My lovely brother seems to have lost his phone. Give me a week and I’ll see what I can do.
“I’ll visit him before the Atlanta show this weekend. I’m sure he’ll want to join,” Avery says.
But she doesn’t get the chance. Our flight is delayed due to unexpected hurricanes hitting the East Coast. We barely make it in time to the stadium to do a quick mic check before heading backstage to change.
“Hey, I’ve got some flowers for you,” a crew member says. “And we need you on deck in three.”
Flowers and congratulations have been coming in nonstop from people in the industry Avery and I have worked with, each with notes about memories they have with us. There are peoplewho are disappointed, angry even, but mostly the response has been positive.
“Thanks, just put them down anywhere there’s space.” I nod to the counter as I finish tucking in my shirt.
I move to check myself in the mirror, but my eyes fix on the lilies. They could be from anyone, I reassure myself. My heart thunders as I pluck free the attached note.
Retiring, without saying goodbye? You’ve been naughty.
I’ve got us a reservation at 11 a.m. so you can make it up to me.
The last line is the address for a restaurant. It’s not a request. Retiring means Maddie stops making as much money off me because if I’m not promoting myself, some of the interest in Fool’s Gambit will die off.
I don’t have time for this. I need to be on stage. I float through the halls, not able to shake the feeling that I’ve made a mistake.
I should have thought of how she’d react. Made a plan for it. I can’t get away. Even when I’m finally fucking happy, there’s always something for her to take. I’ll never be safe, only trick myself into thinking I am.
It feels like I blink and land on the platform. I’m unsteady on my feet, swaying as I rise up onto the stage. The lights are hot against my skin, and my stomach roils with a wave of nausea. I take a step forward completely on autopilot.
The band starts to play, but I miss the intro, so they loop it again. People in the front row of the crowd grow uneasy as they press against the metal barricade. I finally land it the third time. Even then, it’s hard to call it a landing. It’s more like I dive out of a moving car and barely survive the impact.
I’m supposed to move to the front of the stage and say something, welcome them to…Fuck, where are we?It doesn’t matter because we launch into the next song, managing to getit on the first try. I keep losing my grip on the microphone, my hand slick with sweat.
Halfway through, the crowd roars, eyes fixing on a point behind me. I turn and stop singing entirely. But she doesn’t so it doesn’t matter. Avery takes long deliberate strides toward me from across the stage. What is she doing here? It’s still my set and I have six more songs.
When she reaches me she tilts her mic into my face.
Keep singing.
She places her free hand on my chest, under the open flap of my button down. Her skin against mine. I look down. Her ring. I meet her eyes. Pure concern swirling in the streaks of green.
It grounds me enough to make it through the rest of the songs.
“Take him. I’ll handle the rest,” Avery says the moment we’re off stage. I’m still in a daze, drenched in sweat that causes my clothes to stick against my already tight skin.
She unwraps her arm from where it was around my waist and someone is there beside me. A security guy with tattoos.
Then she’s gone. I reach for her, but she’s gone.
“I’ve got you,” whoever she handed me off to says. The voice is soft and low. He walks with me back to my dressing room.
When he reaches out for the doorknob, I cock my head. “You have the same tattoo as this guy I know. A spade on your arm.” I don’t say the rest, how the spade is part of a set that all of us got. Jared with a club, Garrett a heart, Luca a spade, and me a diamond.
“Who else do you know that has one?” He flicks off the lights as we walk in, so it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust and recognize the broad-shouldered man.
“Luca. What are you doing here?” “I missed your first show. I thought I could at least come to this one and see why Evelyn is up my ass about joining you guys.”
He came. That single thought breaks through the clouds cluttering my mind. Luca is here.
“Were you backstage this entire time?” I ask.
“I was a few rows back.”
