Chapter 35

Chapter

Thirty-Five

LAINEY

T he last time I'd been in this theater, it had been filled with workmen and crew. The lights had been up and the seats emptied. It had—potential. Tonight? This evening? It was electric.

Em answered her dressing room door at the first knock. "You're here!" Excitement filled her eyes and she threw her arms around me. I hugged her tight and let her pull me inside. "Girl time, Bodhi."

"Have fun, PPG. I'll be out here," Bodhi said with a faint smile before the door closed.

Leaning back against it, she stared at me with wide eyes. Her cosmetics were done and there was enough glitter and shimmer highlighting her eyes and along her hairline to make her sparkle in the air.

"Well?" she asked, stripping off the robe. Beneath it she wore a body suit that hugged her frame. The suit was sheer across her torso and arms, with the only filled in areas covering her breasts and her groin. It was black and silver. "How are they? Andrea first, then the boys. Milo's been… less than direct about answering my questions."

"Andrea will be fine," I told her, setting my purse down on a side table before going to the small fridge and pulling out a couple of waters. "She's still in some shock that we found her and I don't doubt a bit of denial. But we'll get her home and look after her."

Em accepted the water bottle, then turned to put it down. Her outfit was backless and the phoenix tattoo across her back was stunning in its wild reds, oranges, and golds. It actually looked like living fire.

"I love that tattoo," I murmured before taking a drink of the water. I'd only gotten to see it a couple of times, but the work was really exquisite.

She flashed me a smile. "Vaughn did it. I love it too. If you ever decide you want one…" She dangled it out there. But I wasn't sure I was a tattoo girl.

Em had a few. The one on her abdomen that told her head up and wings out. A circle of birds flying around one thigh. The phoenix on her back. She had a Vandals tat too, but you couldn't see that in her outfit.

"Maybe," I told her. "As for the boys—Levi seems to be more open to the idea of a big brother and family than Theo is. But they're both—very guarded I suppose is the best description. Who can really blame them?"

Chewing her lower lip, Em retrieved her bottle of water and opened it. "Milo isn't sure Theo is ready to meet me."

"Well, to be fair, I don't think Pretty Boy is ready for Theo to meet you. If he cops an attitude with you, he's probably going to get punched." From more than one direction.

"Look, when Milo and I met, we were not… well, let's just say I was the belligerent one then." Her smile was almost wistful. "I gave him a really hard time. So maybe…"

"Maybe you understand where Theo is coming from?"

She shrugged. "Maybe? I don't know. I do know Milo did not deserve quite as much of the shit that I gave him."

"That doesn't mean he didn't deserve some of it." I pointed my water bottle at her and she grinned.

"True. But Theo—Theo is different. We had no idea he existed." Em went silent, looking at her water bottle before blowing out a breath. "I didn't know Milo or the Vandals existed. At first… knowing they knew about me and I had no idea about them. It hurt."

"Em…"

She shook her head, a small smile in place. "It's okay now. I mean, I got over it. I forgave them for the secret because I understood it. But there's a loneliness there… that I had this possible family out in the world who knew all about me. I had no idea. Theo doesn't know that much about us. He has to learn to trust us, like I had to learn to trust them."

Maybe Em would be the best one for him.

"We'll figure it out," I told her. "None of you are in this alone. Not you. Not Pretty Boy. Not Theo. We will make the time. The important thing is they're safe . If it takes ten days, ten weeks, or ten years, we'll get there."

"Have I mentioned how much I love having you for a real sister now?" Emersyn said. "Even if it means having sex with my brother, which you absolutely do not do. You have a very chaste relationship."

I snorted and she laughed. " Anyway … you ready for tonight?"

"I think so. Valentin came to see me an hour ago." She turned to check her appearance in the mirror.

Sitting forward, I frowned.

"Don't get upset," she said over her shoulder. "Yes, he came to see me. He was alone and he wanted to thank me again for coming to do the show."

Alone. Juraj Vedri? hadn't been with him. He would turn up. Sooner or later.

"You look mad," Em said, pivoting to face me again. She had a pair of thin slippers that she wore until she was ready to go on stage. "I wasn't alone. Liam and Rome were right there. In fact, Rome is right next door." She leaned over and tapped the wall in a quick tattoo of knocks, that was answered immediately.

"They're only letting me be alone in here because you were coming. They've got eyes everywhere."

"Have I mentioned how much I like them all? They are almost good enough for you." The droll tone was the right one to take. Her grin was magnetic. "Now, stop worrying about me. I can't wait to see you perform tonight. It's going to be amazing."

"You didn't have to come," she reminded me and I just rolled my eyes. "I know, I would have come too. But I did have to say it."

We both stuck our tongues out at each other and then laughed. Rising, I crossed over to where she was standing and hooked my arm through hers. "Always going to be here for you," I reminded her.

"Same," Em promised and we leaned our heads together. Standing there in silence, I drank in the calm and Em seemed to be doing the same. "Okay," she said with an exhale. "Time to go to work."

Going to work involved finishing the last touches on her cosmetics, then snagging her robe to head along the backstage to where she'd climb up to where she would be starting her show.

The hum from the crowd was electric. The crew, familiar from a long time of working together, greeted Em with easy smiles and salutes as I followed her along the back behind the curtains.

Rome was with us. Ahead, Vaughn waited at the foot of the ladder she would use to climb up to the catwalks. I tilted my head back to check the height. It never failed to amaze me how comfortable she was up there.

"I'm going to be stage left," I promised. "I want to be able to see everything."

Em squeezed my hands, then she was climbing the ladder with Rome right behind her and Vaughn lifted his chin to me. "Bodhi is with Freddie, they went to get drinks from the green room." He pointed back the way we'd come.

"We're good for me to just get into place though?"

"We should be," Vaughn said. "I'll let them know where you are."

"Thank you." I gave him a little wave and then made my way around to the side stage area. Crew with a headset on turned to me as I approached. "I'm just going to be over here, out of the way."

"You're fine, Miss Benedict. We can set up a chair if you'd like it."

I waved him off. "No need to worry about me."

The hum from the audience had grown louder. There was music playing from the speakers, but it was too low to make out. Across the visible stage, crew moved swiftly but stayed well-away from the curtains.

Head tilted back, I studied the darkened area above. I could barely make out the catwalks, but I could see where the silks were suspended and ready to be lowered.

A shiver went through me. The next crew guy sauntered past and I did a double-take. Jasper grinned, then handed me a fresh water bottle. "Enjoy the show, she's doing something new tonight."

Chuckling, I saluted him with the water. Not even three minutes after he walked away, did I catch sight of Kellan on the far side of the stage. He just gave me a measured look and a nod.

The Vandals were everywhere. I didn't make the mistake of thinking they weren't keeping an eye on me too. I appreciated them for it. Still, I slung my purse crosswise over my chest. I'd left my jacket in the dressing room.

My baton was in easy reach and I had a knife in my boot. The layers of security made me feel better, especially because Em was the one?—

The lights flashed once.

Twice.

Three times.

The din of conversation from out front diminished. The lights backstage shifted, everything on the side stages dropped into shadow and I put my water bottle onto the chair next to me.

The music through the speakers increased with just the faintest crackling to betray the age of the equipment itself. As the volume turned up, the crowd grew even quieter.

A hush of movement next to me had me turning to find Bodhi sliding into place behind me. He wrapped his arms around my middle and I leaned back against his chest. We didn't need words.

Anticipation threaded through me. I found myself holding my breath. Watching Em perform was always something of a revelation.

The house lights went down. The stage lights shut off. The whisper of the curtains opening drifted past me. I noticed it more for the breeze than the actual movement. My eyes hadn't adjusted fully, not yet.

Pressing two fingers to my lips, I went utterly still as the music cut off abruptly.

Darkness.

Silence.

The sense of the audience shifting, leaning forward. I had my eyes glued upward, she was going to?—

The music rose suddenly, a spotlight kicked on, and Em tumbled from the ceiling in what looked like a rolling free fall that she caught herself neatly, breaking all rules of gravity.

Applause welcomed her and I couldn't stop smiling. It was the Carnival overture by Dvo?ák. Her twist and dance in the air to the Czech composer's work made her truly seem like a fairy.

My smile grew as I watched her. The distance softened everything about her. You didn't see the way her muscles shifted as she caught the silks, twined them around her to climb and dance on the air itself.

No, all you saw was the ethereal beauty with her absolute gift. It was amazing. As the Carnival played onward, I found myself swaying to it. Almost exactly as Em was, only she was making the silk begin to rotate — ballroom dancing in the air.

The audience applauded and I would have joined them except gunfire exploded through the dark, a spray of bullets striking the catwalks above and sparking like deadly fireflies where they hit. Screams erupted from the audience and the spotlight cut off.

Had Em been hit?

Bodhi's arm around my middle tightened and he pulled me farther back into the backstage. Three steps back and suddenly even the back stage area's blue lights cut off. Chaos descended with the blanket of darkness as the flash of gunfire sliced through the dark.

Someone slammed into us and only Bodhi's arm around my middle kept me from being knocked down. One moment he was there, the next I was behind him and there was a pained grunt.

What the hell?

As abruptly as the lights had cut off earlier, they flashed to life again—brighter. Too bright, like someone turned up all the power. Tears flooded my eyes even as I tried to squint away from the intensity.

Even with my vision blurred, I could see Bodhi grappling with not just one, but two men. There were more men charging toward us.

Men in balaclavas waving weapons. More gunshots sounded from the audience. Fighting spilled out onto the stage. I wanted to look for Em, but as it was, I couldn't take my gaze off the fighters making their way toward Bodhi.

Taser out, I shocked the guy before he could close the distance behind him and I kept my finger on the voltage until he dropped. The lights slammed off. Then back on.

Once my target dropped, I started forward only to pause as the hard muzzle of a gun pressed against my spine and a hand clamped down on the nape of my neck.

Bodhi's gaze cut to me and I looked at him even as more men swarmed him.

"Come with me," Juraj Vedri? ordered. "Or I will kill everyone here and I'll start with him."