With Vengeance (27 page)

Kinley’s advice anchored her.
Just pretend
we’re playing at a bar with our old band.
Calm infused her. But
she didn’t want to play with her old band. She wanted to play with
Klement, Rod, and even Cliff. And they were all there. She just
needed to conjure the bar part.

As Cliff approached the microphone, she knew
it would be impossible to pretend she was in a tavern. But a dream,
on the other hand…
That
could work.

“Thank you for waiting so long!” Cliff roared
in his best stage voice. “We were held up by a madman. I was tied
up!” He held his wrists together, miming captivity.

The masses gaped and clapped.

“Our new guitarist was shot!”

The crowd looked to her, and she displayed
her bandage. They erupted in cheers. Kat bit back a laugh. Cliff
was turning their harrowing experience into entertainment to make
up for their tardiness. It was actually quite brilliant. Everyone
was going to hear about the incident anyway. The press was all over
the place. She’d even seen Marianne nosing around.

“But our bassist brought the guy down with
the wrath of a vengeful demon!”

Klement gave Cliff a dark look before playing
an ominous riff.

Cliff maintained a tense silence before
pointing at Rod. “Our drummer brought salvation!”

Rod rattled off an impossibly fast
drumbeat.

“And now we come for Vengeance!” Cliff leaned
over, grinning maniacally at the audience as they shrieked in
ecstasy. “
Bleeding
Vengeance!”

Klement started the bass riff for “Bring Out
Your Dead.”

Right on her mark, Kat’s fingers raced across
the fret board in that beloved shredding riff that she’d played
since she’d fallen in love with this band. The crowd went insane,
cheering and moshing like her most spectacular daydreams.

I’m doing it,
an awestruck voice spoke
in her head as she played the last chord and tossed guitar picks to
a cheering audience.
Not only that, but it’s fun!

Cliff launched into a brief eulogy for Lefty
before they played his memorial song. Kat didn’t have to fake
mournful despair as she played the solos she’d painstakingly
composed. Solos that she hoped did him justice. Lighters sparked
below in the pit and on the rolling hills before them like a
thousand stars. Kat didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so
beautiful.

At the end of the song, the applause was
deafening. Well, Kat saw a few glares directed at her and was booed
by what sounded like two people in the audience. She decided that
they could go fuck themselves.

The rest of the show passed in a blur as she
lost herself in the music. The noise of the crowd, the stage lights
and smoke, the evocative thrum of Klement’s bass, it all put her
into a euphoric trance. It was only for the last two songs that her
arm started to hurt. The cold had vanished and turned to a blazing
burn again. But that pain was nothing compared to the intense high
she had from the show.

She made it through the encore, though her
fingers started to tremble. That kinda made a cool effect on her
riffs at least.

As the notes of the final song bled away, the
band all joined hands and took their bow.

The applause felt like an earthquake. Kat’s
knees suddenly turned watery, and her arm shrieked in pain. She
must have swayed or something, because Klement looked down at her
arm and frowned. The bandage was red and soaked with blood.

With slight nods between Klem, Cliff and Rod,
they all left the stage. The medic scolded Kat as she removed the
bandage and gave Kat a shot, along with two pills. Afterward, Kat
barely understood a word the woman said. Her wound got disinfected
and stitched up. Kat could see the stage, and she watched Viciӧus
play their set. Kinley looked so badass that she wished the medic
would hurry up with her arm so she could clap and cheer.

By the time she met with the police, Kat was
so loopy from the pain meds that she forgot her fear of them. By
the time they concluded their questions, she couldn’t even remember
what she’d said. Whatever it was, they seemed satisfied.

There was no sign of Richard. Hopefully he
was locked up in the back of a police car or already in a jail
cell.

After the cops left, the band went to the
backstage area and met countless eager fans. The guys signed
t-shirts, posters, breasts—except for Klement—and even a few
guitars. To Kat’s surprise, over half of the fans asked for her
autograph as well.

“Did you really get shot before you came
onstage?” a teenage boy asked.

When she confirmed, he declared her to be
badass and hardcore. She tried not to laugh. Maybe it was the drugs
that made it sound so funny.

Their crowd trickled away and flocked to
Viciӧus, who was coming backstage. Kinley ignored the fans and
hurried over with a huge grin.

“You played a whole set after getting shot?
Way to outdo me, Kat.”

“I didn’t—”

Kinley’s arms enfolded her so tight she
couldn’t breathe. “If anything happened to you…” She broke off with
a sob, pulled away and wiped her eyes. “We’ll talk after the
backstage stuff.”

“I wanted to tell you earlier, you were
bloody fantastic,” Roderick cut in.

Cliff nodded. “Damn straight. You played like
you belonged there.”

Klement bent down and kissed her cheek before
surveying the others. “Should I have the record company send a
contract?”

“Hell yeah,” Rod and Cliff said in
unison.

Kat’s breath whooshed out of her body. A
contract meant they wanted her to join the band permanently.

Before she could process that amazing news,
she heard gasps behind her. Dante Deity approached. Kat had a
sudden hazy memory of him in the electrical room, making sure
Richard couldn’t reach the gun. That couldn’t have been him. Could
it?

“It’s sure been an exciting evening, hasn’t
it?” he said, smiling at her.

She nodded, losing her voice.

“We haven’t been introduced yet.” He extended
a hand. “I’m Dante Deity.”

“I know.” She shook her head. “I mean, I’m
Katana James.”

His sharp black eyebrow rose even as his blue
eyes glittered with amusement. His hand was warm and firm in her
grasp. Curly black hair framed a classically handsome face as his
lips curved in a devastating smile.

Klement put a hand on her shoulder as he
spoke to Dante. “She’s our new guitarist.”

“Yes, I heard. You’re very talented—and
incredibly tough, to play your first big show with a bullet hole in
your arm.”

“It was only a flesh wound,” Kat said weakly,
this time unable to muster a British accent. She leaned back
against Klement’s chest.

Dante laughed and patted her on the shoulder
before looking up at Klement. “So, now that Bleeding Vengeance is
back in action, would you like to take part in a charity concert
with me? It’s going to be called Metalfeed and will raise money for
the homeless.”

“Sounds awesome. We definitely owe you for
stepping in for us after Lefty died. Put us down as a tentative
yes. I’ll still need to check with our tour manager,” Klement said.
“I’ll call you as soon as I know for certain.”

Kat blinked. He had Deity’s number? This new
world she’d entered was so surreal, but she was happy to be in
it.

After Deity left to do the closing show,
Klement grinned down at Kat. “You think I’m a workaholic? Just wait
till you get to know that guy.”

Kat laughed. “I’ve heard. Kinley got to
interview him last year. I was so jealous.”

“Well, he was definitely impressed with you,”
Cliff said.

Rod nodded. “It pays to get on his good side.
The man’s a legend.”

Kat turned and wrapped her arms around
Klement’s waist. “I’m more impressed with this one.” She rubbed her
cheek against his chest. “I don’t think this night can get any
better.”

Actually, she knew she’d likely have a
delayed panic attack after the incident with Richard, but even that
was all right because she knew Klement would be there to bring her
out of it.

As if to concur, Klem’s reply rumbled against
her ear. “Let’s go back to the hotel and I’ll prove otherwise.”

And he did.

Epilogue

Kat smiled across the table at Kinley and
Quinn as they passed the turkey. Quinn didn’t get along with
Kinley’s dad, so they’d decided to celebrate Thanksgiving at Kat’s
house. Kat’s mom was pleased for the company.

Even better, Klement had been able to join
them. He sat between Kat and her mother, who had liked Klement
right away. Although her judgment of men wasn’t always the best,
Kat still felt a measure of relief. Her mom had hated Richard from
the get-go.

Klement seemed to take to Esmeralda James in
return, though at first he was overwhelmed with her instant
scolding about how skinny he was and her determination to feed him.
His bewilderment with being instantly mothered was at first amusing
until Kat remembered that his own parents had neglected him.

Her thoughts broke off as he leaned over and
kissed her cheek. Kat didn’t think she’d ever be unaffected by his
touch.

The long-distance relationship was working
better than she’d thought. Instead of forgetting about her like
she’d feared, Klement called her every day, regaling her with tales
of his cats’ antics and the progress of his multiple projects. He’d
even flown out to visit her twice. She’d flown down to see him,
too, shocked to discover that he’d turned over one of his software
endeavors to his sisters and cut his crop down to three plants so
he could spend more time with her. He seemed to be smoking less
too. Their time together was so relaxing and happy that she barely
needed her Xanax when she was with him. But when he was gone, she
missed him so much it hurt.

Scolding herself for being ungrateful, she
vowed instead to appreciate the fact that he was spending
Thanksgiving with her. He even got along with her aunt and grandma.
Seeing his genuine kindness and respect to her family made her feel
like the luckiest woman in the world.

After the table was cleared, Klement ushered
Kat and Kinley and Quinn over to him. “I have advance copies of the
album,” he announced.

They gathered excitedly as he reached in his
bag and pulled out freshly made CDs and passed them out. Kat
remained frozen as she cradled the disk in her hand. The album art
was spectacular as usual, with their ghoulish mascot, “Fred,”
emerging from flames wielding a bloody machete.

“I love how it hearkens back to the
old-school album art,” she said finally.

Klement nodded. “Now check out the inner
sleeve.”

Reverently, she pulled it out and gasped to
see herself pictured with the band. She truly was one of them now.
Perusing the song lists, she gasped to see her name listed in the
writing credits to a few. She’d known that would happen, but there
was just something about seeing the proof.

The surreal joy multiplied as her mom and
grandma looked at her picture and exclaimed over her name listed in
multiple places on the sleeve. Grandma wrinkled her nose at the
cover art but still declared that she was proud of Kat.

Later, as Kat helped Mom with the dishes,
Esmeralda turned to her daughter. “Klement seems like a very nice
man. And he’s head over heels for you, it’s obvious. But”—she
pointed a soapy spoon at Kat—“this going back and forth between
Denver and Coeur d’Alene isn’t going to work forever.”

“I know,” Kat said glumly. She didn’t know
what to do. She wanted to spend more time with Klement, but she
didn’t want to neglect her mom, either.

“But Klement told me I’m welcome to come to
Denver and stay in one of his guest rooms,” Mom continued.

Kat’s jaw dropped. “He talked with you about
it?” Her mind spun at the implications. “Still, it’s too soon for
that sort of commitment.”

“I agree,” Esmeralda said firmly. “I am not
ready to consider uprooting myself and becoming a live-in
mother-in-law. However, it’s not too soon for you.”

“But what about you?” Kat said doubtfully.
“Won’t you be lonely?”

“Yes, but you can’t cling to my skirts
forever, no matter how much I love you for it. It’s past time you
left the nest and lived your own life.” Her lips curved in an arch
smile. “Besides, your aunt Monique is devastated by her son going
away to college and wants to move in.”

Kat laughed, though the tension in her
shoulders eased at the relief that her mom wouldn’t be neglected.
“I see. Well, I’ll talk to Klement and see what he says. At least
we have a year to figure it out, since we’ll be touring soon.”

When they headed back into the living room
and saw Klement laughing and talking with her family, her heart
pulsed with warmth. She’d been so nervous about how he would react
to her humble home and background, since he was so rich. Instead,
he fit right in. And when she saw the utter joy in his eyes when
her grandma hugged him, she couldn’t help but think of when he’d
told her about his own family’s neglect. Kat couldn’t help but hope
that together they could fill that void.

She joined him on the couch and basked in the
warmth of his smile.

Suddenly, Kinley rose from her seat. “Quinn
and I have an announcement.”

Kat gripped Klement’s hand and hoped the news
was what she’d guessed.

“We’re getting married,” Kinley and Quinn
said together.

Kat leapt up from the couch and hugged them.
“Congratulations!”

Klement high-fived the happy couple and
pulled Kat into his arms. “Maybe you’ll catch the bouquet,” he
whispered.

She held him tightly, heart swelling with
happiness. “Maybe I will.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Formerly an auto-mechanic, Brooklyn Ann
thrives on writing romance featuring unconventional heroines and
heroes who adore them. An author of historical paranormal romance
in her critically acclaimed Scandals with Bite series, urban
fantasy in the cult favorite, Brides of Prophecy novels, and the
Reader’s Choice Award Winning, Hearts of Metal series, she provides
love for the broken and strange.