Fangs And Fame Read online

  A power signature.

  Aurora froze, her foot hovering just above the bottom step. She looked over her shoulder at me and said, “We have a visitor.”

  I gestured with a jerk of my head for her to step back, and I climbed up into the bus, Aurora following right behind me. This power signature wasn’t strong enough to be the vampires I’d seen from the stage tonight, which brought me back to my first assumption.

  Crystal.

  I could hear the tinny sound of a vampire heart beating. The speed of it increased as I walked along the bus. I held up a finger over my shoulder to signal for Aurora to wait. She did as I asked and stayed back by the kitchen area as I proceeded down the little hallway that led to the bedroom we shared. Just as I’d suspected, Crystal was waiting there for me. She was sitting on the little sofa at the bottom of the bed, grinning like a maniac when I stepped into view. It was like I’d jinxed myself just by thinking about her tonight.

  “Crystal,” I said. “What are you doing?”

  “Waiting,” she said, pouting at me as she got to her feet. “For you.”

  “You can’t just show up on my bus like this,” I said to her as she stepped closer to me and put her hands on my shoulders. “I don’t even know you.”

  “But our blood calls-”

  “Our blood calls to each other,” I said with a sigh. “Yeah, yeah. I remember.”

  “Send her away,” she said, referring to Aurora.

  “She’s my wife,” I countered. “I’m not sending her anywhere. She lives on this bus. With me.” Crystal didn’t seem to be paying any attention to what I was saying as she gazed up at me, moving a hand to touch my hair. “Look, I know this is hard for you to hear, but you and I can’t be together.”

  “We could, though,” she said slowly, taking my hand and stepping backward, trying to pull me with her.

  “No,” I stated, planting my feet. “We can’t.” I stepped closer to her to make her look me in the eye before I continued. “I need you to hear this, Crystal,” I said. “I love Aurora. I’m going to spend eternity with her.”

  Crystal froze just then, her eyes burning into mine. “You don’t love her, you just love that she brought you into the dark,” she said, but her voice was wavering. It was the first sign that her resolve was crumbling.

  “That’s not true,” I said. “I’ve loved Aurora since the first night I met her. I love everything about her, and I didn’t know she was a vampire until I’d fallen so hard and so deep there was no turning back. She saved my life, in more ways than one. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here now.” Crystal stared at me, but I saw her eyes soften. “Somewhere out there there’s a vampire who’s just waiting to meet you. He’ll make you happy like you deserve to be happy. I’m honored that you’re such a big fan, and I’ll be eternally grateful for that, but I can’t be that guy for you. Do you understand?”

  She nodded, almost imperceptibly, and I smiled for her. “I hope she deserves you,” she said.

  I wanted to say that I was the one who didn’t deserve Aurora, but I thought better of it, not wanting to push my luck. I led the way to the front of the bus and saw that Aurora was nowhere to be found. She’d obviously decided I was handling things and thought it would be better if she wasn’t standing there to antagonize Crystal. I opened the door of the bus and Crystal climbed down the steps one at a time. “Can I call a car for you?” I asked her.

  “No,” she said. “I’m parked not far from here.”

  “Okay,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets.

  “I have to say, this isn’t how I imagined my evening going,” she said as she started across the parking lot.

  “Take care,” I said, waving as she walked away. She’d crossed the road before I felt a breeze and looked over to see Aurora suddenly standing at the bottom of the bus steps.

  “It’s not too late to change your mind,” Aurora teased, nodding in Crystal’s direction. She climbed the bus’s steps and added, “I know her blood is calling to you and all that.”

  I laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her up against me. “You’re the only one who calls to me.”

  “Don’t,” she said, biting back a laugh. “There’s just no way to say that without it sounding creepy now.”

  “You mean my blood doesn’t call to you?” I said, pretending to be insulted as I closed the bus door.

  “Great. Now I’ve started something,” Aurora said, trying to walk away from me.

  “But you brought me into the darkness,” I teased as I followed her.

  “I brought you into it, Decker,” she said with a laugh. “And I can take you from it.”

  She didn’t push me away when I spun her around to kiss her. She pushed the blending of emotions that happened during the kiss into my mind, which always catches me off guard and makes me feel a little dizzy. When we pulled back it took me a second to recover, and then I said. “She may be crazy, but I gotta hand it to her, she was a great kisser.”

  Aurora’s jaw dropped and I couldn’t help the laugh that burst from my mouth at the look on her face.

  She smacked me on the arm and said, “You suck, Decker.” But she was grinning in spite of herself.

  “Now we’re making fang jokes?” I added with a laugh, earning another smack. She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help it and started laughing with me.

  Chapter 19

  Trey

  I WAS HUNGRY, OR maybe it was thirsty. I still hadn’t figured out what to call it yet. Either way, I needed blood in a bad way. The vampire equivalent of your stomach growling is like a gnawing in the back of your head that just won’t go away, along with this incessant tingling in your fangs that’s almost enough to drive you crazy. It was making me edgy, to say the least. I had planned to take a cab out to the edge of town to feed before the show, but thanks to some last minute radio interviews Neon scheduled, I was short on time. No way I was going make it out of there and back before showtime. I was agonizing in silence in the lounge and trying to ignore the sound of the ping-pong ball Jonas and Chase were volleying back and forth behind me. Aurora came and sat next to me, leaning close enough to whisper.

  “You’re just going to have to feed nearby tonight,” she whispered, putting a hand on my knee to still my foot from bobbing up and down anxiously.

  I bit my lip, but didn’t argue. As much as I hated to admit it, she was probably right. The last thing I wanted to do was feed from a fan. It’s the one thing I swore I would never do, but I was getting desperate. I had no idea what not feeding would do to me, but I seemed to need blood more often than most fledglings for whatever reason. I sighed, tormented by my lack of options. Performing really took it out of me, especially if it had been more than two days since I’d had blood. I didn’t want to go onstage tonight without being able to give one hundred percent of myself to the fans, but was I desperate enough to take blood from one?

  Aurora turned her hand over on my lap, subtly gesturing to a vein just below the skin on her wrist. I shook my head adamantly. I was not going to tax her any more than I already had by feeding from her twice this week.

  And that was my answer.

  I had to feed, and I had to prove to Aurora – and to myself – that I could get by when she wasn’t here. I’d just have to silence the part of me that was screaming in the background that I was about to use a fan.

  For blood.

  Still, ignoring it didn’t make it any less true. I got to my feet and mumbled a lame excuse about needing to get some air before I left the lounge. The fresh air was actually quite nice when I finally found a door that led me outside the venue. I took in a few deep breaths, wishing that it was enough to calm my nerves. I turned left and headed toward the large covered parking garage. As I got closer I was surprised to see two busses parked end to end. Jerry was just stepping out of the second one, and I made my way over to him.

  “Did you just get here?” I asked, gesturing to the bus with a wave of my arm.

  “Yes sir,
” he said, grinning and offering his hand in a greeting. “She’s road-worthy once again. I bet you’re glad to hear it.”

  “You have no idea,” I told him, shaking his hand. “Aurora will be happy. That’s for sure.”

  “What are you doing out here?” he asked casually.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Needed to get some air. I actually kind of thought there’d be some fans hanging around out here. Maybe they’ve all headed inside already.”

  “Not all,” he corrected me. “There’s a small group around the other side of the garage here. I just passed them.”

  “Maybe I’ll go say hi,” I said. “Glad to have you back.”

  “Glad to be back.”

  I went around the garage to where Jerry had described seeing the fans. Sure enough, four girls and two guys were hanging around and taking pics with their cell phones in front of a big promo poster for tonight’s show. They didn’t even notice me approaching so I decided to have a little fun.

  “I hear the lead singer is an ego-maniac,” I called out as I got close. Six heads turned to look at me, smiles spreading across their surprised faces as they realized it was me.

  “Trey!” one girl called out, taking a few steps toward me with her arms open in a hopeful request for a hug. She was tall, almost as tall as me, with long blonde hair streaked with blue. I obliged happily, putting my arms around her and letting her hold onto me for a little longer than was necessary.

  “What’s your name?” I asked when she pulled back.

  “Jes,” she said happily.

  “It’s good to meet you, Jes,” I said, giving her my million dollar smile. It was impossible not to be affected by her genuine appreciation for just being near me, and for a moment I almost forgot what I was there for. I introduced myself to the others as well, getting hugs from the other three girls and shaking hands with both of the guys. “I imagine you’re here for the show, then?” I asked them all, to which they responded with a bunch of nodding and enthusiasm. “Thanks for coming out,” I told them. “The rest of the guys and I really appreciate your support for us and for this new record.”

  “Are you kidding?” one of the guys responded. “The new record is amazing. It’s easily your best work.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” I said. “We worked really hard on it.”

  “Speaking of the rest of the guys, where are Jonas, Chase and O’Shea?” another one of the girls asked.

  “They’re already inside,” I said. “We just finished up some radio promo. Jonas and Chase are actually determined to kill a ping-pong ball in the lounge.”

  “Where’s your beautiful wife?” Jes asked, peeking around me briefly with excitement, as if Aurora might come walking around the corner in search of me.

  I laughed softly and said, “She’s chaperoning the ping-pong match.”

  “Awe,” Jes said, pouting. Then she shook it off and held her phone out. “Well, while we’ve got you here can we take some pics?”

  “Sure.” They took turns snapping phone pics and posing with me by the band poster until they were satisfied. “Well guys, I hate to say it, but I should probably be heading back inside.”

  “Do you have to go?” Jes asked. “This is my fourth show on the tour, and I just met you.”

  I put my hands in my pocket and shrugged. “Duty calls.” The disappointment on their faces pulled at my heartstrings, even though I’d known it was coming. What I did next was going to make me feel so much worse later on that I’d forget all about their current disappointment. “I tell you what,” I said. “I could probably sneak someone in for a quick look around backstage, but I can only take one of you.” The excitement was back, and I had to rein it in quickly. “Pick a number between one and twenty,” I said. Then I went down the line, pointing as they all rattled off their chosen number. I’d chosen thirteen, and Jes came closest with her guess of twelve. Lucky her. “Okay Jes, I guess you’re coming with me. I’ll see the rest of you when the show starts.” I waved goodbye and offered Jes my arm, which she happily accepted, and then led the way back inside the building.

  “This is so crazy,” she said as we walked. “I wouldn’t be doing this if you hadn’t wandered outside and been nice enough to come over and chat.”

  I swallowed a giant ball of guilt that was trying to lodge itself in my throat. Nice isn’t exactly the word I would use to describe what I was about to do to her, but if I thought too hard about it I was going to change my mind. Aside from a few curious glances from crew guys and venue security, no one questioned why I was wandering around inside with a fan. I took Jes to the stage, letting her view it from the side and trying to answer the questions she had about how things worked. The guys from Crosstalk were hanging around in the back and getting warmed up for their set, which just made me realize how little time I had before their part of the show would start. I quickly introduced Jes to all of them and then moved along, showing her a few more stops, including the dining room where most of the crew eats. I tried to make it as much of an official backstage tour as possible, more to lessen the guilt I was feeling than anything.

  “Can I see the lounge?” she asked, giving me her best puppy dog eyes.

  “Uh, maybe,” I said, not sure how to answer. “Let’s slip in here first,” I added, opening the door to an empty room and pulling her inside with me, locking it behind my back.

  “What’s this?” she asked, looking around at the emptiness.

  “This is our wardrobe,” I said. “You know, for all the many costume changes Catalyst does during the show.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me, hesitating just a second before laughing out loud. “You’re funny,” she said.

  “Yeah, that’s me.” I watched as she glanced over her shoulder, and I knew this was my chance. I quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me, sinking my fangs into her neck. She froze, but relaxed as soon as I began sending soothing images into her mind. I falsified a memory of the two of us making a quick visit to the lounge to say hi to Aurora and the other guys as her blood burned, hot and delicious, down my throat. Her heart beat filled my ears, urging me to continue drinking, but I took only what little blood I needed to sustain myself. A flick of my tongue along the bite marks healed the wound completely. I had definitely needed this tonight. Every inch of my body was rejuvenated, like I was waking up from a hunger-induced sleep. I held onto Jes, wanting to be certain she could stand on her own. She blinked, and I saw the moment her eyes came back into focus. She smiled at me, and I quickly opened the door with my free hand. “Crosstalk will be taking the stage soon,” I said to her. “They’re good. You don’t want to miss their set. We’d better get you to your friends.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “Of course.”

  I linked her arm through mine, holding it there to guide her as I walked her back toward the stage area. I walked her as far as I dared without opening myself up to being visible by the crowd, then I gestured for a venue security guy to come over.

  “Would you mind helping her find her friends?” I asked him.

  “No problem,” he agreed.

  Jes grinned up at me. “Thanks for this,” she said. “And whoever told you the lead singer is an ego-manic deserves a punch in the face. He’s actually a pretty cool guy.”

  I smiled back at her. “I hope you enjoy the show.” She hugged me and I watched as she walked away. She didn’t seem to hate me, I thought. Maybe the aversion that comes with having a vampire feed from you takes a while to kick in, I thought sadly. The guys and I worked so hard to please our fans. It didn’t matter how many nights I watched them singing along to the words that I wrote, it was hard to believe that anyone would care enough about what we had to say to come out and support us. It went against everything in me to compromise that by feeding from someone who was that passionate about what we were doing. It felt like a betrayal, sharp and deep in the pit of my stomach. As rejuvenated as my vampire body was after having taken Jes’s blood, my heart was sickened by what I’d just don
e. I’d done the one thing I had sworn to myself I would never do.

  There was no getting around that.

  Chapter 20

  Aurora

  I SNUCK OUT JUST long enough to meet my blood contact and replenish the supply. I called Trey to see where he was when I got back. He’d taken a walk earlier and I had no idea where he’d gone to.

  “We’re all in the lounge,” Trey said. “We’re getting ready to snap some pics of our Lego masterpieces and put them on the Fan Club for voting.”

  “I don’t want to miss that,” I said, grinning. “I’ll see you in a few.”

  “Sounds good.”

  I hung up the phone and went to the bus, pulling my surprise out of the bottom cupboard near the door in our bedroom. When I walked into the lounge it took a second for all the guys to notice me, but one by one they all turned to see what I was holding in my hands.

  “What in the-” Jonas began, but Trey interrupted him.

  “Did you make that?”

  I grinned and held it up for him to inspect closer. “Did you think I was going to miss out on the Lego contest?” I asked. “You clearly don’t know me very well.”

  Trey’s eyes grew wider the longer he looked at the Catalyst stage and set I had built, an exact replica (well, as exact as you can get with little bricks) made to scale.

  “I have a lot of down time while you’re doing soundchecks and radio promo,” I said matter-of-factly. “Now, where do I put this thing?”