Page 116 of Desperate Victory

She shook her head, a small smile in place. “It’s okay now. I mean, I got over it. I forgave them for the secret because I understood it. But there’s a loneliness there… that I had this possible family out in the world who knew all about me. I had no idea. Theo doesn’t know that much about us. He has to learn to trust us, like I had to learn to trust them.”

Maybe Em would be the best one for him.

“We’ll figure it out,” I told her. “None of you are in this alone. Not you. Not Pretty Boy. Not Theo. We will make the time. The important thing is they’re safe. If it takes ten days, ten weeks, or ten years, we’ll get there.”

“Have I mentioned how much I love having you for a real sister now?” Emersyn said. “Even if it means having sex with my brother, which you absolutely do not do. You have a very chaste relationship.”

I snorted and she laughed. “Anyway… you ready for tonight?”

“I think so. Valentin came to see me an hour ago.” She turned to check her appearance in the mirror.

Sitting forward, I frowned.

“Don’t get upset,” she said over her shoulder. “Yes, he came to see me. He was alone and he wanted to thank me again for coming to do the show.”

Alone. Juraj Vedriš hadn’t been with him. He would turn up. Sooner or later.

“You look mad,” Em said, pivoting to face me again. She had a pair of thin slippers that she wore until she was ready to go on stage. “I wasn’t alone. Liam and Rome were right there. In fact, Rome is right next door.” She leaned over and tapped the wall in a quick tattoo of knocks, that was answered immediately.

“They’re only letting me be alone in here because you were coming. They’ve got eyes everywhere.”

“Have I mentioned how much I like them all? They are almost good enough for you.” The droll tone was the right one to take. Her grin was magnetic. “Now, stop worrying about me. I can’t wait to see you perform tonight. It’s going to be amazing.”

“You didn’t have to come,” she reminded me and I just rolled my eyes. “I know, I would have come too. But I did have to say it.”

We both stuck our tongues out at each other and then laughed. Rising, I crossed over to where she was standing and hooked my arm through hers. “Always going to be here for you,” I reminded her.

“Same,” Em promised and we leaned our heads together. Standing there in silence, I drank in the calm and Em seemed to be doing the same. “Okay,” she said with an exhale. “Time to go to work.”

Going to work involved finishing the last touches on her cosmetics, then snagging her robe to head along the backstage to where she’d climb up to where she would be starting her show.

The hum from the crowd was electric. The crew, familiar from a long time of working together, greeted Em with easy smiles and salutes as I followed her along the back behind the curtains.

Rome was with us. Ahead, Vaughn waited at the foot of the ladder she would use to climb up to the catwalks. I tilted my head back to check the height. It never failed to amaze me how comfortable she was up there.

“I’m going to be stage left,” I promised. “I want to be able to see everything.”

Em squeezed my hands, then she was climbing the ladder with Rome right behind her and Vaughn lifted his chin to me. “Bodhi is with Freddie, they went to get drinks from the green room.” He pointed back the way we’d come.

“We’re good for me to just get into place though?”

“We should be,” Vaughn said. “I’ll let them know where you are.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a little wave and then made my way around to the side stage area. Crew with a headset on turned to me as I approached. “I’m just going to be over here, out of the way.”

“You’re fine, Miss Benedict. We can set up a chair if you’d like it.”

I waved him off. “No need to worry about me.”

The hum from the audience had grown louder. There was music playing from the speakers, but it was too low to make out. Across the visible stage, crew moved swiftly but stayed well-away from the curtains.

Head tilted back, I studied the darkened area above. I could barely make out the catwalks, but I could see where the silks were suspended and ready to be lowered.

A shiver went through me. The next crew guy sauntered past and I did a double-take. Jasper grinned, then handed me a fresh water bottle. “Enjoy the show, she’s doing something new tonight.”

Chuckling, I saluted him with the water. Not even three minutes after he walked away, did I catch sight of Kellan on the far side of the stage. He just gave me a measured look and a nod.

The Vandals were everywhere. I didn’t make the mistake of thinking they weren’t keeping an eye on me too. I appreciated them for it. Still, I slung my purse crosswise over my chest. I’d left my jacket in the dressing room.

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