Slow Burn

by Sascha Illyvich

  She had heard Erick’s words of caution and acceptance. That guy definitely possessed something more than just a puma. He had intrigued her enough to listen to what he had to say to Derrick before she was brought into Derrick’s private territory.

  Then he said nothing further. Yet he’d made himself known to her last night; she was certain it was his beast looking in on them. Why?

  A hand gripped her elbow and forced her to turn to her left. She saw a heavy metal door, heard the clank of the lock, and watched it open.

  Her stomach sank when she saw her other band mates in the small space.

  Dez, Corey, Raj, and Jacob sat spaced apart on two small mats on the floor. “Hi.” Corey waved.

  She offered a faint grin before that large brute’s hand shoved against her back again and jolted her forward.

  “See you in a day.” Carmela cackled and slammed the door shut.

  She stared at all of them, read their expressions. No one appeared hostile toward her but she still felt responsible. “Guys, I’m sorry. I think once we’re out of here we need to really talk about finding you a new lead singer—”

  “Ugh, no. I won’t be havin’ it and neither will they.” Jacob straightened his shoulders and turned those pale blue eyes on her. “We’ll git outta here and we won’t be breakin’ up because some nasty whackos out there think they can manipulate us or you.”

  Swallowing the lump in her throat, she met each one of their gazes. “Do you all feel this way?”

  Corey stood and started toward her. Slightly taller than Sonja, with broader shoulders and a barrel chest, he set a hand on her shoulder. “You’re family. We know. We understand what’s at stake. And what they’ve asked us to do. It’s not right. But…”

  She started to speak.

  He held up a hand. “But we’ve studied magic. I think it’s time we tell her.” He looked over his shoulder at Raj and Dez. Neither of them said a word, but their silent agreement hung heavy in the air. “We all have our specialties. None of us possesss the same type of power you have; we’re human. Not like you and Rob. But the reason this band works, the reason you’re not so tired is because we do all we can to support you through healing chants beforehand.”

  Her eyes widened in amazement. “When I’m alone before show time?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. After the first incident, we realized something deeper had gone on. Rob explained the basics of your power to us and told us how to help you through use of focused chants. He told us that the reaffirmations of power from us would strengthen your clarity. Granted, our efforts don’t work as well since none of us are your mate. But…” He sighed. “It’s all we can do. And we’re not backing down. You’re family.”

  She wanted to cry. For the first time in her life, she didn’t feel one hundred percent alone. Being Derrick’s mate gave her hope and a future she could believe in. Her band backed that up with their confession. She never noticed the impact of their power; combating jittery nerves before show time took all her focus. It made sense though, the reason she’d been less than a wreck many a time after a show when she should have been wasted.

  Raj and Dez stood, both towering in front of the one tiny window that remained only inches from their heads.

  Corey’s arms circled around her. He nuzzled her cheek with his, then backed off and released her. “How are we going to get around playing without killing anyone? Is it possible for you to target an attack on the bitch that’s forcing us to do this? Maybe gather the energy and send it her way?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been with…” Should she tell them? They’d just called her family so, yeah. “Derrick has been helping keep my power in check.” She shook her head. “I’ve never tried to focus a large amount of energy on something so small. Will we even know if she’s in the building with us?”

  “This could make for an interesting DVD.” Corey coughed.

  She punched his shoulder. “No.”

  “It would be brutal.” Jacob snickered. “But staging theatrics is much more entertaining than the real thing. What would happen if you did try to target all their anger on Carmela?”

  Sonja paced to one of the gray walls, set a palm flat against it, and sighed. “I don’t know. I imagine the results would be disastrous. We’re talking about taking the angry feelings from a rambunctious audience of maybe a few thousand and shoving all that into one person. I’m not sure it’s our best bet.”

  “Aye.” Jacob nodded. “You canna shove an ocean inna thimble.”

  She sighed. “How long have you been here?”

  “About two days. Just before that, we were sitting in a private area of a bar. They ambushed us with men. Russian men, from the sound of things.” Corey kicked the stone wall.

  She swore. Those men captured her then went after her band. And Max and Derrick had only known about her. Her ire rose. “They’re all dead.”

  There was a collective gasp.

  “Yeah.” She clenched her fists and let out a long, slow breath. “Carmela hates all the shifters of this world. She used and abused ex-Spetznaz operatives to conduct the bulk of this operation and kidnap me…us now.” She lifted her head back, ran her hands through her hair, and turned on one heel to face her band mates. “This mess with my life has already led to at least thirty deaths.”

  Raj lifted his head and opened his eyes. He inhaled slowly, let out an even slower breath. “This has caused more than that. There has been a large cat in my dreams, stalking, praying. Is this your puma?”

  She stiffened, uncertain of Derrick’s true abilities. She’d seen into his head and found him to be resourceful, strong, resistant to a lot of the crap in the world, but all she’d seen of his power came out in strength and heart, not magic. “I don’t think Derrick can interfere with the dreams of others.”

  Raj closed his eyes.

  Torn between frowning and smiling, Sonja touched the cold wall beside her and felt a chill. She hoped that imagining warmth would calm her nerves.

  It didn’t. The fact that she might be responsible for so much blood disturbed any peace she might have felt.

  She turned toward Raj.

  Raj settled against the wall. He breathed in a steady rhythm, indicating he’d gone into a trance.

  She wished she could do that now. Emotions ran high, despite everyone saying they were okay with however things played out. Fear still singed the edge of anything else they felt.

  She couldn’t alleviate their pain or fear either. To do so would contaminate her, and without Derrick’s help, she couldn’t cleanse herself without spending a day or two alone. The band always played shows with a day of rest planned between them to avoid overloading Sonja’s ability to function.

  But now, she had nothing. The results of the concert would be disastrous. She’d start singing once they played. She’d probably be forced to play an abbreviated show which meant the half-hour warm up the band used to still the crowd and create single focus would be out.

  Jacob huffed, clapped his hands on his thighs, and let out a long slow breath. “What will they call the show?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d rather not think about the fact that they’re also bringing in television crews and broadcasting the show live.”

  “Under normal circumstances our lawyers would handle this and we’d end up with TV rights but this has none of that. What’s the reason for this shit?” Corey blinked.

  “Carmela’s hoping to start a war between the humans and shifters, not only eliminating the audience that attends our show, but seeing as there are already so few shifters in the world, she figures it’ll be a good cleansing.”

  “Fuck.” The band collectively gasped, Raj even broke from his trance.

  “That about says it all.” Sonja looked around the room, saw the sad expressions on the others faces. She really didn’t want to do this. Bile rose in her throat, her stomach buzzed with millions of insects, not butterflies. “How can I do this?”

  Jacob shuddered. “Can we
create the illusion of death?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve never tried. I’m not confident that I could skillfully pull off that high level of magic just yet.”

  “Just what’s the most powerful thing you’ve done?” She didn’t miss the bitterness in Corey’s tone.

  Jacob held a hand up. “Hold up lass, donna have to answer that.”

  She glared at Corey. “No, he’s right. I need to face facts. We need to face facts. Everything I’ve done with magic has been for the greater good, except incidents which I’ve…ended lives. I freak, I get caught up in thought and stuck in patterns of fear. Then, boom!” She clapped her hands together for emphasis. “Next thing I know I’m being woken up in a hospital and the threat has been killed. I’m not proud.” She spat the words out, glared daggers at Corey. “But people have died at my hand because I couldn’t control my emotional reactions to all the threats on my life.”

  He backed up, held his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  Again, she sighed. “It’s okay. I’m still so very new at all this power. For the shows, it took some training but mostly because magic and music blend so well together, and the experience created by you guys amplifies my voice and magic for the listener. I don’t use magic for everyday bullshit like dressing or moving objects.” She remembered not being able to conjure clothes while in bed with Derrick. “I just don’t do that. As far as I know, my magic captures and breaks things apart.”

  “I never thought about that.” Corey scratched his head, slid his hands in his pockets, and slumped back against the wall. “Without knowing what sort of security they’ll have, we can’t turn the crowd against them.”

  “No.” she blinked. “When we came to trade my brother for me, she had security in place, behind them, another contingent plan. If I don’t do this…” Worry filled her voice. “We could still all die. She told me this chamber was filled with poison. So if I try anything, it will immediately fill the air with toxin. Even if we manage to get through that steel door or knock out the window with my voice, we’ll be dead in five minutes. And knowing her reputation, I don’t think she’s bluffing.”

  “Shit.” Jacob knocked his head against the wall.

  Sonja slid onto the floor. “Yeah. This sacrifice will probably not only be a media nightmare, but a personal hell for all of us.”

  Dez stretched out, set a hand on her thigh. Wild energy swirled around him, but he touched her gently. “We do what we have to. Something may still work in our favor.”

  Corey cleared his throat and dropped to a sitting position. “So, how do we do this?”

  Her shoulders sank and she slumped against the wall. She wanted to believe Dez, believe in hope and light, but right now things looked grim. “I have no idea.”

  An hour passed before anyone said anything or even looked up from the ground. Raj and Dez were silent but Sonja heard their chants to the goddesses that watched over them.

  She swore she heard Corey doing the same thing even though he didn’t entirely hold the beliefs Dez and Raj did toward the goddess.

  Sonja swallowed the lump in her throat. She needed to pray to her deities, but that currently offered no miracles or immediate action. She hadn’t truly atoned for killing innocent victims in self-defense. She’d never taken the time.

  She had enough blood on her hands already. The fact that someone else wanted her drenched in the blood of shifters made the weight in her throat sink to her stomach like lead.

  If they created a ruckus now, the guards would investigate. Carmela’s guards might not be playing with a full deck but the facts were thus: they had guns and bullets. Even if they managed to overpower them and rush out, then what? If the poison didn’t knock them out, they’d be on the run and her life would cease to be her own.

  Who was she kidding? She’d already given up that choice by jumping headfirst into a lifestyle that was her dream.

  When she and Rob were younger, their mother used to sing sweet songs to them at bedtime and the soft sound of her voice soothed the craziness in Sonja’s head. After their mother passed away, Rob explained where the chaos had come from.

  She was a witch, born of the moon goddess and her consort.

  Rob had told her that story, making her power sound beautiful, yet terrifyingly precious. She’d been of no use to anyone until she started singing and listening to metal.

  Then she picked up the gig with Ark-KaotiK and her career was born.

  Her personal life ceased to be hers the moment someone figured out that she controlled the crowd. She hated how feminine and weak she felt now. She couldn’t scream out her anger at the world and make the walls come down.

  Not without the poison in the chamber getting to her and the band first.

  Only a faint hint of light poked through the window above. Gray clouds moved quickly overhead, blanketing the sky.

  Sonja gritted her teeth. This had to stop. She needed to find a way to channel the pent-up aggression into something constructive while finding a way to save the shifters who would inevitably riot against each other once the deaths started occurring. Of course, the band would have to ditch the stage and split quickly, but without knowing anything about the venue, Sonja feared they’d all be trampled, clawed, and bitten to death, torn apart like food once the few shifters marched on the place.

  Corey raised his head, blinked, and set his hand on Sonja’s shoulder. “Did she say what songs we had to play…specifically?”

  “No.” Sonja shook her head. “She didn’t.”

  “Then what if we play a modified set list.”

  “Well, we’ll have to.” Jacob tapped the ground. “They’re making us play without our stage crew or sound check.”

  Sonja nodded. “Indeed. Thing is…” She ran a hand through her hair, instantly missing the way Derrick did the same thing for her. “It’s the combined flow of music and vocals that really put the crowd under my spell. Without the trancelike aura of your guitars, I’ll have to try harder to force a shift in mindset from rough and rowdy to something less than destructive. It’ll be tough.”

  “What if we turn up the guitars an’ slow down the songs?”

  Sonja rubbed her forearms. “Make them more like doom metal? That could help if we play our longer slower songs. But when’s the last time we did a lengthy set like that?”

  The band looked at each other, then back at her. “It’s been awhile.”

  “Hell, we don’t even know where the fuck we’re playing so ambiance isn’t something we can count on creating without difficulty.”

  “Yeah, but how fast is she expecting results? I mean, even you can’t just send a kill signal from your voice. Can you?” Corey tilted his head slightly.

  She looked at each of them, met their gazes with a hard stare. “Yes, I can.”

  A collective gasp filled the silence. Sonja continued. “But she’s trying to pin this entire event on us. My power isn’t commonly known.” She peered at the window, silently praying for a solution.

  Jacob grinned. “Aye. And I smell puma on ya. No doubt the bitch outside these doors had a field day with that one.”

  Sonja frowned. She was clinging to Derrick’s feline scent now, using it as a means of comfort, letting it distract her from the pain in the back of her head. “Indeed. She asked how I could betray my kind.”

  “Tis’ not a betrayal if it’s love.”

  It was that obvious, hmm? She met Jacob’s eyes, saw the truth in them. “You all know?”

  Jacob smiled. “Aye. We’re good, long as he makes you happy.”

  She took Jacob’s hand and smiled softly. Even in the face of death and doom, her band managed to comfort her, giving her a modicum of peace before all the crap hit the fan. She’d cherish that for as long as she lived, provided they made it out of this mess without a high death toll. “True. But still, what the hell are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know, lass. We know this isn’t the first time this has happened to you, but
if we’re lucky it’ll be the last.”

  She gasped. “You know about the kidnappings?”

  Jacob nodded. “Aye. It’s not hard to wonder where some of the song ideas come from when you been playin’ music as long as we have. And you’re not a party girl, so the hangovers wouldn’t apply either. Your brother approached us and told us things like this may happen.”

  “Damn him.” She narrowed her eyes. “We get out of this shit, I’m going to kick his ass.”

  Jacob held up a hand. “Now don’t be too harsh on the lad. He’s trying to let you have a life without being overbearing, no matter how much he may fail at it. I’d do the same for my little sister.”

  She sighed. He had a point, but still. It was her business to deal with, not her brother’s. “Still.”

  “I’m hoping we can rely on your puma.”

  She did, too. So help her goddess, she didn’t want to play wait-and-be-rescued, that never worked in her favor. But Derrick gave her hope for a future. Derrick would come through for her. It burned her that she had to rely on someone else but he was her balance and her mate.

  In the short period of time they’d known each other, he’d wormed his way into her heart.

  And in him she’d have to put her faith.

  * * *

  Derrick, Max, and Rob looked at the three heavily armed guards that remained just after Carmela dragged Sonja out. Derrick’s blood boiled.

  His skin twitched. The puma wanted violence, could feel the menace in the air, while waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Max’s puma and Derrick’s beast often worked in tandem when they were both in the spook game but Derrick had to wonder if things had changed since he’d left.

  Guess he’d have to rely on Max’s cues to figure this one out.

  No doubt about it, violence would ensue. But he had to keep a cool head. The drugs were still affecting Max. Rob’s humanity made these drugs, meant for shifters, even more dangerous to him. Granted, Rob possessed similar powers to Sonja, but Derrick had no clue if those powers helped with physical ailments and toxins.