Madelynne Ellis - Come Together

‘I see someone let the vultures in.’ Spook knocked knuckles with him as they joined the crowd in the green room.

Xane’s money was on it having been their manager, because of the high proportion of media types to pretty girls seeking favours.

Spook handed his guitar over to a waiting member of the crew. ‘What do you reckon, leg it straight for the dressing rooms and hope they’ve got bored and naffed off by the time we come out?’

‘Much as I applaud the dressing-room plan, I need to find Dani first.’

‘Six o’clock,’ Spook said, nodding toward the backstage bar. ‘Do you see her?’

The only person Xane could see was Rock Giant, who was something of a landmark. ‘No. Where?’

‘Wedged between Ash and the wall.’

‘Where?’ Xane wasn’t normally possessive, but he knew what a snake Ash could be when it came to getting his leg over. He wouldn’t think twice about bedding Dani, or any other girl Xane happened to show an interest in. Matter of fact, in the past he’d made a point of seducing the girls the other guys hooked up with. It seemed to be a machismo thing with him, proving he was the hottest lover or something. He was also the biggest dick, much as Xane loved him. The only reason none of them had ever called Ash out over his practices was that none of them had ever been serious about a relationship before. Except for his former relationship with Elspeth and Steve. That was different. They’d all been part of the band, and Ash had never had a look-in there.

‘Don’t tear his head off,’ Spook pleaded. ‘I don’t want to have to shop for a lead guitarist too.’

Xane ripped a pathway through the crowd. He trusted Dani. He placed no blame on her; she was innocent to Ash’s ways. She was probably just hanging with her friend waiting for him when Ash and his trouser snake had pounced.

His annoyance spiked as he drew closer and realised that Iain Willows was in on the act of fucking with his girl too. He and Ash had Dani trapped between them, like the filling in some hideous sandwich. ‘Lay off her,’ he snarled, grabbing hold of Ash’s shoulder and hauling him backwards.

‘Watch it.’ Ash shrugged him off, shaking his head. ‘You’ve met Ginny, right?’

Yes. Yes, he had. The tension flowed from his limbs, as he realised the girl he’d taken to be Dani was in fact her friend and housemate.

‘Well, hello, He-Man,’ she drawled. A vamp’s smile stretched wide across her impish face. She gave him a thorough once-over, obviously enjoying what she saw. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Where’s Dani?’ he demanded.

‘Is that all?’ she purred, her eyes showing her disappointment. She reached out to stroke the line of his lapel. ‘I thought, seeing how eager you were to speak, that maybe you required my urgent attention with something.’

‘Yes, tell me where my girlfriend is.’

‘The little girls’ room,’ Ash replied. He reasserted his claim on Ginny by encircling her waist with one arm.

‘Right. Thanks.’ That was all he needed to know. Xane backed away immediately and searched over the heads of the crowd for a signpost to the ladies’ bathroom.

‘Seriously, he’s going to wait outside the door?’ he heard Iain remark. ‘That is so uncool.’

Xane zapped him with his laser-beam stare. God, he resented having to have this guy around.

‘Odds are he’s planning on walking straight in,’ Ash replied, at which point Xane rewrote his strategy. Dani deserved better than to be groped in a venue toilet.

‘You know, it wouldn’t kill you to hang with us for a few minutes before you go tearing off,’ Rock Giant remarked, joining them. He had Elspeth tucked against him as if she required his support to stay upright.

‘I’m going to be squashed on to a bus with you lot for the next six months. Excuse me if I enjoy a little separation while I can.’

‘Xane, I want you to meet …’ Graham Callahan, Black Halo’s manager, stepped into Xane’s path. ‘This is Jenna from Rock Out Monthly .’

‘Not now, Graham.’

‘I was just hoping I could ask you a few questions, Mr Geist,’ the woman insisted, holding a dictaphone up towards him. ‘We’re all shocked and saddened by the loss of Steve Matlock. How easy was it for you all to replace him? I understand you and he were particularly close.’

‘Not now.’ He shot Graham a particularly evil look. He was not spilling his heart to some rag that probably wasn’t even interested in the band’s music. ‘Where’s Sally?’ he demanded. ‘I need the bus keys.’

Spook co-opted the journalist, winning her over with a smile and a suggestion that they find a quiet corner.

‘She’s in the office,’ Graham responded, which Xane took to mean the motorhome that Sally and Graham used as a temporary HQ while the band was on tour.

Good. It’d be parked next to the bus.

‘Xane.’ He hadn’t reached the bathroom before Dani found him. ‘You were awesome!’ She smacked a kiss against his lips. ‘You made me sob when you sang “Torn Into”.’ She fluttered her hand, tearing up again at the memory. There were still mascara smudges on her cheeks as proof.

Xane reached out to rub at them, only for a brilliant smile to burst from her.

‘And “The Garden of Lost Time” and “Hellhole” – God, you got me so horny, and then when Ash and Spook were duelling. I never knew they did that. I mean there’s a bit of it on the albums, but it doesn’t have the same oomph as when you’re seeing and hearing it live. It was so good. What? Why are you grinning at me like that?’

‘Because you’re awesome,’ he said, lifting her into his arms. She hugged him back, not seeming to mind that he was hot and sweaty and covered in stage paint and fake blood splatter.

‘I’m not awesome,’ she protested, wriggling in his arms. ‘You’re the one who’s amazing. I can’t believe I never came to see you live before. I mean, I did that last time you were supposed to play, but I should have done it before then. I’ve been missing out on so damn much.’ She smacked another scorching hot kiss against his lips. ‘You completely rocked my socks off.’

‘What do you say we sneak away and I rock your panties off?’

‘I say,’ she said, tucking his hair behind his ear so that she could whisper into it, ‘that you’re on.’

Dani clung tightly to Xane’s hand as they sneaked out back to find Sally. She’d never been on a tour bus before, and was itching to see it almost as much as she was itching to push Xane up against a wall and run her hands all over his body.

It was dark in the lot out back, with only one or two dim lights rather than the floodlighting she’d expected. Sally insisted on unlocking for them, rather than simply handing over the keys. ‘It’s a new bus,’ she explained, which caused Xane to stop in his tracks.

‘Since when?’

‘You’re gonna love it, Xane. It makes the last one look like the rust-bucket.’

From what Xane had described, the last bus had been fairly comfortable, whereas the rust-bucket was the heap of shit that the crew used, normally accompanied by Ash and a collection of stray women.

‘Custom paint job.’ She held her hands out to present them the vehicle. It was huge, two storeys like a red London bus, but silver and black and with tinted windows. Black Halo’s distinctive logo graced the backend.

‘Oh, no,’ Xane said, evidently realising at the same time Dani did that there was only one bus parked up, not the two there ought to have been. ‘Where’s the rust-bucket?’

‘Scrapyard,’ Sally remarked blithely. ‘We didn’t need it any more. Wait until you see inside this beast. It has everything, air-con, state-of-the-art kitchen, on-board recording studio.’ She unlocked the door and ushered them up the steps. ‘This baby’s better kitted out than my house.’