Chapter Thirty-Six #2
I catch sight of Amelia and Liz backstage. They wave at me and I shoot my smile their way. As Poison starts in on a beautiful guitar solo, Wrath prowls my way, hoisting himself up onto the platform; quite the feat, considering how far off the ground it is.
I think he’s just going to sit and chill with me for a little bit, but instead he gets to his feet, coming and standing behind me, which makes my breath hitch.
Good thing I’m just dancing during this part of the song.
I falter a bit but continue swaying my arms and hips even as Wrath slides his arm around my front, placing his hand at the column of my throat.
His other hand goes to my hip as he pulls me back into him.
I angle my head up and look at him. He lowers his mouth to my neck, giving me a quick kiss, the edges of his mask biting into my skin just briefly.
“You sound divine,” he murmurs, a faint smile touching his lips.
With that he’s gone, lowering his hand to the edge of the platform and jumping off it. He lands a bit unsteadily on his feet but runs back to the microphone and pulls it off its stand, nearly missing the start of the next verse.
I breathe out a sigh of relief and begin another round of harmonies. I can still feel where his long fingers gripped me. Did he come up here just to tell me I’m doing a good job? Gratitude swells in my chest at how kind the gesture is.
The rest of the show passes too quickly.
Before I know it, I’m wedged in between Poison and Reese as we all bow.
The crowd throws flowers and gifts and other presents up to the stage—I’m pretty sure I see men’s boxer briefs thrown towards Reese’s side.
Reese and I make our way off stage, leaving the boys to continue to bask in the crowd’s admiration.
Wrath bows low to the crowd, expressing his gratitude to them.
Poison and Mist throw things out to the crowd.
I can make out drumsticks and guitar picks being tossed through the air, and hands all grasping for the chance to catch one.
Poison even lowers himself, reaching out to a fan and clasping their hands, thanking them for their support.
Everyone is so loving here, I can’t help the beaming smile on my face as I make my way to Amelia and throw my arms around my sister. “Thank you for encouraging me to do that. I loved it!”
“She’s caught the bug now,” Amelia says to Liz, grinning as well as she pulls me into a firm hug. “I’ve always thought you were wasting your voice not getting into performing.”
I shrug. “I don’t think it’ll ever be serious with me and singing, but maybe I can fill in every once and while.”
Amelia squeezes me. “Actually, I was thinking maybe Goddess’ Trance needs a backup singer.”
I laugh. “Nah, I don’t think so. Without me as a band manager you guys would be hopeless,” I tease.
Arms reach around my middle as I’m swept upwards in a strong pair of arms. I struggle a bit until I hear Grim’s reassuring laugh. “Hey, babe,” he says in my ear. “You were incredible up there. I had no idea you could sing.”
He puts me down on my unsteady feet and spins me around to face him.
I clutch his forearms to steady myself and see the white ribbon still fixed to my wrist. My stomach drops as I look at Grim.
Part of me is realizing I don’t want to be celebrating with him.
My eyes wander off to my right, where I see Wrath giving Reese a quick hug.
He turns to Mist and practically picks him up in celebration.
I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like for him to come over and wrap me up in his arms, not to comfort me like he did that night in the maze, but in celebration.
Grim follows my gaze and reaches out, gripping my chin gently between his thumb and forefinger. “Bliss,” he says softly. “Remember what I told you.”
I return his serious look and nod. Except I can’t exactly stay away from Pisces Penrose. Not since we’ll be going on tour with him.
A phone rings. Liz pulls out her phone and heads further backstage to get away from the noise.
I disentangle myself from Grim, wanting to find Wrath, and stars—I don’t know. Even if nothing can come of this, I think, I think I want to see where it could lead. I think he feels the same way. I think he wants to find out what’s between us.
And I know the wraith is up to something. I know this is what I am supposed to be doing, but now I want it for myself, not for whatever his plan is.
I search for him. I’ll pull him aside. I’ll kiss him, even if our masks get in the way. And I’ll see if he kisses me back.
Maybe.
As I look around for him, I can feel doubt and insecurity starting to creep in. What if he doesn’t kiss me back?
I don’t think I could survive the rejection.
A moment later, a scream makes my blood run cold. I tense as we all look towards the spot behind the stage. Before I can even think about it, I take off running, still in my costume, mask and all.
Amelia and Grim call out after me and multiple sets of shoes pound on the concrete. Whether they’re running after me, or running to where the scream came from, I don’t know.
I make it there first.
Gwen stands there with her hands over her mouth, frozen in place, eyes locked on a body that’s crumpled a few feet away from her.
I come to a halt next to her, reaching out and grasping her arm. “Gwen, what happened?”
Wrath reaches us next, coming to stand in front of Gwen and I, shielding us from the body.
It’s so much worse than I could have imagined.
Stars, it’s horrible. I’m not an expert, but it looks like the woman fell from the stage’s scaffolding.
I look up at the metal beams constructed high above us and immediately wish I hadn’t. It’s a very long way down.
“Bliss,” Wrath says softly, bringing my gaze to his mask.
I can’t see his eyes, so mine end up resting on his lips again.
“Take Gwen over there.” He motions to where there’s a ledge in the large stairwell we’re in.
I do, steering the other girl over so she can lean against the wall. She stares at her feet now.
“What happened?” I ask again.
She shakes her head. “I came down here because I heard a noise. I thought maybe I saw Simon. But when I got here…” She trails off, waving her hand towards the body, where Grim and a few other Phantoms have now gathered. Simon, Poison, and Amelia have also made their way down, along with my aunt.
Liz is still on the phone, exchanging words with someone.
Heated shouts erupt as Grim roughly shoves Wrath backwards. Poison and Simon come to his aid just in time, preventing him from tripping over himself. “What the fuck?” Simon spits out.
“Get him the fuck out of here!” Grim snarls. “This is a crime scene.”
“What are you? A cop?” Simon quips, annoyed.
“Kind of,” Grim replies, with a savage smile. “And I’m pretty sure he did this.” He lifts a finger and points it at Wrath.
Pinkie comes to stand next to Grim, a pair of iron shackles materializing in his hands. “Take him into custody,” Grim instructs Pinkie.
“Wait!” I shout, running over and wedging myself between Wrath and Grim. “How do you know he did this? You told me yourself you don’t have any evidence.”
“You knew this fucker was investigating me?” Wrath seethes. I glare at him, trying to tell him to shut the fuck up before he gets himself dug into an even deeper hole.
“By the looks of it, this human was killed before Voracious Maw went on stage. And once again they’re a Voracious Maw fan,” Stormy says from where she’s kneeling down beside the body.
I shake my head. “None of that proves anything.”
“He had access, and this is the fourth body tied to the band that’s been discovered. Who knows how many more there are?” Pinkie says, again as if any of that is evidence.
“Fourth body?” Simon asks.
Grim lists out each of the murders. The garden. The maze. And now here.
“What’s the fourth?” I ask, afraid to hear the answer.
“Years ago. After a Voracious Maw concert in Seattle.”
“That was natural causes,” Taser responds.
“That’s what the fae constabulary wanted people to think.”
“Can you tell time of death?” I ask Stormy, ignoring Grim and Taser as they argue about the murders being tied together.
She nods at me, holding her hands out and performing some sort of magic incantation to get the time of death. I’ve watched enough fae detective shows in my life that I know it’s possible.
She glances back up at Grim. “Six forty-five.”
“That’s fifteen minutes before our set started,” I point out.
“So?” Pinkie asks.
“Wrath couldn’t have done this.”
“How do you know, Bliss?” Grim asks.
I shift uncomfortably on my feet, but I steel myself and pull my chin up. “Because he was with me. In the trailer. He was helping me to finish getting ready.”
“Is that all?” Grim asks, his brows rounding.
“Anything else isn’t your business,” I say simply, shrugging.
Wrath lets out a low rumble from behind me as if in agreement.
Grim takes a few steps away to clear his head, or shake off whatever emotions he’s feeling.
“And afterwards?” Stormy asks.
“Then we were all together, waiting to go on stage.” A chorus of murmured agreement goes through my friends.
Grim frowns, looking back to the body.
“Besides,” Wrath hisses out from behind me. “I’m a fucking siren, that’s not how I feed. Maybe you should get your facts straight before you accuse a fae of murder.”
“There’s one more thing,” Stormy says. Grim gives her a warning to stop, but she ignores him. She pulls out a piece of paper from the human’s pocket. “We’ve found a similar note on all of the bodies.”
She unfolds the note with her gloved hands and holds it up so Wrath and I can both read it. Everyone else gathers closer, trying to see what it says.
Come meet me by the tour bus before the show
–Wrath
“What the fuck?” Wrath says, shaking his head. “I didn’t write that.”
“Someone is impersonating you, then,” Stormy says, eyeing Grim as he lets out a sigh.
“A Frath?” Simon asks, eyes wide. He slaps a hand over his mouth with a groan. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Wrath responds.
“What do you mean?” Pinkie asks.
“People like to imitate our costumes,” Poison supplies. “There was one time where a fake Wrath—a Frath, as you called it—” he looks at Simon, “—almost got backstage because everyone just assumed it was the real guy.”
“You think someone is dressing up as Wrath to lure women in and kill them?” Amelia asks. Liz has finally gotten off the phone. She comes and stands next to my sister.
“Well, we aren’t sure about the dressing up part, but—” Pinkie starts to explain.
“Wait,” I say, looking to Grim, but he doesn’t look at me, so I address Pinkie instead.
“At the party the first night. I saw Wrath standing in line for drinks at the masquerade ball and then like five seconds later he was standing next to Eerie across the room. I thought he was a vampire so I didn’t think much of it at the time, but what if there were two of them? ”
“Someone’s been impersonating me?” Wrath mutters. Poison comes and wraps his arm around his friend.
“I think I might know who,” Liz says, holding up her cell.
“Who?” Simon asks, looking from Wrath to Liz, concern forming lines on his forehead. “We gotta find them and make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He looks over at the body and I swear his skin turns green. He makes a noise that sounds like a precursor to vomiting and takes a step away.
Liz ignores him and looks at Grim. “I just got off the phone with Urvine. You know him?”
Grim nods. “He’s our liaison with the council. Gives us jobs sometimes.”
“I had him trace that hex seal. Its magical signature and style matches someone they have on record exactly.”
“Who?”
“Jinx Belcross.”
Jinx?
Wait, could Jordan be involved in this too? Are the hexes and the murders connected?
“You guys getting hexed and these murders aren’t necessarily connected.”
“They could be, especially with the right motive,” Liz counters.
“Jordan Yarrow is Bliss’ ex, and he has had it out for her and Goddess’ Trance ever since they kicked him out of the band.
If he thought Voracious Maw and Goddess’ Trance were getting close, he could very well have decided to get pay back. ”
“But what about the murder from three years ago?”
“He’s always hated Voracious Maw, even before he was kicked out. I think he always felt insecure about them. He didn’t like that I liked their shows,” I point out.
Amelia nods. “He was always super outspoken about not liking their gimmick—sorry,” she adds hastily to Wrath, who only cocks his head at her. “He hated their masks, and hated how they’d really gotten the female gaze down. Probably because he never could have done something like that himself.”
“Dead Hearts isn’t doing super great,” Taser explains. “I’ve been asking around ever since the masquerade party. I heard their label is pretty close to dropping them.”
“So what?” Poison asks. “He’s trying to sabotage us and frame Wrath for murder?”
Grim sighs, nodding. “It’s worth looking into.”
“Glad you think so,” Liz says. “Urvine’s assigning the hex case to you guys.”