No one spoke as we ran, and the tension pounding through my veins gave me the adrenaline to sprint without puffing like the unfit human I was. Running for my life on occasion had made me fast, but in general, I did not run for fun. Cardio outside the bedroom could fuck right off. And then keep fucking. Thankfully, if we’d heard that scream from the bus, the area couldn’t be too far away. Even with the way sound could travel.
If we didn’t reach the area soon, though, I was going to embarrass myself by gasping for breath in front of Grayson, who I was fairly certain didn’t even need to breathe at all. Was his chest moving?
Fucking robot.
His gaze caught mine, and no doubt he wondered what the hell I was staring at. My brain was a fuzzy mess when I was stressed, and I hoped he would assume that was the reason I acted like a weirdo at times. Like the kiss.
Fuck. I’d been kissing Grayson while Rhett was possibly being murdered. Dramatic as that sounded, it slammed into my chest hard enough that I stumbled and almost fell on the graveled path.
Grayson’s arm whipped out in a flash as he caught me, and I knew that myspeedI’d been so proud of actually had nothing on his. The only reason I’d gotten away before had to be because I’d taken him by surprise. “I kissed you, remember,” he growled as he straightened me.
We were still moving, and the only reason I hadn’t eaten shit again was he still had a hand wrapped around my right bicep, keeping me upright and propelling us along. “How the fuck did you know I was thinking that?”
He faced forward so I couldn’t really see his expression. “You wear your emotions on your face,” he finally said a beat later. “It’s odd. Usually those who live on the edge of homelessness…on the edge of being on the streets, lose that innocence.”
At this point it was almost as if he was talking to himself, the words turning to low mumbles, and I found myself temporarily forgetting the danger we were running toward as his tone captured my full attention. There was nothing innocent about Grayson, and I wondered if maybe,just maybe,that reference had been as much about him as it was me.
But how? How had this incredibly capable and famous drummer of Bellerose lost his innocence? When did it even happen? I had to assume it’d been before he joined the most famous band in the world. I’d never looked into Bellerose or any of its member’s origin stories, even though I knew there were multiple documentaries about their rise to fame. It had been too painful to even hear the name, let alone take in more information, but maybe now I was ready to find out. Especially since Bellerose was so much more than just Jace now.
The darker emotions this band used to illicit in me had shifted into something lighter. Something that filled my soul rather than hurt it.
In truth, I was actually desperate to know more about Rhett and Grayson. About how they’d come to be part of the Bellerose world. Almost as desperate as I was to feel that rough, dominating edge to Grayson’s kisses and the talented touch of Rhett’s calloused hands.
You know, providing he was still alive, and that was where my goddamn focus needed to be.
As we rounded the corner near the venue, there was a small crowd of fans standing there and waving banners, unperturbed by the scream that had rung out before. At this point I was super grateful that we were almost at the area. My chest was hurting hard, while my legs protested the rapid pace the security and Grayson had set.
“Is this the meet and greet?” I asked in a breathless rush.
“No,” Grayson said shortly. “These are the fans that just hang around in the hopes of seeing us walk to our tour bus. The meet and greet is through that fence.”
I looked where he pointed, past the dozen or so giant trucks parked up until they were reloaded with all of Bellerose’s staging and sets. I noticed the two security on the fence were tense and speaking rapidly into the comms they wore. I wasn’t sure if it was a good sign that they hadn’t left their post yet, but clearly something was going on still.
The fans lost their shit when they realized it was Grayson, screaming his name and jumping up and down like they were super jacked up. He didn’t even look their way, running forward to the two men clad completely in black at the fence.
“What happened?” he snapped.
“One of the fans pulled a gun,” the first one said. He ran a hand over his black hair, which was shaved short to his head. “They’ve asked us to remain here and keep others from entering. It’s a hostile situation they’re working through.”
“Since you work for me,” Grayson said, leaning in so no one else would overhear; I was the only one close enough, “it’s in your best interest to let us through.”
The guard almost looked like he was going to argue and then must have decided it really wasn’t worth the aggravation. Even if he hadn’t been their boss, Grayson wasn’t the sort of man one argued with. “Go on through. We’ll make sure no fans can follow.”
He used a key from his pocket to unlock the huge bolt that held the gate closed and stepped aside to let us through.
Our pace was somewhat slower, and I saw the way the security fanned out around us, covering our back and side as Grayson and I moved toward the meet and greet.
From what I could see, most of the fans looked to be on the ground, hands covering their heads, and it was eerily quiet.
Or at least I thought it was until we ended up much closer, and I finally saw what the situation was.
A small woman stood in front of the band’s table, and she had a handgun pointed right at Rhett.
My heart almost stopped before it slammed into gear again so hard that it hurt.
It took a few seconds for my ears to work, as panic and stress crashed my senses, but the moment they did, I realized that she was shouting at him.
“You betrayed me!” she screamed, her hand shaking. “We were meant to be together, Rhett! You and I arefated, and now you’re…” Her rant trailed off in a devastated wail.
