Ravensong

by ML Hamilton

  “No,” said Elliot, true concern showing in his eyes. “I called the room, then I called her cell phone. When I got no answer on either one, I persuaded a maid to let me in. There’s no sign that she ever came back to the room last night. Nothing.”

  A murmur went through the group. Joshua chanced a look at Julian. The assistant manager was scowling.

  “How did you get a maid to let you in?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t matter. Look, she’s been gone all night. For all we know, she didn’t even make it to her room last night. We’ve got to call her family. See if she contacted them, then call John. If she didn’t call any of them, we’ve got to go to the police. Get me her emergency information, Julian. I need the numbers now.”

  Julian rolled his eyes in disgust. “She probably went out early for a run or something.”

  “Her bed wasn’t slept in last night.”

  Julian reached in his pocket for his phone. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”

  “Then why isn’t she answering her cell phone?”

  Joshua didn’t know what to do. If he could get Elliot alone, that would be one thing, but the entire Avalanche crew was standing around, obviously concerned about Elena’s safety. There was no way to explain this without looking like a lecherous cad.

  “Maybe her phone’s dead,” offered Michael.

  “Where did she sleep last night?”

  Michael shrugged. Julian began dialing the main Avalanche office. “Did you ask at the desk?”

  “Of course I did. I wanted to know if anyone had seen her leave.”

  “Hey, Simone, I need you to pull Elena’s emergency information. Yep. No, everything’s fine here. No, don’t worry about it. Yeah, I need her parents’ phone number and her fiance’s. No really, everything’s fine. We just need to contact them. No, don’t worry. Yeah, that’s right. Just those two numbers.”

  Elliot started pacing.

  “Take this down,” barked Julian at him and Elliot pulled out his own cell phone.

  Robert elbowed Joshua in the side, snapping his paralysis.

  “3...5...”

  “Elliot?” said Joshua.

  Elliot waved him off. “3...5...”

  “5...” continued Julian.

  “Elliot!”

  “Wait a minute, Josh,” he said, frantically punching numbers into the phone.

  “Elliot, stop!”

  Elliot’s head snapped up and his eyes met Joshua’s.

  Joshua briefly closed his eyes, then fixed them on his friend. “Elena’s fine.”

  “What?”

  Joshua glanced around at the staring crowd. He felt like he was going to be sick. “Elena was with me last night.”

  Julian threw up his hands and slapped them against his thighs. He snapped his cell phone shut without saying goodbye. Placing his hands on his hips, he glared at Joshua, but Joshua could only see the shock, then hurt that played across his friend’s face.

  “She was with you,” said Elliot. “With you?”

  “El, I’m sorry.” Joshua reached out for him, but he batted his hand away.

  “Save it. You made me a promise.”

  “I know, but if you’ll just give me a chance.”

  Elliot rounded on him, bristling in fury. “Give you a chance. Ha! I gave you a chance and look what I got.”

  “El, you don’t understand.”

  “Oh, I understand, all right! You stabbed me in the back.”

  “El...”

  Elliot gave a sneer of disgust and turned away, pushing through the crowd and storming off across the lobby.

  Joshua looked down. The Avalanche roadies started dispersing, muttering to each other. One in particular gave him a virulent look. He felt Robert’s hand on his shoulder.

  “You are poison,” said Julian.

  Joshua’s gaze lifted to Julian.

  “Pure poison.” He also turned and moved away.

  Joshua’s eyes shifted to Michael and Ralph. Both were staring at him in a mixture of worry and shock. Joshua didn’t know what to say. There was nothing he could do to make this all right for anyone.

  Shaking his head, Michael pushed past Joshua, bumping him deliberately with his shoulder. Joshua let him go. There was no point in trying to vindicate himself now.

  * * *

  Elena turned as the door opened. The smile dried on her lips as she saw the expression on Joshua’s face. He met her eye, then looked away, moving to the bed and taking a seat. She sat down beside him, knowing instinctively what had happened.

  “They know,” she said calmly.

  He braced his forearms on his thighs and stared at his hands. “I’m sorry.”

  “What happened?”

  “Elliot wanted to take you to breakfast. When you didn’t answer at your room or on your cell, he pulled the entire band together.”

  Elena closed her eyes.

  “You should have seen the look on his face. I had to stop him. They were getting your parents’ phone number to tell them you were missing.”

  She reached out and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his. “I should have told Elliot myself.”

  “No, it was my responsibility. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

  The cell phone on the night stand started to vibrate. They turned and stared at it. With a sigh, Elena rose and retrieved it, pushing open the cover and placing it against her ear.

  Julian’s voice hammered into her head. “I expect you at the meeting in five minute,” he commanded.

  “Julian...” she began.

  “Tell Ravensong his presence is prohibited.”

  “What?”

  The line went dead in her hand.

  Joshua was watching her with narrowed eyes.

  “He ordered me to the morning meeting.”

  Joshua nodded. “All right. If he says he’s going to fire you, I’ll tell him I quit.”

  “Joshua, he said your presence was prohibited. His words exactly.”

  Joshua frowned. “Prohibited?”

  Elena shrugged.

  “Don’t go. I don’t want you being put up for public humiliation. That’s why he doesn’t want me there. Forget this crap, Elena. He can’t complete this tour without you.”

  “I have to go.”

  “Why?”

  “I have to face whatever he wants to throw at me. I’m not running from someone like Julian. He doesn’t control my personal life.”

  Joshua looked away. “I’m sorry, Elena. You warned me, but I wouldn’t listen. I’m so sorry it’s come to this. If I had just listened...”

  “You what? Would you take back what we have?” She came to the edge of the bed again. “I was the one who was wrong. I asked you to keep this a secret and it hurt your friendship with Elliot. I should never have done that. No job is worth any of this.” She placed her hands on his shoulders.

  He banded her waist with his arms and looked up at her. “Are you sure? You haven’t gone to Julian’s meeting yet.”

  She smiled at him and placed her forehead against his. “Nothing he does has any effect on me anymore. All that matters is how right it feels to be here with you.” Lowering her head, she kissed him, slanting her mouth to meet his fully.

  He tightened his grip on her, dragging her onto his lap and deepening the kiss.

  Elena drew away with a laugh. “You’d better stop. I’ve only got about two minutes left before I get fired.”

  “Mmm,” he said, kissing her again. “I wouldn’t want to make you late for that.”

  * * *

  Elena was surprised at how calm she felt as she entered the conference room. The band was assembled at the table, but none of them would meet her gaze except for Robert. He gave her a tight smile. She returned it, her eyes drifting to Elliot. He was slumped in his chair, a sullen look on his face.

  Julian turned from the refreshment table, coffee mug in hand, and surveyed her.

  Elena decided to take the offensive. “L
isten, Julian, before you begin the meeting, I want you to know that I view my personal life as off-limits in this job and I will not stand for any discussion of it.”

  “Fine,” he said. “Take a seat and let’s get started.”

  Elena stared at him. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. The other band members also exchanged surprised looks. Moving forward, Elena pulled out her chair and sank into it. She had gotten herself all worked up to confront Julian, but wasn’t sure what to do with her outrage now that she didn’t need it.

  Julian settled his mug on the table, then folded his hands. He made a production out of looking around the table. Again the band members exchanged looks. Finally, Julian blew out his air and leaned back in his seat.

  “Obviously, we’ve come to a crossroad and we have to make a decision one way or another. I’ve tried to make this clear to each of you on numerous occasions, but you haven’t wanted to listen to me. Now we have no choice. I see two clear paths before us – one leading us back into obscurity and another leading us to continued success.”

  “No journey is without its sacrifices and although we don’t wish to be faced with such choices, sometimes they become unavoidable. You have got to think of Avalanche as a company and make executive decisions about its future without allowing emotion to cloud your judgment.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” snapped Elliot.

  Julian reached for his coffee cup and took a deliberate sip, then replaced it, clasping his hands together once more. “Ravensong has got to go.”

  Elena had been so wrapped up in her own fate that she hadn’t considered this might be Julian’s move, but it made sense. Why not attack the object of his hate when the rest of the band members were angry at him, especially his staunchest ally, Elliot?

  The guitarist immediately lowered his head and glared at the table. The rest of the band made restless adjustments in their seats and stared at one another.

  “Hear me out,” said Julian, rising to his feet. “We’ve known our time with him was limited. It was only a matter of time before he did something so self-destructive that we would have to let him go. We’ve all been afraid of finding him passed out with a needle in his arm or putting a gun in his mouth.”

  When the others gave grunts of outrage, Julian held up his hands. “I’m just saying what we’ve all thought. Don’t sit here and tell me it hasn’t crossed each of your minds.” He leaned on the table. “I’m not saying he hasn’t brought a lot to this band. I’ll even give him credit for moving us beyond small gigs to what we are today, but his time is over. Honestly, he’s a has-been. Hollywood has lost interest and the music world will follow. You mark my words. He was only interesting when he was a druggy. Now that he’s apparently clean, he’s nothing.”

  Elena started to protest, then stopped herself. Joshua didn’t need her to defend him against Julian. What he needed was for the band to realize what he brought to them, and they had to do that on their own. She couldn’t bring them to that understanding.

  “I don’t like where this is going, Julian,” said Robert. “This is an underhanded attempt to get rid of someone you personally don’t like.”

  “How so, Bob? Because he’s not here? He’s not a partner in the band, is he?”

  “I don’t like it because you know what a scene we just had not an hour before. The band members are angry at him, but none of them know the real truth.”

  Julian shook his head. “That’s not what this is about at all. In fact, it is simply the thing that convinced me something had to be done. Honestly, are you going to let him dictate to us whether we tour Europe? Are you going to let him stifle us here in the states? He’s never going to change. He’s always going to smile in your face, but stab you in the back the moment you let your guard down.” His eyes fixed on Elena. “I know you don’t want to discuss your personal life, but I sure hope you don’t think this will last. It was only a conquest to show Elliot he could have whatever Elliot wanted. That’s all.”

  Elena’s eyes widened. Elliot glanced at her, then glared at Julian.

  “That’s not fair,” said Robert, his shoulders squaring with anger. “You don’t know anything about it and it isn’t right to make them both believe something that doesn’t involve you.”

  “It does involve me!” shouted Julian, slamming his hand on the table. “This is my livelihood the same as you and I won’t stand around and let some two-bit junkie ruin it for me.”

  “How has he ruined anything?” asked Michael.

  Julian leaned toward him. “He refused the European tour...”

  “None of us were too keen on it either,” said Michael.

  “Well, how do you think this latest fiasco is going to play out? Do you want the band to break up over Ravensong’s flavor of the week?”

  Michael looked away. Elena knew Julian had just played into the one fear Michael harbored. He was a skilled manipulator, that was certain.

  “Do you really believe we’re anything without him, Julian?” said Ralph. For once his demeanor was not sarcastic.

  “I think you are the band – the four of you. Ravensong is a novelty…was a novelty. His time is coming to an end.”

  “And yet we’re drawing bigger crowds with every concert. How do you explain that?” said Robert, leaning back in his chair.

  “Avalanche has made the big time, Bob – Avalanche, not Ravensong.”

  “Ravensong is Avalanche,” said Ralph.

  Julian’s eyes whipped to his face. “No, he isn’t. They don’t come to see him. They come to see you.”

  This was where Ralph usually lapsed into a sarcastic retort, but not this time. He leaned forward on the table and glared at Julian. “You aren’t that stupid. Why do you say such stupid things? Avalanche was nothing before Joshua and it’ll be nothing after him. I agree with Bob. This whole meeting sucks. I hate the whole thing.”

  Julian didn’t answer for a moment, simply stared at Ralph. Elena realized she was holding her breath. She wondered which hand Julian would play next. His eyes moved around the table to Elliot.

  “Is that right, Elliot? Is Avalanche just the backup band for a two-bit junkie and whore-monger?”

  Elliot shot to his feet, startling everyone. He whipped away from the table, knocking over his chair, and moved to the windows, looking out onto the street. Elena studied the tight angle of his back, then shifted in her chair and gave Julian a cold stare.

  “If you call him a junkie or any other names again, I will walk out of here and never return. I told you my personal life was off limits. Since that now involves Joshua, his personal life is also banned. Do not bring it up again.”

  Julian gave her a chilling smile. “Fine, you win, but that doesn’t change my position. Ravensong has driven the band apart. He is the cause and therefore, he’s the one that must go.”

  Michael shut his eyes and heaved a weary sigh. Robert and Ralph exchanged disgusted looks. Only Elliot gave no indication as to what he was thinking. Elena felt sick inside, and responsible. She’d made Joshua keep this secret just to protect her job. She needed Elliot to know that. She needed a chance to talk to him before this went any farther.

  “I say we take a vote,” said Julian, interrupting her thoughts. “We’ll vote on it and the majority will prevail.” His gaze shifted to Elena. “Obviously, you will have to abstain since you’re so intimately involved in this.”

  “So is Elliot,” snapped Ralph. “Are you going to eliminate him?”

  “Only those sharing a bed with the man in question. That’s a lot more intimate than anyone else, Ralph.”

  Ralph shook his head and looked away.

  Robert’s fingers drummed on the table. “This is a hell of a time to do this, Julian.” His gaze narrowed on the manager. “But I suspect you know that.”

  “I’m acting in the best interest of the band. That’s all I’m doing, Bob.”

  “Not by a long shot,” returned the keyboardist. “If so, you’d wait for this t
o blow over. This is low, Julian. Even for you.”

  Julian shrugged. “You still have a vote, my friend. Use it wisely.” He extended his arms. “Let’s not discuss this anymore. I vote that Ravensong quit the band immediately. Robert?”

  “No,” he answered, glaring at Julian.

  “Ralph?”

  “No,” said Ralph without hesitation.

  “Fine. Michael?”

  Michael squirmed in his seat. “I don’t like this, Julian. It doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to be part of this.”

  “God’s blood, grow a pair, Michael. Shit. Why can’t you ever make up your mind?”

  Michael shrank in on himself.

  “Back off, Julian,” snapped Ralph.

  “Just make a decision, Michael,” Julian persisted. “Yes or no.”

  “I’m not going to vote. I won’t be a part of this. It’s wrong. It’s always been wrong. How can you use Joshua the way you do, but never give him a voting role in the band?”

  “That isn’t up for discussion. He’s not a voting member. He’s not a co-owner, but you are. As a co-owner, you have an obligation to help us make this decision. Vote, damn it.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  Julian raked a hand through his hair. “Fine. Don’t vote, you spineless prick, but you’re going to be the tie-breaker. If you refuse, then I get a second vote in lieu of David’s absence.” The others started to protest, but Julian held up a hand. “I gave him a choice. This has to be decided today. He can either act like a man and vote, or I make the decision.”

  They continued to mutter, but Julian turned to Elliot.

  “Your turn. How do you vote? Does Ravensong go or stay?”

  Elliot looked over his shoulder. His eyes made a circuit of the table, glancing briefly at Elena, then sliding away.

  “You don’t have to do this right now, El,” said Robert.

  Elliot made a scoffing noise. “Like you didn’t have to tell me what you obviously knew? Some friend you are, Bob.”

  “It wasn’t like that, El…” began Robert, but Elliot looked away from him.

  Elena felt her heart sink. Elliot was too hurt at the moment to think this through clearly. Julian had planned it all so perfectly, as if he knew the outcome of this game.

  “Well, Elliot? Stay or go? Cast your vote?”