Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) (41 page)

I introduced Aurora to O’Shea’s mom and dad who fussed over us for a few minutes.

“We’re really sorry we didn’t make the wedding,” Mrs. Rushing said to me, giving me a big hug.

“Are you kidding?” I said with a smile. “You couldn’t pass up a cruise for your anniversary. Did you have a good time?”

“It was amazing,” she said. “The two of you should take a cruise sometime. It’s so relaxing.”

“I could do with some relaxing,” Aurora said to her with a smile.

“Isn’t that the truth?” I added.

“I don’t think relaxing is in your near future,” Mr. Rushing said, gesturing to the stage. “You boys are going to be busy again with this tour.”

“It’s the next best thing to relaxing,” O’Shea said. “I love touring.”

“I’m excited to hear the songs tonight,”
Kacie
added.

“You’ve heard them all,” O’Shea said to her, grinning.

“It’s not the same,” she insisted. “I want to watch you play them.”

“Let’s hope everyone feels that way,” I added.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see Antonio, Beck, Mark and Hana approaching.

“Yeah,” Mark agreed as he adjusted his jacket sleeve over the bright yellow wrist band he’d been given at the door. “There’s already a line of kids out there waiting for the doors to open.”

“I’m glad you made it,” I said to them. “Make yourselves at home. The doors open in about five minutes, so you might want to snag a seat up front before things get too crazy in here.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Antonio said.

“I’ll help them find seats,” Aurora said to me. “You go do whatever it is that rock stars do.”

I grinned at her and kissed her cheek before she led the group toward seats in front of the stage. O’Shea and I caught up with Jonas and Chase and tracked down Neon.

“We good to go?” I asked.

“The live feed is set up and so far it’s working,” Neon said. “Keep your fingers crossed.”

“And the tribute to Wes?” I asked.

“The slideshow is good to go. So is the video for “You Only Live Twice.” The rest is up to you guys.”

Neon hurried off, and I nodded and faced my brothers who were all looking at me expectantly, like I should have prepared a speech or something for the occasion.

Chapter 54

Aurora

I SHOWED EVERYONE TO their seats in the front row but pulled Hana aside to talk.

“Is everything okay?” she asked me as I nodded for her to follow me a little ways away.

“Yeah,” I said. “I … I just wanted to thank you. Trey has told me how amazing you were the night I got hurt.”

“Anyone would have done it,” she said, smiling kindly. “I was happy to help.”

I took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you were there to take care of Trey for me when I couldn’t.”

“Aurora,” she said after a moment. “I can tell how much you mean to Mark.” Her eyes drifted over to where Mark was sitting, and he smiled up at her upon feeling her gaze. “Seeing how important you are to him is all I needed to know about what kind of person you are. I’m just glad you’re okay after everything that happened.”

I smiled at her. “Mark is a great guy. He deserves to be happy with someone like you.”

“Thank you,” she said. “We girls need to stick together.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I told her.

“When does that husband of yours take the stage?” she asked.

“Soon, I imagine.”

“Maybe we should get to our seats before the room gets flooded by teenagers.”

Hana and I took our seats, and I had to fight back a laugh after seeing how giddy Beck was.

“As if being at my idol’s wedding wasn’t enough,” Beck said as the doors in the back of the ballroom opened and teenagers and twenty-something’s started milling in. “Now I’m here at the album launch party. It’s crazy. Look at all these people, and I have a better seat.”

I smiled at him and tried to imagine how this must feel for him. If Aden and I had ever been invited to a party like this with any of the bands we used to listen to, we’d have been freaking out, too. It was fun to see the night from Beck’s perspective in that way. As for me, I was looking forward to seeing my amazing husband rock out on a real stage for a real crowd for the first time since we’d met at
Carlie’s
. I couldn’t have known on that night what the future held for us. I’d fully planned on feeding on him after he walked me home, but fate stopped me for reasons I couldn’t have foreseen. Fate had bigger things in mind for Trey and me.

“I need to tell you something,” Antonio said. The cryptic tone of his voice was anything but reassuring.

“It sounds serious,” I said.

He met my gaze, and I could see the worry in his dark brown eyes. “It’s Malena,” he began. Great. My least favorite conversation topic.

“What about her?”

“She skipped town.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, hoping this was all just a cruel joke. “You’re kidding me, right?” He dropped his gaze then, unable to meet my eyes. “How did that happen? Wasn’t she with the Emissary?”

“They seem to have lost her,” he said. “You of all people should know it’s not impossible to ditch an Emissary detail, if you’re determined.”

“So, what now?”

He shook his head. “She was pretty upset about our decision to reassign her. I imagine she’s covered some ground already.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Not really.”

I sighed. This was the last thing I needed tonight. I was going to have to tell Trey that the one person who had killed his friend and nearly killed his wife just got away.

“There are people watching for her,” Antonio added. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

The noise level in the room had increased dramatically as the room filled with fans . I was trying to decide how I was going to break the news to Trey when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder from behind. I turned around to see some girls who looked like they might have been seventeen or eighteen smiling at me nervously.

“Sorry,” one of them said.” We don’t want to bother you but would you mind taking a picture with us?”

“A picture?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Yeah,” the second one said. “So we can show our friends that we met you.”

“She’d love to,” Beck said, smiling like he’d just come to my rescue. “Here, I’ll take your camera.”

The first girl handed her camera over to Beck, and I pushed my chair out of the way so they could stand on either side of me for a photo. I smiled, amazed at how my life had gone from that of a recluse vampire artist to rock star wife so quickly.

“Thank you,” they said in unison to me as Beck handed their camera back to them.

“We were really worried after the car accident,” the first girl added. “It’ll be good to see him in one piece tonight.”

Then the second girl’s eyes fell on my hand, and her jaw dropped. “Is … is that the ring Trey gave you?”

I held my hand up in reaction, and she reached out, steadying it so she could get a closer look.

“It’s breathtaking,” she whispered. “It must weigh twenty pounds.”

I couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped my lips at that comment. “It’s beautiful,” I agreed. “I’m a lucky girl.”

“If Trey will just wave at me tonight, I think I’ll die,” she said. “Thanks again for the picture. You guys make a great couple.”

I was about to respond to her when I noticed someone standing near the aisle a few rows back, looking lost.

“Excuse me,” I said politely as I escaped into the aisle. Trey’s father, Jon Decker, looked more than a little relieved when he saw me approaching.

“I have a seat for you up front,” I said to him, taking his arm to lead him forward.

“I’m glad to see you,” he said as he walked with me. “My son had a car sent for me and everything. To be honest, it’s all a little overwhelming.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Where is Trey, anyway?” he asked, glancing around as we stopped at our seats.

“He’s going on stage any minute.” No sooner than the words left my mouth the lights dimmed, and there were excited squeals from random girls in the crowd.

Neon walked out onto the stage, a spotlight tracking him. He raised a microphone to his mouth and said, “Hello, hello!” The crowd went wild, screaming and clapping anxiously. “Wow,” Neon said, grinning. “It’s nice to feel the love. I think I’ll just pretend you’re this excited to see me and not the four guys waiting backstage.” Another round of screaming and clapping. “Alright, alright,” Neon said, laughing. “I can take a hint.”

I glanced at Beck from the corner of my eye and saw him practically frozen with excitement. Even after spending so much time with Trey lately, he could still hardly stand the anticipation.

“These guys have been working really hard lately to bring new music to you,” Neon said to the crowd. “I know they’re just as excited to be here as you are, and I promise you won’t be disappointed. Please welcome to the stage Trey, Jonas, O’Shea and Chase … otherwise known as Catalyst!”

The roar of the crowd was deafening as the lights went out completely only to come back on in perfect sync with the opening notes of “Midnight Poison.” A spotlight shown on each of the guys now as they were all positioned on the stage. Trey was front and center. He’d strapped on Liza, his favorite green electric guitar, and he was slamming on it through the intro.

I found myself jumping up and down excitedly along with Beck as Trey’s voice came through the loud speakers. I sang along to every word. After the first verse, Trey made a point to look down at me and smile. I saw the surprise register on his face when he noticed his father standing there next to me, watching him proudly with watery eyes. I elbowed Jon, smiling at him.

The crowd jumped in sync with the beat of the song until the last note rang out. The applause was insanely loud, and Trey and the guys couldn’t help but grin at each other and take it all in.

“We want to thank all of you for coming out to celebrate with us tonight,” Trey said into his
mic
as the shouting died down. “Also, a big shout out to all of the fans who are watching this stream online tonight. Thanks for tuning in, wherever you are. We put our blood, sweat and tears into this record, and we’re excited to finally be able to share it with you.”

O’Shea grabbed his
mic
from its stand and said, “Raise your hand if you’re going home with a copy of the record tonight!”

Every hand shot up in the air, and O’Shea gave an exaggerated nod of approval. “That’s what I like to see. My hand is still cramping up from signing all of them, so there better not be a single copy left when the night is over. The record will be available at midnight in stores and on iTunes, too.”

“The song we just played for you is called “Midnight Poison,” Trey said. “It’s the first song we recorded for this record, so we thought it was only fitting if you heard it first tonight.”