Page 52 of Fractured Heart

“It’s our backup song,” the Dark Prince snaps. He emphasizes the word backup as he glares at me, making it clear that I’m the reason they can’t use their main song.

“And we’ve only been working on it since they announced that the theme of the competition was fairy tales,” Tate adds.

“Which was what? Three days into the school year?” Charles asks, sounding bored.

“It was at least two weeks,” Tate throws back.

The two of them start to bicker, while I focus on one earth-shattering detail. Fairy tales? Their competition theme is fairy tales?

It can’t be. Or can it?

There were so many signs that I missed that now make perfect sense. Tate’s interest in my songs. Charles, reading Brothers Grimm. And the guys, who remind me so much of fairy tale princes come to life. The last is probably sheer coincidence, but the rest makes sense.

JJ raises his arms, signaling for the guys to refocus. “Come on. I want Roonie to see what we’ve got.”

Tate and Charles nod, finally agreeing on something. Silas grumbles.

“Let’s skip the warm ups? We’re kind of low on time.” He gives me a pointed look.

The guys don’t notice. They take his lead and move into a half circle with their hands in the middle. Rhythmically, they snap their fingers. Then, Silas guides them into the song. “And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three…”

Charles starts to sing. He hits a series of notes, moving up and down the scale with breathtaking clarity. My heart races. His voice is everything I imagined it to be and so much more. It’s strong and beautiful and beastly. I get lost in it, and the steady background beat he creates, as I wait in breathless anticipation for whatever’s about to come next.

JJ steps forward and winks at me. “Ahhh, Ahhh, Ahhh,” he joins in with melodious cries.

I cringe. I try to keep a smile plastered on my face but…this is kind of terrible. Charles is clearly going for an old-fashioned, medieval melody. He just doesn’t mix with…with…whatever JJ is doing. I can definitely see where the guys might need help with their audition.

Then, Silas steps forward. I brace myself for a heart-rendering performance that will leave me gutted. Instead, he opens his mouth and wails. He doesn’t sing. He lets out one loud, pained cry and then abruptly stops. If I hadn’t heard him earlier, I’d be convinced he couldn’t sing.

Charles and JJ fill the ensuing silence.

“Ooooh,” Tate adds his voice into the mix. He takes up a mid-range tenor that’s meant to sit between Charles’ bass and JJ’s…whatever you might call it.

Don’t get me wrong. JJ’s not a bad singer. None of the guys are. But what the heck are they doing?

It’s almost as if each of their voices is a beautiful instrument playing a lovely song—except that it’s three different lovely songs being played overtop of each other.

What was probably meant to be a fairy tale melody sounds a lot more like a medieval traffic jam.

Then it gets worse.

They stop. Not at the same time, or in some staggered pattern, but within a second or two of each other.

They all cast quick, jerky looks at one another and begin to dance. Well, “dance” is a generous word for what they’re doing. JJ drops to his knees and begins swaying like a piece of seaweed. Tate and Charles look at me, the audience, and march rhythmically across the floor.

“Once upon a time…” Tate sings in the same breathtaking voice I remember from last night.

I perk up. Nothing bad can start with once upon a time. If they just cut out the intro, I’m sure the rest of their audition is going to be great.

“Once upon a time…” JJ chants, proving me wrong. He can really sing, I’ll give him that. I just wish he hadn’t. His voice doesn’t meld with Tate’s. At all. Still, I hold out hope.

“Time-time-time-time-time,” Charles croons, the tone and melody completely different from the previous two.

“There was an enchanted forest,” Silas adds in a pained cry. All that heartfelt emotion had worked for him earlier, but now it’s all kinds of wrong.

“Forest!” JJ echoes, still grinning. His forest is clearly a much happier place than the one Silas just created.

“Yeahhhhh,” Tate finishes sweetly.