Chapter 3

Iyla

THERE’S NO WAY HE LOOKED at me. I’m imagining things.

I kept chanting it to myself as I shuffled alongside Nahla and the rest of the crowd. I wasn’t familiar with the band, Sinners Do It Better, but the guy I’d seen in the window definitely looked like the guy on Nahla’s shirt, which she’d forced me to wear along with the rest of my outfit. I was just glad she’d let me wear the t-shirt. She’d initially tried putting me in a bra .

I glanced at the crowd of people around us, noticing that I would’ve blended right in if I’d worn such a thing. Some women literally had no tops on. Just stickers of a demon head taped over their nipples.

What kind of concert is this?

“I’m so glad you’re here!” Nahla cheered for the third time as we neared the entrance. She’d opted to wear the bra I’d rejected with a lace mesh shirt over it and tucked into her black skinny jeans. Her dark hair cascaded down her back like a silky curtain, and she brushed some behind her heavily studded ear as she looked down at me. “When I won the two tickets at work, I was so bummed thinking the second one would go to waste. I’m glad I convinced you to come with me.”

“ Forced ,” I corrected with a teasing laugh. “You forced me.”

That earned me a glare. “Did I stick a gun to your head? I think not.”

“I mean, you came to my apartment, stole my phone and textbooks, and wouldn’t let me leave the living room until I agreed.”

She smiled wide as though I’d complimented her. “You’ll thank me later. This band is the best! Everyone in it is hot as fuck, and their music is unreal. It always feels like the songs are reaching inside of you, encouraging you to unleash all your inner desires. Something you could definitely give a try, Miss Always-Thinking-Of-Others-First.”

Nahla stood on her tiptoes to peer over the heads of the people in front of us, trying to see how close we were to the entrance. I was glad she was momentarily distracted, because her words struck something deep inside me. I swallowed hard and looked down at the ridiculous outfit that I wore to this ridiculous concert. A tightness wound through my stomach and up my throat.

Inner desires.

Things I wanted.

I closed my eyes, and despite the thunder of voices and sound all around me, all I could hear was my mother’s voice.

You want to play piano again? How could you even ask that of me? Do you not understand what hearing or seeing that would mean for me? The memories it would bring up? Do you think of no one but yourself, Iyla?

I looked down at my band t-shirt, and the unease that had already crept inside me pressed in harder. Unleashing my inner desires was … dangerous.

So I stomped on any semblance of those wishes just as Nahla and I finally made it to the gate to have our tickets checked.

A bald man dressed in a crisp button-up shirt and dress slacks took ours. When he scanned them, his eyebrows shot up, and he smiled at Nahla. “Wow! Looks like you are the 100th patron to be scanned in.” He passed a finger between her and I. “Is it just you two in your party?”

Nahla and I nodded. The man was clearly excited about scanning our tickets, which made me wonder if we’d just won something. I’d never been to a concert before, but I figured we were about to get a free t-shirt or something.

He clapped his hands and cheered, “Amazing! As a prize for being the 100th ticket scanned, you two get VIP passes to meet the band and hang out after the show. Come around to the rear entrance after it’s over, okay?”

I slowly took the pass, glancing between my ecstatic friend and the shiny black card. On one side of the card, rose stencils surrounded a deep red snake curled around the “I” in “VIP,” and the other side had a red devil head with horns. The wariness brewing inside me grew as Nahla continued her happy dance. She was clearly over the moon, and she’d brought me out here for a night of fun as any friend would do with my situation. I was apprehensive about all of this, especially given the name of the group and the look of their fans, but Nahla … She wanted this.

I glanced at the rectangle in my hand again. The little red head on the card taunted me.

Are you going to ruin your friend’s fun like a selfish brat?

Or are you going to put on a smile and pretend to have a blast for her sake?

With a resolved nod, I plastered on a grin and held my pass up to smack it against hers in cheers. “Look at us! You’ll get to meet your favorite band tonight.”

She screamed a joyous cry and kissed the card. “This is the greatest day of my life!”

I hooked my arm with hers and listened to her rave about the band and their lore with so much enthusiasm that my own nerves began to melt away. This may not have been my scene, I may have been hella uncomfortable showing off this much of my body, and I might’ve feared my mom somehow finding out I was here. But this was Nahla’s night. She’d gone out of her way to include me and cheer me up after a hard day. So I wouldn’t take this away from her.

Plus, it might be kind of fun going to a concert and meeting a real band.

“So they’re supposed to be demons?” I asked as we finally made it to the floor.

We had front row floor tickets. Nahla had initially wanted to try to touch one of the band members from here, but now that we had VIP passes, she wanted to do much more than just brush hands.

She nodded. “Their costumes are top-notch. They seriously look like real demons. Or at least, what I think they’d look like if demons were real. Anyway, all their songs are about sex, letting your desires win, not being held down by the world, and badass shit like that.”

“That’s definitely … something,” I said with a laugh.

The sky overhead grew navy as the sun set, and the cheering in the open stadium made the ground beneath my feet shake. I looked around at everyone, watching their faces light up with excitement as they stared at the stage, waiting for their idols to appear.

Even though I wasn’t familiar with the group or all that comfortable, the energy in the air was infectious. I found myself grinning, chanting the band’s name with everyone else, and laughing with Nahla as the crowd jostled us around a bit.

The lights in the stadium suddenly went out, and it momentarily took the noise of the crowd with it.

Until everyone realized what the loss of lighting meant.

A dull, thrumming of guitar strings and a beat of drums shook the stadium, and a flash of red lights briefly lit up the silhouettes of five people on stage.

Screams and chants of different names flooded the air, and my heart thundered with another string of beats from guitars, pounding of drums, and a flash of red lights. Then it went quiet again.

The music stopped.

The crowd hushed.

And the most intoxicating, deep, sensual voice began to sing.

Fire lit my skin and swept through my entire body as lights lit up the stage, and the man singing swept his red-slitted eyes over the crowd.

My mouth dried at the sight of him.

He was everything parents warned you about. Tall and broad, he had to be well over six feet tall. He wore a long-sleeved button up, but half the buttons were undone, exposing a sculpted chest covered in tattoos. Ink covered his hands, which gripped the mic, and the dark images trailed up his arms. His ears, lip, and eyebrow were pierced, and a voice in the back of my head wondered if that was all he had pierced.

Then there were the demonic horns and eyes that he wore as part of his costume.

Every part of him dripped sex, sin, and seduction.

Something between my legs throbbed as he continued to sing softly into the crowd about silk sheets, ripped clothes, and sleepless nights. My breath hitched as images flooded my mind with the lyrics, and I clenched my thighs in an effort to expel the thoughts and feelings coursing through me.

It was then that his gaze moved over the crowd, and like before, it seemed to find me. His lips lifted ever so slightly. It was such a fleeting look that by the time I blinked and found him looking elsewhere, I wondered if he’d been looking this way at all. Though it had to be real, because my entire body felt that gaze as though it were a physical caress.

I bit my lip and groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long night.

MY LIMBS TINGLED WITH THE lingering effects of the heavy, loud music. People shuffled out of the stadium while still singing, gyrating, and screaming their approval of tonight’s performance. Even I found myself having a really good time watching the members of the band lose themselves to their songs. I couldn’t sing along, but that didn’t stop me from holding onto Nahla and jumping up and down with her while she sang.

“What a phenomenal night,” Nahla said with a content laugh. “And it’s just getting started.” She held up her black-and-red VIP pass. “Now we get to meet them.”

Still feeling the high of the excitement from during the concert, I followed after her with a pep in my step. We weaved through people and stopped near the rear of the stadium where a crowd had formed. Barricades were set up with very large men stationed around it. That didn’t stop people from milling about, trying to steal a glimpse of the members of Sinners Do It Better.

A trio of people—two girls and one boy—approached one of the guys standing guard. They flashed him what looked like the passes Nahla and I had. The man moved part of the barricade to let them through, making sure to keep others back as he did.

“Guess that’s how we get in,” I said to Nahla.

We pushed our way to the front of the crowd and showed our own passes to the same man. He wordlessly let us in, and we moved to where the trio who’d just gotten in stood, talking to the bald man who’d given us the passes.

The bald man noticed us approaching and smiled. “Hello again. I was just telling these three that the band is on their way to the meeting place now. The limo that’s picking you guys up should be here momentarily. The security team will help you get in and keep the crowd back.”

My eyebrows shot up in alarm. The others didn’t seem surprised by the news, instead giggling and bouncing on their feet.

The manager stepped away to speak to a guard.

I dropped my voice and leaned into Nahla. “Limo? We’re not meeting them here?”

“You don’t know?” one of the girls from the trio asked. Her blonde and pink hair sat high on her head in two pigtails, and her makeup was dark and elaborate. She wore a black bralet, leather shorts, and a choker with a pendant that read, “BITE ME,” which rested against her cleavage.

“Know what?” I questioned.

She smiled wide. “Sinners Do It Better doesn’t do backstage meet-and-greets like other artists.” She held up her VIP pass. “This gets you so much more. We’re about to go spend the whole night with them at some hotel or something.”

The guy of the group, who was shirtless with only black cargo pants on, held his hands together as if in prayer and pleaded, “I really hope I get to suck one of their dicks. I’ve heard they’re so big.”

Pigtails laughed. “I’m sure that will be allowed, considering what the rumors say.”

My breath got shallower, and my heart picked up tempo. “Rumors? What rumors?”

Before she could answer, a limo rolled up to the barricade. The bald man came back over with a throng of people wearing shirts labeled, “Security.” They ushered the five of us to the waiting limo.

“Nahla, do you know what’s happening?” I hurriedly whispered to her.

Her eyes shined with excitement. “I know what I hope is happening. Holy shit, I can’t believe my luck. I hope I get to see Dante naked.”

My stomach was in knots as I walked alongside Nahla and processed what little info I’d been given so far. We were being taken to some place to hang out with the band, and rumors suggested that … sexual acts … were done during that time? I mean, their music had definitely been suggestive and encouraging, but was I about to waltz into an orgy or something?

I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. If I followed along with the group and got into that limo, I might see, hear, or become involved in things that were completely outside my realm of comfort. I was a homebody, an introvert who stayed in the lines. This seemed very beyond my lines.

I glanced at Nahla, who still wore the largest grin I’d ever seen on her. She wanted to go. She’d probably even love whatever activities the band had planned. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I wouldn’t take that from her.

I couldn’t.

I’d just say no if I was asked to participate in anything I didn’t want to.

With my mind made up to go along with this for her, I slid into the limo. With all five of us piled in, the car took off toward our destination.

“I’m Nahla, by the way,” Nahla introduced, reaching her hand out to shake Pigtails, who she’d just been chatting with.

“Addie,” the girl replied. “This is Parker.” She gestured to the shirtless guy in the trio then pointed at the girl with a tapered black bob. “And that’s Iseul.”

Parker and Iseul waved.

Smiling, I leaned forward in my seat. “I’m Iyla.” I’d already come this far and decided to be here for Nahla, but I still had questions. I wanted to prepare myself for what I was about to walk into. Licking my lips, I asked, “So what were the rumors you were talking about before? You know, the ones about the band.”

Addie’s eyes widened. “How do you not know the rumors?”

Nahla wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me in to squeeze me. “She’s not actually a fan. That’s me. I’m pretty sure she’d never even heard of the group until tonight when I convinced her to come with me.”

“Holy shit!” Parker laughed and shook his head in awe. “What luck. Not even a Sinner, and you got a VIP pass.”

I gave a nervous chuckle and straightened my bow that had gone askew when Nahla pulled me in for a hug. “Might be luck. Depends on what these rumors are.”

The trio and Nahla shared a knowing smirk and let the silence hang in the air for a moment.

Finally, Parker leaned toward me and whispered, “Wild, filthy sex.”

“W-What?” I asked, recoiling in my seat.

“That’s the rumor,” Parker explained. “People with VIP passes get to indulge in wild, filthy sex with the band all night long, and it’s the best sex you’ll ever have.”

“Parker is right,” Addie said. “And if the rumors are true, we’re all in for a stellar night. Hope everyone wore sexy underwear!”

Nahla laughed and flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. “ Please . I’m not even wearing any.”

Everyone cheered and whistled at the news, but I was too stunned to even breathe.

Sex? With a stranger?

Make sure you save yourself for marriage, Iyla. Don’t be one of those dirty girls. You know what happens to girls like that. The consequences that come with having sex.

My mother’s voice was like a brand in my mind, and I worried I’d turn my head to find her sitting right next to me in the car, whispering her warnings in my ear. The hair on my neck prickled as if she were watching me, waiting to see if I gave into temptation and broke her rules.

Be a good girl. Good girls listen to their parents and become successful. Good girls win in life. Make sure you’re a good girl, Iyla.

I swallowed my mounting nerves as the limo pulled up to a large mansion on a lone farm road. It slowed, and as I stared up at the house that music poured out of, I knew I was about to stare temptation directly in the eyes.

“Be a good girl,” I whispered to myself.