Bloodsong

Chapter 29

W e were in Brisbane, doing a tour of the concert venues. Two days before we’d been in Sydney, and we were due to fly to Perth the following day. Then Adelaide.

“This is incredible.” Mia stared out at the stadium.

Overjoyed, I couldn’t hold back my grin. “I can’t believe it. There will be thousands of people here for us.”

“Tickets are officially on sale,” Lilith said, staring at her phone. “Our interview will air tonight, too.”

“How is this happening right now?” I asked. “Only a few weeks ago…”

“Shhh, don’t question the music gods,” Lilith said. “ It just is .”

I wrapped an arm around each of them, hugging tightly. “May the music gods continue to bless us.”

Mia let out a cheer. Lilith followed, then me. The photographer with us took photos.

“What’s for lunch?” Lilith asked. “We’ve got a few hours before we have that radio interview.”

“Oh, there’s a new waterfront restaurant that just opened up!” Mia announced.

“How do you always know about places that just opened up?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I just know.”

Lilith shook her head.

“Okay, fine, I saw it in the magazine on the flight.” Mia grinned. “One of us has to know these things.”

I closed my eyes, soaking in the warmth of the sun on my face. “It’s so warm here for the middle of winter.”

“Compared to the shit weather in Melbourne, you mean?” Lilith tilted her own face upwards.

Mia’s phone beeped. “Woah! There’s been another murder in Melbourne.”

Lilith reached for the phone and frowned but said nothing.

“Is there any more info?” I was curious.

“Same as the other ones,” Mia told me, reading over Lilith’s shoulder. “Dark alleyway, what looks like bite marks in the neck.”

“Give me a sec.” Lilith pulled her own phone out and made a call, walking away from us.

I frowned at the article on Mia’s phone. “How many is that now?”

“Four.” She met my eyes. “You have to be careful in the city, Quinn. Don’t walk alone at night. There’s some psycho out there. I worry about you.”

No chance of that with a vampire escorting me everywhere. “I’ll be careful,” I promised.

I read the article again, curious. Matteo had mentioned a vampire community. Did one of them kill someone? The nudging thought made its way in, and I didn’t want to think about it. I was scared that he’d done it, and what that would mean.

“Okay, let’s go!” Lilith said, finishing her phone call. “I’m starving.”

We looped arms and left the stadium, only to find a small group waiting for us.

They took photos. and I pulled my sunglasses over my eyes.

“Maybe we should’ve brought disguises or something?” Mia asked.

I smiled as our photos were taken, then our limo arrived. We climbed in and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“That’s intense!” I said. “That is going to take a lot to get used to.”

“It got worse since our tour was announced,” Lilith said. “Did you see the views on our videos last week?”

“And our albums!” I squealed with joy. “I had no idea we were this well- known. Are we sure this is what we wanted?”

The three of us sat in stunned silence.

“We’ll get used to it,” Mia reassured us. “It will be awhile, but we have each other. We can do this.”

At the restaurant, we received the same amount of attention, until the manager and waitstaff worked to keep people from our table. Grateful for being able to eat in peace, I breathed in relief.

“We need to introduce your new song, Dark Eyes.” Lilith said.

I wanted to sing it to Matteo before I made his song public.

“Well, we’re recording the album next week, should we add it to that?” Mia asked.

“No, maybe the tour can be the intro for it,” I said.

Lilith laughed. “You want to sing it to him first, don’t you?”

“I do. I don’t know how to bring it up with him. ‘Excuse me, I wrote this song about you?’”

“Oh, what are we going to open with?” Mia asked.

“Shadows of the Heart,” Lilith didn’t hesitate. “It’ll be a good way to get their energy high.”

“You just like that one because of your solo,” I laughed.

“Well, yeah.” Lilith smirked.

The waiter brought over a bottle of wine. “Compliments of the owner,” he revealed, and he started to pour glasses for us. Mia held her phone up to the bottle and took a photo.

“You and your Instagram pics.” I rolled my eyes when the waiter left.

“Actually, I wanted to look at the wine. Do you realise he’s given us a five-hundred-dollar bottle?”

Lilith’s eyes widened. “Is this our life now?”

“It seems so,” I said. “Let’s enjoy it.”

I sipped the wine. “Good wine,” I noted. “Mum would appreciate this.”

“How is your mum?” Mia asked. “Is she coping okay since your sister-”

I didn’t miss the look Lilith shot her, which silenced Mia.

“It’s okay.” I forced a smile. “I miss Niamh and can’t keep pushing down what happened. It does feel like me and Mum have grown closer. I think she’s afraid of losing me, too. She lost her eldest, and as much as I hurt, I can’t imagine what the loss of a child would feel like.”

“What about your dad?” Mia asked tentatively.

“I don’t know. He prefers to not show emotion, so it’s hard to say what’s going on with him. He’s always too busy being a rock for everyone else.”

“I can’t imagine losing my brother,” Lilith said finally. “He’s a real pain in the ass, but he’s my brother.”

“Appreciate the time you have with him,” I told her. “The last time I saw Niamh, she was more interested in Luke, and wouldn’t stop texting him. If I’d known it was the last time I’d see her, I would have put her phone in her glass of water so we could appreciate the moment.”

Mia raised her glass. “Life is short; live it while we can.”

I lifted mine, me and Lilith clinking our glasses against Mia’s. “Live your dreams.” I quoted another of our songs. “Appreciate the now.”

I smiled at Mia and Lilith. Whatever life brings, I have them to see me through it.