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Since then things had calmed down—with th
e exception of a few other tabloid moments for the other Demons—and Lucy had tried to keep out of the limelight as much as possible. For celebrities and their kids, however, that was nearly impossible. Which explained the ex-military dude in a suit who was watching Lucy like someone was going to jump out of nowhere and attack her at any moment.
“Can she sing?” Harris asked Lucy as he scooted his chair closer to the chick.
Lucy shrugged. “I haven’t heard her yet, but she can play the guitar like a goddess.”
My gaze went back to Kin who was sitting down on the stool on stage, getting ready. “Caleb taught her,” I informed my friend as I watched Kin closer.
Someone would have to be looking hard to notice how nervous she was right then. She was always so brave and strong that, unless you really knew her, you wouldn’t know how anxious she could actually get. Her smile was bright and friendly, but there was a detachedness in her eyes that would have kept most people at bay.
“Caleb?” Harris murmured.
Before I could explain, Lucy spoke. “Kin’s stepbrother. They’re pretty close. Kin’s been pretty bummed about being away from him, his twin sister, and her stepdad.” She blew out an angry sigh. “Her dad isn’t ever home and her stepmom and her evil step-bitches are making her life miserable. Before she died, Kin’s mom made her promise to spend this year getting to know her dad and his family. Pretty hard to do that when her dad is more interested in that piece-of-shit movie he’s directing, and his family would rather she disappear.”
Well, fuck. So that was it. I hadn’t really thought that Abigail would actually follow through on making Kin keep that promise. Why would she make Kin leave everything that she knew and everyone that she loved to spend time with her piece-of-shit father and his asshole family? That seemed too harsh coming from a woman I’d known had loved Kin so completely. Abigail had been a great mother, but this…
This just wasn’t right.
No wonder Kin looked so miserable. It wasn’t just because of what had happened between us, I would bet money on it. She was feeling lost right then, having just had to uproot herself from Caleb and Angie, and felt abandoned.
On stage, Kin finally settled in and licked her lips a little nervously, before releasing a small laugh that seemed to wake up my entire body. “Hi,” she greeted the room with that easy grin in place. “I’m Kin and this…” She broke off and I watched as her eyes filled with tears. Seeing how she tried to blink them back only made me want to jump up on that damn little stage and wrap my arms around her. “This song is for my mom.”
I clenched my hands into fists as she started to play. Because she was still fighting tears, she started out a little slow but less than half a minute into it her natural skills with the guitar took over and she settled into it like the rock star I knew she was. The longer I watched, the harder it was to catch my breath.
Fuck, she was amazing.
Her voice was better than a lot of the pop stars I’d heard on the radio with Auto-Tune making them sound the way they did, but it wasn’t the kind of rock voice that people would stop and take a second look at. That didn’t matter, though. Her skills with the guitar made up for that, and the words that I knew she must have written herself, were so full of emotion—so fucking moving—that the entire club was soon stopping what they were doing and taking a harder look at the girl on stage.
Kin had a talent with writing music and poetry. She could destroy a person with her words, make them feel as if they are nothing or everything. She could open herself up and show the world just who she was with one song. For me, music was everything, and Kin was so incredibly talented that she made me feel that life without her music had no meaning at all.
She was what made it better, made it worthwhile.
What the fuck had I been thinking, walking away from her?
The song came to an end and Lucy was out of her seat, rushing forward to meet Kin as she jumped down from the small stage. The two embraced, but I was rooted to my seat, too caught up in the nightmare of realizing just how much I’d fucked up with this girl to so much as breathe.
I heard a weird noise coming from the guy seated across from me and only then was I able to tear my eyes away from Kin as she and Lucy hugged and laughed, both of them already celebrating Kin’s successful first open mike. Harris looked pale as death, sweat beading on his brow and his eyes had a glassiness to them that if I hadn’t known better I would have thought he was high as a kite.
“Dude, you look like shit. You’re all sweaty and there is a crazy wild look in your eyes. What’s the matter with you?”
Harris waved a waitress over. “Yeah. I’m just tired, man. I need to get back to the office and handle things.” He ordered a bourbon and told the blonde to bring it to him in his office. He was going to bail? I figured he would hang out with Lucy for a little longer at least.
Kin and Lucy returned, still laughing, but the second Lucy’s dark eyes landed on Harris the laughter died and she was putting her hand on his forehead. “Are you getting sick?” she demanded, looking concerned. “You feel hot and look a little flushed.”
Harris rushed through an explanation and after making Lucy promise to call him, he left us to get back to work.
I waved a different waitress over and ordered another beer for me, and two fresh ginger ales for the two girls. With Harris gone and Kin’s turn on stage over, I didn’t want them to rush off on me. I wasn’t ready to say goodnight to Kin, and this sure as hell wasn’t going to be the last time I saw her.
“Great job, babe. I’m so fucking proud of you.” I reached out to catch her hand, but she moved around the table to avoid my touch. I gritted my teeth and reminded myself she needed time.
“You two coming to the show tomorrow night?” I asked as I held Lucy’s chair out for her.
She looked from me to Kin and then to the chair before shrugging and taking her seat. “What show?”
With her seated, I pulled out the chair between her and Kin. “Tainted Knights plays every Thursday night,” I told Lucy. “You two should come see us.”
Kin sat back in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched me. “Pretty sure I’ve seen plenty of Tainted Knights. Unless you dickheads have some new material, I’ll pass.”
