The bus jostled them as it inched through the mass of people.The brakes hissed to a stop.Larry got them as close to the venue doors as he could get.
“So get the fuck off my back,” Remi finished and stormed off the bus.Everyone watched as he sprinted to the door.The venue’s security guards held back the paps.
The rest of the band exited the bus.Skye’s phone started ringing as she pushed through the savage photographers.
“Hello?”she said, holding a hand to her other ear so she could hear over the shouting.
“Is it true Remi keeps his heroin in a glass cookie jar on the bus?”
“Skye,” Roger, CEO of Sprites Records, barked her name over the phone.She’d known he had a temper, but this was the first time she’d ever heard it directed at her.
“Morning, Roger,” Skye said, injecting enthusiasm in her voice.
“We need to talk about your singer.”
Someone grabbed her arm, and she threw her elbow back until she heard the satisfying crack of a broken nose.
“Fucking bitch!My nose!”the pap screamed.“I’ll fucking sue you for this!”
She ignored him and made it inside the door.“Roger, the picture was a set up,” Skye shouted into her phone.“Remi is not doing heroin.”
“I don’t give a fuck if he’s snorting elephant tranquilizers and shooting up stem cells from baby koalas!The picture is out there, and there’s a viral post circulating a petition to get the Jacksonville show canceled.”
“What?”
The crew weaved around her as she made her way over to the stage where the band was doing sound check.Her eyes landed on Jillian in the corner.She was holding her phone high and making pouty lips for the camera.
Skye knew Jillian had done this.She’d set up the photo, and she’d leaked it.She was an influencer.The only way she stayed relevant was rolling around in drama, and with the tour going smoothly the last few shows, she must have decided to create some content to keep her posts entertaining.
“There’s some group of mothers rallying the petition,” Roger said.“Moms Against Drugs or some shit.Remi is a role model for their kids, and now that he’s on dope, what are their kids going to think?You know, instead of parenting their children, they’re blaming me.Me.So this mess needs cleaned up ASAP.If even one show gets canceled, I’ll make sure your band is slapped with so many goddamn fees that you’ll be lucky if you can make it into the black by the time every single one of them are old fucks and shitting themselves in wheelchairs.You got me?”
“Yeah, Roger,” Skye said.“I got it.”
He didn’t say goodbye before hanging up.
Skye marched toward the stage, the heels of her thigh-high boots clicking loud enough that the crew members in her path skittered out of her way.
Levi was standing to the side, along with the rest of Key of Atlas, waiting to do their sound check.
Skye grabbed Levi by the wrist and dragged him behind her as she walked up the stairs.
“Hey!”he protested.“What do you want with me?”
“Need you to do sound check for Remi,” she said.
“Why the fuck would I do anything you say?”
Skye whipped around and yanked him until he stumbled into her.She let the red of her demon vision light up her irises.“Because, little fucker,” she hissed under her breath.“I have your goddamn soul, which means I can haunt you for the rest of your life.And youaregoing to do what I tell you, or else, when this tour is over, I will follow you everywhere, making sure every moment of happiness and peace that you manage to eke out of your tiny, pathetic existence is destroyed.Kay?”
Levi’s face paled, and he nodded vigorously.
Skye spun back around and ripped the microphone from Remi’s grasp and shoved it into Levi’s chest.“Go.”
“What the hell are you doing?”Remi asked.
“We need to talk,” Skye whispered.“Like now.”
Remi took a long breath and sighed it out.“Can I just finish—”
