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Stuck in purgatory. Only you hold the key.
Maybe that’s what this is.
Twisted fate.
Cursed love.
Call it what you want, but I’m helpless to this.
Unrequited motherfucker gonna kill me slowly.”
Cheers erupted as the music faded, and Emma closed her eyes. Screams and shouts pierced the air, swallowing her up in an endorphin rush. Two sweaty arms wrapped around her, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. Asher’s wet lips met her cheek as the rest of her bandmates, except Geo, lined up beside her.
They took a bow as the audience chanted “Sirens!” over and over.
Emma gave a wave and followed Ravi off the stage. Callie was there to hand them each an ice-cold water. Emma downed hers, her hands trembling from adrenaline as she walked to the green room.
“Fuck, that was amazing. Did you hear them out there tonight? They loved it!” Leo said before splashing half his bottle over his hair and shaking his head like a wet dog.
Water droplets rained over her cheek as she held her hand in the way. “Damn you, Leo. That’s disgusting. I don’t want your sweat all over me.”
He smirked, his lips shiny from water or sweat—both, most likely. “Aww, come on. Bet most those ladies and some of the guys would pay me to rub my sweaty ass all over them.”
“It’s not polite to force your kink on someone,” she teased with a sly smile. The bus was small, and secrets weren’t easily kept on the road.
Leo’s eyes glittered in amusement. “I think we all know who the kinky one is here.”
She rolled her eyes and settled onto a leather couch. Asher sat on the arm of the sofa next to her as the other guys took the spot across from her on the long couch. A platter with bottles of water and glasses of champagne in an ice bucket sat on a coffee table between them.
Callie picked up the bottle and popped the cork before pouring some into the glasses. “You guys, that was amazing. We have the car waiting to take you to the hotel for the night, and then we have to be back on the road by eight.”
Emma took the flute Callie offered and cheered with her bandmates. The smile on her face faltered as she stared at the empty seat. Geo belonged here, not in prison.
Asher must have sensed her mood dampening. He looped his arm around her. “To Emma and her ability to persuade five guys to play music with her and call ourselves The Sirens.”
Leo, Ravi, and Nicky laughed and clinked glasses with her before they all drank their champagne.
Emma couldn’t hold back her smile. “You bastards know I wouldn’t be here without you all,” Emma admitted.
Callie’s phone chimed again and again. She pulled it out while Emma poured herself another glass of bubbly. The adrenaline was fading, and melancholy once again swallowed her up, blocking out the light and happiness.
Ignoring the tiny bursts of air tickling her nose, she drank down the champagne until her glass was empty. Anything to fight the descent into numbness.
Emma grabbed the bottle of tequila, not bothering with a glass this time. She downed a mouthful and winced. The taste reminded her of that night. Of Link. Her hands scrambled for the container of clear liquid. Vodka it was, then. The alcohol was smooth and strong, slinking into her gut and heating her up from the inside out. Her veins buzzed with rich intoxication. It held off the cold, sinking numbness by replacing it with detached flames of liquor, trading the inevitable release of the blade for a momentary drunk illusion.
“Shit,” Callie swore.
“What is it?” Ravi asked.
“Oh, some celebrity gossip site just published a picture of you all at the show just now and ran a story they must have had ready to go. It’s nothing new.” Callie waved them off.
Emma stood and walked over to grab her phone. She clicked on the first image of Asher holding her and kissing her cheek as the rest of the band members linked arms around them.
The Sirens are one big orgy.
Emma rolled her eyes and read on.
Emma, lead singer of The Sirens, was seen getting cozy with all four men of the band. Would it have been five if Geo was not behind bars for murder? She seems to like the taboo as her song suggests.
