The other half looks like something you’d find in the lowest depths of Hell. Black, necrosis-like patches threaded with blood-red veins cover almost half his face and much of his right side. He has three extra eyes—all red—and two sharp fangs that poke out even when his lips are pressed together.
“No, but it was another problem,” I grumble, my eyes locking with his green ones. “Another human.”
He raises the brow on his normal-looking side. “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”
With a groan, I massage my temple. “A friend of Niki’s is here.”
“Oh. I wonder what for,” he muses, reaching for a magazine on the coffee table.
“I have some guesses.” And I don’t like any of them.
It’s no secret that Niki will need help in the coming weeks, especially once she goes into labor, but bringing another human into the mix isn’t the answer. Not when everything is so uncertain.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but this is a mistake.
“And Acherith didn’t bother to tell anyone?” Emrys asks, but we both know the answer.
Our leadsinger didn’t tell a fucking soul, which only complicates things. What if Niki’s friend had just walked into our bus without warning? What if she had seen me shirtless, in my true form, the way I’d been when she knocked?
No, this is not good, and I want to punch our leadsinger in the face repeatedly for leaving me in the dark… again.
“Are you going to talk to him?” Emrys asks, his voice calm and soothing.
I’d love to be as unbothered as he is about everything, but I can’t. Not when I’ve fought so hard to get where I am.
Not when the other option is returning to Hell.
“As soon as the fucker gets back. He went out this morning and, as far as I know, hasn’t returned yet.” I march over and snatch my mask off the floor, stomping toward our bedroom at the back of the tour bus.
Grabbing my cell phone off the bed on the right, I scroll to Sebastian’s name. My fingers move furiously across the screen as I type out a message.
Me:You’re not fucking funny.
Sebastian:Didn’t realize I told a joke.
Me:Do not play with me, Seb. A woman just showed up here.
Sebastian:Was she lost?
I grind my teeth, fighting the urge to crush the phone to pieces, but I resist. I can afford a replacement, but I don’t feel like going through the hassle of getting a new one. Rage boils through my veins, threatening to set me on fire.
How can he be so fucking impassive about something with such catastrophic consequences?
Me:Are our lives a fucking joke to you?
Sebastian:No.
Me:Sure seems like it considering how you keep putting a giant target on our goddamned backs.
Sebastian:I don’t have time for this.
Sebastian:I’ll talk to you about it later.
A growl rumbles in my chest and rolls up my throat.
I hope Steele or Daire can learn to sing, because I’m going to fucking kill him.
I’ve cooled off some, but not nearly enough, by the time Sebastian shows up an hour later. He doesn’t bother knocking, just lets himself in like he owns the place. Technically, he does. This bus was his before he bought the one to share with Niki. His fake name is on the title.
