Because the Night (The Night Songs Collection) (26 page)

Chapter Fifty

The envelope practically burned a hole in my purse for the rest of the night and day before the show. I wanted to know what Peter’s plan was, but I couldn’t risk Tristan mentally eavesdropping or even tuning into my reaction. I tried to keep my mind either busy with other things or just plain silent. At least I could attribute any strange behavior to my newly undead status.

“Come in the studio, beautiful.” Tristan grabbed my arm and dragged me playfully into his music room. This was the Tristan I’d always wanted. The one I now got to wake up with every day. The one who didn’t care what anyone thought. The one who felt free to be himself.

“Are you throwing me a surprise party in here?” I teased. He practically jumped up and down like a little kid.

“We’ll celebrate later.” His lips moved against my hair. “But I finally finished that song I’ve been working on. I want you to hear it.”

He pulled the strap of his acoustic guitar over his shoulder and sat down on a stool near the sound equipment. I sat on a speaker beside him. I wanted to be closer than the couch. He seemed a bit shy and unsure of himself as he started to strum out the melody. A ballad that needed no words, it told a passionate story by just moving his fingers over the strings. It was the sweetest, most hopeful song I’d ever heard.

“I love it.” I stood up and kissed him on the forehead when he finished. Relief washed over his face when I gave my approval.

“I wrote it for you.” He looked down, shy again. “I wasn’t sure you’d ever understand it. Music is different to us. I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet. We can hear more than humans. You would have never picked up on the highs and the lows before.”

“Honestly, I would have loved anything you wrote, any time. But how did you know to do it? You didn’t plan for this.”

“I guess I wanted to have a little piece of you I could keep with me always.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Now you can keep me always.” I helped him lift the guitar away and fell into his arms.

We were almost late for the concert. I helped Tristan get into his stage regalia and smear paint on his face. Not only were there things vampires heard that humans couldn’t, but we could see more, too. I highlighted his face with a clear paint that glowed Technicolor under the lights. He said he’d used it countless times before, but I never knew. I had plans for that paint that had nothing to do with an audience of adoring fans.

After a quick kiss, Tristan left me on the side of the stage. Once the band launched into their first song, I pulled Peter’s envelope from my purse. Inside one plain, typewritten piece of paper held my next clue.

MEET ME IN GREEN ROOM B DURING THE THIRD SONG. IGNORE THE SIGN THAT SAYS MEETING IN PROGRESS. WE ARE THE MEETING.

I sang along with the first two songs to keep my mind quiet. Tristan had thrown himself into his stage theatrics, and hadn’t looked back at me once. The flashpots exploded at the beginning of the third song. The heat of the fire licked my skin. I braced myself, looking back after every step as I headed away from the stage and into the labyrinth of hallways behind The Sin City Vampire Club.

Someone came up behind me and pulled me hard by my hair into a pitch black room off of the main hallway. Whoever it was moved fast and with authority. From the strong hold my arms were looped in behind my back, I assumed it was a man. I struggled against his body, but I couldn’t free myself. This wasn’t an ordinary man. Was this the monster who took out Jacey? Janelle? My muscles locked in fear. My mind raced, trying to figure out how I was going to stop this abduction without getting raped or killed for real. I couldn’t muster a scream. Maybe my captor would think I hadn’t lost my cool.

“I took care of Talis for you,” My knees buckled at the sound of Blade’s voice and I inhaled his cool, minty scent. He pulled my hair again, so my head jerked back, exposing my neck. I squeezed my eyes closed, waiting for new fangs to sink into my flesh but instead shuddered at the feel of beard stubble against my cheek. “But now you have to deal with me.”

Acknowledgements

I’ve often said it takes a village to raise a book, but it also takes a village to raise a Kristen. Because the Night came into being during the hardest time in my life. I want to thank the people who lifted me up and made sure I righted the ship: Dorothy Chisholm, Jess and Riley Pike, Leigh Ann Dascoli, Joni Tozzi, Priscilla and Chris Nardone, Barbara Wentz, Gary Hassett, and Donna Petrangelo. Because of you guys, I know I’ll always land on my feet. I love all of you.

Julie Hutchings and I have been writing together since we were teenagers. I’d tried and failed many times to complete a book, but with Julie’s help, guidance, enthusiasm, love, mayhem, and general foolishness, Because the Night is a thing going out into the world. We said we were going to do this, and we did it, baby.

When ‘vampire’ was a four letter word in publishing, Pam van Hycklama Vlieg was willing to take a chance on my manuscript. Although we took the road less travelled, we got it out into the world. Thank you for believing in me and helping me make my crazy dream a reality.

About the Author

Kristen shares a birthday with Steven Tyler and Diana Ross. She spends each day striving to be half as fabulous as they are. She’s worn many hats, none as flattering as her cowboy hat: banker, retail manager, fledgling web designer, world’s worst cocktail waitress, panty slinger, now makeup artist and aspiring author. She loves sunshine, live music, the middle of nowhere, and finding new things to put in her house. Kristen is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.