“And you’re only mentioning that now?” Killian said, as we headed into the rehearsal space.
“I didn’t think it was your thing.”
“Our thing?” Killian grinned. “Well, we’re lookin’ for a new thing now, so go for it.”
My eyes darted around at the rest of the guys staring at me until they finally landed on Viper, who nodded toward the piano.
Okay. I guess I was doing this.
I took a seat behind the baby grand, and Viper backed away, giving me space. Thinking back to the melody, I exhaled and placed my fingers on the keys.
Sixteen
Viper
ALL RIGHT, ANGEL. Show ’em what you got.
Blowing out a breath, Halo laid his fingers atop the keys, and after several beats, he began to play the repeating piano riff I’d heard that night in the hotel lounge. His shoulders visibly relaxed as he went along, as though he’d managed to block us all out and only the music mattered.
Watching Halo was like poetry in motion. His hands glided over the keys with ease, his whole body following along where his fingers guided. I couldn’t tell you how long it lasted, how long he played, but all too soon it was over, and as Halo lowered his hands from the keys, his eyes lifted to where the four of us stood a few feet away, staring at him with blank expressions—well, except for me. I had a smug-ass smile on my face, because fuck if he didn’t sound as brilliant behind that piano today as he had the first time I’d heard him.
The silence in the room as he sat there looking at us was close to deafening, and I couldn’t get a read on what the rest of the guys were thinking. Did they like it as much as I did? Did they think I’d lost my mind making Halo show them?
Whatever. It was badass, and surely they would realize that, once they wrapped their heads around just how different it was from our usual sound. I mean, that was what Killian had said he wanted. Right?
When the guys continued to stand there like shags on a rock, Halo stood and walked to where Killian’s bass sat cradled in its stand. He gestured to it. “I can show you more? If you like?”
Killian blinked a couple of times, as though trying to understand what Halo was asking him, and I almost laughed. He was completely gobsmacked. And I could tell he was feeling the same way I had the first time I’d heard Halo play—blown the fuck away.
Killian nodded. “I didn’t know you played.”
“Yep,” Halo said, his lips curling up at the edge now, as he picked up the instrument. He was beginning to enjoy this, showing us what he could do, and it was becoming more and more apparent there was a lot we didn’t know about him. “Okay, so obviously this is all a little different from what you guys are used to—”
“Nothing wrong with that,” I interjected. “Right, Kill? What was that about the damn zombies rising?”
“Right.” Killian rubbed his chin. “Yeah, totally, we want a change.”
Taking that as permission to continue, Halo ran his fingers up the neck of the bass until they were in place. Then he stroked his thumb down the strings, getting a feel for Killian’s bass, before he shut his eyes and began to play. As he plucked away at the strings, Halo lost himself in the cadence of it, letting the tune build inside him, the same way he had on the piano.
When Halo looked up to see everyone staring at him slack-jawed, he knew he had our attention. No one was interrupting. No one was making obnoxious comments. We were all watching him with laser focus.
“Killian, you’d kill this,” Halo said, as he continued to play and made his way to where Jagger’s keyboards were set up, moving in behind them. He stopped when he reached them, knowing better than to touch another man’s pride and joy without permission. Halo looked in Jagger’s direction, and Jagger knew what he was asking without him saying a word.
Jagger nodded, and Halo let go of the bass and laid his fingers on the keyboard. As if the tune had continued to run through his head as he moved from one instrument to the next, Halo’s fingers flew over the keys in a way most would find difficult to mimic after one listen through. But Jagger wasn’t just anyone. That guy was pure talent behind any kind of keyboard, and when Halo and the rest of us looked at him, Jagger was grinning like a fucking loon.
“Dude.” Jagger looked to Slade, Killian, and then me. “Is this guy for real? That’s…that’s fuckin’ genius.”
Halo looked at Killian, who nodded. But when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out—seemed I wasn’t the only one who was impressed.