Staged (Exodus End 3)

True! Roux hugged Raven tight, hoping that she would get to see Steve again before they had to do the distance-keeping thing for real. She’d be devastated if she’d misinterpreted his message and he didn’t show up. “You’re right; we aren’t on tour yet. I love you!”

“But you love Steve more,” Raven teased.

Roux released Raven and turned her back to her. “Not more. Different.”

“That’s a relief,” Raven said. “I wouldn’t want to keep you awake all night, too uncomfortable in your wet panties to sleep.”

“It isn’t just the sex between us that’s making me crazy.” She pressed her fingertips to her lips, trying to find the words to explain her feelings but coming up lacking. “He’s so . . . not what I expected. He has a huge heart.”

“And the huge dick is just a bonus.”

Roux laughed. “Exactly!”

For the rest of the day and evening, Roux’s gaze kept darting to the wings of the stage as if she expected Steve to be there. First of all, even if he’d commandeered the jet the second he’d stopped texting her, the distance was too far for him to get there this soon. Second of all, he wasn’t really coming. What kind of crazy guy would drop everything just to see a woman he’d met only weeks ago? Third . . . Her bandmates were staring at her. She clenched her fingers, which were no longer moving across the keys.

“You okay, Roux?” Sage asked.

“My fingers cramped up,” she lied, flexing her hands as if trying to work some circulation through them. “I can’t imagine what yours must feel like. Are they bleeding yet?”

“I could use a break,” Lily said from behind her drum kit. She was drenched in sweat. “I need to rehydrate too. I feel a little dizzy.”

“Yeah, yeah, and my throat hurts, but we have only a week to get this right!” Iona said. “From the top.” She strummed the first bass note, but the rest of them only stared at her. “I said, from the top.” She repeated the note, but again no one joined her.

“I’m calling it a night,” Lily said, placing her sticks on her snare and groaning as she stood from her stool. She pressed both hands to her lower back and stretched it back and forth. “If you kill us all before the tour actually starts, you won’t ever attain that fame you so desperately want.”

“I don’t want it for me. I want it for all of us,” Iona said.

“But none of us wants it the way you do,” Sage said, lifting her guitar strap over her head and setting her green guitar on a stand near the edge of the stage.

“Speak for yourself,” Azura said. “I want it all.” She played a fast series of notes on the blue guitar that matched her hair and clothing accents.

“We can have it all without killing ourselves,” Lily said. “We got this.” She joined Iona, who looked half sick, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “This isn’t like that show, Iona. You aren’t alone; we’re with you. There’s no competition here. You’re just doing something you love.”

But everything was always a competition with Iona. It was simply how she operated. They all knew that about her, and they all loved her because of that internal drive, not despite it.

“If you’re not careful, you’ll lose your voice again,” Roux said. Iona went a shade paler. “You need rest too.”

“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Sage said. “It’s not like we’re finished forever. We all know we still have a few kinks to work out of the set.”

“And I have a few kinks to work out of my back.” Lily groaned and bent over, rounding her back to relieve the tension.

“And I’m sure Iona has a few kinks to work out on her man,” Azura said, removing her guitar and setting it aside. “When do I get a chance at some kinks?”

“Maybe we should go to the Delancey tonight,” Sage said. “Any kink you’re looking for will be there.”

Azura brightened. She loved going to their favorite goth nightspot in New York, but her shoulders sagged after a brief moment. “I’m too damned tired to even consider it.”

Roux draped a cloth over her instrument to keep the dust off the keys and followed her sisters off the stage. Looking around at the current setup, she was struck by how lucky they were that Sam had found this place for them to use for the next week. Most of their equipment was on a barge headed to England, so renting all this stuff couldn’t have been cheap. It also was within walking distance to their apartment. The sun was already going down, and they lived in a neighborhood where it wasn’t safe to walk alone at night, but the six of them together felt secure enough to goof around and gossip as a bit of relief from a long day of attempting to turn their fun hobby into a grueling job.

“I guess he isn’t coming,” Roux said quietly to Raven, who was answering messages as she walked.

“Give him time. He’s not the boy next door.”

That was true in multiple ways, but that point didn’t make Roux feel even a little better. She missed him like crazy. Maybe he was right and real rock bands didn’t have keyboardists. She could quit now and become a desperate groupie begging for his attention. Right. That was simply her hormones talking. As soon as the nuisance giddiness wore off, she’d regret such a stupid decision for the rest of her life. She needed to get a grip. Especially since she was certain the reason he was even remotely infatuated with her was because in the beginning she’d pushed him away and now she continued to lay ground rules even if she wasn’t very good at keeping them.

Stay strong. She tried a self-directed pep talk. You don’t need a man to be happy and successful and to live a fulfilling life.

But having Steve beside her would sure make those dreams all the sweeter when they became her reality.

She was halfway up the fourth flight of stairs to their apartment when her phone dinged with a text message. She whipped the phone out so fast, she nearly chucked it down the stairwell. She clutched it to her chest, heart hammering wildly, and then peered at the message through the slits between clenched eyelids, as if reading it that way would lessen her disappointment.

Meet me at Republic Airport in six hours.

Six hours? That would be two thirty in the morning; was he crazy? She glanced at her sisters, realizing they’d all be asleep—with the exception of Raven, who rarely slept—and wouldn’t know if she snuck out in the middle of the night. They’d never know she’d been unable to keep her word about not seeing Steve for less than forty-eight hours.

And so she impulsively texted back. I’ll be there. How will I find you?

You’ll figure it out. Putting my phone in airplane mode now.

Wait. I have questions.

But he didn’t answer.

“Damn,” she muttered under her breath. It would serve him right if she stood him up. Oh, who was she kidding? She’d be there to meet him even if she had to crawl through the New York City sewers on her hands and knees.

When Roux tiptoed out of the apartment hours later—Raven silently locking the door behind her—her belly was quivering with a mix of nerves and excitement. What kind of crazy guy had she gotten herself mixed up with? The right kind of crazy. She grinned as she hurried down the steps in her bare feet, carrying her sandals by the straps until she was safely, quietly, out of the building. Once outside, she sat on the rain-wet front step and slipped into her shoes. A soft drizzle fell, giving the cement an earthy smell that instantly relaxed her. She stood from the stoop to make her way to the nearest subway station but stopped before she’d managed a single step. A white limousine was parked at the curb. Red flower petals lay scattered on the pavement before the back door, which a stern-looking man opened. He stood watching her.

Was Steve already here? Was he waiting inside the limo?

She approached the car warily. Mama had warned her never to get into a stranger’s vehicle.

Unless it was a limo. Stranger-danger rules didn’t apply in such situations.

“Miss Roux Williams?” the driver said, his voice far more comforting than those shrewd-looking eyes of his.

“Y-yes.”

“I’m to take you to Republic when you’re ready.”

She’d given herself a couple of hours to get there because she figured she’d have to take public transportation. Iona monitored the mileage on the van for tax purposes, and she was determined not to get caught.

“You are?”

“Yes, miss. The gentleman instructed me not to bother you and wait at the curb until you came outside.”

“He did?”

“Yes, miss. I can take you anywhere you’d like to go as long as we make it to our destination before two.”

“I guess we can take the scenic route,” she said with a shrug.

He smiled, and his eyes softened. “As you wish.”

He took her elbow to help her into the car. More red rose petals carpeted the floorboards. She wasn’t sure of their significance, but as she settled into the wide comfortable seat, she scooped a petal off the floor and brought it to her nose. She closed her eyes as she rubbed it over her lips.

“Help yourself to any refreshments you desire,” the driver said. “If you need me, lift the phone handset there.” He pointed to a phone affixed to one wall.

“Wait!” Roux said as he started to close the door.

He ducked his head into the open door. “Yes, miss?”

“I didn’t catch your name.”

He smiled again. “It’s Arnold, miss.”

“Thank you, Arnold. You saved me from a walk in the rain.” The light sprinkles were already turning into heavier drops. She had no doubt that she would have been completely drenched by the time she reached the subway.

“My pleasure, miss.”

The door closed, and within a few moments the car pulled away from the curb. In the seat across from her sat three boxes of various sizes, each wrapped in bright floral paper. She stared at them as if they might jump off the seat and tear out her jugular. She hadn’t received many gifts in her lifetime. Holidays and birthdays had been special under Mama Ramona’s care, but not lavish. Instead of buying presents for each sister, her family had done a gift exchange at Christmas and pooled their money for a single birthday gift, so in her memory she’d never gotten three gifts at once. Not even before she’d been saved. She licked her lips nervously and turned her attention elsewhere.