Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Mirabel was amazing! She brought music for all the duets after analyzing everyone’s voices.
I spent Monday working with Mirabel and Banus on our duet. It was actually a really nice song, more about friendship between different kinds of darkness than anything overly romantic. Even thinking about kissing brought me back to the tub episode, so I was happy to avoid it.
Mirabel and Pearly White worked together on how the whole video with the incubus and me would be recorded, more like a music video than a simple performance.
They were hoping it would go viral, and she’d have her music academy logo stamped on the bottom, and he’d make all the money from it.
Win-win. Too bad there were more than two players. Always read the fine print.
I didn’t see Richard. That is, when I saw him, I went in the other direction, cheeks on fire and the image of bare skin and water droplets pounding in my brain.
This is why you shouldn’t ever see your best-friend-forever naked.
Because then things get weird. I mean, weirder than the life-binding and him being some kind of angel cooking champion instead of who he really was.
Except that was who he really was. Anyway, it was really confusing.
Monday evening, I was on my way to the grand hall where the incubus and I were doing the first recording session of the first duet, and Richard fell in beside me, holding out a plate of baked goods that smelled so delicious that I stumbled.
Or maybe that was him smelling so irresistible.
It was definitely him. It should be illegal to smell so incredibly delicious.
“What do you want?” I demanded, refusing to look at him. The sun was going down, catching his golden hair like a halo, but I only saw it in my periphery, so I didn’t come undone.
He leaned close enough that I could feel his warmth. I’d been cold ever since the goblin disaster. “I want you to taste test for me.” Why did his voice send a shiver down my spine?
I stiffened up. I wasn’t looking at him because then I’d stare. “I’m not a guinea pig.”
He nudged me. “Then I want you to eat my apology baked goods. I’m really sorry for what I did. Truly. I wasn’t thinking about how you’d feel, and it was stupid of me.”
He could admit he was stupid? I pursed my lips and snatched the most luscious looking berry muffin I’d ever seen and nibbled on the edge.
Mm, but it was hard to swallow around him for some reason.
I cleared my throat. “How I’d feel? What about your life?
Were you not thinking about that, too?” I dared a sneaky peek at him.
His brow furrowed and his sweet blue eyes gleamed with remorse. “Right. My mortality isn’t something I’m used to thinking about. You didn’t answer my messages all weekend.”
I shook my head. “I can’t talk to you while I’m thinking.” And I couldn’t think when I was around him.
“That explains why I talk so much, because I never think.” He nudged me gently again. “If you’re not talking, you can eat.”
I held up the delicious looking muffin, frowning at it. “Does eating this mean that what you did was okay?”
His shook his head, eyes intent and sweet. “Absolutely not. I’m going to make you apology baked goods for the rest of my life unless we can figure out how to undo it. There’s got to be a way, right?”
If I hadn’t asked the commander how to undo the illegal binding, that might be an option.
Not anymore, because being life-bound to me was the only thing keeping him from being executed.
Which meant that I had to tell him that it was fine.
Not that it was fine, but that I’d deal with it.
Should I tell him that his dad knew? The thought of talking about the Commander gave me a stomach ache.
“Ritchie!” Mirabel came out of nowhere, throwing her arms around him while he tried to hold the plate steady. He had great balance.
He put an arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground while he handed me the plate. I took it because otherwise all the lovely mini muffins and cakes would tumble to the stone castle floor.
He kissed her forehead. “Hey, Mischief. The music you sent me is fabulous.”
She wrinkled up her nose and pushed away from him. “Obviously I expect you to improve on it. Rook offered to write a first-class duet for you, but I got jealous and made him write me one instead, so you have what me and Tiago came up with in five minutes.”
He laughed, and a chill went down my spine. How was I going to sing a duet with that voice? “I’ve got you. I’ll be sure to take artistic liberties and deconstruct it to the bones. Five key changes. Obviously an angelic choir chorus. And then she’ll get a solo that soars to heaven.”
Mirabel crumpled up her face, the look other people had when dealing with her. They were definitely siblings. “Artistic liberties? Just make sure no one dies. And that your partner sounds good.”
Richard looked offended, big eyes, and hand over his heart. “You wound me. It’s all about her voice, her range, and happily I’ll get to hear her do three other duets before we get to ours so I’ll know exactly what she can and shouldn’t do.”
“She’s right here,” I said, throwing a mini muffin at the back of his head. It was offensive that he thought he’d be so good because he was an angel when I used music as part of my platform. Then again, if he was related to the Music Master, he could probably hold his own.
He turned and caught it, tossing the whole thing in his mouth while his eyes danced and held me in a moment of terrified panic. He was so pretty and I’d been friendly with him! Could I be friends without trying to kiss him or thinking about…
I turned and walked briskly towards the grand hall, heart beating way too fast. I’d never get over seeing him naked, and he’d never think of me as anything other than a friend.
The music video aspect was tedious, doing the same thing over and over and over, and trying to smile at Banus Jones with my eyes without releasing my diaphragm or looking constipated.
According to Mirabel, I had a problem with that last bit.
We ended dancing in front of a fireplace, not enough room to actually dance, but we were supposed to give the impression of dancing.
The whole time, I could have sworn I saw angel wings in the periphery. It was enough to make me twitchy.
While we were waiting after that take for Pearly White to say we were finished, Banus offered me a chocolate bar.
I blinked at it and then at him. “What?”
“In case you’re hungry. I’m going to eat one. It would be rude not to offer. You seem distracted.”
“I’m just…” I stared at the incubus. He was like Sultry, right?
I could talk about some things with him.
I took the bar and picked at the wrapper.
“I had bat wings come out of my spine this weekend. I can still feel them even though I magicked them away with this rune. And I’ve never done runes in my skin before, so it’s a lot.
” I flashed a big smile at him while he only nodded and opened his chocolate.
“I see. And your struggle doesn’t have anything to do with a certain stalker angel?” He took a bite with his sharp teeth, sensual lips savoring the dark chocolate.
I sighed and shook my head. “He’s not my stalker. We’re just friends.”
He pursed his soft lips and nodded. “As an incubus, I can sense that you’d rather you were more than just friends, but you’re clearly uncomfortable with it. An angel would not be my choice for one’s first lover.”
Lover? I rolled that word over in my brain, decided it was too creepy and threw it out. “Definitely not lovers. He’s an angel. And he’s going to marry a nice angel baker. I’m trying to set him up. Do you know any angels who bake?”
He raised a brow, eyes gleaming. “What a good friend you are. You really don’t consider him as an option for your husband? That is the show, dating with a wedding finale, and he is the audience’s most popular contestant.”
“You’re seriously open to marrying me after knowing me for a few weeks?”
He gave me a shy smile. “What is marriage? It would be more of a business arrangement than an engagement of the heart, but I’d like allying with your people, and hopefully bringing something you want to the union. I am not without my charms.”
I nodded. “You’re very handsome.”
He laughed and relaxed slightly. “I’m very good with business. And money. You are trying to build your brand. I could help you monetize it, help you find your independence, and in the interim, I could be a good friend.”
He made marriage sound practically reasonable. Except…“Didn’t you call me silly?”
He winced, and his eyes were melted chocolate pools of sadness. “It wasn’t my best moment.”
“Probably not your worst, either. Thanks, Mr. Jones. I appreciate the conversation.”
His smile was soft and silky. I almost felt an answering smile, but it was banished by a memory of Richard’s bare arm reaching for a towel.
He put a hand on my arm. “I could most certainly help you forget him.” He pulled away before I could. “And I’m sorry about your sudden wings. Metamorphosis is often triggered by stress. I do hope that you can enjoy the rest of this process, because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“You’re right. I’ll try to make the best of it. Thank you, Mr. Jones.” I smiled and then Mirabel came in to drag us to the sound booth she’d put together out of random costume racks, so we could do the final recording.
I felt more comfortable singing with Banus that time, and his warmth didn’t feel manufactured. A business marriage wouldn’t be terrible. And I wouldn’t be devastated if he died for me. Not that he seemed the self-sacrificing type, which was perfect.