Page 3 of Jinxes and Drumsticks

“Okay, okay, okay. I’ll stop. Even though you’re cute as hell when you’re flustered. I promise to behave myself until after the show,” he says.

“After the show?” I ask. “What happens after the show?”

He gives me an enigmatic smile before rocking back on his heels.

Damien is evil. I’m certain of this. He said he’d stop flirting, and now he’s just being evil.

“Anyway, we’re in Del Lune because our manager had family out here when they were growing up. They wound up building a recording studio out here after inheriting the place, so we decided to set it up as home base for the SoCal leg of our tour. We’re going to get some recording done while we’re here.”

“Recording while on tour seems kind of... well... Isn’t that a lot?”

“I mean, yeah.” He shrugs. “But we only just got into a position where we could quit our day jobs. We’re used to running on fumes. I think our manager wanted to take advantage of that last bit of work ethic before we become lazy, spoiled rockstars. And, well, we only have a couple shows in SoCal with some decent breaks in between.”

“Oh... So you’re in the area for a while, then?”

He nods nonchalantly. “Yep,” he says. His eyes linger on me. How does one turn a parasocial relationship into a social one, anyway?

“I uhm—I run a shop in town?” I state like it’s a question.

But apparently, I’ve piqued his interest. “No shit? What kind of shop? What’s it called?”

“Uhm, it’s called The Odd Bird Apothecary,” I say. “It’s an oddities and metaphysical shop.”

“Metaphysical shop? What’s that?” He tilts his head like some kind of sexy golden retriever.

“Like, uh—crystals and Tarot cards and stuff.” I leave out the bits about my readings and spell work, and the fact that it’s one of the liminal access points to The Buried City. He doesn’t need to know that.

“That sounds so cool, where is it? Me and the guys will come by,” he says.

“Y-you don’t have to,” I say awkwardly.

“What, you don’t want us to?”

“No, I mean, I would love for you to come by, but—I mean if it’s just to be nice—”

“There’s nothing to do in this town, it’s not just to be nice, you’ll be doing us a favor,” he says with a laugh.

A quiet voice comes from beside us. “Dame, what the fuck was the point of you ‘going ahead to set up the instruments’ if you’re not actually doing it?”

I shift my focus to the new arrivals, finding two people approaching. One looks right at Damien. The other seems disinterestedly glued to his phone.

“Come on, I’m talking to a fan. Be nice,” Damien says.

The owner of the quiet voice is one I recognize. He’s the lead singer. He’s tall, but not as tall as Damien. His neck is blacked-out with a tattoo that disappears beneath the collar of his loose tank top. He wears a charcoal gray bomber jacket. His thumbs hooking into the pockets. His jeans are torn-up, showing swathes of skin on his knees and upper thighs; they bunch at some classic Doc Martins.

“You’re Oren, right?” I say, hating the excited edge to my voice I can’t seem to hide.

He gives me a soft smile and nods. “Yeah. Nice to meet you,” he says. “Is Devastation giving you trouble?”

“I can’t believe you’ve already found your hopeless romance for the month. We just got here, bro,” the disinterested one says, tapping lazily on his phone.

“Don’t be a dickhead,” Oren and Damien say in unison.

The disinterested one finally looks away from his phone and meets my eyes. He’s tanned. His long black hair is pulled back into a lazy bun. The lower half of his head is shorn close to the skin with a few lines carved in. I don’t think we even have barbers who are capable of modern styles like that. “Why are you even here? Doors don’t open for another six hours.”

“Satoshi,” Oren says. “Seriously, can it. I’m not interested in our drummer breaking his hand by punching you in the jaw.”

“I’m sorry,” I find myself saying, my stomach twisting. Maybe it is stupid to be here so early. I recognized Satoshi’s name as the bassist. He’s not on any social media and has a reputation for being rude to fans, but I feel bad all the same. “I just wanted to make sure I got close to the stage. I thought more people would be here waiting.”