It was humiliating, having your girlfriend run interference for you, but as Link brushed himself off from the dirty floor, he didn’t know how to tell her that. This whole band thing might have been her idea, but it was still his audition. Link would never know his way around the Caster world the way Ridley did, but that didn’t mean he was pathetic, and it didn’t mean he couldn’t take care of himself.
Couldn’t he?
He was the one who belonged at an Incubus club more than any of them. He’d taken out Abraham Ravenwood with a pair of garden shears. There was no point in holding back now.
It was time for Wesley Lincoln to man up.
Tonight would be the beginning of all that. His supernatural rock career was coming, and it was about time.
I need a few cherry lollipops of my own.
Link followed Ridley and the bouncer up the steps.
Lucille waited for them at the top, like they were a couple of clueless idiots.
Link snorted. “Don’t you look at me like that. I didn’t see you helpin’.”
Lucille stalked away in a silent huff.
“Women.” Link shook his head at Rid.
“Don’t.” She took his hand as the massive warehouse doors slid open, and they were in the club.
Or at least, they were in some kind of long, dark hallway leading to the club. The crowd pushed them along like a river. Link held on to Ridley with one hand and felt for his broken drumsticks with the other.
The only light came from the outline of a mirrored bar running down the side of the chamber. Even though it was far too dark to see where you were going, Link could’ve sworn he saw something in the shadows. It felt like he was being watched, but he didn’t see anyone.
Strange, he thought. No stranger than anything else around here, though.
It wasn’t until the hall opened into a single room—maybe three or four stories high—that flashing lights hit his eyes and he could see again.
Barely.
It was what he saw that floored him.
More than that… who.
CHAPTER 16
For Those About to Rock
What is she doing here? Ridley thought. At least, that was her first thought. Her second was I’m going to kill her. The third was My mother is going to kill me.
“Link! Ridley!”
Link looked almost as shocked as Ridley. “Sweet Cheesus—”
Ryan Duchannes was at Sirene.
Ridley froze. It was an animal instinct—fight, flight, or freeze. Her little sister was here, at the club. Ryan was thirteen years old and expected to go Light as the sun itself. A Dark Caster Underground club was the last place you’d think to find her.
True, she was wearing makeup and a mess of an outfit Ridley couldn’t even begin to understand—plaid shorts, an argyle vest, knee-high duck boots, and a baseball cap. Ryan’s attempt at a signature style.
She stood there in the crowd, holding the cat, sandwiched between Dark Casters and looking about as out of place in the industrial warehouse as a Mortal Girl Scout would. Ridley’s sister would never have found this place on her own. Someone else was involved.
Someone powerful.
Someone who wants me to know just how powerful he is.
Running wasn’t an option. She couldn’t leave Ryan alone here.
Fight was out, too. Ridley didn’t know exactly what she was up against, but she had a pretty good idea.
This one move told her more than most. She could smell a predator a mile away, and more than anything, she knew when she was bested.
Checkmate, Lennox Gates.
She was in New York City, on his turf. She had dragged her boyfriend all the way here, and she’d put her future and his on the line. Now she was staring at her kid sister.
It was the first time Ridley understood that getting out of this whole mess was going to be trickier than she’d thought. She had underestimated her opponent. After Sarafine and Abraham, she thought she’d learned never to do that again.
Ridley’s hand was around Ryan’s wrist before Ryan could say another word. “Get out of here.”
“Why?” Ryan looked shocked. “I thought you invited me? For Link’s gig?”
“We didn’t invite you.” Ridley was already pulling Ryan toward the door, which wasn’t easy, seeing as she nearly knocked over an Incubus carrying a pitcher of what she doubted was cherry soda. He glared as she pushed past.
“How did you get here, Ryan?” The sisterly inquisition was on.
“Tunnels.”
“And Mom thinks?”
“Mamma thinks I’m sleeping at Jackie Eaton’s.” Ryan looked past Ridley. “Hey, Link.”
“Hey yourself, Ryan. Lookin’ sharp.” Link leaned in for the same old awkward hug he usually gave Rid’s little sister, the kind that avoided all unnecessary touching.
“Why are you here, Ryan?”
“That note you sent.”
“I never sent you a note.”
“Of course you did. I have it in my bag.” Ryan slipped her suede backpack off her shoulders and unzipped it. She handed Ridley a slick black envelope sealed with red wax.
The wax had been stamped with the letter S, only the S was a serpent. “ ‘Ridley Duchannes and Wesley Lincoln request the pleasure of your company at a private concert benefiting the Sirensong Foundation. Come join us in celebrating the
opening of the club Sirene. R.S.V.P. & H.T.V.T.’ ” Ridley looked up. “What the hell? Is this some kind of a joke?”
“H.T.V.T.?” Link looked blank.
“Hold to Virtually Teleport. It’s a Rip letter. All Ryan had to do was go anywhere in the Tunnels with this thing in her hand and she Ripped right here.”
Ryan’s eyes were still glowing. “It was like riding in a Ferrari.”
Ridley shook her head. “Not an easy Cast, more of a status thing. You know, big party, transportation provided. Check it out.” Ridley held the letter out to Link.
He raised his hands. “No way. I’m not touchin’ that thing. I have a bad enough time Rippin’ as it is.” Link looked as worried as she felt.
She knew they shouldn’t have come here. But then, if we hadn’t, who would be taking care of Ryan right now?
Ryan’s face clouded over. “If you didn’t invite me, Rid, then who did?”
“I did.” The words sounded like they came from the sky, both above and behind her. But Ridley knew better.
Not the sky—the balcony. Ridley recognized the voice immediately, though she hadn’t heard it in weeks now. It still made her shiver.
The one who looked as hot as he acted cold.
The one she owed not one but two markers.
One that could ruin her relationship, and one that could ruin her life.
He was the reason they were here tonight, and the reason she was in New York at all.
Ridley had finally met her match, and his name was Lennox Gates. Ryan was his move. It was a challenge, head to head. Siren versus whatever the hell kind of Dark Caster he was.
Forget Liar’s Trade. The real game was only now beginning.
This might be Link’s audition, but it was her game.
Her fist clenched in the sudden green light of her Binding Ring.
It’s on.
The moment she turned to look at him, the club went quiet.
Not quiet—utterly and completely silent, because there was no one left inside. Every single person had disappeared, and now it was just the two of them. Ridley could hear her own heart pounding.