Adrenalize

by Trina M. Lee

  Paul and his band quickly took over the front lounge TVs, hooking up videogame systems. Rowen and Greyson stuck around to play with them while the rest of us crammed into the smaller back lounge. We had a TV back there too, hooked up to a satellite dish. Sadly, we could only get it to pick up some reality dating show.

  “I can’t believe we’re really here.” Jett yanked open a window blind to watch the scenery fly by before settling onto Sam’s lap on the couch that wrapped around the lounge. That section could be pulled out into a bed that would certainly get its share of use.

  I crammed in close to Arrow, watching the farmland as we left the city behind. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I smiled when he slid his fingers between mine. “Surreal doesn’t quite begin to sum this up.”

  “It’s better than I ever pictured it,” Arrow mused, kissing the back of my hand. “Because you’re here.”

  His lips lingered just long enough to stir up the butterflies that lived in my stomach. They still could not contain themselves when he was around. Ignoring Jett’s eyeroll, I snuggled in closer against him and marveled at how it was our human lives that felt surreal right now. It was a far cry from demons and yet somehow much more terrifying.

  We had a twelve-hour drive to Vancouver where we’d play our first show of the tour the following day. We’d be busy doing press and promo in between sleep, travel, and performing. There were a dozen bands playing each day from noon to midnight. If the next city on the schedule was more than a twelve-hour bus ride, we got a day off in between. Not so bad.

  Joe had warned us that it would be chaotic but we’d settle into a routine. He’d also warned us not to party ourselves stupid. Our tour manager, Jordan, was on another bus with a bunch of roadies. But he’d be all over us at each location, and we’d better not piss him off.

  “I can’t wait to meet the drummer from Vixens and Venom,” Rubi beamed at the thought. “He’s pretty much the reason I started drumming.”

  Jett dug around inside her bra before producing a joint. She cracked the window open before lighting it up. “I’m curious to see who else on this tour is more than human.”

  “Me too,” I agreed, having my own suspicions on who may or may not be.

  Excited shouts from the front of the bus were followed by the clink of glasses and the telltale hiss of beer cans cracking open. Our first night trapped on a moving bus together, and Sacred Stone was already getting loaded. Rowen was right there with them.

  There would be copious amounts of partying during this tour. No doubt about that. Still, they were off to a running start.

  “I’m getting in on that.” Jett got up and squeezed her way by to exit the small lounge. “Spike, come help me carry some shots back for everyone.”

  I followed her through the cramped hall between the bunks to the front lounge. It was bigger up front with room for six to cram on the sofas and two at the table, but still a tight fit. This would be an interesting month.

  “Let’s lay down a few rules, boys,” Jett said, pulling a pack of plastic cups from a bag on the counter. “There will be no fighting on the bus. If anyone decides that you would like to fight on the bus, I will personally knock your ass out. Also, try to keep any and all disgusting bodily functions to a minimum. I know how guys get in a group. The immaturity spreads like disease.”

  Paul paused the video game and slid an arrogant grin Jett’s way. “How about no fucking on the bus, Jett? That goes for you too, Spike. Nobody wants to hear any of that.”

  My gaze met Rowen’s because how could it not? Sitting on the white leather sofa, he held a plastic cup of whiskey and coke. His amber eyes revealed no reaction to Paul’s remark. And yet I knew Rowen well from our time together, despite how tragically short it had been.

  He would never give a guy like Paul the satisfaction of seeing the underlying tension that constantly lived among the three of us. Rowen, Arrow, and I were friends and allies in the battle between angels and demons. But we had ties that bound, and even broken, the remnants of our time together linked Rowen to me.

  Pushing a floppy piece of tousled turquoise mohawk off his forehead, Rowen held my gaze easily now. In the few months since I’d started seeing his brother, we’d struggled to find our place with each other. Rowen and I would always love one another. But ultimately, we weren’t forever. Moving on while trying to maintain a friendship, it was so fucking hard.

  So the broken fragments of what we once were hung between us. Lingering. Dancing. Waiting. We’d said all we could say about it though. Nothing else mattered but moving forward.

  I flicked my gaze away first. Turning to the counter, I grabbed the first bottle I spied and started pouring. Anything to busy myself. “Just try to keep the crying while masturbating to a minimum and don’t worry about me. Ok, Paul?”

  A couple of his buddies snickered, and that was more than enough for me to feel victorious. I’d already poured a large slosh of vodka into two cups by the time I realized what bottle I’d grabbed.

  “I’ll do my best,” Paul quipped. “I wouldn’t want my jerkoff crying session to make anyone uncomfortable. The juicy love triangle you have going with the brothers will do enough of that.”

  My face burned and my fingertips tingled. Oh, how I wished I could launch a fireball into Paul’s stupid face. I quelled the urge and went about my business, pouring some orange juice into one cup and some Sprite in another.

  I half expected Jett to tell him to shove his head up his ass, but Rowen beat her to it.

  “I’m only going to say this once, Paul.” Voice low with a hint of menace, Rowen immediately had the full attention of every person present. “Don’t talk shit to Spike. Not one fucking word. It’s not funny, not a joke, and I’ll be more than happy to give Jett a reason to knock my ass out by shutting you up myself.”

  More than a little stunned, I turned to find Paul sitting stiffly, staring across the few feet separating him from Rowen. Paul usually threw down with Arrow. I didn’t think he knew what to make of Rowen’s threat.

  When even his friends coughed awkwardly and squirmed in their seats, Paul made a noise that was part scoff and part laugh. “Pretty territorial for a jilted ex, man. I don’t think it’s me that’s really the problem here.”

  “It’s most definitely you,” I jumped in, hoping to keep tempers from rising further. Paul was a shit disturber who didn’t deserve the reaction he sought. “But you’re not worth getting kicked off tour for, so let’s just do what we came here to do and stay out of each other’s personal lives.”

  I felt Arrow come up behind me before he stepped into view. “Everything cool out here?” he asked in a manner that indicated he’d heard everything and knew it was most certainly not cool.

  “Sure is.” Jett fired a warning glare at both Rowen and Paul. “Just setting some ground rules so we can all play nice for the next four weeks. That includes you, Arrow. No fighting.”

  Arrow’s upper lip curled in a smirk. Accepting the cup I handed him, he took a drink before saying, “Can’t make any promises. We’ll let Paul decide if he has better ways to pass the time other than fixating on our so-called love triangle. Kind of weird, don’t you think, dude?”

  He directed that last bit at Paul who resumed the video game. Thumbs clicking over the controller, he chuckled to himself. “Says the guy fucking his brother’s ex.”

  Because his fuse was short and always lit, Arrow surged forward. Knowing him as we did, Rowen, Jett, and I all moved to block him. I caught his arm and held firm.

  Jett planted herself directly in front of him. “He’s not worth it. Take your drink and go hang out in the back.”

  For a split second her eyes went pure wolf, just long enough for Arrow to see that she meant business. With her back toward Paul and his group, they couldn’t see the beastly warning.

  I was with her. We had a month to survive together. Throwing punches on our first night was not how I wanted to kick off the tour.

  Arrow flung a vicious glower
at Paul who ignored him now, fixated on the video game. Instead of pushing it, Arrow backed off. The three of us returned to the back lounge where we sipped drinks and made fun of the reality dating show until we were able to pick up other channels.

  Still I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Rowen’s response to Paul. It had been a touching gesture. Not that I wanted or needed him to defend me. But the sentiment meant a lot.

  When the clock reached midnight and we still had several hours left on the bus, Rubi and Tash crept into their bunks. Arrow and I lost a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors to Sam and Jett. So they got the back lounge bed to themselves for the first night with the promise to alternate nights.

  As the hour drew later, the guys in the front lounge gradually drifted off to bed. Once I was crammed into the too tight bunk with Arrow snoring softly above me, I laid there listening to the rumble of the bus on the highway. From behind the closed back lounge door came the muffled sound of Jett’s giggles.

  My belly fluttered with both excitement and anxiety. This was the first real test. Could I live a double life, chase a human dream while an angelic prophecy hung over my head?

  At this point I’d be happy just to make it through this tour without mishap. Especially that of the supernatural kind.

  An endless stream of thoughts bombarded me as I struggled to fall asleep on a moving vehicle in a bed that was a far cry from the comfort of my own. The sound of blankets rustling and more than one guy snoring made it that much more difficult.

  Four weeks to just play music and travel without any demon activity sounded like bliss. It also sounded like bullshit. I was pretty much a demon magnet.

  CHAPTER THREE

  IT FELT LIKE IT HAD been only minutes since I’d finally fallen asleep when Jordan’s voice boomed through the bus. He walked through the bunk galley, slapping the heavy curtains of each bunk as he went. It took me a minute to realize we must be parked in Vancouver.

  I made the mistake of trying to sit up. Forgetting how low the bunk above me was, I promptly smacked my head and laid right back down with a groan. Immediately, the bus was filled with noise and voices.

  “Set times are on the table, along with press times, fan meet and greets, and anything else you’re scheduled for. Record it in your phone, memorize it, write it on what little un-inked skin you have left, I don’t care. But don’t you damn well forget it.” Jordan barked instructions, taking his job incredibly seriously.

  He was a middle-aged, take-no-shit kind of guy. Hair smattered with silver, he blamed his thickening waistline and thinning hairline on life on the road. After two decades of working with party-hard troublemakers, I didn’t expect him to go lightly on any of us. Nor should he.

  Carefully I rolled out of the awkward bunk, right in time to almost get run down by Jett making her way to the front for coffee. Purple hair disheveled and wild, she tied a black robe around her waist. “Sorry, Spike. Move it or lose it. It’s coffee time.”

  The front lounge was packed with everyone trying to get their schedule, coffee, and whatever else to start the day. It was barely eight in the morning, and though we weren’t scheduled to play until later in the afternoon, there was an assload of press-related shit everyone was expected to do.

  The lineup for the single cup coffee brewer was just as long as the one for the tiny ass bathroom. This was going to get old incredibly fast. Arrow sat at the table. Black hair a mess, he sipped black coffee and rubbed his eyes while managing to avoid the melee. He had to have been awake a while to get first dibs on the coffee.

  Catching my wrist, he tugged me onto his lap.

  I slid my arms around his neck and kissed the side of his nose. “Four weeks of sleeping on this bus is going to be hell.”

  “You have no idea how tempted I was to cram onto that bunk with you last night.” Arrow’s arm went around me, holding me tight against him. “I don’t like the separate sleeping arrangements. Even if you are just one bunk away.”

  I didn’t like them either. Truth be told, I’d gotten more used to having Arrow beside me in bed than I’d realized. “Yeah, I’m not loving it either. I miss our bed.”

  A dark brow shot up, and Arrow gave a snort of surprised laughter. “Did you just call it our bed?”

  Had I? Son of a bitch, I did. Suddenly embarrassed, my entire body flushed with heat. “I might have.”

  In my defense he spent more nights in my bed than out of it. His golden-hazel eyes sparkled with mischievous delight. “No, it’s cool. I like it.”

  Feeling eyes upon us, I glanced up to catch Rowen as he redirected his scowl into his coffee mug. Because I was always hyperaware of the underlying strain on him, Arrow and I didn’t do a lot of public displays of affection. Not in front of Rowen. Still, I felt like I should get up and distance myself. Like he sensed my thought, Arrow’s arm tightened slightly around me.

  “So, what’s your schedule like?” I asked, doing my best to change the subject from my bed to something much more ex friendly. The already close quarters had just tightened a little more.

  When everyone had managed to get their coffee, breakfast, and whatever else they needed to start the day, the war was on for the bathroom. Sharing that tiny washroom with so many guys was going to test every patient bone in my body. Since it was too small to do hair and makeup anyway, us girls took over the back lounge, spreading our cosmetics and hair supplies everywhere.

  Jett had put the bed back into couch position. With some tunes playing off her phone, we got busy getting ready for the first day of a dream come true. Yeah that was cheesy as hell but true nonetheless.

  A peek out the window revealed a parking lot lined with tour buses. Eagerly I gawked at the bus next to us, wondering who was inside. A slap on my ass jerked my attention to Jett.

  “Curly? Or straight?” She held a curling wand in one hand and used it to point at her purple hair.

  “Curly. It really makes your color pop.” Somehow I dragged my nosey gaze away from the window. Turning my attention to the mass of makeup and hair products the four of us girls amassed between us, I pondered the look I wanted to have for our first show.

  After forty-five minutes of primping and excited chatter, we were ready to kick off the day. A short black skirt and a long-sleeved crop top paired with four-inch platform boots completed my outfit, all in black of course. My raven tresses tumbled down my back, loose and perfect for headbanging on stage. A gothic bondage choker with a heart shaped O ring adorned my neck. A few silver rings decorated my fingers. Real silver, pure enough to leave a nice little burn on a demon’s forehead.

  “I friggin’ love this eye shadow palette,” Jett gushed at her reflection in the handheld mirror she’d brought from home. “I got the last one the day it came out.”

  I watched her blend a silver into a dusty blue, envious at her exceptional ability to pull off any and every makeup look she attempted. A final glance in my own small mirror and I felt good about my sharp winged liner and raspberry-red lip color.

  Rubbing my palms on my pants, I glanced out the open lounge door. The guys were littered about the bus, taking turns in the washroom and digging through bags of stage wear. “Shit, you guys,” I hissed to the girls. “I think I’m nervous.”

  I hadn’t had stage fright in years. Sure the nerves hit now and then. They sure had during the Battle of the Bands that had changed my entire world as I knew it. But it had been some time since this jittery, sick feeling had struck.

  Jett wrinkled her nose as she applied a coat of mascara. “Yeah, I noticed. Chill out, Spike. We’ve got this.”

  The day began in a whirlwind of frenzy. Jordan hovered close to direct us to where we all needed to be. When he wasn’t close, he was blowing up our phones with texts and calls.

  I barely had a moment with Arrow before we were whisked away from each other in opposite directions. The girls and I were hustled toward a group of tents where several radio stations, YouTube music channels, and podcast creators were set up. In no time w
e had microphones in our faces and strangers asking us an array of questions.

  The press tents were set up near an area where people waited to meet bands at the autograph table after they’d performed. From where we stood I had a great view of the double stage set up. Two stages side-by-side allowed one band to start their set as soon as the other ended theirs. A sprawling field held a crowd that grew by the minute. Various vendors and food trucks were littered about. We moved from one publicity meeting to the next, following our schedule.

  “I used to have a spiked mohawk,” I explained for the umpteenth time that day. “The nickname just kind of stuck after I grew my hair back out.” Did anyone really care why my name was Spike? Nobody called me Ember except for angels and demons. And my mom.

  My stomach growled, since I hadn’t had a chance to eat anything yet today, and I eyed a taco truck.

  The woman holding the mic nodded and scanned the list of questions in her other hand. “And what about the band name? Crimson Sin. Where did that come from?”

  “It was just one of those things that felt right in the moment.” Jett jumped in, fielding yet another question that we’d been asked endless times. “We were drinking and smoking some green in our jam space one night, tossing around ideas. We ended up combining several suggestions to make Crimson Sin. Not the most interesting background story but that’s pretty much how all of our best work begins.”

  Overhead the sun began to peek through the clouds, promising the rain would hold off. The next band began their set. I shot a glance toward the stage, astonished at how fast the crowd continued to grow. It was a summer festival though, and people were here to party.

  Several tents away Arrow and Rowen answered questions from a guy with dreads down to his waist. Paul and his crew were likely near the stage. They played earlier in the day. According to the schedule Jordan had rammed down our throats, we played right before Molly’s Chamber later today. Then the big names took over the stage for the rest of the night. My innards quivered at the thought. We’d never played for a crowd this size before.