All of their dreams were coming true.Again.
Their second chance served up on a silver platter.
Liam was shaking his hips, humping the air.Ollie and West were talking animatedly.Remi’s face hurt from how big his smile was, but he only had half a minute to celebrate before a darkness crept up his spine, overshadowing his joy.
It’d been two weeks since Remi had made the deal with Skye.After he woke up on his bedroom floor with a wicked headache, all traces of her were gone.The black business card with her phone number had disappeared.
He assumed he’d be able to feel it—if he’d really lost his soul—but Remi felt nothing.He kept his head down for a few days, emotions flipping between indignation that Skye lied about the deal and horror that he might be losing his mind.
Maybe it washimwho would need to be put in a psych ward.He wanted so desperately to make his band work that his sick mind concocted the entire thing—the sex dreams with a demoness, the deal, Hell—all of it just symptoms of mental health deterioration.
Remi stared at the black screen of his phone, at his shadowed mirrored image.He’d really done it.He’d sold his soul to a demon to become a rock star, to get a record deal, to make his band famous, to make his friends rich.
His soul must have been like an appendix—the most traumatic part had been the extraction.
He felt no different without it.None of this felt real.
His shocked eyes lifted from the black mirror of his phone to his bandmates’ happy faces.
But itwasreal.This was happening.It was all really happening.
The corners of his lips spread into a satisfied grin.
West grabbed Remi’s shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts.He wrapped his arms around him, and Remi leaned into the hug.
“Emerson would be so pissed that ourshitty bandgot not one, but two record deals,” West said.
Remi snorted.“He would hate it.You think he’s watching?”
West stepped back, raised both middle fingers up, and spun in a circle, yelling toward the ceiling.“Hope the fucker is.”
Emerson’s voice floated through Remi’s head.His anger and fury as sharp as the day he’d stormed into the garage and berated Remi for having no future, no plans, no hope to make anything out of himself.When are you going to stop being such a worthless piece of shit?
Right now, Em.I’ll prove you wrong,he thought to himself.I’ll prove them all wrong.
This would change everything.
“I’m hungry,” Liam said.“Can we stop and get a burger on the way to the airport?”
“We can get ya ten burgers, Liam!”Ollie said, jumping onto his back.“Cause we’re getting a record deal!”Liam caught Ollie’s legs as they wrapped around his waist, and he ran around the coffee table with Ollie on his back, shouting and hollering.
Skye’s taunts replayed in his head.Hope success turns out exactly as you imagined it to be.
Remi snorted and shook his head, flinging off any lingering moroseness.Skye had no power over him anymore.He was living his wildest dreams.He wasn’t going to let anyone stop him now.
Chapter Seven
TheTiltedHazesongblared through the speakers as Skye drove her droptop toward Venice Beach.The sun warmed her skin, and the breeze on her arms was welcome.She hadn’t been back to Hell since she’d dropped off Remi’s soul to cash in her Earth-walking privileges, so she was fully adjusted to the Southern California weather.
The song faded into the background as the radio disc jockey’s voice cut over.“That was Tilted Haze with their latest single, ‘Dream Girl from Hell,’ which will be on their next album, officially dropping next week.”
Skye rolled her eyes at the name of the song, but couldn’t help smiling.
“The band, who no one had heard of just a month ago, was here, in our studio, yesterday.Here’s what they had to say about their rise to stardom.”
There was a flickering noise, and then another announcer asked, “What do you say to the haters who claim you sold out by gaining mainstream success?I mean, even middle-aged women in the grocery stores are headbanging to your music.”
“Well, first I’d say”—bleep—“you.Our music is about finding freedom from whatever is bringing you down, and in our society, there is a whole lot of crap stacked against middle-aged women, so I’m proud that they like our music,” Remi said.
