They’d gone over her set, how many songs she’d sing, and he knew she was coming up to the last song. She was the last act of the night.
She’d been so freaking nervous before getting on stage. Not that anyone else would have been able to see it. No, she’d hidden it well behind a composed mask. But he’d seen the fine tremble in her hands. The way she’d chewed her lip when she thought no one was looking.
There was a sudden booming noise. What the fuck was that? The sounds of screams reverberated throughout the room as Arianna stopped singing. She looked around in confusion. An alarm started blaring. Fuck! Was the place on fire? Sprinklers erupted, spraying water everywhere. Arianna let out a panicked cry as the crowd surged forward. Security in front of the stage was barely holding them back.
He raced out towards her, grasping hold of her arm and shielding her as people in the crowd started screaming. They surged against security again as he tugged her with him towards the back of the stage. Dominic quickly joined him.
“Apparently there’s a fire at the front of the building, it’s cutting off two exits,” he called out calmly.
They kept her between them as they tried to make their way out the back, but there was confusion and pandemonium. People were screaming, afraid.
Voices crackled in his ear from the comms piece.
“Fuck!” he swore. “They lost control of the crowd. Need to get her out of here.”
They finally reached the exit. His instincts were still screaming at him. He had Arianna tucked into his side while Dominic took point. They walked out into the cold air.
“We need to call Joe,” Dominic called out. “Fuck!”
The unusual show of anger would have surprised Bain under other circumstances. But it was well justified considering the clusterfuck they walked into. They’d used the back entrance that should have been only available for the bands and their crew, but there was a huge crowd out here. Whether they were from the concert or not, he couldn’t tell. But it was only going to take one person to spot Arianna and they were screwed.
He gently pushed her head down. Dominic moved to her other side.
“Keep your head down. They might not notice you.”
It was almost as though they’d heard him. He’d thought they might be more distracted by the fire, but it seemed that paled once one of them caught sight of the woman he had pressed against him, her body shaking with trembles of fear.
Fuck. He hated that.
“Arianna! Oh my God, it’s Arianna!”
“I love you!”
“Sign my top!”
“Arianna! Arianna!”
Fuck. Shit. They were pressed in. Unable to get through.
Dominic gave him a grim look. Right. Fuck. He saw the other man speak into his wrist, trying to communicate with security. Likely calling for back-up. But fuck, even if they were free, they wouldn’t get through the crowd to help them.
Dominic moved in front of Arianna. Bain attempted to move her between them, but she clung to his arm. He stared down into her terrified face. Her eyes were wide, her face pale. She faltered and he had to grab her, holding her up.
“Arianna, it’s gonna be okay.” For now, the crowd was fairly well behaved. But things could ramp up at any moment. “I’m here. Nothing will happen. You just need to hold on a bit longer for me. Trust me.”
She stared up at him then gave a nod.
Brave girl.
He maneuvered her so she was between him and Dominic. She was so tiny that they had her mostly covered, but if this crowd got violent, they were screwed.
“Get out of the way,” Dominic commanded. “Move back and let us pass.”
Bain blocked people who tried to push closer. They grabbed at her clothing, trying to touch her. Arianna let out a frightened cry. They’d only managed to move a few feet when the sound of sirens filled the air. The crowd seemed to recognize the sign of authority and drew back slightly, allowing them to push their way through, towards the parking lot. There were people everywhere, rushing back and forth, uncaring of who they hurt in their panic to get away. A horn blared loudly. Fire engines tried to push their way through.
Dominic led them off to the side and around a couple of vehicles.
“Arianna! Hey, there she is!”