Night Moves (The Night Songs Collection) (19 page)

It was the most beautiful he had ever looked.

The sucking became stronger. I ran my fingers through Josiah’s hair for encouragement. He may not be able to understand what was happening, but the sensation of touch had to be comforting. “Should we give him more?” I asked quietly. “He can’t be getting too much right now, but he’s responding. He’s getting stronger.”

Ryder shook his head gently. “We don’t know if he’s going to suddenly get stronger. I’m worried about you too, babe. You’re so brave to do this.”

“It’s what you do for friends,” I said looking back to Josiah. The blue had faded from his face, now he was more of the pallor that his band mates had. He groaned, the sweetest noise I’d heard in a long time. His hand slowly came up to mine, grasping it weakly.

“Josiah? Can you hear me?”

His eyelids fluttered slightly, as if he wanted to open them but they were just too heavy. Or glued shut. His whole body equilibrium had to be off after being comatose.

“Don’t try to do anything right now. Just drink.” I spoke softly, my fingers in his hair, to soothe him. “I think he needs more,” I said to Ryder again. “Can you give him some?”

“I’m low, too. Maybe after the show, if he’s still here. But if I do it now, I’ll likely pass out too.”

The medics finally arrived, pale, drone-like, and dressed in all black, alarmed to find me with my finger in a sick vampire’s mouth. They coaxed me away so they could do their work. I couldn’t tell if they were vampires or not. Ryder sat in the booth in the front of the bus to get out of their way, and I sat on his lap to watch what was happening.

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my shoulder. “That was amazing.”

“It wasn’t enough,” I whispered. One of the medics left the bus and returned moments later with a cooler. He took a bag of blood out of it and set Josiah up for transfusion.

“Maybe it was just enough. Let the professionals take care of him now.” Both of us watched the medics complete their work, check whatever vital signs a vampire had, taking notes.

“He should start to respond soon, once his levels come up,” the medic told us. “If someone can wipe his face down every hour or so with a warm cloth, that would help his temperature come back up. We’ll be back in a few hours to check his blood levels and decide if he needs another bag or not.”

I agreed to stay with Josiah during the show. It made sense. I didn’t need to be at the show and I certainly didn’t need to listen to Drake unleash his unnecessary shit storm on the rest of the band. Maybe I could get Erin to help me out.

The medic who’d been on and off the bus popped his head back inside. “Hey, just thought you should know, there are more protesters outside now than there were before.” The presence of the ambulance and the medical personnel on the bus couldn’t be helping the rumor mill.

“Never a dull moment,” Ryder groaned. “I’m getting too old for this.”

“I
don’t really know what happened.” Josiah was alert, but still groggy. He was certainly amused by my and Erin’s attempt at playing nursemaid. “This dude, he’d been at the last couple of shows. I thought it was a little weird he was in different cities, but I didn’t know if I was just fucked up and imagining I’d seen him before. He had this stuff, he said it was better than Venom. It fucked me up more than I’d even been.”

“Was he a vampire?” Erin asked. I was so grateful she was able to break away from Drake’s grasp to keep me company tonight. I just didn’t know what to expect.

“I think he was.” Josiah said. “I don’t know
who
he was, though.”

“Are there a lot of vampires?” A few weeks ago I would have insisted there was no such thing. Now I wanted to know how many there were.

“It’s anyone’s guess, really. It’s not like we have history books or anything. It’s all word of mouth, and fictionalized history. I bet there’s more than we think, though.”

“Do any of them hold a grudge against you guys?” Erin’s question was excellent.

“I don’t know.” Josiah paled some. “It’s possible. You know, because Drake is such a nice guy.”

Erin rolled her eyes and I laughed. I was so glad that Josiah felt good enough to joke.

“You know it’s true, Erin.” He smiled.

“Hardy har. He’s just not nice to you.” She crossed her arms. I couldn’t tell if she was really offended.

“Or you.” Josiah added. My mouth dropped. Erin glared at him and looked away without dignifying him with a response.

“You should get some rest,” I suggested to Josiah. “Do you want anything?”

He shook his head. “My head is killing me.”

I wished I knew how to help him. I didn’t think my little bottle of Advil could make a dent in a vampire hangover. “The medics will be back soon.”

Erin and I went back to the lounge. “This is crazy,” I said to her. “Have you ever heard of any vampires that didn’t have anything to do with the band, hanging around at the parties? I feel like someone tried to poison Josiah.”

“Too bad they didn’t succeed.” Her face was still dark. “I’m so sick and tired of everyone thinking they can just say whatever they want to me about Drake. It’s not their business. I don’t call them out on their freaky behavior.”

“Erin! That’s out of line. Even if you’re pissed at him.”

“I know.” She looked scared. “This is why I don’t usually mingle with the rest of the band much. I just keep to myself when I’m not with Drake. He’s never mentioned having problems with anyone, but he’s not the type of guy who admits weakness.”

“Do you think it has something to do with Rachel? He said this guy had been around for a while. And no one owned up to turning her. If she’s a really a vampire, then a vampire would have had to do it.” I shivered. “I don’t like this at all. Too close for comfort.”

“It is.” Erin hugged her knees. “We’re going to have to start looking over our shoulders.”

I was surprised to see Ryder come back on the bus, with the other guys following closely behind. They were supposed to be on stage any minute. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“No show tonight.” His expression was flat, and in my confusion I couldn’t read it.

“What are you talking about?” Erin asked.

“The fine citizens of Denver took up a collection and paid us not to play.” He shook his head and fell onto the couch. Adam poured drinks and Thomas handed them out to everyone without a word.

“Why?” All the guys downed the liquor totally and immediately. Erin and I were still frozen in shock.

“Because we’re too
dangerous
.” Thomas gestured wildly. I had a feeling this wasn’t even close to his first drink. “We’re a bad influence on their
children
.”

“Word is getting out to the religious organizations about that girl,” Adam added.

“Fuck,” Erin spat, downing her drink. “They can’t possibly believe she’s a vampire. Or that it would have anything to do with you guys. No one knows!”

“Well, there have been rumblings for a while,” Ryder added. “Immortal Dilemma is shoving it down everyone’s throats. I’m sure there’s a good amount of people who aren’t savvy enough to be able to differentiate between real and make-believe. Even if what is supposed to be make-believe is real.”

“Drake must be losing his mind.” Erin said, alarmed. I wouldn’t want to have to deal with him that night, either.

“Yes and no. You know how Drake likes money,” Ryder smirked. “It was a lot of money.”

“But does he like it more than his reputation? All he cares about is looking good in the public eye.” I climbed into Ryder’s lap. “And money.”

Adam shook his head. “It’s not going to be pretty until this all dies back down.”

Ralph came to the back of the bus. “Okay, ladies and gentlemen. As well as anyone that doesn’t cover back here. We’re going to be pulling out of here in about an hour. It’s ahead of schedule, but management has decided it’s not in our best interest to stick around.”

Erin and I looked at each other. This didn’t really affect anyone but her. Neither of us got a lot of sleep on our road trip. I could stay on the bus, but I didn’t want her driving all by herself in the middle of nowhere if she was exhausted.

“I’ll get a hotel room,” she said. She must have been able to read my thoughts. “I got an email about a job in town tomorrow anyway. I could always use the work.”

“Perfect.” I let out a breath I hadn’t know I was holding. “Keep me posted on everything.”

“What are you, lovie, her babysitter?” Thomas asked.

“What’s the matter, Tommy, are you jealous?” Erin rolled her eyes.

“All I have to do is look on the internet if I want you to get my rocks off,
Trixie
. Without any of the drama.”

“Have fun, Tommy. Don’t get any of your
love
on your computer. You wouldn’t want to short circuit your girlfriend. That would be drama. I’m going to check on Drake.” Erin got up, ignoring the snickers of the rest of the band, and left the bus.

I could hear the crowd in the parking lot. No one sounded particularly happy out there. The fans had to be pissed. They may have their money back, but they’d expected a show. I was a little worried they would make one if one wasn’t given to them.

Blue lights pulsed when Erin opened the door. Great, the police again. My blood ran cold. It was only a matter of time before one of these officers investigating the band took an interest in me.

I snuggled into Ryder, burying my head on his shoulder. Adam and Thomas had started playing video games, unaffected by anything. It must be nice. I’d be more than happy when Ralph pulled the bus out of this parking lot and away from this city. It had been a rocky stay.

“Josiah’s still here?” Ryder asked. “How is he? You were great tonight. I can’t thank you enough for what you did for him.”

“He’s doing much better.” I picked my head up, happy to share some good news. “He told us a little bit about what he thinks might have happened, but he got tired quick. The blood seemed to work, though. He’s sleeping now.”

The muffled snores making their way down the hallway alerted us things were at least on their way back to normal for Josiah.

“What did he say?” Ryder raised his eyebrows, making them disappear under his hair.

“He thinks he got poisoned,” I told him. “And it sounds like it might have some connection to what happened to Rachel.”

Ryder’s eyebrows came back down as he frowned, thinking about what I said.

“He thinks the guy might have been a vampire,” I added.

“Fuck,” Ryder finally said. “Why the hell are random vampires coming from in the middle of the country to screw with us?”

J
osiah felt well enough to travel with us to Phoenix. He hoped to play the show. Hell, all the guys did. The movement to silence Soul Divider was gaining ground.

Ralph brought some of the pamphlets the protesters handed out in the parking lot to us. They could have been considered comical, if these people weren’t hell bent on ruining the band. If what they claimed didn’t have any root in the truth.

“I have witnessed with my own eyes the band ‘Soul Divider’ bringing virgins on stage, drinking their blood, and sacrificing them in the name of Satan. The girls who aren’t sacrificed become undead monsters, who also share the band’s thirst for blood. They drink the blood of their young fans and encourage the audience to participate in their blood rituals. We will not let ‘Soul Divider’ drag our children into Hell.”

“Soul Divider has made a deal with the devil. Their currency is blood and the lives of their fans.”

“Satan spreads his message through bands like Soul Divider.”

The pamphlets encouraged boycotts of the band’s shows, surrender of any merchandise, and donating the money that would have been spent on concert tickets to the Second Christ Church of Denver.

I don’t know if Erin had a chance to talk to Drake after the show, but I couldn’t wait to get to Phoenix to see how he was reacting to all of this. Before he’d made his pact with Talis de Rancourt, he’d always gone out of his way to be seen at premieres, red carpet events, and high profile dinners. He’d campaigned in the past for the president. Drake cared way too much about what other people thought of him. He’d gone out of his way to project an A-list worthy image above the debauchery of your average rock band, even if what was going on behind the scenes was anything but.