Chapter 3
Tobias
As soon as the bus door slams, I rip off my mask and throw it across the space. It hits the wall with a soft whomp and falls to the floor.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“I take it that wasn’t the photographer?” Emrys’ voice is loud enough to cut through my anger, and my eyes snap in his direction.
He’s lounging on the sofa maskless, which is rare for him—he often prefers to wear his steampunk-themed disguise with its goggles and cogs. Or he used to, back when the twins stayed on our bus; they weren’t very kind about the keyboardist’s peculiar features.
Even by demon standards, Emrys is odd.
The left half of his face is mostly boring: chalk-white skin, sharp features, and white shaggy hair. His eyes are an alluring shade of deep green.
The other half looks like something you’d find in the lowest depths of Hell. Black, necrosis-like patches threaded with blood-red veins cover almost half his face and much of his right side. He has three extra eyes—all red—and two sharp fangs that poke out even when his lips are pressed together.
“No, but it was another problem,” I grumble, my eyes locking with his green ones. “Another human.”
He raises the brow on his normal-looking side. “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”
With a groan, I massage my temple. “A friend of Niki’s is here.”
“Oh. I wonder what for,” he muses, reaching for a magazine on the coffee table.
“I have some guesses.” And I don’t like any of them.
It’s no secret that Niki will need help in the coming weeks, especially once she goes into labor, but bringing another human into the mix isn’t the answer. Not when everything is so uncertain.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but this is a mistake.
“And Acherith didn’t bother to tell anyone?” Emrys asks, but we both know the answer.
Our leadsinger didn’t tell a fucking soul, which only complicates things. What if Niki’s friend had just walked into our bus without warning? What if she had seen me shirtless, in my true form, the way I’d been when she knocked?
No, this is not good, and I want to punch our lead singer in the face repeatedly for leaving me in the dark… again.
“Are you going to talk to him?” Emrys asks, his voice calm and soothing.
I’d love to be as unbothered as he is about everything, but I can’t. Not when I’ve fought so hard to get where I am.
Not when the other option is returning to Hell.
“As soon as the fucker gets back. He went out this morning and, as far as I know, hasn’t returned yet.” I march over and snatch my mask off the floor, stomping toward our bedroom at the back of the tour bus.
Grabbing my cell phone off the bed on the right, I scroll to Sebastian’s name. My fingers move furiously across the screen as I type out a message.
Me: You’re not fucking funny.
Sebastian: Didn’t realize I told a joke.
Me: Do not play with me, Seb. A woman just showed up here.
Sebastian: Was she lost?
I grind my teeth, fighting the urge to crush the phone to pieces, but I resist. I can afford a replacement, but I don’t feel like going through the hassle of getting a new one. Rage boils through my veins, threatening to set me on fire.
How can he be so fucking impassive about something with such catastrophic consequences?
Me: Are our lives a fucking joke to you?
Sebastian: No.
Me: Sure seems like it considering how you keep putting a giant target on our goddamned backs.
Sebastian: I don’t have time for this.
Sebastian: I’ll talk to you about it later.
A growl rumbles in my chest and rolls up my throat.
I hope Steele or Daire can learn to sing, because I’m going to fucking kill him.
I’ve cooled off some, but not nearly enough, by the time Sebastian shows up an hour later. He doesn’t bother knocking, just lets himself in like he owns the place. Technically, he does. This bus was his before he bought the one to share with Niki. His fake name is on the title.
He’s dressed in black jeans and a dark T-shirt, his arms disguised by spandex sleeves.
He wears black leather gloves, the way we all do when we’re out in public, and his face is completely covered by a stone gray skull mask.
It’s one of his older models, not the one he’s wearing for this weekend’s show.
“About time you showed up.” I glower at him from the couch.
I’ve once again ditched my shirt, my navy skin on display. The tour bus is the one place I can be free. The one place I can be myself. I spend as much time as possible uncovered, since I have to be concealed head to toe every second I’m off the bus.
“I was busy,” he mutters simply.
“With?”
“Research.”
The word tugs a cord in my chest, but I try to ignore the sensation. He’s been doing research ever since he found out Niki was pregnant, scouring the Earth between shows, for any information that might help them prepare for what’s to come.
For any information about a successful half-demon birth.
So far, he hasn’t had any luck, and the hypotheticals are mounting.
We don’t know if it’s even possible, if she’ll survive to full term.
If she’ll survive at all. The demon fetus has already started draining her energy, and it’s been difficult for Sebastian to keep his supply up enough for the both of them.
“Enough beating around the bush, Kaseilon, I’m tired.” Sebastian sighs. “You wanted to talk, here I am.”
My jaw hardens as I stare at him. He made me wait an hour for an audience with him, but now he wants me to hurry and get to the point.
I should make him wait. I should draw this conversation out until the sun sets, out of spite, but I can tell by the way he drops onto the couch next to me and hangs his head that he’s as exhausted as he claims.
“Have you fed today?” I ask, noting the way his shoulders sag.
He shakes his head. “No. Probably should.”
“Probably.” The silence drags between us before my concerns finally bubble to the surface, and I can’t keep them locked up any longer. “Another human, Acherith? Really?”
A deep sigh escapes him, and he peels off his mask, flinging it onto the couch beside him. His black and red skin looks paler than normal, and his shaggy black hair is damp with sweat. He looks like hell—well, more than normal.
“I know.”
I expect him to launch into some kind of explanation, but he doesn’t.
“The last thing we need is someone else poking around,” I go on. “Especially one we can't control. What if she finds out? What if she lets the truth slip?”
Everything we know—our career, our tour, our time on Earth—could unravel with the slightest misstep.
“I know,” he repeats, which has annoyance prickling over my skin.
“How long is she staying?”
Maybe, if it’s only for a few days, things will be fine. We’ve kept up our charade for this long in front of millions of people. How hard would it be to keep the secret with someone scrutinizing our every move for a little bit?
He doesn’t look in my direction when he responds, “Until the baby is born.”
My insides twist into a painful knot. “You can’t be fucking serious?”
“Serious as sin.” Sebastian runs a hand through his hair.
In a blink, I’m on my feet, pacing the main part of the bus. If I lose my shit and beat him senseless, Emrys isn’t here to intervene. He went out earlier to get us dinner and hasn’t come back yet.
“You've had some stupid ideas over the years, Acherith, but this… this is idiotic.”
He doesn’t deny it.
He doesn’t say anything at all.
My eyes whip in his direction, and I freeze, crossing my arms over my chest. His silence is grating on my nerves.
“Our security is already compromised, hellbeasts are knocking at our door, and you think the best option is to risk our safety even more. I swear you can be the most careless, fucking selfish—”
“What would you have me do?” His eyes lock with mine, and for the first time, I note the pain in them. He’s aged over these last few months, turning into someone I hardly recognize, but there’s something familiar about his expression.
Desperation. Agony. Fear.
We might not be able to read each other’s minds like the guitarist twins, but I can read his features.
Sebastian Alex, the imposing leader of our self-made metal band, is afraid.
Not of our tour ending, not of losing access to our endless supply of human energy.
Not even of the hell creatures that seem so determined to find us.
He’s terrified for his pregnant mate and the imminent danger she’s in by carrying a half-demon spawn.
Because, even in a best case scenario, there is no hospital we can take her to for delivery.
No human doctor for prenatal care, and whatever else mortal women need during pregnancy.
It’s too much of a risk. There’s too much at stake.
We’re on our own to figure this out, and the best we can do is prepare for any and all scenarios that might arise. Even if that means losing Niki or the baby… or both.
“What would you have me do, Kaseilon?” he asks again, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “Because I’m all ears. I’ve searched in every city we’ve visited, looking for any kind of answer, and I’ve come up empty-handed.”
I don’t have any answers for him.
“She needs someone and she trusts Joseline,” he explains.
“I know we can’t keep the secret from her forever—or even very long, at the rate things are going—but I’ll face that bridge when we get to it.
Right now, my mate is happy, and that is the only thing that matters.
” His eyes drop from mine to the floor in front of him.
“If she doesn’t make it, if this takes her life… ”
His voice trails off, but he doesn’t have to finish the sentence.
If the half-demon baby kills Niki, he wants her to enjoy her last weeks on Earth.
The realization shatters what’s left of my anger. It’s difficult for demons to empathize, but I swear the more time I spend among humans, the more the pesky feeling worms its way through me.
Despite how stupid it is to bring another human into our lives, I can’t say that I blame him. If I ever considered taking a mate, and she was in Niki’s position, I would go to the ends of the Earth to keep her safe. I’d do anything I had to do.
I just hate that the rest of the band might get caught in the crossfire because of it.
My arms drop, and my shoulders sag. I take a few slow steps back to the couch and sink down next to Sebastian, who’s staring at something unseen on the opposite side of the space.
“I wish I had answers,” I mutter, folding my hands between my knees. “If you say we can trust this woman, I’ll do my best…”
I hate the thought of yet another human discovering the truth, that there are monsters more foul than anything they could ever imagine roaming the Earth. That we are monsters, demons straight from the pits of Hell.
We’ve done so well covering our tracks, keeping our identities anonymous. From the disguises to strict schedules to spending most of our time indoors or on the tour buses. Everything about our rockstar lives has been carefully plotted and constructed.
However, we all know the risk we take by being in the spotlight. Eventually, our charade will shatter, and all the shards will come raining down.
Soon, we will have to answer for our sins; we’ll have to disappear.
I’m not ready—not by a long shot—but my hands are tied. Sebastian, Steele, and Daire sealed their fate, as well as mine, when they decided to take human mates. My days as a drummer are officially numbered.
It’s always been a matter of time. I just hoped we could keep it up a little longer.
“I want to say that everything will be okay,” I start slowly, trying to wrangle my jumbled thoughts. “I want to reassure you, Acherith, but—”
“I know,” he cuts me off. “But there is no turning back. We’re here now, and we just have to keep going… no matter where the road leads.”
Silence fills the tour bus again, and we sit there. My mind is a tangled web of what if’s, but I know there are no answers. And the longer I dwell on it, the more questions race through my head.
I reach over and place a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, and my stomach drops. He’s weak. Really weak.
“Seb, how long has it been since you fed?” Without waiting for an answer, I tap into the reservoir of energy in me and drag it to the surface, pushing it down my arm and into Sebastian. It isn’t nearly enough to replenish him, but it’ll be a tiny pick-me-up until he can find another energy source.
“I don't remember.” His color already looks a little better with the tiny energy boost. “But I’ve been funneling so much of it into Niki. The baby is siphoning her energy almost faster than I can keep up, and it’s only getting worse.”
I shake my head. “Well, you’re going to have to feed more often. Between shows, before and after meals, I don’t care.”
He nods in agreement.
“What do you need me to do?” I ask, cursing the fact that I feel obligated to help.
If he was anyone else, I’d say he was on his own, but Sebastian is the closest thing to a friend that I’ve ever had.
He might piss me off and make me want to punch him through a wall, but we’re in this together. “How can I help?”
A muscle in his jaw ticks, and a beat of silence passes. Then, he finally looks at me again. “Whatever is necessary. I can’t lose her.”
A shiver rolls down my spine as our eyes remain locked. My next words slip out before I can stop them, “And the child?”
His jaw tenses, but he doesn’t say anything. Not that he has to; I understand the implication.
Do what I can to save Niki, regardless of what happens to the baby.
“You have my word.” I nod once.
“Thank you, Kaseilon. I don’t know what I would do without you.” His tone is lighthearted, but I know how sincerely he means it.
He’d be fucked without me, and we both know it.