On the Prowl by Kate Rudolph

22

With Melinda distractedby an issue in the stage set up, Em snuck away to steal a few minutes for herself. The organized chaos of her crew was enough to drive anyone crazy, and she figured they could sort things out without her for a bit.

It wasn't like she was going far. She had a dressing room at this venue just like she did at all of them, and that was where she headed. She had her phone on her too, so it wasn't like no one could get in contact. She knew Andre might throw a fit if he realized that she was sneaking off, but she didn't know where Andre was at the moment, so he didn't get to complain.

The hallways were nearly empty, and of the few people she passed, no one did more than give her polite nod as she made her way to her dressing room. Em didn't stop them. Everyone was busy and they had a tight turnaround at this location. Getting the concert set up in a couple hours required an act of God, or an amazing act of organizational skills, and Em was content to stay out of the way.

This was the perfect opportunity to grab a cat nap.

And to maybe think about what happened on the bus. She couldn't remember the last time she had been kissed like that. Come to think of it, she was pretty sure she had never been kissed like that. And if she and Andre were alone in a room together, she knew they weren't escaping without at least one of them getting off.

Both of them, if she could help it.

It was only by some miracle that they hadn't thrown caution to the wind and had sex on the bus. But Em knew that sound carried, and the presence of the bus driver was enough to keep her pants securely on.

She had a feeling that Andre could make her scream.

Maybe he was avoiding her at the moment. He knew she was busy and couldn't afford a sex break.

And he was probably looking for whatever was causing the shadow beast to appear and attack.

She hoped he figured it out soon.

And a small part of her hoped that he never figured it out. As long as that danger was there, he was going to be on the tour with her. Once it was taken care of, well, then there was no reason for him to stick around, no reason except the electric heat burning between them.

He had a life back in New York. It wasn't like he was going to give it up for her.

Not that she wanted him to. But she didn't look forward to real life intruding.

Em finally made it back to her dressing room and opened the door. Her nose told her something was weird first, and then her eyes. No one was supposed to be in there.

And yet there was Vi, sitting in front of a scented candle in the dark room, her eyes glowing a strange color.

But that was impossible.

Eyes didn't glow like that.

And shadow beasts didn't stalk the hallways of concert venues or outside of truck stops. She needed to stop relying on what she thought was impossible and start focusing on the things she was seeing.

"What are you doing?" Em demanded. It was probably not the smartest move to confront somebody doing something weird when she was worried that she had a stalker, but she would blame the surprise of the moment.

It wasn't like anyone was going to tell Andre.

"It's not what it looks like." Vi shot up from where she was sitting, and the lights magically came on.

No, not magically. There was a motion sensor which caught Vi's movement.

"Are you doing… magic?" It still felt weird to think about how magic might have been real. It was real. That was the only way to explain the shadow beast. But was Vi the one causing it?

"I didn't do anything wrong," said Vi.

And that just made Em suspect her more.

"Then you have ten seconds to start explaining yourself," said Em with more bravado than she felt. If Vi was some kind of witch, then surely she could use magic. Hopefully she would forget that for the next minute or so.

Vi's shoulders sank, and she held up her hand in front of her face, palm open. There was something sitting in it. Before Em had a chance to figure out what, Vi blew on the substance and it hit Em right in the face.

She got a lung full of it and her eyes burned. She stumbled to the side and sat in the small loveseat that was propped up against the wall. Something weird was going on. Something was happening to her. She had to remember this scene. She had to remember what she was seeing. But unconsciousness was tickling the edge of her mind, and she couldn't hold on as it dragged her down.

Hands on her face woke her up, and it was the ragged snarl from Andre's throat that fully dragged her to wakefulness.

"Em. Em! Wake up!" He shook her shoulders and her head rattled around.

"I'm awake, I'm awake. I must have fallen asleep." Her eyes felt itchy, like pollen was heavy in the air, and she had no idea how long she had napped. She remembered coming to her dressing room to steal a few minutes to herself, but she didn't know how long ago that had been. And Andre certainly hadn't been around when she snuck away. "Why are you so worried? It was just a nap."

Andre's eyes had bled to gold, and she knew his wolf was close to the surface. "I've been trying to wake you up for more than five minutes," he said. "That was no regular nap."

Em looked around the room. It was the same as she had seen it only a few hours ago. There was nothing out of place. "Maybe I was just tired," she reasoned. "Sometimes naps are like that."

"I can smell Vi," he said. "Was she in here?" His eyes glowed golden with the threat of violence.

Vi? Em racked her brain for the last time she'd seen the woman. "I don't think I’ve seen her all day," she said. “She's probably with the rest of the crew."

Andre breathed deep and leaned in, breathing deeper. "You smell wrong," he said. He rubbed his face against her neck, and Em tried not to focus on how good his stubble felt.

"I'm just sweaty," she said.

"That's not it," he said, insistent, his hands roving over her. "I need you to smell like yourself."

Then his lips were on her neck, and Em stopped worrying about what he meant.