Angel (Fallen Angel, #3)(21)

“What are you so worried about, Angel?” Viper pulled me into his side, casually looping his finger through the belt buckle.

“Catching on fire’s up there on the list,” I said, as another round of pyro shot off during the chorus.

Viper chuckled. “Stick to your marks and you’ll be fine. What else?”

“Not much.” I shrugged. “Just everything. No big deal.”

“Angel, you’re gonna be fine. Better than fine. You’re gonna kick motherfucking ass up there. That’s your stage. Own it.”

I blew out a breath and nodded. He was right. Of course he was. Just having Viper standing beside me already made me feel a million times better, and he’d be there by my side on stage too. Nothin’ to worry about.

“Hey, have you guys worked out how to get to the second stage yet?” Viper glanced at Killian, who shook his head.

Okaaay, except for that.

“Shit, that’s what’s missing,” I said. “A walkway between the two.”

“Actually, your man doesn’t wanna do that.” Killian’s eyes were full of humor. “Go on. Tell Halo what you think we should do. Run or fly, right?”

“What?” I said, whirling around to face Viper, his arm falling away from my waist. “Run or fly? Fly? Are you insane?”

Viper shrugged, looking entirely unrepentant. “Hey, we’ve done crazier shit.”

“If you don’t want either of those two options, we could build a slide,” one of the designers said, obviously hearing my freak-out. “You’d lie on this flat contraption we build under the stage that shoots you over to the second stage. No flying wires or running through the crowd required.”

“Now that sounds like something I can get behind,” I said, walking over to the designers. “So once we’re under the second stage, how do we get on it?”

“Same way we do on the main stage. Through lifts.”

I turned to face the guys. “Yep, that’s what’s happening. Sorry if you wanted to fly, but we’re sliding instead.”

“I’m good with that,” Slade said, and Jagger nodded along.

Viper and Killian looked at each other for a beat, and then Viper said, “Anything you want, Angel.”

“Good.” I felt some relief at not having to hang from wires above the crowd. Maybe one day, once I got this first tour under my belt. But not the first time out. No way.

“You guys have a set list yet?” one of the designers asked.

“Not yet,” Killian said. “That’s next on the agenda.”

“Shoot it our way when you’ve got it and we’ll mock it up for you,” he said, shutting down the boards and computers. As he and the other designers grabbed their things, he said, “Same time next week?”

“Perfect. This looks phenomenal, thank you.” Killian stepped forward to shake their hands, the rest of us waving a goodbye. After the door shut, leaving the five of us alone, Killian walked over to the whiteboard and uncapped a marker. “All right. Set list. What do you guys think about starting with ‘Dark Angel’?”

“Definitely. Something hot to get them going,” Jagger said.

We ran through the album, puzzle-piecing the tour together. If it was strange to the others not to include anything from the TBD era, they never said so. It had never been a discussion to use only Fallen Angel material for the Corruption tour, but I had a feeling that after the one show we performed together, when I’d first taken over for Trent, none of the guys were keen to do another TBD song for a while. Not to mention, choosing to focus on our one album meant that Fallen Angel would be getting a fresh start. This would be my show, our show, not Trent Knox’s, and hopefully that would mean anyone coming to see us wouldn’t have preconceived notions. At least, I hoped.

“Damn, that was easy,” Killian said, capping the marker and then taking a photo of the set list on the whiteboard. “I’ll send this off to the designers, and when we come back next week, we can watch the run-through before we start rehearsals.”

Holy shit, it was all really coming together. The album was hitting next week, tickets for the tour would go on sale soon, then rehearsals… It was insane—and I couldn’t wait.

Viper rested his chin on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me. “You still going out with Imogen?”

“Yes. And before you ask, yes, I called a car, and yes, I’ll keep my mouth shut to the reporters asking where you are.” I turned around to face him and grinned. “I’ll come by your place later tonight, if you want?”

“I always want.” Viper took my chin between his thumb and forefinger and brushed a light kiss across my lips. “I’m gonna head out with Kill. Call if you need me.”

My smile grew as I kissed him again. “I always need,” I said against his lips.





Fifteen





Viper





“DO YOU WANT a drink? Whiskey? Vodka?” Killian called out as he tossed his keys and jacket on the entry table and headed for the kitchen. I followed after him, taking a seat on one of the barstools, and as he opened the freezer and looked back at me, I shook my head.

“Nah. How about a coffee?”