You have got to be kidding me.
“I knew it!” she said, with a too-friendly smile.
“Hi,” I mumbled, and closed myself in a stall, eyes shut. When I opened them, the visual I had to match the smell in there was Immortal Dilemma graffiti and stickers all over the door. I rolled my eyes, and tried to just ignore it all as I just stood in there. I needed just a minute to breathe, even this air, and remind myself that this was all for Blade, and me, and not about anything to do with Immortal Dilemma, or Tristan. I was not going to let it be that.
I opened the door knowing that the salesgirl and her friends were still there, but went about my business, washing my hands and hoping I didn’t look too nervous.
“So, it’s true, then? Immortal Dilemma’s playing here tonight, right?”
I pursed my lips and looked the one who had spoken in the eyes. “No. No, they are not. Have you seen the flyers?” I said pointing at one of the lonely flyers on the wall advertising Blade’s show that night. She smiled at me, like we had a secret, and I went back out to the bar.
On the way there, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the people in this rather excessive crowd thought they were catching an impromptu Immortal Dilemma show. How many of these girls were here for Tristan?
How much did I have to do with that?
“Is there anywhere we can be a little more private for a minute?” I asked Blade over the loud music when I got back to him and the small crowd that he had amassed. He smiled knowingly at me and nodded.
I followed him up a flight of winding stairs near the back of the club, where things were the sparse crowd made things much quieter. My mouth felt like sandpaper. Had Blade noticed how many in this crowd were wearing a little too much leather, black eyeliner, and other Immortal Dilemma garb?
He quickly turned on the staircase, and I gasped with surprise as he caught me up in his arms, bending me backwards over the railing. He kissed me with such intensity that I forgot where we were, or that anyone else even existed but him and me. When he let me go, it took me a minute to open my eyes. I could feel my dumbstruck smile.
“Did I thank you for coming tonight?” he whispered in my ear.
“You could always thank me more.” I teased.
He pulled me up the remaining stairs by the hand to a small balcony, big enough for just three or four people, though nobody else was up there. Blade kissed me again, bending my back over the railing. I laughed against his lips.
“You’ll have a great view up here,” he said, pressing against me and turning my body so I could look down upon the stage. I could clearly hear the music and see the stage without the entire crowd around me.
And nobody could see me.
The look in Blade’s eyes was the same one he had had at the first party I had met him at — energetic, eager, sweet, friendly. It almost made me sad. I didn’t want to let him go and play. I just wanted to hide up here from the world forever.
I ran my hand down the side of his stubbly cheek. “It’s time for you to go on stage,”
“I’ll be back,” he said in his best Schwarzenegger, and left me alone.
I breathed slowly as I scanned the crowd below, a mass of adrenaline waves washing over them all. It unsettled me.
Before long, the lights went down. The crowd stilled eerily in the blackness below, all heads turned toward the stage. A single spotlight lit up the microphone, and a wild amount of noise erupted from the hordes of people pushing themselves toward the stage.
Too much noise for this band that didn’t really exist.
Then the chanting became one crisp, clean word, shouted at the stage as if the crowd was one person.
“TRISTAN! TRISTAN! TRISTAN!”
When the lights flashed on and the stage was visible, the crowd hushed as one, also. Murmurs erupted, became shouts, became crashing bottles, and interspersed with gasps of “That’s not Immortal Dilemma!”
All I could see were Blade’s eyes, staring back at me in the balcony, swallowed by anger and disappointment.
Blade’s eyes seared through me when he came off stage. I actually had to step into his path to intercept him. All the playfulness was gone, replaced by anger and hardness. I could feel the humidity coming off of his body after playing drums for an hour, in such contrast to Tristan’s calm, cool demeanor at all times.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed, since the noise was still deafening in the club. I reached for him, but he side stepped me.
“I can’t talk about this right now,” His mouth was an angry line. “This is bigger than you, Callie.”
And with that he breezed past me, going God knows where, leaving me to cry alone.
I finally regained my composure. I pulled myself up on a high stool that overlooked the main floor of the club and waited for Blade to reappear. I couldn’t imagine what kept him. He wouldn’t answer my texts. Great. I swirled my straw around what was left of the melted ice in my glass, still tinged pink from the drink.
“Excuse me,” a girl in a black babydoll dress approached me nervously, with her pack of friends behind her, hanging on her every word. “Do you know what time Immortal Dilemma is going on?”
“They’re not,” I snapped.
“Oh.” I would have thought that would have been enough to send her on her way, but once again, I was wrong.
“We just figured since we saw you here, they’d be playing tonight.”
“Well, you figured wrong.” I needed air. Where was Blade? “Excuse me.” I slid down from the stool and headed out of the club, ignoring the pointing and the whispering that was just never going to stop.
I pulled on my jean jacket as I walked out the front door of the casino. It seemed like a million years ago that we’d parked the car, and in the sea of automobiles that was the parking lot, I had to think about where I was going. These shoes weren’t helping my cause, either. My feet throbbed and I had no idea where the hell I was going to find Blade or his mustang.
Fairly confident I’d retraced my steps correctly, there was no sign of his car anywhere. I started to panic. Did someone steal Molly? Blade was going to lose his mind even more than he already had if that was the case. I needed to find him. I hurried back into the club.
“Where’s Blade?” I found Johnny, or Rich, or whichever one it was.
He shrugged. “Gone, as far as I know.”
“What?”
“Haven’t seen him.” He started to come in a little too close, ogling me with his beer goggles.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Calm down, baby, it’s alright.” He reached out to put his hand on my arm.
“It’s not! I have to find him!” I spun away and continued to comb the crowd.
A half an hour later, I gave up. The crowd had thinned; disappointed that Immortal Dilemma was clearly not going to play. I leaned up against a pillar, defeated. Blade hadn’t answered any of my phone calls or my texts. I had no choice but to swallow my pride and call Janelle to come to my rescue.
Chapter Twenty Seven
I sat on a ledge outside of Santa Fe Station and enjoyed the cool air as much as possible while I waited for Janelle, who took her sweet time getting there. It didn’t matter who saw me anymore. They could take all the pictures they wanted and do what they liked with them. I had nothing left to hide.
I resisted the urge to leave another scathing voicemail for Blade. I’d already left three.
-Blade, I can’t find you anywhere. You’re gone, your car is gone. Where are you?
-You left? Are you serious? How do you expect me to get home?
-You’re really that mad at me? Come on. I didn’t do anything. Who is acting selfish now?
A half an hour later, Janelle finally pulled up to the curb. I jumped in the car almost before she came to a full stop. I never wanted to see this place again.
“What happened? I couldn’t hear everything you said, it was loud where I was.” I felt bad for pulling her away from whatever she was doing, but there
was no way her night had been ruined to the extent my had been.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. Just get me the hell out of here.”
“Okay.” She said defensively.
“Sorry. Listen, it’s just been a night from hell. Thanks for coming to get me. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
“That’s alright. I was going to wrap it up soon anyway.”
I looked at my phone. No messages. Ugh. It was 12:45. I probably still had some time to pull off my new scheme if I could get Janelle to cooperate. Traffic headed back towards the city wasn’t heavy, but still I waited until we were close to the Strip before I put the plan into action.
“Drop me off at the Alta Vista.”
“What?!” She slammed on the brakes, practically stopping in the middle of the highway.
“Oh my God! Don’t kill us. Just drop me at the Alta Vista.”
“Callie! You can’t do that. What happened tonight with Blade?”
“I told you I didn’t want to talk about it. Please, just don’t judge me and drop me off at the hotel.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked guardedly, yet a little too hopefully.
“No, thank you. I don’t need a chaperone.”
“Hmmph.”
I didn’t acknowledge her reaction. I’d been judged enough in the last few months that I could just let it roll off my back at this point.
“Go the back way to avoid traffic please. I can get in from there,” I said sweetly, like anyone thought this was a good idea but me.
Janelle did what I asked and delivered me to the employee entrance of the hotel without asking any more questions. She hesitated before she drove off, as if she was watching to make sure I’d get in. Or to take a picture, knowing her.
I maneuvered through the throngs of black clad girls, with their dyed, fake looking hair and overly made up faces. Speculation swirled around me as I passed pockets of fans. A few of them wore peasanty looking skirts and blouses, in black of course. At least, if nothing else, it looked like I’d had some influence on good taste around here.
Two security guards that I wasn’t familiar with flanked the backstage door.
“I’d like to speak to Tony, please.”
“Sure, you and the rest of the women in the building who subscribe to cable TV, miss.” The older, more jaded guard decided to try to deter me.
“He’ll know who I am.”
“Of course he does, sweetheart. No can do.”
“I don’t know, I think she might be telling the truth,” the other guard said. “I think she’s Tristan’s girlfriend.”
“Well, what the hell would she being doing out here?”
I didn’t have time to correct him over the particulars, but I smiled politely at him. “If Tony comes and doesn’t know me, then you’re right. If he does know me, then no harm done, right?”
The older guard sighed and mumbled something in code into his walky. Minutes later, Tony arrived.
“Hi Callie.”
“Hi Tony. Can you take me to see Tristan, please?”
“Is he expecting you?”
“Not that I know of.” I shimmied past the two guards. The older one looked disgusted.
“Shall I announce you?”
“No,” I smiled. “I’ll do it when I see him.” Please let this plan work.
“Can I have a 10-4 on the boss, please?” he called into the walky. He nodded his head in acknowledgement when he got a reply and lead me though the maze of hallways behind the scenes at The Sin City Vampire Club.
Tony paused at a closed door with a good amount of volume leaking out from behind it. “Have a good night, Callie.” He seemed almost apologetic. Then he opened it and stepped out of the way for me to enter.
A party haze clouded the room. Each of the band members seemed to be holding court in a separate area of the room. Tristan was no exception, half laying on a couch, bottle in hand, head tipped back, laughing, surrounded by women, some of whom were very close to naked.
I moved towards the couch without saying a word to anyone. The din quieted a bit as people realized the party had a crasher.
I stopped tentatively at the edge of the couch, waiting for Tristan to notice me. He blinked several times and sat up straighter, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he saw. My heart pounded while I waited for his reaction. I couldn’t stand a second rejection tonight.
“What the hell is she doing here?” One of the underdressed groupies sneered.
“Yeah, isn’t a little past your bed time, little girl?” Her friend joined in.
I ignored them both. “Is it alright that I came?” I asked him softly.
“Yeah.” He set down his drink and stood up. “Come on.” He led me away from the couch and towards the door.
“Are you kidding me? Tristan! You’re going to miss a good time!” The first chick called out, sounding more nasal in her desperation.
“I think I’ll manage,” he said over his shoulder as I followed him in the hallway.
When we were far enough away from the party overflow I stopped unexpectedly, pushed Tristan against the wall and kissed him. He fell back against the wall more easily than I had expected. I came up on my tiptoes even in my platforms to reach his face. He tasted of that poisonous vanilla; and floral, patchouli, and smoke aromas drifted from his hair and clothes as I ran my hands up his arms. I worked carefully around his sharp teeth that still terrified me.
I guess some things were just meant to be.
“What got into you?” He pulled away, his eyebrows furrowed. I stared at his mouth as he licked the taste of me off his swollen lips. Who knows what I had pulled him away from.
“I can change my mind, can’t I?”
His face softened. “Take off that stupid jean jacket.” He smiled and then helped me shimmy out of it. “Jesus, that dress is amazing.”
“Thank you.”
He extended his free hand to me. “Let’s go upstairs,” he leaned in to me as I fell into stride beside him and whispered into my ear, “it’s past your bedtime.”
I closed my eyes and missed a step. I knew damn well what I was getting myself into when I asked Janelle to bring me here, and especially when I kissed Tristan, but hearing him say that made it real.
When I opened my eyes, Tristan had paused and was looking back at my reaction. I smiled, straightened my spine, and fell back into step with him.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Tristan’s apartment was only illuminated by the neon lights blinking in from the wall of windows. Otherwise, all was calm and quiet. I realized I’d never seen any other room in Tristan’s apartment besides his living room. Tristan still held my hand, but he walked slowly, like he had all the time in the world. The anticipation just about killed me.
“Do you want a drink?” he asked, moving towards the bar. Was he stalling?
“Not that kind,” I said breathlessly, and swung his body around to face me, pulling him down by his shirt collar to meet my lips. I wasn’t being careful anymore. It got me nowhere. I felt his teeth, and groaned against them. My blood sang in my veins. Fueled by my anger at Blade, my humiliation, a bit of booze, and the sheer need to feel Tristan all over me, I clenched his hair in my hands and held tight. He grabbed my arms hard, pulling me against him, and I pushed further, nipping his lip, surprising myself a little.
“Callie,” he murmured. He pulled back, looking astonished at the arrogant smile on my lips. Then he flashed that wicked smile of his that signaled he was up to no good. “So that’s how you want to play it?”
It was exactly how I wanted to play it, as much as it terrified me. I was surprising both of us with my actions, but there was no turning back now. I nodded.
He led me deeper into the apartment and opened a door at the end of the hallway and flipped on the light to his bedroom. Sleek, neat, and masculine: the floor to ceiling windows continued into this room inviting the whole city to watch us.
I set my wristle
t down on the dresser almost on top of a delicate chain with a heart shaped pendant that definitely did not belong to Tristan.
“Whose is that?” I asked.
“What? I have no idea.”
“So you just bring whoever up here and do this?” My confidence shrank by the second.
“No, not this,” He corrected me as he turned me away from the dresser and the offensive necklace. “I wouldn’t waste something like this on the random trash I feed from. They only think what they experienced was Bloodlust. What I want to share with you,” he sounded almost a bit insulted, “is much different.”
“Is that so?” I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.
Tristan snickered. “I don’t know why you insist on making this as hard on yourself as possible. But here you are, unannounced, and ready to play.”
He smoothly pulled my arms away from my body and turned me around so the back of my legs hit the bed. “My intention,” he played thoughtfully with the ruffle right in the middle of my neckline, being careful not to touch anything but the lace. I watched his fingers intently, but he moved them up to my chin and gently tipped my face up so my eyes met his. Flames practically swirled and danced around his pupils. “Is to send you out of here crawling on your hands and knees.”
I wanted to tear my eyes away from his but I couldn’t. I was locked in place and time. “I’m scared,” I whispered.
“There’s nothing to be scared of. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.” He leaned in close and cupped my face in his hands. “You think too much.” It was barely more than a breath. Our lips met again, slowly, gingerly. I barely touched him, fearing what came next. Now, with the bed against the back of my legs, I wasn’t feeling as sure of myself anymore.
I surrendered and finally just took his advice. He removed the flower barrette from my hair and slid my ponytail free from its elastic.
“I don’t want any part of you to be restrained.” He closed his eyes in a slow blink and breathed deep. “I’ve waited for this a long time.”
Because the Night (The Night Songs Collection) Page 13