Page 17 of Serenade Me

Chapter Six

Marius

Present Day

I’m dreaming.

I’m dreaming that I’m floating.

No, not floating, I’m not… buoyed by anything. I’m flying through it.

White lace, or liquid silk or vanilla-scented cotton candy.

It’s soft and delicate.

But divine.

I wake up.

And I’m in a bed.

But it’s still there. That same… essence of my dream.

It’s blissful.

I should be feeling hungover.

Last night at the bar I’d foregone any further conversation with Jez’s sister and joined in with a rowdy table of fans instead. They had seen our performance and knew who we were but were too drunk to be star struck.

That’s my favourite type of fan.

I know the others weren’t happy that I’d left the group considering that Jez had wanted us to get to know his sister better and Cadence was leaving in a few days, but their temporary annoyance is probably better than their outright anger or loathing at what I might’ve done with Anca.

Why? What were you going to do? I catch the devil on my shoulder asking me before I can brush him off.

The truth is, I don’t know.

I just know that she gets to me. Her.

And I’m going to have to find a way to stop her from joining us on tour.

I don’t want to see her, I don’t want to hear her play, I don’t want her hanging around us, when we’re supposed to be relaxed and enjoying these moments in our life, our success. I just don’t want her around. Seeing her smirk every time I say something, or her judgment every time I do something.

She just rubs me up the wrong way.

You sure it’s the wrong way? That annoying devil challenges me.

“Yes, I’m fucking sure!” I say out loud. Just in case someone else can hear the devil on my shoulder as well.

And I’m going to have to make that clear.

Harp or no harp, replacement for Cadence or not – it’s irrelevant. She has to go.

Not to mention, every time she looks at me with those jade/chocolate eyes it’s like she knows what I’m thinking. I can barely get a sentence out without fumbling over my words.

“She’s a witch. We can’t have a witch on tour with us guys,” I say out loud again, practicing how I’m going to break to it every one. I should probably find a different word. Devil spawn? Maybe not. I’ll keep working on it.

I sit up in the hotel bed and stretch, my arms rising high above my head and then behind me as I take in a deep, deep breath. There’s a slight popping of bones moving into place, aligning as they should, and my head clears a little bit more.