MySoultoSave (17 page)

“He’s my neighbor.” The lie came easier this time, and with
less babbling.

“I’m moving down here with you. I want one of those.”

The teasing tone said she didn’t have to worry about Blue
making a move on him. She was grateful for that. Not that she was involved with
Jaeryth or anything, but him hooking up with someone would complicate an already
insane situation.

While Blue pulled the driver’s seat forward, Logan walked
around and climbed in the passenger side, then looked back at Jaeryth. “You all
right?” she said.

“Fine.” He shifted position a bit and pressed back against
the seat. “Is this place far?”

“Honestly? I have no idea.”

“It’s not far.” Blue closed her door and buckled in. “The
Pelican’s a nice little local place. We play it once or twice a month. We’ll be
there twenty minutes, tops.”

Jaeryth smirked. “Good.”

Logan faced forward and waited until they got moving, and
then lit a cigarette and lowered the window halfway. “So,” she said to Blue.
“How little is this place?”

Blue smirked and shook her head. “You’re still nervous?”

“Uh…yeah. I am.”

“Don’t be.” She reached for the pack of smokes in the cup
holder and fired one up. “It’s little,” she said. “Something like five hundred
capacity, max. And there’s never been that many there.”

“Sounds cozy.”

“You’ll have fun. Trust me.”

Logan nodded and spent a minute staring out the window. “Hey,”
she said eventually. “Did you know we’re on YouTube?”

Blue laughed. “Course we are. It’s what you have to do these
days. We’ve got a kid that tapes the shows, chops them up and uploads them for
us every time.” She let out a snort. “It’s supposed to help us get discovered
or something.”

“Maybe it will.” Logan told her about Nick.

“Freaky,” Blue said when she finished. “So this guy’s coming
tonight too?”

“He said he was.”

“Well, there’s gonna be like three dozen people plus one,
then.”

“I can handle that.”

The drive seemed to take a lot less than twenty minutes.
They hit downtown Pottstown fairly soon and Blue slowed to navigate the turns.
Cars lined both sides of nearly every street they drove down. A normal sight in
Philly, but Logan hadn’t expected it here. “I didn’t know Pottstown had such a
hot night life,” she said. “It
is
Sunday, right?”

“Last I checked.” Blue frowned through the windshield. “This
is weird. Must be something going on around here.”

They hung a right onto yet another street packed with cars.
Midway down the block, Logan saw the neon sign for The Pelican Room.

And the massive, three- and four-deep line of people that
snaked from the door and stretched down the sidewalk.

“Oh my God,” she said in strangled tones.

Blue’s mouth hung open in almost comic shock. No words came
out.

“What’s wrong?” Jaeryth went from detached to alert in two
seconds flat.

She turned sideways and smirked. “Three dozen plus one,” she
said. “I think Blue’s head count is a little low.” She tried not to look
directly at the lines, or the packed parking lot. The idea that all these
people were here for Ruined Soul made her downright queasy. And she hadn’t even
brought a bucket this time.

“Um. Wow.” Blue slowed as they neared the parking lot
entrance and stared at the waiting throngs. “They giving away free beer in
there, or what?”

A weak laugh was the best she could manage. This was just
unreal. They wouldn’t even be able to fit that many people into the place…would
they?

“Good thing we get special parking privileges.” Gravel
crunched loud beneath the tires as Blue threaded the car through the overfilled
lot. She pulled around to the back door, killed the engine and faced Logan. “I
think we’re gonna need extra security tonight,” she said, then threw a glance
toward the back seat. “How about it, neighbor?”

Jaeryth’s brow furrowed. “How about what?”

“Ever bounce a bar before?”

“No.”

“It’s easy. You stand between the stage and the crowd and
look angry. If anybody tries to rush up, you push ’em back.” Blue grinned. “I
think you’d be real good at it. Especially the angry-looking part.”

He looked at Logan. “I’ll do this for you,” he said. “If
you’d like me to.”

Oh God. Why did he have to make it sound as if he were
offering to sleep with her or something? Come to think of it, just about
everything he said to her sounded that way. It was that gorgeous voice of his.
She was going to melt all over Blue’s upholstery. “I’d like that,” she managed.
“Thank you.”

She couldn’t imagine actually needing protection—but it sure
wouldn’t hurt to have Jaeryth to look at while she was up there.

* * * * *

Hell’s flames. Just this morning Jaeryth had sworn off
protecting Logan, and here he was doing it again. This was not helping his
mission. But if she was injured by some enthusiastic human, as the woman called
Blue seemed to think might happen, his progress—such as it was—would come to a
halt.

Besides, large crowds of mortals, mixed with music and
alcohol, were very attractive to Tempters, and he didn’t want Ronwe’s
underlings anywhere near her. He would handle the corrupting where Logan was
concerned.

He’d been frustrated to note that she seemed to have pushed
the earlier encounter with the Tempter from her mind, if she hadn’t dismissed
it entirely. He had hoped it would speed her awakening, if nothing else, but
still she denied her vision. Perhaps tonight, after this concert, he would
discuss it with her.

For now, though, it would require every bit of his
concentration to interact with all these mortals. Tex already suspected him.
The angel could do nothing without revealing himself in the process—but the
others were different. They had no secret identities to hide and they would
notice any strangeness.

He followed Logan and Blue through an unmarked door at the
back of the building and into a cavernous, nearly empty room, which remained
that way apparently because of four large men standing in the opening between
this room and the next. Beyond the guards, people crowded thickly, awash in
pale light from the signs above the bar. The roar of their chatter resounded
through the building.

At least there were far fewer humans in this room. Besides
himself and the women, there were two men on a stage jumbled with equipment and
a lone man who hovered in the middle of the room, staring uncertainly at the
crowds.

One of the men on the stage, a muscular blond with several
colorful tattoos, leapt easily to the floor and ambled toward them with a
smile. “Y’all have any problems gettin’ in?”

“Piece of cake,” Blue said. “I only had to run over four or
five screaming fans.”

The man shook his head and grinned at Logan. “Damn, short
stuff. You got ’em comin’ out of the woodwork now. I never seen anything like
this.”

“It’s not me.” Logan blanched, and looked as though she
might be sick. “I only invited one guy. Well…two, I guess.”

“Invited?” Laughing, the man slung an arm around her
shoulder. “You didn’t have to, darlin’. They’re here for that angel voice of
yours.”

Jaeryth silently congratulated himself on his restraint and
held back a grin when Logan twisted away from the man. “It’s not me,” she
repeated, and let out a shuddering breath. “So where’s Tex? I thought he’d beat
us here.”

The blond blinked in surprise, actually looked at Jaeryth
for the first time and flashed a quick frown. “You ain’t Tex.”

“How observant,” he intoned.

Logan elbowed him and cleared her throat. “Jaeryth, this is
Reid Rivers, and vice versa. Reid plays guitar.”

“Yeah?” Reid raised an eyebrow. “Who’s he?”

“Temporary security,” Blue said. “What’s wrong, Reid—afraid
he’s gonna steal your groupies before you get to them?”

Reid laughed. “Pretty sure there’s plenty to go around
tonight,” he said. “And I never go home alone. Unlike some uptight chicks I
know.”

“Some of us would rather be uptight than contagious.”

“Careful, Blue. Some day, you’re gonna bust the wrong set of
balls.”

“Guys.”

The single word from Logan was enough to stop the fight and
ease most of the tension—yet another indication of her latent power. It would
not stay latent for long.

Blue shook her head and smiled at Logan. “Sorry, Mom. We’re
done,” she said. “I guess we’d better get set up, before that crowd eats us
alive.”

“Great,” Reid said. “What about Tex—or are we just gonna go
unplugged tonight? I didn’t bring my acoustic.”

As though the statement had summoned him, the back door opened
and Tex strode through.

Logan smiled. “Speak of the devil.”

The devil, indeed.
Jaeryth couldn’t help glaring,
though the angel did not even acknowledge his presence. “Sorry, guys,” Tex
said. “There’s a little traffic out there.” He headed straight for Logan and
curled an arm around her. Only then did he cast Jaeryth a smug look. “You made
it. How nice.”

He noticed Logan didn’t shy away from Tex.

The confused-looking man in the center of the room
approached when he caught sight of Tex, waving an arm almost frantically.
“You’re here,” he said with mingled relief and exasperation. “We’ve got a hell
of a crowd. Did you guys offer to buy everyone drinks or something?”

“Come on, Vern.” Tex smiled. “Are you complaining about the
extra business?”

“Maybe. I had to call in some favors, get all the bouncers
and extra staff in here. I’m not sure it’s gonna be enough.”

The man was introduced as the manager of the place. After a
hasty round of pleasantries, Blue said, “You’re in luck, Vern. We brought some
spare muscle along.” She gestured to Jaeryth.

Vern the manager cast a critical eye over him. “You ever do
security before?”

“No.”

“Whatever. You’re big enough. Come on, I’ll get David to run
through things with you.” Vern turned and started away, apparently expecting him
to follow.

His breath caught when a small, warm hand slipped into his,
and Logan smiled at him. “Sorry you got roped into this,” she said. “But thanks
for helping out.” She lifted onto her toes and kissed his cheek.

Where her lips had touched, his skin practically burned.

“My pleasure.” He managed to keep his voice from shaking,
though everything inside him trembled. “I suppose I should go with…Vern.”

“Yeah.” She squeezed his hand and released him. “Don’t go
too far, though.”

“You will not leave my sight.”

Pausing to toss a triumphant glance at the angel, whose
smoldering glare threatened to set him ablaze, he followed after the manager.

While David explained what was expected of him—basically
what Blue had said in the car, only the bouncer used more words—Jaeryth watched
Logan as she helped the others carry things to the stage. She’d lost the
alarming pallor that had come over her while she talked to Reid and now she
seemed happy, almost excited.

He hoped it wasn’t the angel’s arrival that had lifted her
mood.

The blur of activity and David’s instructions made swift
work of time, and soon the lights dimmed and humans poured into the room, a
mass of energized anticipation. Jaeryth had been compelled to take a position
in front of the stage, along with David and another of the bouncers, while
Logan and the rest had sequestered themselves to prepare. Now only the man who
monitored the equipment remained on the stage.

A few moments after the room had been filled completely,
someone extinguished the overhead lights, leaving only a row of small, white
bulbs along the edge of the stage. The crowd hushed enough to hear the flurry
of footsteps on wood, the thunk and scratch and click as the unseen band took
up their instruments. When the movement stopped, the mob held its collective
breath.

“Hello, Pottstown!”

Reid’s amplified voice threw the crowd into a frenzy. Though
he was supposed to watch the audience, Jaeryth glanced back long enough to
catch a glimpse of Logan under the swirling, multicolored spotlights. She stood
at the center behind a microphone stand, poised and breathless—and looking
straight at him. Her lips curved into a brief smile just before she closed her
eyes.

He turned away reluctantly and attempted to focus on his
task. This was going to be a long night.

“Y’all know who we are, right?”

The noise swelled impossibly louder. As he tried to scan the
mob, Jaeryth realized that if there were Tempters here, he’d likely never see
them. With the lights at his back and the mortals packed tightly together in the
dark, nearly every one appeared to be dressed all in black. He would spot
nothing unless a human—or a demon—broke through the line and tried for the
stage.

“Well, then. Let’s get it on!”

The music began almost before Reid finished speaking, a
frenetic rush of dark harmony at ear-thumping volume. It was rather pleasing,
as mortal music went.

And then Logan began to sing.

The crowd responded with a definitive roar of approval that
Jaeryth scarcely noticed. He’d heard her sing before, to herself and during a
handful of so-called practices with the addicts she’d first fallen in with in
Crystaltown. She had been good then. Shockingly good.

Now, she was phenomenal.

The power she’d exhibited in small flashes poured into her
voice and thundered through the electrical system. Raw emotion hammered every
word, sultry and beckoning. It wouldn’t have surprised him if every human in
this room fell to their knees and worshipped her, as he was tempted to himself.

At least there was little chance she’d require protection from
the demonic element here. Few Tempters would be able to withstand such a
display.

When the song ended, the volume did not decrease—the
screaming crowds raised their voices to fill the music’s absence. And after a
beat, the band launched into a new song.