Good God, what have I gotten myself into?
I suddenly felt like a kid playing with his older brother’s toys, and my face must’ve reflected what I was feeling, because Jagger elbowed Slade and inclined his head toward me.
“He’s got that look again. I think he’s in shock.”
Slade waved his hand in front of my face. “Yo. Halo. You good?”
“Kill, I think we’ve overloaded our frontman,” Jagger called out.
I blinked, forcing my gaze away from the screen on the wall that showcased in detail every part of the main stage and looked over at the guys, who each had looks of concern—and amusement—on their faces.
“Too much?” Killian asked. “Need a paper bag? A drink?”
I shook my head and wiped my brow. It was strange how excited and petrified I was at the same time. I was fucking dying to get on that stage, but at the same time…holy shit. A stadium tour? That was intimidating as hell, especially with a group that’d done it so many times before. Could I hack it? Deep down, I knew that of course I fucking could. It still didn’t stop the nerves from taking up every square inch of my insides.
“I-I’m good,” I said, my voice betraying me as I sought to come off as calm and collected as Killian always seemed. “It looks badass.”
Killian smiled, looking up at the rendering. “Yeah, it does. Wanna see what they’ve done with the lighting design so far?”
“And the pyro,” Slade added. “Don’t forget the pyro.”
“Oh, uh, I’d love to, but maybe we should wait for Viper?” I said, looking over my shoulder to the door, as if he’d walk through it on command.
Killian waved me off. “Nah, he can see it later.” He walked over to where the designers stood in front of several complicated-looking sound and lighting boards, as well as a handful of computers, and said something to them, and a few clicks of a button later, the image on the wall morphed. As “Corruption” began to play, colored lights flashed across the main stage in time to the music.
I could feel my jaw dropping as plumes of smoke gathered low to the floor, and then fire exploded from the front of the stage as well as the back risers.
“Oh fuck me,” I said under my breath as I stood there mesmerized.
“See that pyro? Kickass, right?” Slade shouted over the music.
Killian threw an arm over my shoulder and gave me a shake. “So? What do you think?”
“I think you should get your hands off my guy,” Viper said, smirking at Killian as he shut the door and tossed his bag on a nearby chair. He swaggered my way and Viper raised a brow. “Miss me?”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he leaned in to steal a kiss. His lips were warm and tasted faintly of coffee. If the room had been empty, I would’ve been tempted to explore more of his sinful mouth, but then Viper pulled back, his dark eyes glittering.
“You might wanna take over holding your man up,” Killian said, dropping his arm from me. “I think he’s a little overwhelmed.”
“A lot overwhelmed,” I corrected him.
“What are you so worried about, Angel?” Viper pulled me into his side, casually looping his finger through the belt buckle.
“Catching on fire’s up there on the list,” I said, as another round of pyro shot off during the chorus.
Viper chuckled. “Stick to your marks and you’ll be fine. What else?”
“Not much.” I shrugged. “Just everything. No big deal.”
“Angel, you’re gonna be fine. Better than fine. You’re gonna kick motherfucking ass up there. That’s your stage. Own it.”
I blew out a breath and nodded. He was right. Of course he was. Just having Viper standing beside me already made me feel a million times better, and he’d be there by my side on stage too. Nothin’ to worry about.
“Hey, have you guys worked out how to get to the second stage yet?” Viper glanced at Killian, who shook his head.
Okaaay, except for that.
“Shit, that’s what’s missing,” I said. “A walkway between the two.”
“Actually, your man doesn’t wanna do that.” Killian’s eyes were full of humor. “Go on. Tell Halo what you think we should do. Run or fly, right?”
“What?” I said, whirling around to face Viper, his arm falling away from my waist. “Run or fly? Fly? Are you insane?”
Viper shrugged, looking entirely unrepentant. “Hey, we’ve done crazier shit.”
“If you don’t want either of those two options, we could build a slide,” one of the designers said, obviously hearing my freak-out. “You’d lie on this flat contraption we build under the stage that shoots you over to the second stage. No flying wires or running through the crowd required.”
“Now that sounds like something I can get behind,” I said, walking over to the designers. “So once we’re under the second stage, how do we get on it?”