Wicked Harmony

Chapter 34 | Sin

Chapter 34

Sin

“ W elcome to Meridian City.” Jules grabs my hand the moment the plane touches down and the doors open, already tugging me toward a waiting car. She twists her head and calls over her shoulder, “Girl-time has officially begun, so the rest of you are going to have to find your own way to the hotel.”

“You’re going to leave them all here without a ride?” I ask.

Jules tosses her head back. “Nope. I’m not a monster. Nor am I shit at my job. Their car should turn up in less than two minutes.”

“And what if Sin doesn’t want to go sightseeing with you?” Dorian calls from somewhere behind us. “What if she wants to come with us and let us spoil her?”

“She can watch you all slather yourselves in chocolate later or whatever other freaky shit you five get up to in your downtime. Right now, we’re heading out. It’s been forever since I had anyone to spend time with who doesn’t make me want to punch myself in the face repeatedly, so we’re going and we’re going to have a great time.”

She’s kind of scary like this and I feel a flicker of unease. Forced fun is no one’s idea of a good time.

Then again, it would be a good idea to spend some time away from the guys. We’ve been practically in each other’s pockets for weeks now and some time apart might help me get my shit together.

There’s no way I could have a regular day out with the guys, either. Not when they’ve just kicked off their tour, and it’s such big news. They’re hot on my heels as we reach the car and while Jules dives inside, I pause, spinning around and instantly find myself wrapped up in a hug.

“Have a good time,” Cal murmurs in my ear, pressing the gentlest of kisses to my lips.

As soon as he releases me, Dorian tugs me away by my belt loops and pulls me into a hot and heavy open-mouthed kiss that leaves me breathless.

Then Micah’s there, kissing my cheek, my lips and then across to my other cheek.

And finally, Iri stops in front of me, and my mind fills with dirty images of what all four of them could do to me together.

“Fuck,” he mutters, using his thumb to press softly against my lower lip. “Enjoy yourself today. Let us know if you have any trouble.”

I nod and press a quick kiss to the tip of his thumb, enjoying the sharp inhale of breath that follows.

It feels like an invisible barrier shattered between us during the plane ride, and now I’m getting the undiluted version of Iri.

Turns out, I like it. I like it a lot.

“Go. Now. Before I decided we’re stealing you away for the day and kicking Jules out of that car.”

His rasped words send an unexpected tingle straight to my clit. He shifts, adjusting the front of his jeans after I just blasted him with my lust.

I smile sheepishly and shoot them all an awkward salute. Then, wobbling slightly on my jelly legs, I climb into the car and before I’ve even properly settled in, we’re on the move.

“What are you feeling like? Champagne in the car followed by finding a bar so we can do all the cultural shit with a buzz going, right?” Jules is already popping the cork on a bottle of champagne and filling two glasses without waiting for my response .

“Isn’t it nine in the morning?” I ask, taking the offered glass hesitantly.

I just brushed my teeth on the plane as part of an emergency freshening up before we landed. And I feel like I need a bunch of caffeine more than I need alcohol right now, but I take a sip as Jules glares at me.

“You’re Mrs. Rockstar now, baby. We’re living life today. No work. No worries. Plenty of booze.”

She takes a massive swig of her drink and then immediately refills it.

This is my first time out of the country, and I keep my eyes glued to the scenery, watching Meridian City fly by. I want to see and do everything this city has to offer. I also want to remember the day... unlike Jules, who is now polishing off her second glass of champagne in record time. I hand over my full glass, which she takes with a shrug.

“Is everything all right with you?” I ask her.

She seems more frazzled than usual, and that combined with the argument I witnessed on the plane, my gut is telling me there’s more going on she’s not telling me.

“Oh, sure.” Her cheeks are already growing rosy, and her shoulders have lost their hard line. “The label are being dicks as usual. Yesterday was a total shitshow and I should have been more on it than I was. They’ve also announced the new band they have lined up for me to work with after this tour ends.” She pulls a face and slumps back in her seat. “I am not a fan.”

“Were you a fan of Orpheus Underground before you started working with them?” I ask.

She snorts and takes another gulp of her drink. “No. But these guys are something else. Their reputation is terrible and they’re a bunch of assholes. I got lucky with Orpheus since Iri does more work than most bands put together. But I just know these new guys are going to make me work my ass off.”

“Iri’s a special guy,” I reply.

Another snort, followed by a hiccup. “Dammit. Yeah, I didn’t think so when we were trying to track your ass down. Did you know it took months? Eleven long months where he could barely focus on anything else. But you know how some people are when they latch onto an idea, he was like a damn dog with a juicy bone.”

I nod and brush off her vaguely accusatory tone, watching the city fly by.

Jules is still in a weird fucking mood once the car drops us in the city center. Despite her insistence for us to spend the day sightseeing, she’s drunk off her ass by breakfast.

I persuade her to sit down in a café where I can shovel as many pastries into my face as possible, while she downs a noxious-smelling cocktail. She also insisted on picking the café and electing to sit outdoors, even though it’s been drizzling since we stepped out of the car.

I ignore the miserable weather and iffy company and focus on stuffing my face with fresh fruit and pastry while sipping delicious coffee.

So far, I’m two for two on girl’s trips where the other parties get hammered. I just hope she doesn’t leave me in the lurch like Ally and Lila did.

It makes me curious what a girl’s trip with Elara would be like. Chaos, probably. She’d bring along her dogs and let them run riot.

Still... it might be better than this.

After picking her pastry to crumbs without actually eating anything, Jules focuses her attention on her phone while I finish my coffee. The city is alive around us, with people hurrying through the drizzle-filled streets. I could sit here for hours just watching people living their lives. Maybe it’s me being a gawking tourist, but everyone looks a lot more stylish than back home. I feel slightly self-conscious about the slightly tatty pair of overalls I’m currently sporting.

“Are you sure you want to do this today?” I ask as Jules scowls through her phone, thumbs flying as she types what looks to be an entire essay as a text message.

“Yep. Two secs and we’ll find some sights to see.”

Unfortunately, the day doesn’t get much better from there.

Jules drags me from sight to sight until we’ve seen all the major landmarks for all of two seconds. We stop just long enough for her to take a raunchy selfie with the Orc statue outside City Square. Then onto the Spirit Market which sells the weirdest variety of human and supernatural crap I’ve ever seen, which Jules insists on us going round at a breakneck pace. Next, we head to the famous Meridian Clock Tower, which has been knocked down and rebuilt a half dozen times since it was first built. We finally take a break at the Liberty Plaza, which has a massive screen set up and a bunch of people sitting around watching a movie in the middle of the day. By this point, my feet are burning and I’d love nothing more than to sit and take a break.

The entire time, Jules remains distracted. She flits between angrily typing at her phone and taking random selfies of the two of us, where I look bemused and she looks deranged.

As the day continues into the afternoon, I get this uncomfortable feeling where the back of my neck prickles, like we have eyes on us the entire time and I’m uncomfortable as hell.

We stop for a late lunch at this little café where we’re seated right beside the window of a busy street. I order another coffee to get me through the rest of the day and a sandwich. As our food is about to be served, someone stops by the table. I turn my head to thank them, assuming they’re the server, only to have a phone shoved into my face.

“Hey, what the fuck? ”

“You’re the girl that’s banging all of Orpheus Underground, right?” A man wearing a soaked raincoat leans close enough for me to feel him dripping on my arm. He beams at me and I gape silently at him.

“What the fuck, dude. No photos,” Jules practically growls at him. “That’s rude as hell.”

That’s not the end of it, though. It’s like this one guy is the first trickle through the floodgates and then the deluge begins.

My sandwich arrives and I tuck in, only to be interrupted by another person wanting an autograph. Then a pair of teenage girls stop by for a selfie, followed by an older man wanting to call me a whore to my face.

I choke on my sandwich while Jules shoots him a death glare.

“Maybe we should head back to the hotel,” I suggest, lightly.

“Yeah, good idea,” Jules replies, before pulling my phone out of her pocket.

I frown at her. “I’d forgotten you still had that.”

“Dammit,” she mutters to herself, rubbing her forehead. “I wish I’d checked this days ago. I definitely should have thought of it last night.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re sharing your location, right?”

“Am I?”

She taps the screen and opens up my settings before clicking onto another page and eventually landing on what looks to be a forum.

“What’s this?” I ask, scanning the text.

It lists all our movements over the course of the day, complete with fuzzy pictures.

“Someone’s been posting the band's movements ever since you all arrived in Hawthorne. Since all of them have their devices secured and their tracking off, it had to be you that was the weak link.” She turns just as another stranger approaches. “Fuck off. We’re not interested.”

I stare at her, struggling to take her words in. “Is this what today was all about? You wanted to see if I was the one leaking our locations?”

“I wasn’t sure if you knew you were doing it, or I would have just asked,” Jules replies with a shrug. “I figured maybe you were making a little extra cash on the side for tipping them off.”

“Fuck off, Julia. Is that really all today was?”

She squints her eyes and grimaces. “Eh. Not entirely.”

It hits me then. Julia works for the band. They’re all she seems to care about.

It shouldn’t surprise me she didn’t actually want to spend the day with me. Sure, I feel a twinge of hurt, but mostly I’m pissed off. It’s kind of like I’m the nerdy, friendless girl who has been duped into going to prom with the popular kids, only for them to throw flour in my face.

“Did anyone else know?” I ask.

“No, that would have defeated the entire purpose,” Jules replies with a dismissive hand wave. “No leaks, remember?”

That soothes something inside me. At least none of the guys knew about her little scheme.

Frankly, I don’t give a shit if Julia doesn’t trust me, but it would hurt ten times as much if the guys felt the same.

“Well, I think I’m going to head off,” I tell her. Since apparently people have shared this location online, fans and trolls alike are going to keep turning up here.

Plus, I don’t want to stick around.

Maybe I’m not cut out for having friends if this is what it’s like. Or maybe Julia just sucks. I have plenty of shit to do to fill my time, and it feels kind of like today has been wasted. It’s been neither relaxing nor all that fun .

And I’d rather have spent the time with my guys.

Jules nods before glancing up as she hands my phone back to me. She falters slightly, frowning when she sees my expression.

I’d imagine I look somewhere between ‘I would like to murder you’ and ‘I’m going to sleep off this day under a mountain of blankets’.

“I, er, so this was a good thing, right?” she says. “I’ve fixed the settings, so you’re no longer announcing your location to the world. You should be able to go places without being hounded.”

“Sure.”

I don’t know why I’m feeling so deflated. I guess I don’t do too good a job at masking my mood either, since as soon as I stumble into a cab, I have a call from Iri.

“Hey.” Just that word is lined with concern and I can tell Julia has told him what happened. “Jules messaged to say you were heading back early. She wasn’t making all that much sense, so I wanted to check everything was okay.”

I sigh, raking my fingers through my hair. “Ish. Our grand day out didn’t exactly go as planned. Did you know she planned the entire thing so she could try to weed me out as the leak to the paparazzi and fans?”

Iri doesn’t respond instantly and my stomach twists.

Then their hushed conversation on the plane comes back to me. His hissed words. The obvious tension between them.

Shit.

“You knew.”

Well, if that isn’t just the shitty cherry on top of an equally shit cake. I really thought I was getting somewhere with Iri while we were on the plane together, and now this?

“You know, I don’t have a lot of friends,” I tell him. “I don’t know if it’s my sunny disposition, or the fact I’ve avoided talking about myself for the past decade—” Even before I escaped from The Path, I still wasn’t one for making connections. Everyone I met was either one of the Herald’s Devoted, or they were on the line to becoming one and that meant I could never really be myself. Plus, people came in and out of The Path so often, it was hard to raise the effort to bond with anyone or to work out whether they were genuine or just wanted a ticket to getting closer to the Herald.

I let out a long breath. “It’s stupid, but I thought maybe she and I were becoming friends.”

“It’s not stupid,” Iri replies without skipping a beat. “I told her it was a fucking shitty idea.”

“But you didn’t warn me.”

“I know,” he rushes to say. “It was just... you just seemed so excited about it and I didn’t want to fuck that up for you.”

... And if that isn’t an infuriatingly sweet reason for keeping the truth from me. Dammit, I don’t even know if I can keep being pissed at him.

I wonder if I would have had a worse day if I had known the truth.

Doubtful. Being blindsided sucks. But so does being stuck in a new city with a drunk and distracted Julia.

“Next time, I’d rather you just told me. I can’t tell you how much I hate secrets, Iri, as ironic as that might be.”

“Noted,” he rasps in my ear. “I’ll try not to fuck up again.”