Trials and Tiaras (Untouchable #7) - Heather Long Page 0,122

times so we could all talk. I was sitting between Coop and Ian when the opening act began, and it was just a girl with a guitar, all by herself.

Ian nudged me, and I stuck my tongue out at him but grinned. I got it. Solo performer, and he thought that might be me? Yeah, no. First of all, there were thousands of people here. Second of all, if he wasn’t doing this without me, I sure as hell wasn’t doing it without him.

The opening act was all ballads, but she segued into something faster with a rhythm that had us clapping along. She really had a sweet voice, but I swore she must have been nervous, because this close, there was no missing how her hands trembled, even while she played. I felt so damn bad for her, and I cut my gaze to the arena around us and then back to her.

Yeah. No.

When she finished, we applauded, and then the lights plunged down into near darkness. The silence stretched, then there was a clopping of boots like coming down the stairs playing over the speakers. Then a voice cut into the silence.

“We ready?” The deeper pitch to the feminine voice had to be Aubrey Miller. She was the bass player and sometimes switched out with Kaitlin Crosse on the piano if they used it.

“Oui.” Yvette Chanteur. Her playful French accent was an affectation she used when teasing others, because everyone asked if she was French with her name. “Definitely ready. We’re mic’d right?”

“Yes, we’re mic’d.” That was Kaitlin Crosse. “A little late to be asking that don’t you think?”

Laughter rippled through the darkness, and I grinned.

“Never too late,” Aubrey said. “Particularly when we have to make a big announcement tonight.”

“Shh,” Yvette cautioned with a laugh. “If we aren’t careful, we’ll blow our own secret.”

More laughter rippled through the crowd. Surely they knew their mics were on, right?

“Girls,” Kaitlin began, but a male voice cut her off calling, “Mics are hot.”

“Well fuck.” Kaitlin’s words reverberated through the stadium. “Guess it’s a good thing we’re not on TV, right?”

A moment later, the lights exploded upward with sparklers as the three appeared on stage, headsets on and hands spread wide. Kaitlin’s grin was fierce and full of good humor. Her blue hair looked even deeper and brighter than it had when we saw her in Colorado. Aubrey’s deep black hair fell in down her back from the crown she’d braided around it at the top. Yvette had cut her hair, and it stood up all spiky and dangerous, kind of like her in those killer heels she was wearing.

Fuck, they made my feet hurt just thinking about it. Glitter shown on all of their faces. It sparkled along their arms and seemed to catch all the lights playing over them.

“Good evening, Texas!” Kaitlin said as she strutted toward the lip of the stage. I swore she wasn’t more than fifteen feet from me, and my heart skipped a beat. “You guys ready to party?”

Even over the laughter and the cheers, her voice carried with the huge speakers, and I was on my feet with everyone else, screaming. She said something else with her hand over the microphone and laughed. A second later, the band kicked off with the first bars of the very first song of theirs I’d ever heard.

For the next hour, I stayed on my feet, dancing and singing along, and I wasn’t the only one. Rachel had her phone out and I knew she snapped some pictures, but I made her dance with me anyway. I danced with all of them. Hell, I even danced with the girls sitting behind us.

Torched worked their way through their first two albums, and I was breathless when the music slowed and Kaitlin headed out toward the runway, shading her eyes as though trying to look through the lights. “Are you guys still out there?”

A roar greeted her.

“Not sure I heard that, let’s try that again. Are you guys still out there?”

This time, the roar was considerably louder. I laughed at the wildness of it all.

“That’s better! Now I know you know our music, we can hear you singing out there, so sing this one with us.”

When she began the first lines of “Open Your Eyes,” I let out a little sigh. This was one of my favorites. It was also so bittersweet. It begged the people around you to open their eyes and see you, because they didn’t. All they saw