Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) (4 page)

“Thank you,” he said. Antonio only nodded, picking up his glass again to drink.

“I have to ask,” I said to Beck “Do you really not remember anything about the night you were changed?”

“Nothing,” he said, pulling his eyes away from Trey to look at me. “It’s blank.”

“If you don’t mind, maybe I can help pull something from your memory. Something that’s been buried deep.”

He considered me for a moment and then shrugged. “Yeah. Okay.”

Antonio looked at me, and I realized he’d known I would want to try to get inside Beck’s blocked memories. He was just as curious about how the new fledgling had been created as I was. He nodded his approval.

“Just try to relax,” I said to Beck “Clear your mind.”

That’s kind of hard to do when my idol is sitting across from me sipping a Root beer like he’s not surrounded by a bunch of vampires, me included,
Beck thought. But then, he took a breath and let his mind go blank. Not bad for a newbie.

I set my glass down and focused my power, feeling it buzz around me like static electricity. When I reached out to his mind, I found no resistance. I began combing through his memories, starting with the most recent and working backwards. He’d been spending a lot of time with the Emissary,
Stanislav
Vidic
, in particular. They’d been quizzing him on his creation, about who he’d been associating with before he was changed. The Synod clearly wanted answers about the rogue fledglings more than anyone. But they hadn’t been able to gleam any answers. I watched through Beck’s eyes as he was brought to the hospital, as Mark had fought to save his life. Before that it was just blackness, like a giant empty void where the memories should be. I pushed at the blackness, feeling around it with my power and searching for a crack that I could break through to whatever was hiding inside. But the void was flawless. I moved beyond the blackness, to before it existed, and found Beck living the life of any normal twenty-year-old college student. He had friends, a girlfriend, and family living out of state. He also had ambitions of being a musician one day, though he’d never believed he was actually good enough. I saw him playing bass guitar in his dorm with friends. It was no wonder he recognized Trey immediately. He was a huge fan of Catalyst and their music.

Poor guy. He’d lost everything. Unlike Trey who would get to continue his life and career path, if I had anything to do with it, Beck was starting over. I wouldn’t let that happen to Trey. No matter what.

I released his mind, letting my powers recede. I looked at him apologetically, seeing Antonio’s disappointment, although he hid it well. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Whoever changed you is determined to keep it hidden. The memories aren’t just blocked, they’re gone.”

Chapter 5

Aurora

“I NEED TO FEED tonight,” I said to Trey from the passenger seat of his Mazda. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and then looked at the road again.

“Okay. How do we pull that off exactly? This shoot and press could take a while.”

It was dusk and we were on our way to a photo shoot for the cover of the new single. Catalyst had a bunch of interviews to do, too, so Neon had consolidated it all into one big day. Some of the media would be interviewing the guys behind the scenes and getting a sneak-peak at the shoot.

I sighed heavily, not sure how to explain what I had in mind. “I might have to feed at the photo shoot,” I blurted out. “There’s no way I can be around all those people all night and not do something about it.”

Trey narrowed his eyes at me, but a smile was creeping up on him. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

That should have made me feel better, but I still had no idea what I was going to do. I’d been trying to find a time to feed for the last two nights, but it just wasn’t easy when I needed to keep Trey near me at all times. I couldn’t just zip off and feed like I used to, and I definitely didn’t want Trey to have to witness the action. I put my head in my hands, trying to ignore the dry burning in my throat as he pulled into the parking lot at the gigantic mansion where the photo shoot was being done.

“What am I going to do?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. He cut the engine and gave me an adoring look. I still have no idea how he managed to do that in the middle of a conversation about me drinking from someone.

“You’ll figure it out,” he said. “You always do.” I stared at him, not as confident in my ability to problem-solve as he was. “Just do me a favor, and leave the photographer alone. This is going to take forever as it is.”

I smacked him on the arm and he laughed. I opened the gull-wing style door, watching it rise before I climbed out of the car. We walked hand in hand into the house where Trey was met by someone from hair and makeup who immediately ushered us to a room on the first level of the house and ordered him to sit in a chair. O’Shea was in the next chair, having already begun his transformation into a zombie. I found a place to sit and enjoyed their banter back and forth.

“Halloween is coming early this year,” Trey said, as the makeup artist set to work on him.

“I never looked this cool on Halloween,” O’Shea said, checking out his reflection in the large mirror in front of him.

Chase came in a few minutes later and Jonas was the last to saunter in. Now that all four of them were in their chairs, having makeup and hair people fussing around them and trying to perfect their zombie looks, I couldn’t resist pulling my sketch book from my bag. They weren’t your typical zombies, exactly. Because this photo shoot was for the cover of the new single, the photographer still wanted the guys to look hot. I hadn’t totally understood how that would work out at first.

“Hey, I have a surprise for everybody,” Trey announced, getting the attention of his band mates. “It’s been a crazy few months and I just thought it might be good for us to have some fun as a band and do something crazy now that the album is done.”

“Can we go bowling?” Jonas asked.

Trey furrowed his brow at Jonas and said, “Whoa there, Jo. Let’s save the really exciting stuff for birthday parties, okay?” Jonas shrugged, and I smiled at him. “Actually,” Trey continued. “I had something a little more nature-filled in mind.”

“I’m game for a little sun and fresh air,” O’Shea said. “What are we doing?”

“We’re going shark diving,” Trey said. There was silence in the room for all of about five seconds before everyone chimed in all at once.

“When do we leave?” O’Shea asked, his face lighting up with anticipation.

“Are we going to the aquarium?” Chase asked.

“You can get bowling balls with sharks on them,” Jonas said, not at all convinced that Trey’s announcement was good news.

“No, we’re not going to the aquarium,” Trey said. “I booked us a trip off Palm Beach in six days.”

“Do we have to use a cage?” O’Shea asked.

“No, we’re free diving,” Trey said.

“Do we have to wait six days? Can’t we go now?” Chase asked.

“We’re sort of in the middle of something here, Chase,” Trey said, gesturing to his zombie face.

“Touché.” Chase frowned but shrugged it off and said, “We have to take someone to video us.”

“I’m working on that,” Trey said.

“Remember all those times we went diving for shark teeth off Venice Beach in high school?” O’Shea said.

“I still have a massive collection of teeth,” Trey said just as the makeup artist said his makeup was finished. Trey jumped out of his chair and slowly made his way toward me, growling and dragging his left leg. I laughed and pretended to be scared, hiding behind my sketchbook. Then the guys were sent to the next room over to get changed. When Trey returned he was wearing an expensive designer suit

“Seriously, what do you think?” he asked, straightening. I stood up and gave him the once over. The contacts they’d given him blocked out the blue of his eyes, whiting out the iris so you only saw a black rim and his black pupils. The makeup artist had made his skin a creamy white and used red on his eyelids and underneath to give them that hollowed out look. His lips were tinted grey and there were several thin scratches on his face and neck.

“You look awesome,” I said. Zombies are not sexy, but now that I was watching the transformation, I saw that they were pulling it off nicely. “It’s like zombie-chic or something. You’ll probably start a fad. All the zombies will be doing it.”

Trey grinned, his grey lips stretching into a twisted smile. The makeup artists had done a great job making them all look unique while giving them the same zombie-chic appeal. I snapped a picture of the four of them standing together on my cell phone just before the photographer came in to talk to them.

Twenty minutes later, the guys were seated around a poker table, following the photographer’s direction as he snapped shots of them playing cards. I stood by, watching in mild fascination as my little zombies had their picture taken. A couple of entertainment reporters wandered in during the first part of the shoot and spoke with Neon about filming some behind the scenes footage. I ignored them for the most part, caught up in the view before me.

When the photographer called for a break so he could set up the next scene, Neon called Trey and the guys over to speak with the reporters. They answered questions for the camera about the new album, their up and coming tour, and their zombie garb. People were running around like mad trying to set up for the next part of the shoot. It was like Trey stood in the middle of a tornado, completely unaffected by the craziness that surrounded him as he talked passionately about Catalyst’s music.

I’m not sure why he caught my eye, but a guy about my age wandered away from the rest of the small crowd of helpers and headed down a hallway. The moon was out and my throat burned just watching him. This was my chance. I set my bag down on the nearest chair and followed him. I caught up quickly, letting my heels make noise on the dark wooden floor as I got closer to him. He glanced over his shoulder to look at me and I smiled, feigning relief.

“Glad I caught up with you,” I said to him. “The director asked me to help you get coffee for the crew.”

“Coffee?” he asked, but I heard more discontent in his voice than surprise. “He thinks I’m his slave.” I’d gleamed that from his thoughts already. I gave him an apologetic smile and his face softened. “Come on. The kitchen might have some.”

I followed him to the kitchen, grateful that it was deserted. But I couldn’t take any chances, so I quickly opened the door to the large pantry and pulled him inside with me, closing it again.

“What-”

I didn’t give him a chance to ask questions. The second my fangs punctured the tender skin of his throat he quieted. I sent soothing images into his mind, relaxing him while his blood ran hot and sweet down my throat. It was strange feeding, knowing Trey and the other guys were in the same house. I was going to have to get used to it. This was part of my new life. I didn’t take much, just enough to satiate my thirst and bring clarity to my thoughts. Then I ran my tongue over the two tiny puncture wounds on the guy’s neck, healing them. I licked my lips clean of any trace of blood and watched him. He stood, glossy-eyed, for a moment and then his eyes cleared and he shook his head, looking at me in mild confusion.

“Thanks for the tour, but I think we took a wrong turn,” I said nonchalantly. “This is a pantry or something.” He watched me curiously but didn’t say anything. “We’d better get back to the photo shoot. The director won’t be too happy if he realizes you’re gone.”