Page 106 of A Duet of Darkness and Dreams

“Right. I can only imagine how bad it gets. Not exactly looking forward to that part.”

“Isabella—”

“Anyway,” she moves on, looking away. “I was looking for you because I wanted you to see something.

She steps beside me and turns, pointing up toward the massive marquee, where the words “Carnal Sins” are lit up by a hundred lights. My heart pounds in my ears and some strange giddiness washes over me. My band’s name. It’s really up there. Shining like a beacon at a real theater. I can’t believe it. I dig my hand into my pocket, rubbing my thumb across my lucky charm.

“I’ve been dreaming of seeing that my whole life,” I murmur.But when I look back, Isabella is gone, the front door of the theater swinging shut behind her.

The glimmering euphoria at seeing the band’s name up in lights comes crashing down. What I said before is true: I really don’t have anyone to spoil, and other than the guys, there’s no one I’d rather share this moment with than the girl who I just made walk away from me. I need to figure out if I can continue to play this dangerous game. How many sacrifices does music need me to make? Or will my luck crash and burn, taking everything with it, when it’s already too late?

CHAPTER 33

Five Years Ago

DAVE

To say I was surprised when Charlie said he’d let me stay at his place until I figured out where to go would probably be the understatement of the year. He’d been receptive to me telling him about what happened, but I could also tell that Sam had planted the seed in his mind that what he’d accused me of was true. That I thought the guys weren’t talented enough to make it and thought I was better than them.

“You have to know that thought never once crossed my mind,” I say, my voice broken.

“Oh, come on, Dave,” Charlie says. “You were always lightyears ahead of all of us. Maybe you were just too blind to see it.”

I scoff. “Guess I’ve been blind to a lot of things in my life.”

“Listen,” he says, leaning forward over his knees. “I’m sorry about Emily. That whole thing sucks. At least the cops believed you. Guys who look like us—” He pauses and our eyes meet. “Generally speaking, usually no one cares about our side of the story.”

I nod. “Yeah, I know.”

“If I were you,” he continues, “I’d get out of here. There’snothing keeping you here anymore. Pack up your stuff, get a job, and hey, if you’re lucky you can find another garage band to jam with on weekends.”

That awful word again.Lucky. “But that’s—” My eyes sting as I try to rein in my emotions. “That’s not what I want.”

“Dave.”

I look up at my friend—or who I thought was one of my best friends.

“Most people don’t get what they want. Dreams aren’t always meant to come true.”

Ring ring.

Charlie sighs and stands to walk into the kitchen where the phone is while I sit back and contemplate his words. Maybe he’s right. Maybe it’s not meant to happen for me.

“Uh, hey, Dave?” he calls. “It’s for you.”

I look over my shoulder, perplexed. Only a handful of people even know I’m here. Who the hell would be calling me?

Charlie holds out the phone and I walk over, tentatively taking the receiver in my hand. “Hello?”

“Baby, where are you?”

My blood turns to ice. “Emily?”

There’s loud music in the background. “Why aren’t you here? I miss you,” she says, her words slurring and her voice pitching in a sing-songy kind of way. I can imagine her now. Eyes hooded and covered in sparkly eye shadow, her mascara smudged, leaning against the wall of someone’s kitchen at a party to call me. It’s such a familiar sight I can almost see it directly before me. But rather than it filling my heart with warmth, all I feel now is rage and despair.

“Em, what the fuck are you doing?” I say through gritted teeth.

“I wanted to hear your voice. I feel like I haven’t seen you in so long.”

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