“We said we’d be there. Hell, we owe Ronnie, Luth.” Xane wasn’t in the habit of breaking his word, not without a crazy good reason, and Alle’s neediness didn’t qualify. “Besides, we’re still courting this dude, remember. I’m still living in hope that we might have a full band line-up again one of these days and I want Ronnie to be part of that.”
“Yeah, and Ric’ll axe-murder you if you ever attempt to drag him on stage again.”
“Or worse.” Xane shuffled across the seat a fraction so that he could rest his head on Luthor’s shoulder. “He has a shit ton of blackmail material. Christ, I am not looking forward to this.”
“I don’t think any of us are. We said we weren’t going to after Hellfest.”
But then Ronnie had called, and none of them knew how to say no. The fact was, Black Halo simply wasn’t Black Halo without Spook.
-8-
Allegra
Ronnie’s performance that night was everything everyone expected of him. Polished. Enthralling. The streets outside were crawling with fan girls. Alle watched them from the window of Ronnie’s dressing room, huddled in groups, talking, and laughing, ninety per cent of them in slim fit shirts with Ronnie’s arse on them.
She’d known him before he’d landed.
It was satisfying to know her instincts were good, but the knowledge didn’t bring the high it should. Nothing much did that these days.
Ronnie would speak to the fans on the way out. He always did. The fact that he made time for them was part of what had earned him such a devoted base in such a short time. Well, that and the combination of genuine talent and having a breath-taking bubble butt. Being an adorable dork didn’t hurt either. She wouldn’t leave until after he’d done his walk. That way she could slip out unnoticed. Any other gig, she’d have dashed off the moment the encore was done, away before the fans had even left the building. Tonight, she had a reason to stay. The Black Halo guys were here. More specifically, Xane was here.
Ash arrived first, with Ginny on his arm. “You were wonderful.” Ginny kissed Ronnie on both cheeks. It was the sort of intimacy that still made him blush. She gave Alle a nod.
Rock Giant loomed behind them, brushing Ash out of the way to crush Ronnie in a one-armed bro hug. “Good show, mate. You’re catching a bit more edge. It adds something. The crowd were certainly lapping it up.”
“They lapped you lot up too.”
That prompted another round of backslaps.
Rock Giant caught sight of her by the window. “Alle.”
“Hey,” she returned.
Xane and Luthor wandered in after another five minutes or so. Alle hung onto the windowsill, making like her fingertips were glued in place. It hurt, every minute she forced herself to remain still. If she charged him, she was likely to wind up with a restraining order rather than answers. Words drifted past her as they fell into chatter and analysis. She felt like such an interloper. A twitchy twenty minutes passed before Rock Giant ambled over to her.
“You practising your ninja hide in shadows skills? Thought I’d ask in case you are, but I have to tell you theI’m part of the furnitureschtick ain’t working.”
He shuffled in close, blocking her view of the rest of the room with his bulk. She was no svelte nymph, but Paul Reed towered over her. His hair was still sprayed into spikes, but he’d removed the alien contact lenses he normally used to white-out his irises. Instead, he smiled down at her with his friendly tawny pair.
“I haven’t a clue what you’ve just said,” she told him. “Is that geek speak?”
“You’ve never played DnD, failed to hide in shadows?”
“Guess I was more interested in the other sort of dungeon master.”
His brows shot up. “Whoa, Hutton! Watch it there, that was dangerously close to humour. And is that… good grief… a smile?”
The quirk of her lips lapsed immediately. “I assume there’s no news?”
“Not the news you’re looking for. But we won. Xane won. That’s something. And the crowd were pleased to see us.”
She acknowledged his pleasure with a half-hearted fist bump. “Do you think he knows?”
She’d been wondering that ever since Lyra had shown them the announcement vid of the trial verdict. Had Spook seen it? Did it change anything? Would he come home now? Contact one of them? Ash, maybe? Xane? Her?
“I don’t know, Alle,” Rock Giant answered with a solemn shake of his head. “It’s not like we exactly know why he left. Sure, we can all speculate, but…”
There’d been conversation after conversation of speculation in the earlier days.
