Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Picking up our tickets?
Easy.
Hayden left them at will call under Scarlett's name like he'd said he would. There was enough for all of us, including Tolliver. We didn't run into any issues—until we tried to get backstage.
Apparently, you needed a special pass for that.
It was a tiny oversight.
One I was sure I could rectify.
We were pointed outside and directed to a door.
That door was guarded by a burly security guard.
"Hi," I said, "we're here to see HERS."
He didn't blink.
"Here are our tickets if you need to see them."
"Names and passes?" he said.
"Oh, Freya Kent," I said then gestured to the others. "These are my cousins, Viola, Charlotte, and Scarlett, and my, um, friend Tolliver."
After scanning the clipboard in his hands, he looked up. "You're not on the list."
"Really? That's so odd. Because we're VIP, like VVIP because we're blood relations of the violinist, Aurora Kent."
"She's on tour with the band," Viola put in.
He gave her an unimpressed stare.
"We're the Kent Cousins," I tried again. "Maybe you've heard of us?"
"No," he said.
"Ah, okay."
"Do you have your backstage passes?"
"Well no, but—"
"If you don't have your passes, and you're not on the list, you can't go beyond this point."
Tolliver stepped forward. "Hey, man. Maybe you could just let us in? They really want to make sure their cousin's okay."
No response.
"Yeah, hi, Darryl," Lottie said, reading his name tag and sending him a bright smile. "I'm Charlotte."
For the first time, his stoic expression changed, lips twitching into something resembling a smile, eyes crinkling at the corners. "That's my daughter's name."
"Awesome! I love our name."
"Me too."
"We drove all the way from North Carolina just to see Aurora. Family means a lot to us—as I'm sure it does to you."
He nodded. "It does."
Lottie's smile grew. "Then can we please go inside? We'll be so fast, and we won't bother anyone, I promise."
"I wish you could, Charlotte. But no can do."
"But—"
"No passes, no names on the list," he repeated, "no entry beyond this point."
She nodded then stepped back. "Thanks anyway."
Circling up with the others a few feet away, I put my hands on my hips. "Well, that got us nowhere."
"I texted Sam," Scarlett said.
"And?" I asked hopefully.
"He tried to call Hayden, but he's not picking up. Probably getting ready for the show. Passes were supposed to be with our tickets, but I guess someone dropped the ball."
"This sucks. Who knew sneaking backstage would be so difficult?"
That got me some dirty looks, but I held up my hands.
"For once, I'm not being sarcastic," I said. "People always do it in the movies. It can't be that hard, right?"
"Maybe I can rush him," Tolliver said, cracking his neck, shaking out his shoulders. "I think I can take him, keep him distracted. That'll give you guys time to run inside."
"And possibly land you in jail. Next option, please?"
"Pepper spray," Viola said. "I've never had a chance to use it. Maybe now is the time."
"Absolutely not," I said. "Also, why are all the options so violent?"
"In Tolliver's case, I blame hockey."
"And yours?"
Viola shrugged. "My difficult teen years and working at the shelter hardened me."
"Oh my gosh," I said, looking to my left. "Lottie, any thoughts?"
"Darryl's really nice," she said. "I don't think we should attack him."
I nodded.
"If Vi had her cello, one of us could hide in the case, wait for the crew to wheel in the instruments, and enter that way."
"Okay," Scarlett said, "but what if the instruments are already inside?"
Lottie blinked.
"Or what if they didn't open the case, and you got stuck in there?"
"Didn't think of that," she said. "Suffocating would be bad."
"Yeah, it definitely would."
"Toll," Lottie said next, "do you think you can scale this building?"
I sighed. "He's a hockey player, not Spiderman."
"Too bad," she said.
"I could try," Tolliver said, but I shook my head.
"You getting squished or imprisoned is not happening, Stone," I said. "Viola whipping out the pepper spray isn't either. Lottie suffocating in a cello case, no. I'll take option D."
He smiled. "And what's that?"
"I haven't thought of it yet. But whatever D is, it's gotta be better than this."
I sighed, glancing over my shoulder as a group of people flashed their passes and was let in instantly. They were all wearing matching HERS t-shirts, looking like a real-life fan club.
Maybe we should've done that?
Lottie, I noticed, was talking to Darryl again. Probably working her magic. People loved her—or hated her if they were stupid. But seriously, she had such a sunshine personality. It was hard to deny her. As Darryl shook his head, I feared the security guard might be one of the few who could resist.
"What we need is a miracle," I said.
The door opened again, this time from the inside.
And a girl with long brown hair poked her head out.
"Hey, I know you," she said. "Charlotte-Lottie-Lotte, right?"
I jogged forward with Tolliver and my cousins hot on my heels.
"Magnolia," Lottie said with a smile. "I can't believe you remember me."
"How could I forget a name like that?" Her eyes moved over our group. "And Scarlett! Nice to see you again."
"You too," Scarlett said.
"Are you guys waiting to get backstage?"
"Yeah, Hayden got us tickets. We wanted to see Aurora."
"Well, come on in."
Darryl went to protest, but she held up a hand.
"Darryl, these are my personal guests," she said. "I'll grab some passes from Taylor to make it official."
"But Maggie, they're not on the list," he said.
"My name is," she said, giving us a wink, "and they're with me."
Darryl stepped aside, holding his arm out in welcome, as we filed past. After the door shut, I turned to Magnolia and said, "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means."
She waved off my praise. "It was nothing."
"Also, we kind of don't want Aurora to know we're here."
Magnolia arched her brows.
"We saw some things online," I explained, "and were worried."
"About Ferora?"
I nodded. "If she's okay, we don't want her to get the wrong idea. We are checking up on her but not because we doubt her or her ability to handle this. We love her. You know?"
Magnolia's lips tipped up into a smile. "That's so sweet. I won't say a word."
"You're a life saver," I said.
"Not really, just Magnolia."
"Freya."
"Good to meet you, Freya. I'll get you those passes, so no one questions you."
"Thanks again," I said.
Magnolia gave our group a once-over and smiled. "Aurora's lucky to have so many people who love her."
If we were caught, I only hoped Ror would agree.
* * *
"Can you see her?" Viola asked.
"No," I said back.
"Why are you whispering?"
"Because we're trying to be stealth."
Next to her, Lottie grinned. "I read a book once where the main character was a mortal assassin, and her love interest, the guy she's sent to kill, is a faerie prince. They fall in love."
"That sounds so good," Viola said. "Send me the title and author?"
"Sure."
"Does one of them die? Because I hate that."
"I do too," Scarlett said.
"No," Lottie said, "but their journey to happily ever after isn't smooth. They—"
"You guys," I said, catching their attention, "you can talk books later. Does anyone see, Aurora?"
They shook their heads.
"We should get a little closer," Tolliver said. "The band is over there. She should be with them, right?"
"Good idea," I said then held up a fist. "On my signal."
"Wait, what's the signal?" Viola asked.
"This."
"A Korean heart?"
I nodded.
"I approve," Lottie said. "Let's do this."
"Following you, boss," Tolliver said.
I overlapped my thumb and forefinger, making the heart, and we moved forward. There were a few black boxes, stacked on top of each other up ahead. The goal was to hide behind those.
"Okay, so it's really cute how he calls you 'boss,'" Scarlett said so only I could hear.
"I like it," I said.
"Seems like you like him."
I didn't agree or disagree as we reached the boxes.
Peering over the top, I spotted Aurora and said, "Oh, there she is!"
The others looked too.
"She's smiling," Viola observed.
"And talking with the band," Lottie said. "Wow, she looks beautiful."
"She does," Scarlett said. "And she doesn't look intimidated at all—even though they're all gorgeous."
I could see what she meant. The members of HERS were each beautiful in their own way.
And Aurora, who was typically standoffish around guys, was right there, standing with them, not disappearing into the background.
Naturally shy, Aurora didn't always jump at the chance to meet new people.
Her anxiety in unfamiliar situations usually made her less likely to put herself in them.
But there she was.
As I watched, Ror said something to Elliot, HERS's lead singer, that made him grin.
Santino threw an arm over her shoulders, and she rolled her eyes.
Felix showed up then and frowned. Hayden made a comment, and Santino said something that made them all laugh.
Except Felix. His frown only deepened until Aurora elbowed Santino in the ribs, saying something sarcastic that had them all smiling.
"She looks so happy," I said. "Comfortable surrounded by all this craziness."
Felix stepped forward as the other guys left.
He smiled at Ror as she smiled back at him.
As Felix leaned down and pressed a kiss against her cheek, I wasn't the only one who sighed.
"Nice move," Tolliver said.
"Not as nice as yours," I said quietly.
"Thanks, Freya."
I shrugged.
"Okay," Scarlett said as Ror, Felix, and the guys of HERS moved on, leaving the hallway clear, "I think I've seen all I need to see."
"I'm satisfied," I said. "Ror's good. We can go."
Viola, Lottie, Scarlett, and Tolliver started walking, but I stayed there another moment, hoping for one last glimpse.
But they didn't come back.
With a sigh, I turned to go—but on my third step, I hit a slick spot.
Or tripped on air.
Or over something.
Whatever. I wasn't sure.
But I was falling.
My arms flailed for a moment.
I was going down, and it was going to hurt because this tiled floor was definitely not meant to be bounced on.
Before I could hit my head, break a hip, or re-injure my wrist, completely basketball free this time, strong arms caught me around my waist, and I looked up into a face I recognized but had never seen this close.
Dark hair, warm mahogany eyes, a scowl I'd know anywhere. He was wearing it in every HERS poster, ad, or music video, I'd ever seen.
Ryker Cordova stared back at me as I stared up at him.
"You okay?" he said.
"Yes," I breathed.
He stared at me for a moment. "Hey, I know you."
"I don't think so."
"You're in that group who plays string music," he said. "The Kent cousins."
My jaw dropped. "You remember us?"
"Yeah, you played at my sister's birthday."
"We did."
"And opened for the band."
"Yeah, that's right." This moment was so surreal. For a second, I wondered if I hit my head after all. "Sorry, I didn't think Ryker Cordova would know who we are."
He shrugged, helping me straighten and get back on my feet.
"I know who you are—obviously," I said.
He narrowed his gaze in thought then added, "You play violin, like Aurora."
The surprises kept coming.
"I do." I couldn't hold back a smile. "And you play drums."
He nodded.
"I'm Freya Kent," I said. "Thanks for catching me."
"Kinda had to." Ryker ran a hand through his hair. "You tripped over my drumstick."
"What?"
He reached down, retrieved and held up said drumstick. "Sorry about that. It got away from me."
I laughed. "Were you practicing your twirl and toss?"
"Yeah." Ryker's lips twitched. "I was."
"Needs a little more work."
"No kidding."
Another voice spoke from the end of the hall.
"Hey, Freya." I glanced over to find Tolliver, staring at me and the drummer. "We're waiting outside."
"He with you?" Ryker asked.
"Yeah," I said.
At the other end of the hall, a young women with golden hair appeared.
"Ryker," she said, staring from him to me. "Show's about to start."
He nodded.
"She with you?" I said.
"Not exactly," he replied, staring long after she left the hall.
"Sounds complicated."
"It is."
"The best romances usually are," I said.
He nodded then turned back to me. "Bye, Freya Kent."
"Bye."
As I joined Tolliver, he said, "So, you met Ryker Cordova."
"Mmm."
"Was it everything you thought it would be?"
"Yeah," I said, "it was better actually."
"Good," he said. "That's good."
His voice was carefree, but Tolliver's smile was missing some of its usual spark.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, 'course. Let's go watch the concert."