by KT Strange
The sales associate went white.
“You know what,” I said hurriedly, “it’s good. We’re good. I don’t need a dress. C’mon Max.” I wrapped firm fingers around her wrist and dragged her out of the store with all my strength, Daria trailing behind us.
“What the hell was that?” I asked her when we were a good twenty feet away. Max raised an eyebrow at me and licked her ice cream.
“She was a bitch.”
“You can’t just threaten people.”
“Okay, Darcy,” Max sighed and looked around the mall, anything to avoid meeting my eyes. The moment stretched out, tense, and uncomfortable. Daria broke it.
“Looook!” She pointed. “There’s a Hot Topic. I’ve always wanted to go but Mother never let me.” She dragged on my hand. “Can we?”
“Hell yeah. Let’s go get our Doctor Who on,” I said.
“If I hear mother never let me one more time I’m going to go murder her mother,” Max said under her breath after Daria took off at a flat out run. “Jesus, did they keep her in a cage? It’s like she’s five.”
“Daria was pretty sheltered.” We followed her at a distance. “Like, if you think my upbringing was all pearls, lace, and garden parties, her’s was more intense. The Hailwards are just as stiff as my family, but she had Creston and Kenton around to be the enforcers when their father was busy. Daria never had a chance to just be a kid. Couple that with her innate talents.”
“Yeah she’s pretty good at that illusion stuff.”
“The best. The best we’d ever seen. There were witches that would kill for that kind of power, and she just didn’t care. She liked casting it, playing with it, but it never meant anything more to her than being able to do something neat. If she’d wanted, she could have toppled countries. The most powerful of illusionists can.” My old history lessons were coming back to me. “There are rumors that more than a few witches were involved in the war for independence against the British.”
“How generous,” Max said. “And now all the witches in America are busy being genocidal assholes.”
“Not all witches,” I teased and she laughed, giving me a gentle shove.
“Well I guess you’re alright, Llewellyn,” she said.
We found Daria looking at pastel-colored jewelry, and rifling through display baskets filled with embroidered patches. She looked up, excitement on her face as she waved one at us. It read bitchcraft, which made me laugh.
“Yeah you can get that,” I said, before wandering over to the t-shirt section. A familiar design caught my eye and I inhaled sharply. Phoenixcry t-shirts, neatly folded and on display, were sandwiched in among other rock bands.
“Oh wow,” Max murmured as she came up behind me. “I didn’t know their stuff was getting carried in-store.”
“Neither did I.”
“Do you like them?” We both glanced up as a sales associate approached, a girl with pink streaks in her long, blonde hair and a double labret piercing. “We just got those in stock. Do you need help looking for your size?”
“Oh no, Darcy actually like, tour-managers them. She works at their label,” Max said before I could stop her. It looked like that day was going to be the day Max said everything I didn’t want her to say.
The sales girl’s eyebrows hiked up.“You do? Wait, Darcy?” She said my name like she recognized it. “Like Darcy as in the girl on the social media posts…”
I groaned.
“It’s not what you think, that’s just—”
“Oh girl, no, like, if you’re getting it from both brothers, super kudos to you,” the girl said. “I’m Anastasia, by the way, it’s nice to meet you.” She held out her hand to shake mine. Beside me, Max looked like she was about to bust some ribs from holding in her laughter. “Like holy crap, menage is the new black, and threesomes are hot as heck. I’ve got a boyfriend and a girlfriend, so you don’t have to be ashamed!”
“I’m not—” I protested, my cheeks flaming. Even if I was, the world could never know.
“I like you, Anastasia,” Max declared.
“Look at these Pikachu t-shirts,” Daria said, from somewhere amidst the racks of clothes. My life was like some bizarre nightmare populated by my useless friends and way too many Marvel-branded clothing items.
“I’m sorry, I talk too much, but you are so cool, so you get to tour-manage them? So you like, get to go on tour with them? Is that how it started? Oh my god, did you sleep with them on the tour bus?” Anastasia’s voice sped up as she talked. I was going to absolutely murder Max for speaking up. My best friend was dead to me. Dead. To. Me.
“She and Finn have been dating since pretty much the beginning of their tour with Glory Rev. But no, she’s not with Eli,” Max said. I shot her a grateful look and from her returning smile I knew she felt a little bad at least.
“Oh that sucks, I’d totally love to be in the middle of that twin sandwich,” Anastasia said with a sigh. “Elias Gunner’s on my list. Same with the bassist, Ace. Do you think he picked that name cause he plays bass? Because seriously, it makes him seem like the biggest troll in the best way.”
“He’s a sweetheart,” I said, nudging Max. I wanted out of there.
“Hey, can we get a selfie?” Anastasia asked, her eyes bright.
“I hate you. Have I told you that lately?” I said. We had finally escaped, Max only laughing when we were well away from the store.
“That place was amazing.” Daria lifted up her giant bag. “I’m going to only wear those Pikachu pajamas from now into eternity.”
“What about when you go for job interviews?” Max asked. We had plans to slowly help Daria transition into mundane life. Writing up a resume was first on the list.
“Well that’s what illusions are for,” she said smugly. “Pajama pants underneath, illusioned high-heels and fancy pencil skirt on top.”
“Damn that’s awesome,” Max said with a shake of her head.
“I’m still not forgiving you for what happened in there,” I reminded her. “Can we not go around introducing me as the tour manager for Phoenixcry? At least not in stores that specialize in indie rock merchandise?”
Max rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, maybe that wasn’t my best move. But hey, you looked great in that selfie. And she tagged you right away, so you can show the band. The guys will think it’s cute!” Max shrugged. “Besides, you’re going to have to get used to the limelight. The Phoenixcry star is rising, not falling, and it’s only going to get bigger and more intense from here on out.”
“I just thought it was nice she let me be in the picture,” Daria said, her voice soft. I shot her smile and she grinned back at me.
“Maybe being in the mundane world is going to be better for you,” I said. “Here’s to a fresh start and leaving your old life far behind you.”
I never would come to regret any words faster than I did those.
Twenty-Eight
Elias
I closed my eyes, tapping my fingers on the body of my guitar as Charlie laid down the rhythm line, the rounded sound of his instrument filling the control room. Troy had called us into the studio to record some demos of tracks we’d been working on recently, and we’d unanimously decided on Teeth for our first track. If Troy and Gem hated it, well, whatever. We’d record it anyway, but maybe not as a single to push to radio. This song was all about Darcy and how much she made us want to fight to protect her; how much she made us want to fight to change the world so it was safe for us to love her.
"That's good," Lana our engineer said as she sat back in her chair, pressing down the talk button that allowed Charlie to hear her in the recording booth. "Good pass, Charlie. C'mon out." He gave her a thumbs up from behind the glass and pulled his guitar strap off over his head.
I sat back in my seat as he emerged from the recording booth with a gusty sigh.
"Shit that felt good," he said.
"Sounded great," Cash agreed, his fingers drumming on his knee. "I can't wait to do m
y pass."
"Finn, you ready to do a guide vocal?" Lana asked. Finn's head was down, his eyes glued to his phone, doing a good impression of Charlie. "Finn?"
His head popped up.
"What?"
"Guide vocals. Get in there, rockstar," she said with a jerk of her thumb at the vocal booth.
"Yeah, sure,” he said, getting to his feet. He took his place behind the microphone that was already set up, the booth door shutting behind him.
Lana’s finger hovered over the talk button.
“He doing okay?” She shot me a quick glance. I liked Lana. She was quiet, worked hard, and didn’t have the same attitude problems a lot of the male recording engineers did. She also looked like she was twenty-eight going on eight, with her black hair pulled into two long braids running down her back, and her wardrobe leaning more toward torn jeans and oversized pastel sweatshirts with kittens on them. “I saw the social buzz,” Lana explained. “That kind of thing is rough enough on a band, worse when it’s between two brothers.
“He’s fine,” Charlie said before I could speak. “He knows Darcy loves him, and that it’s just fans being crazy.”
Lana sighed with a shake of her head.
“Crazy is putting it nicely. They get so obsessed sometimes.” She turned back to the window and hit the talk button. “Alright, rockstar, let’s hear that pretty voice of yours.”
The muffled sound of Finn laughing was interrupted as Lana started the track. Cash sighed and shifted beside me as we listened to Finn sing the song that Darcy had inspired.
My brother stepped up to the mic, his eyes closed.
“Heaven is fading into hell, the double life and the lies we tell,” Finn rumbled into the microphone. Never had truer words been spoken, I thought with no small amount of regret. Was it bothering me to see our fanbase froth like crazy over a handful of photoshopped pictures on Twitter?
Yeah. It was. I had to be honest. This whole manufactured drama bullshit wasn’t something I had time for. It wasn’t what we wanted as a band or as people. My relationship with Darcy was something private, not a thing to be splashed on blog posts and OMG or TMZ or any other online gossip magazine. Finn didn’t mind the attention on him as much, but that’s why he was lead singer. It was his job to be the face of the band, and he was good at it.
And deep down, I was worried for Darcy. She was ours. She’d never asked for this. Being with us had put her in physical danger, in magical danger. Now the one thing that was hers and hers alone, her career, was being smeared by a bunch of trolls online and our label was eating up all the press. It infuriated me, and worse still Darcy didn’t want us to do anything about it. Let’s just do whatever the label wants for now, okay? You guys are on a crazy roll and I don’t want to be the one throwing on the brakes, she’d said the night before as she explained Gem’s crazy new scheme.
Lana sighed as Finn finished his first pass-through on the verses, her fingers flying over the console keyboard.
“Good job,” she said into the talk mic, “solid take. You happy with that?”
“Can I hear it back?” he asked, sitting on the edge of the stool in the recording booth.
“Mhmm.” Lana cued it up and we all sat still as Charlie’s rhythm guitar started up. Finn nodded along to the click track.
“Oh that’s just delightful.” The door to the control room opened, revealing Gem standing there. She was in a blood red pantsuit red that made her seem even more frightening than she normally did. “I absolutely adore this new single.”
“You’ve barely heard the first verse,” Cash muttered, too soft for her to catch. Beside him, Ace snickered.
Finn gave Gem a tight smile from inside the vocal booth. Charlie nudged me, the look on his face significant. We both knew we’d have to run interference between Gem and Finn if it came to that. Her ‘brilliant idea’ was digging under his skin. My normally even-tempered twin had been on edge ever since I’d let slip about Darcy fighting a dragon. He hadn’t pressed me for more information since. We’d have to have a talk about it eventually, but hell, I was still wrapping my head around it all. Life was rushing forward for us, too fast for any of us to catch a breath.
“Can I help you, Ms. Hollaway?” Lana asked politely, turning in her chair. By now word had spread through the whole record label that Gem had Troy by the balls. Keeping her happy was crucial to staying employed.
“Oh no, I was just popping in to see Elias,” Gem said as she turned her lizard smile on me. “I’ve secured you a reservation at Le Rêve on Thursday. Eight PM, for you and Miss Llewellyn.”
In the booth, Finn stiffened, his preternatural hearing carrying Gem’s words to him. His face went from guarded to stormy.
“Thanks,” I said, “I heard that place is nice.”
Lana’s eyebrows had taken residence up near her hairline.
“Holy shit, that place has like, a three-year waitlist,” she said. Gem gave her a withering look.
“This is a business of knowing people, and knowing how to communicate, Laura,” Gem said. “Kindly keep the cuss words for the music.”
Lana turned pink and fell quiet, not bothering to correct Gem on her name. It was probably better that Gem thought her name was Laura, anyway.
“So, make sure to be prompt,” Gem said to me, seeming to relish in dragging out this little episode, “and bring flowers. I’ll have a town car drop Darcy off directly at the restaurant, because she’ll be in hair and makeup prior.”
Finn emerged from the recording booth.
“What?” His eyes were blazing. Gem smiled at him, oblivious to the anger in his expression.
“Excellent job on that vocal line you just did, dear,” she cooed.
“Why is Darcy doing hair and makeup before… before this dinner thing?” He demanded.
“Yeah, gotta admit, that’s kinda weird,” Cash said, leaning back in his seat. “I’m still not sold on this being the best way for us to get attention on our music. We’re not a reality tv show.”
“I’m going to go get some water. Anyone else want some?” Lana asked. Although no one answered her, she slid past Gem and bailed out of the room so fast I had to wonder if she was a cat shifter or something.
“Boys,” Gem said, with all the patience in the world, “there is no better way to bury Eli’s little episode with Jake Tupper than to move the story along with something new. This illicit romance your tour manager is having with your lead singer isn’t new, even though it’s not well known to all of your fans. At least this is moving the narrative along.”
“The narrative?” Anger laced Finn’s voice, his shoulders straight and thrust back as he stared at Gem hard. “This is my life, my relationship, not a damn story for you to spin.”
Gem paused, her lips pursed.
“Did you, or did you not, surrender all decision making in regards to the marketing of your music to the record label when you signed your deal?” Her words had an immediate chilling effect on the room, and Ace let out a soft huff of air.
“We did,” Finn grated.
“Because? You wanted to be a rockstar, didn’t you? You wanted the girls fawning on you, hanging on your every word—”
“That’s not why,” Finn snapped. Gem smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She walked toward him steadily, and I tensed, ready to get between them if necessary. Gem’s fingers lifted, her nails, blood-red to match her suit, raked across his jaw slowly. Finn swallowed, staying stock-still.
We all knew a predator when we saw one, and even being at the top of the food chain, we still had to be cautious.
“You’re handsome. Ridiculously stupid, but handsome. That sells well. I made Troy a promise that I would bring you to the top despite your idiotic affair with a low-level intern, never mind the posturing between your band and Tupper, or the irresponsible way you let petty fights get you thrown off the tour with Glory Revolution.” Gem turned away from Finn to glance at the rest of us. Behind her, Finn glowered, lifting his fingers to rub at
his cheek where she’d touched him. “You wanted money, fame, and all the trappings that came with it. Well this is one of the traps, my dear boys. We take our opportunities as they arise, and the story was too good to lay fallow. The heroic rescue of a girl being molested, the justified beating of her attacker by a member of the band.” Gem gave Finn a derisive look. “I only question why it was Eli who came to her aid and not you. You’re her, what, boyfriend, are you not?”
Finn growled a non-verbal response. Gem smirked.
“Oh does it burn you?” She patted me on the shoulder. I tried not to flinch. “Well, if you hadn’t been such a lackadaisical boyfriend, then it wouldn’t be Elias here taking Darcy to Le Rêve for dinner, it would be you. This business is cutthroat, and you’ve been floating along at lower levels, pretending as if you’re serious. Nobody and nothing at the top gets there without careful orchestration, or planning akin to a military coup. This is one step.”
“Darcy and her reputation are not a stepping stone to our goals,” Finn answered immediately. “They’re saying things about her, terrible things. These are our fans, who should be focused on our music, not on who we’re—”
“On who you’re fucking?” The curse word curdled in Gem’s mouth, and she inhaled, like she was growing taller as she did. “If you hadn’t made it front and center in your own social media posts, yes. Do not give me that look young man, because I searched back through your timeline. You have only yourself to blame for your lack of discretion.”
“It’s just dinner out,” I said, wanting to end the discussion before Finn really flew off the handle. He shot me a murderous glare. Gem chuckled.
“It’s as if you two are really fighting over her,” she said. “If I didn’t know better, anyway. Do keep that smolder though, Finn, it’s working for you.”
Lana saved the day right then, returning with her arms full of water bottles, and Finn disappeared back into the recording booth without a word. Gem, with a few more words of “good advice” and instruction for me, left us to finish recording the demo track.
