Ember: Next Gen (Snakes Henchmen MC Book 12)

by Alivia Grayson

  I open the door wider and let the two of them walkthrough. I follow them and take a seat in the armchair beneath the window. “Did Colin give you any indication of why you needed to be here two hours early?”

  “Not really,” Saint tells me. “He just said that he had something special to show us.”

  The door knocks again. “I’ll get it,” Bob’s out of his seat before I can answer him. He’s back seconds later with Colin and Ember following him.

  I try not to smirk at seeing Ember in my house. “Twice in one day,” I wink at her. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  Ember smiles at me and my eyes are drawn to her lips.

  “Cut the crap, Marco,” I roll my eyes at Colin and get out of my seat. “Saint, Bob, this is Ember. Ember, this is Bob, our drummer, and Saint, our bassist.”

  “Nice to meet you both.” Saint and Bob both tip their heads at Ember.

  Colin bangs on about why he thinks Ember should join Dun’s Dungeon, all the while, Ember is looking at me. I can’t tear my eyes away from her.

  It’s so wrong that I want Ember the way I do. I won’t turn into the type of person I despise, but there’s no harm in looking.

  Look away, Marco. She’s just a woman like all the others.

  Ember isn’t like all the others, though; I know that already. However, I do look away, and I tell myself that Ember is a friend, and that’s the way it will stay.

  Once Colin has finished talking, I lead everyone to the basement. I had the basement transformed into a studio for us to practice in not long after I moved in.

  I pick up my guitar, but Colin shakes his head. “You won’t need that yet. Ember’s here to showcase her voice without music.”

  I raise my eyebrow but nod my head. I suppose hearing Ember without music accompanying her voice is a good place to start.

  I take a seat on the high stool against the bar on the left of the room. Saint, Bob, and Colin sit down on the black leather couch. We all watch as Ember stands behind the microphone. She clutches the mic in one hand and the stand in the other. She adjusts it to her height, then coughs to clear her throat. “Do you have something you want me to sing?” Ember asks no one in particular.

  “What genre can you sing?” Bob asks.

  Ember smiles slightly. “Any you want me to.”

  “Start with Country,” Saint says.

  Ember nods and begins to sing. The moment the first word comes out of her mouth, I’m lost. Ember’s voice is like nothing I’ve ever heard before. The love song she’s singing has to be an original. I’ve never heard those lyrics before. It’s beautiful, and she’ll blow the world away with that voice.

  I listen as the guys have Ember sings every genre of music there is, testing her voice. She’s damn good, her voice is flexible, and she can bend it to her will. There’s so much soul and power behind it.

  Ember moves her body slightly as she sings, her eyes closing now and again, and the sound of her voice fills me. We have to bring Ember into the band, no matter what it takes. We can’t let her walk away from Dun’s Dungeon.

  Ember’s final song comes to an end, and each one of us stares at her in awe. We’re all still shocked at the power of her voice while singing one of our songs. I don’t think Ember realizes just how good she is.

  Ember looks at us one at a time, breathing in and out through her mouth. Singing the way Ember just did would take a lot out of anyone.

  “That was…” Ember looks at me as I shake my head. “I don’t even have the words for how good that was.”

  There aren’t many voices out there that could draw the kind of emotions from me as Ember’s just did. She pulled me into the song and made me feel sadness where I should. She also made me feel hope, desire, and everything in between. When you find a singer who can do that, you snap them up before someone else does.

  Ember was born to sing. The world has to hear Ember’s voice; it would be a crime to hide it.

  “I told you she was good.”

  “Thanks,” Ember laughs at Colin.

  “Can you play any instruments?”

  Ember nods at Bob. “A few,”

  “Such as?”

  “Guitar, piano, violin, cello… What?” She whispers the last word.

  I realize we’re all staring at her with wide eyes. Colin is chuckling to himself. He knew Ember could play all of those instruments, and he said nothing.

  “We don’t have a cello, but we have everything else you mentioned. Marco here is also able to play more instruments than the rest of us.” Ember looks at me and smiles in surprise. “Care to play them for us?”

  I grit my teeth at Bob. Why the fuck he’s pushing her like this is beyond me. “She doesn’t need to do that, Bob.”

  “It’s okay,” Ember smiles at me while picking up my guitar and hooking the strap over her shoulder.

  I hear the gasps of my friends. They know that I don’t allow anyone to touch my guitar, never mind play it.

  It’s a little odd that my gut hasn’t dropped. If anyone else, even my bandmates had picked up my guitar, I’d be sweating right now.

  “Ember, maybe you should use one of the other guitars,” Colin points to the two spares at the back of the room. They’re mine also, but I’m not as attached to them as I am to Kate, my shiny black fender.

  That guitar cost me a small fortune. I bought her, because the moment I held her in my hands, I knew we were meant to be. I play my best when I’m holding Kate.

  “Marco doesn’t allow anyone to use his guitar.” Saint tells Ember.

  She looks at me, then down at Kate. Ember is in love with my guitar; I can see it in the way she’s caressing the wood. If Ember were anyone else, I would have lost my shit already. As it is, I don’t feel any bad emotions seeing Ember with Kate. In fact, it’s turning me on, and that’s wrong. Shit, I can see Ember in my mind wearing nothing but my guitar.

  Ember moves to take the strap from her shoulder. “No,” I hold my hand up, stopping her. Every eye turns to me. “Play the guitar, Ember.” She smiles at me, and I ignore the mumbling and stares of my friends.

  I don’t know what it is about Ember, but she calms me. The demons that haunt me sleep when she’s around. As I listen to her playing my guitar, better than any woman I’ve ever known, I think I fall a little bit in love with her.

  Once Ember is done with my guitar, she showcases how good she is on the bass guitar. She then picks up my sister’s old violin, something she left here months ago. I watch as Ember tweets the strings a little before belting out ‘Hell Bound’ a Dun’s Dungeon original song.

  Every one of us is shocked and awed by this woman. I’ve never met another person who could play as many instruments as I can. Bob, Saint, and Colin can all play two instruments, and I can play a handful. I can because I had too much energy as a child, and Mom had to find ways to occupy my mind.

  Ember finally sits behind my piano and plays a tune I’ve never heard before. Then she ups the tempo and plays Beethoven. By the time she’s done, we’re all applauding loudly. Ember chuckles while taking a bow.

  “I think it’s pretty unanimous,” Colin smiles. “You belong with us, Ember.”

  “I’ll say,” Saint pipes in. “Someone with your talent has to join the band.”

  Ember looks at me, and I nod my head. She bites her lip and looks at Colin. “I’m still trying to decide what to do. There’s a lot for me to consider, and of course, I need to speak with Toby,” The boyfriend.

  If the guy loves Ember at all, he’ll be happy and encourage her to follow her dream. It’s not hard to see that Ember wants this, to join us.

  “Well, we’ll need an answer within the next couple of days.” Ember nods her head at Colin. “I don’t want to sound pushy, but there’s a lot to sort before we leave. Contracts need to be signed, you need to meet our manager,” I watch Ember swallow hard. This is a lot for her to take in. “Then there’s recording time that needs to be sorted. We’ll need to get your vocals added to our songs
. Not to mention we need to get merchandise sorted,”

  Colin bangs on and on. It’s annoying, but he’s right. I can see Ember is overwhelmed with everything he’s saying, but the life of a singer in a band isn’t easy. Life is fast-paced; there’s always a lot to do and not enough time in which to do it.

  Matt, our manager, isn’t going to be pleased about having to change all the merchandise he ordered. If Ember joins the band, we won’t have a choice but to change it. Ember isn’t featured on any of it, so it would be useless to us.

  Colin and I have already spoken about putting the money up ourselves to sort things. We can use photoshop and plant Ember in the photograph we initially chose. There’s a damn app for everything these days, even fast track services. As long as Ember decides within the next few days, we can do this.

  “I promise to have an answer for you within the next three days.”

  “Can I ask you something?” Ember looks at me and nods her head.

  “The obvious reasons aside, do you want to be part of Dun’s Dungeon, Ember? If nothing was standing in your way, would you sign the contract without question?”

  “Yes, and yes,” Ember tells me without hesitation.

  I smirk because that’s all I needed to hear. I just hope Ember’s family and her boyfriend don’t guilt her into staying here. It’s time for Ember to fly free.

  Chapter Five

  Ember

  Lydia and I haven’t spoken about what happened the other night. I know that she remembers, I see it in her eyes each time she looks at me. However, I can’t bring myself to bring the subject up.

  Lydia and I are back to being the best friends we’ve always been, and things are more comfortable between us. She’s given up using drugs to punish herself, and I’m proud of her for that. She even came home yesterday with a full drug screening to prove that she’s clean.

  I wondered if Lydia was finally moving past what haunts her, though I can tell that something is still bothering her, which is strange when she never keeps things from me usually. Don’t get me wrong, we still watch movies and laugh at the shit plot-lines, and make eyes at the sexy actors. We talk like we always do, but something is missing. She’s hardly home at night, and when I ask her where she’s been, she’s evasive. Which again, isn’t like Lydia.

  Toby is still treating me like a stranger, and it’s only getting worse. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he gets angry and tells me to stop going on at him all the time. That’s not what I’m doing, but I want to know where I stand, is that too much to ask?

  I wouldn’t mind, but it’s unfair of him to treat me like this. We don’t spend much time together because he’s always too busy. He barely even answers my phone calls these days. Come to think of it; it’s hours before he replies to my texts. His tone is always sharp, and I wonder why we’re still doing this.

  Toby won’t touch me but to kiss my cheek. I know he’s finding it hard to get past what I told him, but it’s not like I was a vile slut and cheated on him. It was a simple kiss that lasted less than a second, and I told him about it right away. Toby is taking this whole thing way too far, and it’s starting to wear me down.

  I was struggling with a decision of whether or not to join Dun’s Dungeon. However, with the way Toby is acting, all I want is to leave.

  When I sang for Colin and his friends, I felt on top of the world. I closed my eyes and imagined myself on stage, singing for fans, and I loved it.

  I noticed Marco watching me a few times while I sang, and even when I played each instrument. I hate myself for liking him the way I do. I can’t even say it’s merely lust because it’s more than that.

  I love Toby, and I would never cheat on him, but I know that Toby doesn’t want me any longer. Marco wants me, and he hardly makes a secret of it. Each time he looks at me, I feel something shift inside of me.

  The only trouble with Marco is the fact he’s an obvious man whore. That, and he takes drugs and drinks too much. I’ve been around man whores my whole life, and I swore I’d never date one.

  Not that I want to date Marco Russo, but he’s hot, and I can’t help staring at him each time he’s in the same room as me.

  That’s terrible of you, Ember, what about Toby?

  Toby doesn’t give a damn about me; I know that deep down. He hasn’t stayed over with me in the week that followed Lydia kissing me, and he hasn’t let me stay with him. It’s like he can’t bear to be too close to me. I don’t understand why Toby is acting like I had sex with someone else, and as if he’s disgusted with me but trying not to be. Toby tells me that he loves me now and again, while then telling me that he’s sorry. I don’t know what he’s sorry for, though, because he won’t tell me.

  The stress is starting to make me ill. The not knowing where Toby and I stand, or if he even loves me anymore. I’m not sure Lydia trying to kiss me warrants this kind of treatment. I feel sick because I’ve worked so hard to get him to talk to me about what happened so we can move forward. I can’t eat, and I hardly sleep. I’ve turned in to the kind of person I loath, and I can’t deal with that.

  Right now, all three of us are watching an old movie. I’m sitting on the couch next to Toby. I have my feet under my ass, and my head on his shoulder. He isn’t touching me in any way, his eyes are glued to the screen, he’s stiff in his seat, his arms folded over his chest, and I feel like I don’t belong here with him anymore.

  I thought he wouldn’t want to be in a room with Lydia after what happened, but they seem to have formed an even closer friendship, which is crazy if you ask me. But if Toby can forgive Lydia and become friends with her, why can he not forgive me?

  I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for me, but I believe that if you tell someone that you love them, and they love you in return, when tough times come along, you work together to fix things. But I also know that once the trust is broken, it’s never really mended.

  Lydia takes off to the kitchen to grab more beer. Not that I want one, I’m tired. It’s been days since I had any real sleep. I haven’t eaten for two days, and I’m starting to feel weak from it. I’m not starving myself, trust me, but I can’t seem to find my appetite.

  I know one thing, there’s no way on this earth I could ever do something criminal, the fucking guilt would kill me. My grandma always did say that I was a one-off. I’m not like everyone else in the family. They all do things that aren’t exactly legal, but they don’t give me any information about it, nor do they confirm they had anything to do with such activities because they know I’d become a guilty mess.

  I’m not stupid, I know Snakes Henchmen MC do bad things to people, but I know those people aren’t innocent and they’ve hurt people they shouldn’t have hurt. I know Lydia’s father does things that are... Well, let’s just say he’s a murdering bastard like all Mafia Don’s. But I don’t get involved in things that don’t concern me.

  As long as the innocent aren’t hurt, I can put it all out of my head.

  But this thing with Toby... He’s cold towards me over something that didn’t happen. Yes, it hurt him, but nothing happened. Why can’t he just let this go?

  “Toby?” I lift off him and cup his face with my hand, turning him to look at me. He breathes deeply through his nose. He’s annoyed with me for touching him. Does he really find me this repulsive?

  I bite the inside of my cheek to stop the quiver of my lower lip. I let go of Toby’s face and clasp my hands together while looking down at them. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, too scared that my voice will crack if I speak any louder.

  God, I don’t want to be here right now. I should have gone to my parents for the night. Anything would have been better than this.

  “What’s going on?” I don’t answer Lydia; I’m trying so hard not to cry. I can’t take this anymore. “Em?”

  I shake my head and clasp my hands over my face. I can’t stop the tears. I tried so hard, but I failed.

  “Ember,” Toby sighs and grabs my hands. I pull away from him and
get to my feet. I won’t have him feeling sorry for me. I don’t deserve the way he’s treating me, but I won’t have him say sorry just because he feels guilty.

  “I’m trying so hard...” I swallow back the sob in my throat. I don’t want to make a scene in front of Lydia, but I’m tired of this. I’d rather Toby leave me if he doesn’t want me anymore, because I can’t deal with this. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this to me, Toby. I’ve tried every day for a week to fix our relationship, but you won’t even look at me. Yet you’re friendly with Lydia, which I’m even more confused about, especially when you’re angry with me about what happened. If you don’t want me anymore, please just tell me because I can’t live like this. This is killing me, Toby.”

  “Oh, Em,” I sob as Lydia wraps her arms around me and holds me to her. “It’s okay, babe.” She rubs my back and lets me cry. “Toby’s just been a dick, aren’t you?” She hisses with conviction.

  “Yeah, let’s all pretend everything’s normal, shall we?” I sob harder at Toby’s words. He’s never going to forgive me. It wasn’t even a real kiss, for God’s sake!

  Why are you crying, Ember? Just tell the man it’s over so that you can move on with your life. You know you’re better off leaving this place and becoming the musician you’ve always wanted to be.

  “Don’t do this!” Lydia yells at him. “Not now, Toby. Please. This isn’t fair to Ember. You know that as well as I do.”

  Toby doesn’t say anything for a moment, and I can tell they’re sharing a look. I don’t know what that look is saying, but I know Lydia is really pissed with Toby right now. He better be careful, if he pushes her too far, she’ll beat him. She’s got a short fuse and a violent temper when pushed has Lydia, and she doesn’t care how big a man is or how badly he could hurt her, she’ll kick the shit out of him.

  Toby takes my arm and pulls me away from Lydia and into his arms. “I’m sorry, Ember, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He kisses my head.

  “Why are you still with me, Toby, when I know you don’t want to be? Please don’t pretend that you do because it’s very obvious that you don’t. Why are you prolonging this? Just let me go.” I say that, but I’m clinging to him tightly. I don’t want him to leave me, but I don’t want him to stay with me out of duty.