Fangs And Fame Read online

  “I guess maybe we’ll need a little bit to think it over,” I told him, trying to cover up the fact that Aurora still wasn’t breathing.

  “No prob,” Neon said, getting to his feet. “I’m going to go round up the guys. Soundcheck starts in twenty.” He closed the door behind him and we were alone in the lounge.

  I turned to face Aurora on the couch, taking her hands in mine. “Hey,” I said, smiling. “You’re not freaking out on me, are you?”

  Aurora met my gaze and finally took a breath in order to speak. “No,” she said, although not very convincingly. “I-I’m good.”

  “Just say the word and we don’t do the feature,” I repeated. “I mean that.”

  “We have to do it.” Aurora said. “How can we not?”

  “Okay....” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I admit, I did not see that one coming.”

  “I mean, look at all this.” She pushed Neon’s iPad into my hands again, gesturing at the long list of search results.

  “Right....” I said slowly.

  “Not only that, but they’re being supportive of you and me ... together. I mean, the fans have been really accepting of me, I just had no idea it was on this level. Don’t we owe them a glimpse into our slightly twisted storybook romance? It’s the least we can do, isn’t it?”

  “Is this really what you want?” I asked, unable to hide the smile that was quickly taking over my face.

  “Yes.” She said, nodding definitively. “These are your fans.”

  “Our fans,” I corrected.

  “Our fans,” she repeated, grinning as she tested out the words.

  “How did I get so lucky?” I said, leaning in to steal a kiss. She kissed me back, touching my face and sending butterflies straight to my stomach. When the kiss ended I locked eyes with her, admiring the color of them. Aurora let out a deep breath and slapped her hands down on her knees. “Okay, then. That’s decided. You’d better get Neon to call the magazine before my senses come back to me and I change my mind.”

  Chapter 15

  Aurora

  “I JUST AGREED TO do a photo shoot with Trey for Rolling Stone,” I blurted out to Antonio as soon as he answered my call.

  “Wow,” he said, biting back a laugh. “Congratulations. That’s ... huge.”

  “Is this a good idea?” I asked him as I paced back and forth in a random hallway in the venue. “We’re by no means inconspicuous, but this will draw major attention to us both. Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to do it.”

  “Whoa, hold up,” Antonio said. “Crazy as it seems, you’re a very real part of Trey’s rock star world now. Part of playing it cool in that world might mean allowing a spotlight to shine on you both on occasion.”

  “You think?”

  “Sure. Your definition of normal has been evolving since you met Trey. You two are married now. You’re supporting his career just like he supports yours. There’s nothing weird about that. I think you made the right call.”

  “Really?”

  “Sure,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his tone. “In fact, you might as well embrace this new life. You chose it when you chose Trey.”

  I sighed, wondering how he’d managed to make sense of the situation at all. “You’re good,” I admitted.

  “So I’m told.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” I added.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it. It’s a lot to take on, but how are you handling all of this?”

  “It’s crazy, but I can’t complain. I like to think I’m doing a pretty good job of juggling the roles of supportive wife and maker, and I even manage to sneak in time to paint.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Antonio said. “You’re able to find blood when you need it?”

  “We’re not starving yet, so that’s a good sign. We even came across our first psychotic vampire fan today.”

  “Really?”

  “She made Malena look sane,” I said. “She’s a little obsessed with Trey, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

  “At least you’re not bored.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Bored doesn’t enter into the picture, believe it or not. In fact, the show’s about to start. I should probably go.”

  “You know you can call any time you need to talk, right?”

  I smiled. “Yeah. Thanks.”

  I pondered the question Antonio had asked me about how I was handling the entire situation as I made my way toward the lounge. If I really thought about it, I knew what I was afraid of. I was worried that I might get so caught up in this new world that I might lose myself. I was devoting so much time to helping Trey pull off his secret double-life that I might lose myself in the process. I didn’t want to think too hard about it. Maybe Antonio was right. Maybe it was entirely possible to immerse myself in my new roles and still find ways to feel like myself. An idea began simmering in the back of my mind, and I mentally played out the possibilities. When I found the lounge after only getting turned around once in the maze of backstage corridors, the guys were eating and working on their Lego creations for the contest.

  “I have something I want to run by all of you,” I said as I stole a Dorito from Chase’s plate and sat down on the couch next to him.

  “Shoot,” he said as he expertly placed a yellow brick on his Lego drum set.

  “How would you feel about me giving a painting or sketching lesson to a fan or two during soundcheck at some of the shows?”

  “Sounds cool,” O’Shea said before taking a big bite of his sandwich.

  “I’m sure the fans would love that,” Trey added. “What would you paint?”

  I pointed behind him at the mirror on the wall, and he spun to see his reflection, giving me a sarcastic smile when he got my meaning. “What else?” I teased. “You are the perfect subjects.”

  “Have you figured out how you’re going to choose the fans?” Jonas asked.

  “I haven’t gotten that far yet. Any ideas?”

  “Twitter,” he stated. “Any of us can make an announcement on Twitter through the official band account. Then we’ll just use an app to select a random winner from the users who enter. Easy.”

  “You say easy, I say headache.”

  “When do you want to start?”

  “Uh ... tomorrow?” Most of my art supplies were still on our broken down bus, but I’d have plenty of time to grab what I needed for the contest in the morning.

  Jonas pulled out his phone and swiped around on the screen with his finger for a moment before setting it back down on the couch next to him. “Done,” he said.

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “Now what?”

  “We wait. Tomorrow morning we’ll draw for a winner and notify them.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Huh. Well, that was easy. You’re hired.”

  The guys put on an amazing show that night, as usual. I was waiting for Trey in the lounge when he came to find me afterward.

  “Great show,” I said to him, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him.

  “Thanks,” he said. “It felt good. In fact, I have a song idea I want to get down on paper.”

  “You came off the stage with a new song idea?” I shouldn’t have been surprised by something like that, but he never ceased to amaze me.

  “I’ll lose this melody if I wait around for my turn in the showers.”

  “Guess we’d better get to the bus before the other guys do, then,” I said, leading the way.

  Trey was pulling his T-shirt over his head before he reached the back of the bus. I grinned and set my purse down on the table as I heard the sound of the shower turning on. I checked my email on my phone, happy to see the sales and inventory update from Kacie in my inbox. Being away from The Waking Moon wasn’t easy, but Kacie was doing a great job of running things for me while I was gone. I’d need to make a trip back soon to make some adjustments since there was no way for me to really anticipate what would work best until I’d come out on the r
oad and tried it out. So far, we were making it work. I just hoped we could keep it up. I giggled when I heard Trey’s voice coming from the shower, and I imagined what my own tweets would be like if I were constantly posting like the rest of the guys were.

  Hubby singing new song in the bus shower. You never know, this one could end up on the next record.

  I was cracking up just thinking about it, and made a mental note to tell Trey that he should be grateful that social media sort of terrified me. Trey was still in a hurry when he joined me in the middle of the bus. He was wearing only a pair of jeans, and his hair was still damp. He kissed my forehead as he passed me and went straight for his acoustic guitar. I watched unabashedly as he pulled out a pencil and notebook from a drawer and got comfortable on the floor, his preferred writing spot.

  I was reminded of nights spent in the loft of The Waking Moon. I’d spent a lot of time sketching or painting while Trey wrote songs for Until Sanity. Those were some of my favorite memories of us together, and seeing him now made all of it come flooding back.

  Partly out of habit, and partly because he just looked so irresistible sitting there in those jeans, I pulled my sketchbook out of my purse and found myself drawing his image on the first empty page. I started with the strands of his chocolate-colored hair and then moved on to the shape of his face, the angle of his jawline, those intense blue eyes. Jonas came aboard right then and snuck past Trey quietly, not wanting to disrupt the obvious song-writing going on. Chase joined us next, droplets of water still rolling down from his hair after his shower. He wasn’t as quiet as Jonas, but Trey was in the zone, oblivious to everything but the song he was living in. He held his guitar pick between his teeth when he needed his hand free to scribble a line of lyrics or a guitar chord in the notebook. O’Shea was the last to load the bus, and he realized what was happening and took a seat next to me, watching me sketch in silence and absorbing the song Trey was singing. I imagined he was probably trying to work out guitar solos in his head.

  Trey’s voice, warm and gravely and flawless, carried through the bus effortlessly as the melody he was working on developed a hook, and eventually joined several verses. The song was catchy, and I found myself humming along with him after a while.

  He noticed me humming and paused briefly to smile up at me before he began scrawling in the notebook again. My vampire heart did a little flop in reaction to that smile. That perfect smile that he saves just for me. No matter how many times he flashes that famous million-dollar grin of his on stage, or to the press, this smile was all mine. It told me how much he loved me, that he had everything he needed when he looked at me. That smile was priceless, and I cherished that thought as I added it to my sketch of him. I could have sat like that all night, watching him work his songwriting magic and doing my best to capture it with my pencil, but he finished the song in half an hour. He set his guitar down and got to his feet, stretching before he joined me and O’Shea on the leather bench.

  “I just really needed to work that out before I lost it,” he said.

  “No need to explain,” O’Shea said. “But it’s your fault I’m not going to get any sleep tonight. I have guitar parts dancing around in my head, so thanks for that.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  O’Shea swore under his breath and said, “I guess I’m going to go get my guitar and mess around in the back. You two don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “What is that even supposed to mean?” Trey said, laughing as O’Shea held two fingers up to his eyes and then pointed them at us, a stern look on his face.

  Trey held up his hand, pointing to his wedding band. “Married. Remember?”

  “You heard me,” O’Shea said in his best fatherly tone.

  Trey shook his head, shrugging at me as O’Shea left. “Thanks for hanging out while I finished that song,” he said once we were alone.”

  “I’ve just been enjoying the view,” I said as he put his arm around my shoulders.

  He glanced down at the sketch I’d done of him, and nodded approvingly before he moved the sketchbook from my lap and set it aside. “Now this,” he said, gently taking my chin in his hand and tilting my face up. “This is a view.” He gazed into my eyes, and I stared right back, watching as the blue in his eyes darkened a shade. His lips brushed mine, and I heard my pencil drop, bouncing on the bus’s hard floor and rolling away. I kissed him back, moving my hand to the smooth skin on his shoulder. I felt his hand at small of my back and he pulled me closer to him, closing what little distance there had been between us.

  “Nothing to see here,” Chase said, startling us. He cleared his throat and opened the fridge, glancing at us from the corner of his eye.

  Some nights you just can’t win, Trey thought, but he was smiling at me. Chase pulled some milk out and grabbed a package of Oreos.

  “Bring those over here,” I told him. “If I let you walk away with them I won’t get any.”

  Chase sauntered over to the bench, setting the milk on the table and then going after some cups. Nice save, Trey thought, knowing I’d hear. I took an Oreo and stuck it in his mouth, laughing when he bit down and half of the cookie fell in his lap.

  “See what you did,” Trey said with a full mouth.

  I grinned at him. “Eat your cookie.”

  He shook his head and leaned forward to give me a quick kiss.

  “None of that if I’m going to share my cookies,” Chase insisted as he handed me a glass of milk.

  Chapter 16

  Trey

  SHOWTIME WAS ONLY A few hours away when Aurora and I made it to the venue. The guys and I had done radio promotion at several stations in the city for the better part of the morning. After that, Aurora and I had gone out to meet the vampire Aurora had contacted about getting us some blood. We couldn’t stock up on it, but we were both able to drink enough to satiate our thirst temporarily. Then we’d headed out to find some art supplies and check out a couple of vintage record stores before meeting back up with everyone for the show. As usual, the guys and I did a quick soundcheck with the sound engineer and then headed backstage. Aurora was in the green room sifting through her new supplies when I walked in. I followed Chase’s lead and got a plate of food to snack on while the guys and I played some Halo on the flat screen to pass the time. O’Shea and Chase were in the middle of a debate about which map was best suited for sniping, and Jonas was looking for a Lego piece he’d lost in the couch when Neon announced that the winners of a local radio station contest were waiting for us.

  “Do you want to come hang with the fans?” I asked Aurora as we turned off our game.

  “I need to get this all organized and take it out to the bus,” she said, including the vast assortment of paints and brushes scattered around with a wave of her hand. “I’ll meet you there in a bit.”

  “Sounds good,” I said, bending to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Go break some hearts,” she added, smiling at me.

  “This guy?” O’Shea threw an arm around my neck, putting me in a light choke hold. “Never.” I had to refrain from flipping him over my shoulder just because I could.

  The fans were anxiously awaiting our arrival in a large room down the hall. There were ten of them, six girls and four guys, standing in a group with Neon. They had cameras and CD’s in hand, and backstage passes on their lanyards.

  “Here they come,” Neon said, stepping out of the way so we could come forward and introduce ourselves. Two local deejays we’d visited earlier in the day accompanied the fans, greeting us with handshakes. They thanked us for agreeing to meet up with their listeners for the contest. We went down the unofficial line, asking the fans their names, shaking hands or giving hugs, and signing whatever merchandise they had on them. Everything was going great until I reached the fourth fan in line. She appeared to be in her late twenties, and did a good enough job of blending in that it took until I was right in front of her until I figured it out. I could see it in her eyes that she’d be
en waiting for me to catch on to her when it hit me like a ton of bricks.

  She was a vampire.

  I only let the surprise take me over for half a second before I forced myself to smile and pretend like nothing was going on. “I’m Trey,” I said to her, putting on my best smile.

  “Crystal,” she said. “It’s great to finally meet you. I’ve been a fan for years.”

  “Thanks for coming out,” I said, surprised, but mostly relieved that the conversation was so normal. It wasn’t necessarily a big deal that she was a vampire. I mean, vampires like music, too. Just when I’d pretty much decided that I’d been worried for nothing, she opened her mouth again and proved me wrong. Just my luck.

  “At the risk of stating the obvious here, I’m sure you can see that you and I have a lot in common,” she said.

  “Oh yeah,” I said casually. “Like what?”

  “You don’t have to play hard-to-get,” she added. “Not with me. I’ve waited a long time for this, and now that we’re-” she raised an eyebrow, “... compatible, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t just admit that this is happening.”

  “What’s happening?” Chase asked, his voice full of curiosity. He was signing a copy of the new record for a guy next to me, and for a second I thought that he might have saved me from what was fixing to be a very awkward conversation at best.

  “Trey and I,” Crystal said matter-of-factly. “Nothing less than fate has brought us together tonight.”

  “I was under the impression the radio station did that,” the girl next to her said, buying me a few seconds to think.

  “Our meeting would have happened with or without this contest,” Crystal said, stepping forward to close the space between us. I took a step back as she raised her hand to my chest, licking her lips. “Your blood calls to me, just as I know mine calls to you.”

  Clearly not wanting to take any part in the crazy that was going down, Chase frowned and patted me on the shoulder. “Good luck with that.” He turned his attention to the next fan, accepting her cell phone to say hello to her best friend on the line.