“You know what you should do?” he asked. “Get audience members to wear the head cams in a mosh pit. Since you’re too scared to crowd surf.”
She was definitely too scared to crowd surf.
Toni gave him a tight squeeze. “You’re brilliant! Yes, I should totally include that.”
“You’re the brilliant one,” he said. “You came up with the camera idea in the first place.”
She laughed and kissed him on the chin. “And I never would have thought of it if you hadn’t made me watch your cliff-diving and bungee-jumping experiences.”
“Not sure how covering your eyes in horror is considered watching.” He smirked at her.
“See, if I can’t watch, there’s no way I’d be able to do it myself.”
“Just like you couldn’t skydive?”
“You threw me out of that plane, Logan Schmidt.”
“So I guess I’ll have to throw you off a bridge sometime.”
“You have to get me on the bridge first.”
Logan glanced around the room, looking a bit lost without his bandmates surrounding him. “Do you want to watch Sinners tonight?”
Toni clapped her hands together excitedly. “I would love to.” She hadn’t had the opportunity to watch Sinners perform a show yet. She’d been too busy collecting material for her book, and the hour before Exodus End performed always seemed to be the most hectic of her day.
“We’d better hurry. I think they’re starting soon.”
Logan led her through several corridors and into the arena. A few stagehands lit their own paths with flashlights, but otherwise it was dark behind the stage. Before Logan and Toni reached the wings, the lights flashed on and the unmistakable wail of Brian “Master” Sinclair’s guitar started the intro of their first song. Toni dashed up the stage steps, not wanting to miss anything. The rest of the band joined the guitar, and then Sed Lionheart screamed out his trademark battle cry.
Toni cheered with the rest of the crowd, her heart thudding with excitement. Several lines into the first verse, Sed’s voice cracked and he lowered his mic midverse. The rest of the band fell silent, first the guitars, then the bass and drums. His bandmates looked to Sed for direction.
“You okay?” Trey asked into his microphone.
Sed nodded. “From the top.”
His eyes sparkled brightly in the stage lights, but he quickly squeezed them shut.
“What’s going on?” Toni asked Logan, who shook his head and shrugged.
The song started over again. Lead guitar followed by rhythm, bass, and drums. Sed’s battle cry. This time Sed didn’t even make it through the first line before he lowered his mic and turned his back to the crowd. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and took several deep breaths. His three guitarists quickly surrounded him, talking to him out of range of the mic, patting him comfortingly on the back or arm. Nodding and gesturing, they seemed to come to some consensus, and Sed turned back to the agitated crowd.
“I’m sorry,” he said to his audience. “I thought I could do this tonight. I thought performing would make it easier, take my mind off things.” He swallowed hard and pressed his lips together, obviously fighting tears. After a moment, he continued, “I received a call from my sister just before the show. This afternoon, my father passed away unexpectedly.”
The bottom fell out of Toni’s chest, and her heart sank with it. She pressed her fingertips against her lips to stop their trembling. She knew exactly what he was going through and wondered if he’d appreciate any words of comfort from her—not that words were any comfort when a beloved parent passed away—but she wanted to reach out to him in some way.
“So I need a minute to pull my shit together so I can sing.” He laughed hollowly and swiped a stray tear from his cheek. “Knew I should have taken up drums.”
“Nope,” Logan said as he rushed onstage. He covered Sed’s mic with one hand and leaned in close to speak to Sed.
Toni strained her ears for threads of their conversation, but the murmur of the crowd prevented her from hearing anything. There were vehement head shakes on Sed’s part followed by him tilting his head to listen to whatever Logan was saying. After a moment, Sed smiled at Logan, nodded, and gave him a hearty pat on the back.
Sed lifted his microphone and said to the crowd, “I’m going to leave you in good hands here.”
He handed the mic to Logan and jogged offstage. His