Page 42 of Dark Verse

I can’t help but look for Raven as we begin to gather our things and prepare to leave. I haven’t seen her since our conversation, even though she is usually in the sound booth when we are practicing. The door to the office is closed when I swing by, but a quick glance through the window shows Ven isn’t in there either.

It’s as we enter the parking lot and begin walking towards the van that I see her. She stands about twenty paces off to the side near the dumpsters. I see she’s on the phone, her back mostly towards us.

“Give me a second,” I tell the others. “I want to run something by the boss.”

“Tell her thank you from us for kicking your butt into gear,” Zeke winks before turning away from me.

I leave them and begin to approach her.

“God, I should have picked up smoking when I had the chance,” I hear Raven saying, the frustration obvious in her tone.

There is a long pause as she listens to the person on the other line.

“I’m sorry, lovey.” Pause. “No, you don’t need to do that.” Pause. “No, really, I’ll be all right. He said he should be here by eight. It should only take an hour, probably less since he literally did this last week, and then I’ll drop the triplicate in the overnight box.” Pause. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I love you too. We’ll reschedule, okay? Okay. Bye.”

“Everything okay?”

Raven looks over her shoulder, her expression unreadable for a long moment. Her gaze lifts off of me and settles on the structure behind me.

“I’m pretty sure this building is conspiring to drive me into an early grave.”

“Or into smoking, apparently.”

Ven rolls her eyes while saying, “Eavesdropping is rude, Knox. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have so many juicy stories, so I’ve pretty much ignored that piece of advice my whole life.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“You never answered me. Is everything okay?”

“Actually, no. My evening plans, once more, got blown up in my face by work. According to the county clerk, the final signature required to certify our fire suppression system is invalid. Now don’t ask me why the same guy whose signature is on the first twenty-five pages is suddenly invalid on the last page, but apparently it is. So now he has to drive all the way back down here just to do another twenty-minute walk-through and check the sprinkler system again. And now I get to cancel plans with my baby sister. Again.”

I see the frustration all over her body, her expression tense and her arms crossed tightly over her chest. I watch as her fingers tap out some rhythmic pattern like she’s playing an instrument.

“And poor Dove’s over there blaming herself like she shouldn’t have even suggested dinner plans because I’m so close to an opening.”

I open my mouth to make some kind of suggestion. Maybe Danica and Hendrix could stay to meet the inspector, but Raven beats me to the punch.

“It doesn’t matter,” she says after she takes a few calming breaths. “Four more weeks and I’m done here.” Her expression shifts to a more focused one. “Your call time is five on Saturday. Don’t be late.”

“Never.”

Venny rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Liar.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

KNOX

THE AFTERGLOW of a job well done still hasn’t let up as I shake the hands of the members of the headliner band Dark City’s Children. It’s been a long time since a performance felt important enough, where the music between the four of us on stage was in sync enough for my synesthesia to hit notes past sour and bitter. Tonight I began tasting the hints of sweetness along the outside ridges of my tongue as Via, Zeke, Cash, and I played our way through our set list and the crowd responded enthusiastically.

“Make sure to stay in touch, Knox,” Helen, one of the backup singers, says to me as the last of their instruments is placed in the trailer.

“I will,” I promise.

“And give our manager Mandy a call by the end of the week. I’ll make sure to mention the Nightshades in our conference call with him tomorrow.”

“I will,” I repeat.