parking lot fry-up. Want a burger?”
“Uh, yes? Is there any answer other than yes?” Max asked and I had to laugh. Max’s love affair with food probably surpassed anything else in life she loved. A pang of guilt bit at my heart when I thought about Craig for a moment, and I dismissed it. He was a hunter. He’d earned my dislike and scorn. I was glad that he wasn’t around Max anymore. It wasn’t safe for her to be with him. Small miracles that they broke up, really.
“Holy fuck, I can’t believe that I’m sitting, eating burgers with Chelsea Sawyer and Glory Revolution,” Max said half an hour later, slouched in a folding chair, staring at her burger with awe. “Plus the burger is actually good.”
“Of course it’s good,” Dean said with a grin. “Bacon makes everything
good.” Max moaned when she took a deep bite, her eyes fluttering shut. The guys were all scarfing down their own burgers, contented eating noises coming from them, and Chelsea was sitting in Dean’s lap, munching on a hotdog. We were all silent for a few minutes, the only noise being some music coming from a Bluetooth speaker that someone had put on the ground so they could broadcast some grungy punk music at low volume.
The guys in Glory Rev were watching Max carefully. I noticed it after a few minutes of them meeting her. They kept exchanging glances and looking at each other when she wasn’t looking at them.
Chelsea didn’t seem to notice though, so I didn’t think anything of it. At least, I didn’t think anything bad about it. Chelsea would have caught them with wandering eyes if it’d been them checking Max out.
It was probably because they didn’t know her all that well, and she had fangirled a tiny bit. I didn’t blame her for that, though.
Sitting with major bands and artists was enough to turn my head right around sometimes, and it was a helluva lot harder for Max who hadn’t been experiencing the gritty side of the road and the less glamorous times to tame down her starry-eyes. She’d get used to it, after a few days. Just in time to fly home again after.
Thirty-One
Darcy
“This is amazing,” Max whispered, her voice hushed. The venue was dark, Chelsea up on stage with Finn and Eli. The twins bookended Chelsea, spotlights on all three of them as they sang a soaring duet, Eli’s acoustic guitar twanging along. We were sitting in the very back, in the sound booth, watching the show.
The audience was hushed, the soft hum of a thousand people holding their breath in tandem. Phones were out, flashlights on, cameras rolling.
Chelsea had done it as a gift to Max, who made her laugh a bazillion times during our parking lot BBQ. Asking what Max’s favorite song was, and bugging Eli and Finn into learning it, Chelsea had set up an acoustic moment in the Phoenixcry set for later that evening.
Now the three performers had the whole audience in the palm of their hands, hanging on each note as Finn and Chelsea sang harmonies together. The positive energy was palpable and electric, and my fingers were wrapped tight around Max’s.
“I don’t get why you ever ran away from this,” Max said. I kept quiet and shrugged when she looked at me. It’s not like I could tell her the truth, not the whole truth anyway. Some things had to stay secret. It made me feel dirty, and like a shitty friend, but it was for the best.
The song ended, and the silence rang out loud in the audience all around us, the only noise being the hum of the air conditioning. Then a screaming, burst of applause erupted. I saw Finn grin at Chelsea, and lean over to kiss her chastely on the cheek. She laughed, and the audience went even wilder. My heart felt like it was flying and it would never come back down to earth.
That was my Finn up there. Those were my guys, my pack, my lovers. My chest felt compressed with excitement as the cheering and applause barely died down enough for Chelsea to leave the stage.
“C’mon,” I shouted over the din to Max, “let’s go backstage and tell her how good she did.” Max hesitated for a moment. She nodded and got up, following me. We squeezed through the edge of the crowd, muttering apologies and being held up by one unyielding body after another.
I stumbled over a pair of heavy boots attached to a tall person, and nearly toppled over. My hand flung out and I grabbed that someone by the shoulder, cursing.
“Oh god, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-“ Max bumped into me, cutting off my apologies, and the guy that I’d practically fallen on top of turned around.
My heart stopped.
Behind me Max froze, her fingers going tight on my wrist.
“Craig,” Max breathed his name. He was caught, like a deer in headlights, and my mind instantly went into a pinwheel of panic, whirling and trying to figure out how I could scream for the band, for security, and to Max to get out of the way all at once.
Max ripped my options right out of my fingers. She flung herself at Craig, bursting into tears. For a split second, he hesitated, and then wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. His eyes met mine over Max’s head. His gaze was shocked, mine was furious.
Oh god. It was inside me. My powers. Popping, fizzing, tingling. I gasped for a lungful of air. It felt like I was going to explode. My head felt swollen, heavy, thick.
The guys were in danger, my guys, the pack, the pack-
The side of my neck felt like it had lit on fire, and I reached up. The bite mark Ace had left on me was warm to the touch, hotter than my surrounding skin. I pressed on it and the heat grounded me. The feeling of my powers, cresting inside me like a wave, seeking some way out, receded at least enough that I could catch my breath.
“What are you doing here?” Craig asked, his fingers numb on Max’s back. She pulled away, wiping at her eyes.
“Max, we gotta get backstage,” I said, on edge and not sure what to do. Craig was staring at me and then looking at Max, then back to me.
“Wait, no,” Max said, hanging onto Craig.
“I’m sure Craig’s busy with his friends,” I hissed out the last word, glaring at him hard. I wanted him to know how I felt, how much I hated him for attacking the band, for being a monster who murdered werewolves in cold blood. Craig’s face went pale and he grit his teeth, glaring back at me. HIs arm wrapped Max tightly.
“I’m not here with anyone,” he said, smiling gently down at Max. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“Bulshit you aren’t. Remember how he pretty much dumped you in the most cruel way possible? Remember that?” My voice pitched higher and Craig shot me a filthy look. Max swallowed.
“We gotta talk, Craig, we do. Maybe me seeing you here was a sign or something.”
“He’s an asshole, Max,” I said, losing my temper, exasperation flashing out of me through my voice. Max turned and gave me a glare that matched Craig’s.
“Just give me a fucking minute,” she spat. I swallowed my protests, my skin crawling with nerves, my gut a mess of anxiety, and every second we stood there, I glared daggers at Craig.
You’re going down, my eyes said. You even look at her funny, I will take you down.
Craig avoided my gaze and talked quietly in Max’s ear. Finally, she pulled away.
“Let’s go,” she said, taking my hand. I glared at Craig.
“Not wanting to come with us?” I asked, daring him to take me up on the offer. He eyed me warily and said nothing.
“C’mon, let’s go.” Max tugged on my hand again. I stumbled after her, watching Craig as we walked through the crowd. There was the taste of iron and bile at the back of my throat. I’d bit my tongue, actually, for real. It throbbed. Dread rolled around in my belly as we finally broke free of the crowd and were let backstage by the security guard.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. I needed to find the guys, get them off stage as fast as possible after the show. The weight of what was happening slammed down on me.
“Why are you so angry?” Max looked at me as if I’d crushed her heart in my hands. I swallowed down a snappy retort. She had no idea the kind of danger we were in.
“Look-“
“No!” Max shouted, and I felt the heat of a few stares as the backstage crew turned to look at us. “No. You.. You ran out on me. You left. You left everything, and yeah it’s fine, you apologized, you’re back, whatever, but Craig was, is the love of my life. I love him, Darcy, and you don’t get to be a bitch to him, or even if you do a little bit cause of how he hurt me, you don’t get to be a bitch to me about me falling all over him after.” Her eyes were watering, and she was staring down at me. She was so upset with me still over my disappearing act, and I hadn’t realized it. How could I have been so single-minded and self-focused?
You were busy with your new boy toys, thinking only you mattered in the world, and only you suffered, I berated myself.
The worst part of it was that from her persp
ective, yeah, she was right. I was just randomly being a bitch when I should have been happy to see the two of them reconnect.
“Max-“
“No,” she shook her head hard as she spoke. “I… I really don’t want to talk to you right now. I need a minute.” She pushed past me, and I let her go, time slowing down like molten glass.
I spun, tried to call out to her, but had to keep quiet because of the show going on. She disappeared out the side door, an EXIT sign hanging above it. I took a deep breath-
“Oh, Darcy,” one of the crew members stopped me as I was about to go after Max.
“Now’s not really-“
“It’s urgent,” the guy said, giving me an annoyed look. “Your label called, and they’re kicking up a fuss or something about some plus ones that were invited to the show that you never passed on to our door people.”
“Plus ones?” I didn’t have time for this. “Whoever it is-“
The crew guy shoved his phone at me.
“Just give me my phone back when you’re done.”
There was a call already active, the seconds ticking by on it. I held the phone up to my ear.
“Llewellyn! What the fuck? I send you five emails with the plus ones for Jake Tupper’s people, and you drop the ball?” My heart sank. It was Troy Granville, label head of XOhX records. I didn’t need this, not right then.
“Troy-“
“Don’t you fuckin’ Troy me. You get your ass to front of house, and you see those people in. You apologize. You buy them drinks out of your own goddamn money or you’re fired!” His shout rang in my ear and the line went dead. I looked around for the crew member that handed me his phone, my brain trying to solve one problem, the only problem, that I could right then.
He was nowhere to be seen.
“Fuck,” I whispered, feeling like everything was crashing on me at once. And it was. Max. Hunters. Craig. The guys. My job.