again,” she urged. I did as I was told, taking a breath just for the calming motion of it. “I want you to imagine yourself before you met me. Put yourself in a place where you felt at peace. A place where you felt free. Just pull the image into your mind and hold onto it.”
I imagined myself standing front and center on stage, a guitar in my hands. I was alone on the stage, and the crowd was almost muted, their shouts muffled so as not to distract me from my objective. I felt a slight jump in the hum of Aurora ’s power, only noticeable because of my increased awareness. She was in my head, viewing the same image I had created.
“ Good,” she said softly. “Now peel back the entire roof of the arena,” Aurora encouraged. “What do you see?” I did as she asked, mentally stripping the top of the arena from its walls to reveal the night sky. The moon hung just above me, watching. “It’s always been there,” she said. “The night served its purpose for you as a human, and it will continue to do that for you as a vampire. You’re just now learning to take advantage of it in new ways.”
She was right. I ’d always had a connection to the night in my own way. It was just changing, evolving like I was. I felt Aurora’s power ebb from me. As I stood on the stage in my mind, I lifted my eyes to the moon and spread my arms in a gesture of openness. I welcomed the opportunity to stand there, awash in her silver glow. Grant me the ability to read the minds of others, I asked, repeating the phrase over and over in my mind until I was satisfied. I opened my eyes and Aurora smiled, clinking her glass with mine. I brought it to my lips and drank. The blood went down smooth, renewing me one burning swallow at a time. The warmth spread from my chest outward, reaching the tips of my fingers and toes, and all the way to the top of my skull.
“ I’ll never grow tired of this.” I breathed, enjoying the rush.
“ Not bad for our first tour bus ritual,” Aurora said.
“ Not bad at all, Mrs. Decker,” I said to her. “And you thought you weren’t cut out for all this maker stuff.”
She grinned at me and took another sip from her glass. We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, finishing off the blood , and enjoying the moon in the night sky, as we rolled along on the freeway.
“ Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?” she asked.
I sighed. “I haven’t put much thought into it, to tell you the truth,” I admitted. “We have a show that night.”
“ Yeah, but we’ll be in Vegas,” she added. “I’ve never been to Vegas.”
“ We’ll have to figure out a way to celebrate somehow,” I said, smiling at the childlike excitement in her voice. “I wonder how long we’ll-”
“ We’ll get there a day early to shoot the ‘Mirage’ video, and you have that night off. I already checked the schedule,” she answered, anticipating my question. “Maybe you and I will celebrate that night.”
“ That sounds amazing, actually,” I said, smiling at the thought of a night off in Vegas with the most beautiful woman on the planet. My short-lived fantasy was interrupted when the bus jerked slightly, and we quickly lost speed. Aurora raised her eyebrows at me for a heartbeat, and then she was off my lap, both of us heading to the front of the bus to see what was going on. I threw open the curtain that separated the driving area from the rest of the bus just as Jerry was pulling over on the side of the road.
“ What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as Aurora had killed the music.
“ No idea,” Jerry said. “But something ain’t right.”
Chapter 9
Aurora
TREY PULLED HIS PHONE out long enough to glance at the time.
“ I think it’s the engine,” Jerry said as he looked over the gauges on the
I imagined myself standing front and center on stage, a guitar in my hands. I was alone on the stage, and the crowd was almost muted, their shouts muffled so as not to distract me from my objective. I felt a slight jump in the hum of Aurora ’s power, only noticeable because of my increased awareness. She was in my head, viewing the same image I had created.
“ Good,” she said softly. “Now peel back the entire roof of the arena,” Aurora encouraged. “What do you see?” I did as she asked, mentally stripping the top of the arena from its walls to reveal the night sky. The moon hung just above me, watching. “It’s always been there,” she said. “The night served its purpose for you as a human, and it will continue to do that for you as a vampire. You’re just now learning to take advantage of it in new ways.”
She was right. I ’d always had a connection to the night in my own way. It was just changing, evolving like I was. I felt Aurora’s power ebb from me. As I stood on the stage in my mind, I lifted my eyes to the moon and spread my arms in a gesture of openness. I welcomed the opportunity to stand there, awash in her silver glow. Grant me the ability to read the minds of others, I asked, repeating the phrase over and over in my mind until I was satisfied. I opened my eyes and Aurora smiled, clinking her glass with mine. I brought it to my lips and drank. The blood went down smooth, renewing me one burning swallow at a time. The warmth spread from my chest outward, reaching the tips of my fingers and toes, and all the way to the top of my skull.
“ I’ll never grow tired of this.” I breathed, enjoying the rush.
“ Not bad for our first tour bus ritual,” Aurora said.
“ Not bad at all, Mrs. Decker,” I said to her. “And you thought you weren’t cut out for all this maker stuff.”
She grinned at me and took another sip from her glass. We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, finishing off the blood , and enjoying the moon in the night sky, as we rolled along on the freeway.
“ Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?” she asked.
I sighed. “I haven’t put much thought into it, to tell you the truth,” I admitted. “We have a show that night.”
“ Yeah, but we’ll be in Vegas,” she added. “I’ve never been to Vegas.”
“ We’ll have to figure out a way to celebrate somehow,” I said, smiling at the childlike excitement in her voice. “I wonder how long we’ll-”
“ We’ll get there a day early to shoot the ‘Mirage’ video, and you have that night off. I already checked the schedule,” she answered, anticipating my question. “Maybe you and I will celebrate that night.”
“ That sounds amazing, actually,” I said, smiling at the thought of a night off in Vegas with the most beautiful woman on the planet. My short-lived fantasy was interrupted when the bus jerked slightly, and we quickly lost speed. Aurora raised her eyebrows at me for a heartbeat, and then she was off my lap, both of us heading to the front of the bus to see what was going on. I threw open the curtain that separated the driving area from the rest of the bus just as Jerry was pulling over on the side of the road.
“ What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as Aurora had killed the music.
“ No idea,” Jerry said. “But something ain’t right.”
Chapter 9
Aurora
TREY PULLED HIS PHONE out long enough to glance at the time.
“ I think it’s the engine,” Jerry said as he looked over the gauges on the
Similar Books
