Wicked Harmony

Chapter 6 | Sin

Chapter 6

Sin

M y head spins as I head down to the lobby. Tonight did not go how I expected it to. I’m unsettled by how the band tracked me down and my feet are already itching with the need to move.

To get away from Willow Ridge.

To hide myself better this time.

Fucking Elara. As pathetic as it is, she’s the closest thing I have to a friend.

And she sold me out at the first opportunity.

As pissed as I am at her, I’m even more annoyed with myself. I’ve grown complacent, staying in a town that doesn’t do much for me just because it felt safe enough. But if Orpheus Underground can track me down, then that means anyone could.

The urge to flee to somewhere new, where nobody knows me, is strong. After tonight, though, I’m also seriously considering fleeing into the anonymity of the band’s tour. I’d imagine they have hundreds of people working for them, and they’ll be traveling around the world, which would help me pick out a new spot to settle.

When I first abandoned my old life, I had nowhere to go. No friends or family. No connections.

My current situation is not all that different. I still have no friends or family. I have a casual hookup in town that I see whenever we both have an itch that needs scratching. And I have Elara .

Elara who communicates mostly in picture form and who I haven’t seen in person in years. Who I clearly can’t trust to keep my secrets safe.

I still don’t have anyone around I’d trust to help me if I needed it.

But this time around, what I have is a possibility. An invitation to join a hugely famous band’s international tour. Four months and they’d pay me enough money to cover a dozen new identities.

The situation is nuts. But I’m not about to kick myself in the face just because it’s weird as hell.

The lobby is quiet as the elevator doors open and I listen out for drunken giggles from the bar area. There’s nothing. I scan the whole lobby, looking for Ally and Lila. My ride home. But they’re not where I left them, and a quick lap of the bar shows they’re not hidden in a corner either.

Shit.

I check my phone to see if I can track them down, but it seems like my location sharing only goes one way. Dammit. I should have given it more thought, but my mind was entirely focused on meeting with the band’s manager.

I park myself on a barstool and start searching online for a way to get home. A cab is gonna eat into my budget massively, but I can’t stay at this hotel forever. And it’s not like I can pop back upstairs to ask the band for an advance on a job I’ve not agreed to do yet.

“I knew you were full of shit,” a female voice says just as a body drops onto the stool beside me. I side-eye the woman who drops her handbag onto the bartop between us with a thud.

“You’re Grizz, seriously? That cutesy little girl on the signs? I knew you were stonewalling me, but I have to say I didn’t expect you to be the one to show up here. I figured you were covering for someone who was hiding out in the back or something. ”

I glance up as it dawns on me that this person is talking to me just as I recognize Julia, the band’s manager.

I grimace. “Sorry about that. I’ve been trying to lie low and you’re the first person to track me down like that.”

“Because of the whole weird cult connection, I get it,” she replies airily.

Fuck’s sake. “Can you keep your voice down?” I hiss at her.

“Ooh, because there are so many people listening in.” She snorts, glancing around at the empty bar area. “They’re hiding behind the potted ferns with listening devices, just waiting for you to slip up. I bet this entire place has been mic'd up by your cult leader guy and they’re tracking the surveillance cameras as we speak.”

She’s right, the bar is deserted apart from the two of us. But old habits die hard and I’ve been hiding for a long time.

“You were a lot less snarky earlier,” I comment, forcing my shoulders to relax.

“And you were a lot more interesting, even though you have zero customer service skills.” She taps the bar with one perfectly manicured fingernail and I tuck my fingers under my butt so she can’t see the state of my own fingernails. They’re kept short but are probably still covered in random stains. I’m not typically self conscious about my appearance, since I spend most of my days alone in my workshop. But compared to Julia’s sleek style, I feel like a troll that’s just emerged from my cave.

“I’m exhausted,” she says. “We’re gearing up for the tour and really didn’t have time for an overnight pit stop in the ass end of nowhere. But Iri had one of his gut feelings about you and we all had to go along with it. No offense.” She doesn’t look at me as she says it, which adds to the lack of sincerity in her tone. “I love that guy, but seriously, sometimes I could just strangle him.”

I don’t know what to say. Do I apologize for living my life and being an inconvenience to hers ?

I’m thinking no, I’m not gonna do that.

“So, are we celebrating? You don’t look like you are, but maybe you just have one of those faces.”

I shrug. “I was planning on heading home, but it seems my ride has disappeared.”

“Ah.” She raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Were they the drunk girls hanging around the lobby? Or were they the party bus that turned up and wouldn’t stop screaming?”

“Uh, the first one, I think.”

“Well, everyone got turfed out. They were practically jumping on Dorian when he was trying to get in the elevator, and he hates that. Security got rid of all non-residents, so they probably headed to the bar down the street.” She eyes me before rummaging in her bag. “I can arrange a car for you, though. You should have said something when we were texting earlier and I would have gotten one of our people to pick you up.”

“Probably.” That would have been a lot easier than trusting Ally and Lila. “It just felt weirdly serendipitous they were already coming here. I should have known they were going to flake as soon as I got in the car, though.”

“Serendipitous, huh? You’ll get on with Iri if you start spouting all that nonsense.” Another eyebrow raise. “ Did you get along with Iri?”

“He seems... nice.”

She cackles. “No. He doesn’t. He scares the shit out of most people and he’s single-minded to a fault. What did you tell him?”

“That I’d think about it.”

“Boo.” She continues to rummage through her giant purse until she finds her phone. “Lame. So, shall I order you a car?”

I nod. Better than having to rustle up money for the cab fare .

“Great.” She’s already tapping away at her phone, not looking at me. “Chris will be here in ten minutes. You want a drink while we wait?”

She doesn’t wait for me to respond before she’s leaning across the bar and is ordering two shots of something that’s a weird navy blue color. Sliding one over to me once they’re poured, she shrugs.

“We’re either celebrating or you’re commiserating that I wasted three days and am going to have to put up with Iri’s grumpy ass if he doesn’t get his way.”

I take a sip and shudder at the burn as it slides over my tongue and down my throat. It tastes kind of like a weird mix between aniseed and vanilla. Not half bad.

“How long have you worked with the band?”

“Too long.” She slams her own shot and mimics my shudder. “About ten years. Ten years of touring and recording and writing and releasing. You know, they’ve done nine albums within that time. Nine tours and that’s just in the time I’ve been with them. No wonder they need a break. It’s just too bad the world doesn’t stop turning, and the label isn’t interested in any of that. They just don’t have another forty or fifty date tour in them.” She slips off her four-inch heels and groans, rubbing her feet. “I probably shouldn’t have told you any of that, but my guess is you’re good with secrets and I doubt you have anyone to tell mine to.”

“What makes you say that?” I ask.

She snorts. “Girl, I saw you in that weird ass rinky-dink town, eyeing every person as a threat, even though you’ve seen them every day for years. What percentage of that town do you think is ex-mafia or in witness protection? It has a whole weird vibe about it. I bet everyone’s on the run from something.”

“You’re not wrong,” I say. “About any of it.”

She pegged me immediately, spotting my lack of connections in town. The way I’ve continued looking over my shoulder ever since I’ve lived there. How Willow Ridge has a strange atmosphere to it, like we’re all just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It’s hardly a relaxing way to live.

“I know I’m not,” she replies, without missing a beat. “But who has space for friends, right? I’m looking forward to this next month. The band is going to be hiding themselves away in their little rehearsal cave, and I’m going to work remotely from whichever city I choose. A month off from working until ten at night and then getting up at five for an early photoshoot.” She cracks her neck from side to side.

“You, er, don’t need to stay with me.” I feel kind of like I’ve been bulldozed in this conversation and, frankly, I need a minute to recalibrate my brain.

Julia checks her phone. “Your driver’s outside. I was thinking about going with you and really laying on the charm as you head back to buttfuck nowhere, but you look like you need a minute to yourself, so I’m going to leave you alone.” She tosses her hair back with a smile. “If you have questions, text me and I’ll answer. I seriously think you should consider it, though. This opportunity is amazing. I mean, what have you got to lose?”

“You’re a lot more pushy than you were earlier,” I mutter.

“Well, I wasn’t convinced I was talking to the right person then. I thought you were the scary gatekeeper to this Saint person. I was picturing a wizened old guy hiding out the back. Didn’t want to waste all this charm on the wrong person.” She smirks and slips on her heels.

I push to my feet and with a slightly awkward wave; I stride out of the hotel where there’s a sleek black car with tinted windows idling outside. There’s a guy dressed in a suit waiting.

“Are you Sinjin?”

I nod, and he ushers me into the cool interior, slumping back in the seat. My head feels heavy and full.

I guess I have some thinking to do and big decisions to make.