Page 5 of Pandemonium

“That too. It’s weird, but I really don’t want to fuck this opportunity up. I feel like we’re supposed to be here.”

“Yeah.” Rhaider turned to his older brother and clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re not going to fuck it up.”

Rafe nodded. They gathered their things and hauled them inside. It took them almost two hours to set up, and by the time they’d done the sound check, the bar was slowly filling up.

Rhaider pulled the van around to the back parking lot at Titus’s request. Then he and his band mates met the male at the counter where Titus gave them each a beer, and then rested his hands on the counter.

“Duke’s coming in soon. He’s the alpha and also co-owns the bar with me. We’ll be meeting tomorrow to discuss whether you’ll get the job or not, so you’ll hear from me sometime in the morning. I won’t leave you hanging long, I promise.”

Rhaider glanced back at the people filling the bar, then turned his attention to Titus. “We’re staying at a B&B. We’ll be available by cell anytime.”

“Good.” Titus leaned on the counter and cleared his throat. “If you get the gig, you’ll be on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Three sets, at eight, ten, and midnight. The sets should be an hour long. You can go longer if you like, but not shorter. During the breaks, you can get food from the back and drinks—we just ask that you not overindulge. I don’t want our people to have to bounce you.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Rafe said. “We’ll be professional while we’re working.”

“Good,” Titus said, nodding. “Do you have any questions?”

“If we do end up with the job,” Rhaider said, “we wanted to know about hunting in your territory. Being bears means we prefer to be on private grounds as opposed to shifting on public land where hunters might mistake us for the real deal.”

“Duke and I have already discussed it, and we’d be open to you shifting and hunting in our territory, but it would need to be during designated times so we can alert the pride, that way no one is surprised.”

Rhaider nodded. Since they’d left their clan, it had been difficult finding places where they could safely shift and hunt. He doubted the lions would ever let them join their pride, but so long as they gave them some latitude with shifting and hunting, they’d be happy.

Titus introduced them to a petite blonde bartender named Blu. Rhaider shook her hand and picked up the scent of wolf. She was who he’d smelled earlier.

“Nice to meet you,” he said.

She shook everyone’s hands. “Of course, I’m a delight,” she said with a grin.

He snorted. “It’s time for us to get ready.”

“If you need any drinks or anything, give me a shout,” Blu said.

“Thanks,” Rafe said.

Rhaider kept an eye on the clock as he warmed up on the piano, his fingers gliding up and down the scales.

Titus walked up onto the stage promptly at eight and stopped in front of Rafe’s mic. “All right, we’ve got a great band here to audition for us tonight. Put your hands together for Midnight Grizzlies.”

The crowd clapped and cheered. Rebel clacked his sticks together and counted them off to the first song.

As music filled the air, Rhaider let himself go into the song, his bear’s anxiety drifting away.

He was definitely happy they’d come to Tails.

Chapter Four

Demi got out of her car in the Tails parking lot and looked at the building. There wasn’t a line out the door, but it was just after eight and still early. She let her gaze roam the parking lot and saw her brother Hemi’s truck, which meant he and Annie were already inside, as was China, whose teal convertible was in the next row.

Her lioness made a curious sound in her head, and Demi shut the car door and paused. Inhaling, she sorted through the scents on the air, but didn’t pick up anything out of the ordinary. Her lioness was still acting interested, but in what, Demi couldn’t tell. It would be nice if she could actually talk to her lioness, but mostly she just got feelings from her.

She tucked her phone in the back pocket of her denim miniskirt and gave a little tug on the crop top that bared just an inch of her stomach. Her strappy sandals brought her five-four frame up a few inches, but walking on the gravel was crazy tough and made her wish she’d decided on flats instead.

The door opened as she approached and Kyson smiled at her. Kyson was a pride member and had taken over the bouncer job when Diesel had quit to work with his heart-match’s family at their coffee shop. “Hey, Demi. How’s it going?”

“Good, you?”

“Not too bad. The new band is great. Did you come to listen?”

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