Chapter 14

Erik

It was too warm.

Which was something I"d never thought before in any of the visits I"d made to London, but it was how I felt right now. There was no snow outside the window, no peace that it offered. That was a plane ride away on a mountain I"d already missed.

And now it was even worse.

I knew it wasn"t the snow I was missing, it was more than that. It was a person and a connection I really hadn"t expected when I"d gone to the Jinx mixer to support Donel.

Words came to me as I thought about Skadi and everything the two of us shared, and I found myself reaching for a pad of paper to write them down. The melody would need to twinkle and sound like falling snow, soft and gentle but with the potential to turn into something strong. I could hear all the pieces slot into place in my head and it made me wonder if there was going to be time for me to use the recording session alone today. I normally spent more time refining a song after it first came to me, but this one felt like it needed to be raw and imperfect, because that was what would make it beautiful.

I picked up my guitar and strummed a few notes, getting the right feel for the words I"d written. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the song, trying out different combinations to make sure I found the right one.

"Sounds good," someone said.

I jumped, playing a terrible note in response. "How long have you been there, Henry?" I asked my manager.

"About five minutes." He shrugged. "What"s the song?"

"Just something new."

"It"s good. Could be your next number one."

"You mean the number one after the collab with Mimi?"

He chuckled. "That song is going to break the internet. But only if we get to the recording session now. You know what her manager is like when it comes to being on time."

"I don"t, actually."

"Ah, she"s a stickler. If we"re even a minute late, the song might not even go ahead."

"I see." I didn"t think that was actually likely considering all of the hype that had been going on since we announced that we were working on something together. Mimi was a huge artist, and I wasn"t about to be too modest and say that I didn"t have a following of my own.

I set down my guitar and got to my feet. "All right, I"m ready."

"Great." He turned around and walked out of the room.

I sighed. This was the problem with having the inspiration to work on one song, but having to stop because I needed to go and record a different one.

I headed down the corridor to the recording studio, not in the slightest bit surprised to find Mimi already there with her manager.

"Morning," I said to them both.

"Hi," Mimi responded, brushing her long dark hair over her shoulder. I was sure she"d probably prefer to tie it up so it was out of the way while we recorded, but there were going to be photos and clips taken today to help promote our single, so we both had to look our best.

"All right, that"s enough," her manager said in a clipped tone. I wasn"t sure if it only came out that way because English wasn"t the Chinese woman"s first language, or if she was like that as a person. "We should get started."

Henry nodded. "Absolutely. Are you two ready?" he asked us.

"Ready as I"ll ever be," I responded.

Mimi just managed a smile and made her way into the recording studio to take her seat.

I went to join her, taking my place at the microphone opposite hers.

"I"m sorry about Bo," she said softly.

I shrugged. "Don"t be. I"m used to being bossed around by Henry."

She gave a small laugh. "Ah, so it"s just a manager thing."

"I think so."

"She"s also really excited about this track. I think she"s hoping it"ll help me break into the global market," Mimi said.

I raised an eyebrow. "You"ve already had several major hits."

"I know. But she wants me to be on world-famous talk shows and walking the red carpet at top-tier events."

"Sounds like a lot of work," I murmured.

She laughed. "It does. And I just want to make music."

"Me too."

The crackle of the intercom broke through our conversation. "Are you ready?" Bo asked.

"Ready," I responded, snapping my headphones into place.

Mimi did the same on the other side.

The familiar music sounded through my headphones and I let all thoughts of Skadi and the song I"d been writing slip away so I could focus on this one. And I could feel the truth behind what Henry had said, this song was going to break the internet, and hopefully that would mean that Mei got everything her manager wanted for her, but only if it could help her get what she wanted.

I tapped my foot in time to the beat while Mimi sang, her voice sweet and melodic. I could see why our fans had been clamouring for this collaboration, it was going to sound great.

I joined her when it was my turn to sing, and the music filled my head and the world around me. There really was nothing like this, and I could feel the music thrumming through me. I wasn"t sure if it was a me thing, or an elf thing, maybe both.

The song came to an end and we both grinned at each other, knowing we"d done well.

The buzz of the intercom came. "Go again," Bo said.

Mimi sighed, and I could see a hint of frustration on her face before she realised she was showing it and but her serene smile back into place. I wished I knew her better so I could ask her if she was all right, but I knew better than that.

We went through the song three more times before Bo finally let us have a break. My neck cracked as I rolled it and my ears felt a bit funny after being under headphones for so long.

"We should take a photo," Mimi said. "Our fans will love it."

I nodded and pulled out my phone to put it in selfie mode, making sure to not crowd her too much while we took it.

"Will you send it to Bo?" she asked. "She deals with all of my social media."

"Of course." I tapped a few buttons and sent the photo through, then paused as I realised that I wanted to send it to Skadi too. She"d been excited about this song, and I wanted to share this with her before I did with the rest of the world.

But what could I say? That part tripped me up more than I wanted it to. I felt the need to talk to the goddess who had captured my attention in more ways than one.

"Is everything okay?" Mimi asked.

I sighed and looked out of the window to where our managers were both engaged in conversation. "It"s a long story."

"We"re not going anywhere for a while," she pointed out.

I sighed. "There"s a woman I want to message and I don"t know what to say."

"Ah, I"m not sure how much help I"ll be there, I don"t date."

"You don"t?"

She grimaced. "I"m not really allowed to. I don"t know if you know how Idols work?"

"A bit."

"Well, Bo manages everything. My work life, my social life, and my non-existent dating life."

"That sounds...tough." I wasn"t really sure what to say about it at all.

Mimi shrugged. "It is what it is. This is my career, and those are my choices. Bo"s nowhere near as strict as some of the others are. And I"m hoping that if I can give her what she wants with breaking into the US and European markets more, then she might give me a bit more leeway in my dating life."

"Or you could do it in secret."

"How am I even going to do that? I don"t even go anywhere I could meet someone in order to date them."

"I don"t know, a dating app or something?"

A curious expression crossed her face. "Maybe, but I don"t know of any that are for people like us."

"Musicians?"

She laughed. "Paranormal." She reached up and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, revealing a pointed tip. "I"m xian."

"That"s a kind of fae from China, right?"

She nodded. "Just like me."

"I had no idea."

"It"s kept quiet for now. Until it becomes obvious I"m not ageing the same way as a human would. Isn"t that your plan?"

"Pretty much. I didn"t realise you knew I wasn"t human."

"Your manager was much more forthcoming," she responded. "But this is off-topic, you wanted to send someone a message?"

"Yeah, she"s really excited about our song, so I thought she"d like the photo."

"Then just send it, she"ll know you"re thinking about it, that"s good," she said.

"So I"m just overthinking it?"

She shrugged. "Seems like it. But I do barely know you."

"It"s still good advice." I pulled up the empty chat with Skadi. Neither of us had sent any messages yet and it felt nerve-wracking to be the first. We hadn"t talked about continuing what we had beyond the few days we"d spent together, but I wasn"t ready to let go of the idea that it could be something.

I attached the photo and the caption one step closer to being able to send the song and hit send. It wasn"t the best message, but hopefully it meant that the silence had been broken and we could now move into something more.

At least, that was what I was hoping.