A shot glass of white liquor appeared in front of me, and as I glanced up at the mirror, I saw Viper behind me. Ever since the night we’d gone to dinner, I’d made sure to keep my eyes on his whenever he was around—and not on his lips.
“Thought you might need this,” he said, and I took the glass and sniffed it.
“Is this…?”
When Viper held up a bottle of Baijui in his other hand, I chuckled. Even after downing half the bottle at Li’s, I’d woken up without any kind of hangover, which made it the perfect choice for a preshow drink.
The rest of the guys gathered around, shot glasses in hand, though theirs were varying shades depending on their poison.
Killian held his shot up in my direction. “Tonight’s the first night of a new chapter for TBD, one that’s gonna be bigger and better than ever. I know I speak for all of us when I say we’re fired up as fuck to have you, man, so let’s go out there and show everyone how it’s done.”
Choruses of “hell yeah” rang out, and we threw back our shots just as the crowd began to chant.
God, here we go. We were doing this. I was doing this. I took up the rear as the guys filed out of the room, heading up to the wings, where we were outfitted with in-ear monitors.
As I cracked my neck from side to side and stretched out my limbs, trying to get rid of the nervous energy, Viper came to stand beside me. His hair was still damp from his shower and brushed back off his face, though once he started playing, it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
“You good?” he asked.
I blew out a breath. “I think so.”
“That’s not the right answer.”
“Then fuck yes I’m good.”
Viper’s mouth quirked up, and he nodded. “That’s better.” As the lights went out and the crowd began to scream, he said, “Good luck out there,” and then went onto the stage with the rest of the band to take up their spots.
I stood alone in the darkness of the wings, awaiting my cue, and seconds later, Slade kicked off the opening notes of “Dark Light.”
Boom. Boom boom.
Boom. Boom boom. ROCK.
Boom. Boom boom.
Boom. Boom boom. ROCK.
The thundering beat shook the arena floor, vibrating through my body and shooting adrenaline into my veins as ten thousand TBD fans began to roar.
I hadn’t even hit the stage yet, but already I could feel the intense energy radiating off the crowd, and it was something completely unexpected and like nothing I’d ever experienced before. If I hadn’t been confident in rehearsals, then I could’ve easily panicked, but I had this. Even though it wasn’t my original music, I came alive on stage. I always did when I performed, and I would rock the shit out of our set.
All at once, the pounding of the drums ceased—my cue—and even though the arena remained blacked out as I walked out of the wings and hit my mark center stage, the piercing screams filled my ears.
Let’s do this.
With my head down, I took a deep breath and grabbed the microphone, and then I began to sing.
This song—a huge hit for TBD—began with vocals alone. Me, the microphone, and the dark, and as my voice echoed around the arena, all I could see were lights from cameras and flashes in the dark, as the crowd vibrated with anticipation. The energy was palpable, as the words left my lips, and when I hit the final note before the band joined in, I swore the thundering in my ears couldn’t get any louder—then the lights flashed up.
The drums kicked out the previous rhythm, this time harder and faster, and then Viper and Killian joined in, along with Jagger on the keyboards, and the crowd lost their minds.
Unable to hide my grin at the overwhelming reaction, I ripped the mic off the stand and strode across the stage, my eyes taking in the filled-to-capacity arena. It was huge and terrifying and fucking amazing, and I couldn’t believe I was here, playing to this crowd of people, all of whom were screaming and jumping up and down to the beat Slade was pounding out.
It was hard to pinpoint when it happened exactly, but as we launched into the second song, and then the third, I sensed a change in the air. It was slow at first, my eyes catching on a few frowns here and there, people whispering to their friends. I’d been to arena shows before as a fan, and I’d never felt as though the people on stage could actually see me, but let me tell you—I could fucking see. I could see everything, and the disappointment welling in the crowd had me almost dropping to my knees.