“What’s up, Vil?” she asked, sounding chipper.
“There’s a video of me that’s gone viral. Have you seen it?”
“Hold on. Cellist… playing in a pond to the ducks, that’s kind of cute.”
“Snow, Dani Divine, leather corset.”
In another second she was whistling. “This is amazing. Who did the filming? It’s so pro.”
I ran a hand through my pink hair and tried to keep it together. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because a lot of people had their phones out recording it. It’s just the timing could be better. Dani Divine? How did they know my name?”
“Good question. Do you want me to trace the video?”
Who was the best videographer in Vegas? Who was the supervillain who had decided to play a long game with me? “Never mind about tracing the video. I know who did it. He was there. Of course he was.” I was going to kill him! How dare the billionaire tech genius make money off my music? Did he want to die? Wasn’t it bad enough that his mother kidnapped me and humiliated me; did he have to personally humiliate me and make money off my humiliation? It was exactly what his mother accused me of doing to him. Profited off his humiliation. Maybe I should have Jezabel kidnap him.
“He? He, who? Is there a new player in the game I should know about?” Toni asked quickly.
“Supervillain. He’s…I’ll deal with it.” Would I though? The last time I’d had my knife at his throat, I’d completely choked. Or kissed him, which was even worse. I couldn’t just let this go, but I’d rather kiss him than hurt him. I could kiss him painfully. While stealing his tech. Because I was clearly stellar at that. I was so much better at corporate warfare and organizing theft and larceny than running in the field with absolutely no ability to pull the trigger or steal the tech. What I wanted to steal was that abomination Death Star walker. And his house. Then I’d have somewhere to practice with the band I was stealing. Maybe I was so bad at stealing Dirk’s tech because I didn’t really want it.
“When you say supervillain, are you talking nuclear warheads and private armies?”
I took a shaky breath. I really had no idea. When was I going to stop being surprised at the depth of Dirk’s diabolicalcleverness? “It’s fine. I just have to find out what he wants and then destroy it.” When I wanted to do that.
“Um, sure. One thing, Dani, you’re amazing. The music you’re playing- it’s like someone’s digging in my chest with a dagger.”
“With a Dagger. Yes, it would. I’ll call you later.” I hung up and stayed perched on the toilet clutching Jezebel’s cello until my heart stopped beating so hard. I had a few changes that I needed to make to the program. So he’d already seen me play, but he’d never mentioned it. Maybe it hadn’t made much of an impression. I’d make an impression on him.
I came out of the restroom and headed back to the club, Heaven, and the musicians who were still setting up. The whole club was full of dancers and tech people hanging wires and lights.
“Dani,” Janice said, her face taut and her eyes burning with rage.
“Sorry I’m late. I had to make a call.”
Her cheeks went slightly pink. “Of course you did. Jordan is very difficult to get, particularly at the last minute. I didn’t realize that you were sowell-connectedto so many prominent individuals in the city. I’ll be happy to turn the costuming over to him.” When she said well-connected, she meant sleeping with.
I was already furious, feeling betrayed and idiotic about the internet thing. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with someone small-minded who was so insecure in her own abilities. “Great. I hear that he’s the best of the best.”
Her mouth went taut. “Indeed. You’ll rehearse in the ballroom while the crew sets up. After lunch, you’ll do a brief run-through with the dancers and tech team.”
Hawkins nudged me with his elbow as he headed towards the door. “Don’t argue, just smile and kill her later,” he muttered low enough that only I could hear.
I smiled at Janice and followed him out. A white electric cello with wings mocked me as soon as I entered the large mirrored hall.
“That is the stupidest-looking cello I’ve ever seen,” I said.
Ziggy gave me a slightly sick smile. “It’s not as bad as my bass.” She raised the mockery with gold hearts painted on it.
“Where did they come up with this?” the drummer asked, frowning at the glittery drum set.
“Glitter is a staple of rock heritage,” Hawkins said. “I’ve had worse gigs. We’ve all had worse gigs.”
They all sighed heavily and nodded.
I smiled tightly and went to the cello. “We’ll just have to make the best of the situation. Did you guys have a chance to look at the music I gave you?”
I still felt like screaming and stabbing. The video of me playing in my leather corset went viral, which meant that Dirk Dagger was making real money off me. Maybe that was his perverse sense of justice, since I’d made money off his fight. Maybe it was his sense of irony and whimsy. Like Scooby Doo. Was there any way to work that ridiculous theme into this ridiculous performance? Was there any way to make this whole thing not ridiculous?
I took a deep breath. That was my priority- to impress him with more than my underwear. “Look, I know that you’re all more experienced than I am, but I have some ideas that I’d like to try to help our performance be more than glitter and smoke. Do you mind hearing me out?”
