‘The backing track sucks,’ Ash responded. ‘And even if it didn’t, personally, I don’t want to play exactly the same set every gig for thirty-odd stops. We’ve always swapped things about, it helps keep it fresh.’
‘What’s your opinion, Spook?’ Xane crossed his fingers that Mr Mortensen had more sense than to blindly agree to this.
Spook stopped playing to take a look at the guy behind the drums. ‘I say give him a trial. See how he handles those sticks. If he works out, then sure, fine. If we need somebody, we need somebody.’
‘Elspeth?’ As if he needed to ask to know her opinion. She looked right through him, focusing instead on something in the middle distance, making him wonder how many times she’d wished he’d been the one whose nose had been broken instead of Steve. Still, he’d take that over the withering glare she cast their wannabe drummer.
‘Why are you even asking me? Of course I don’t want him here. We’re doing this tour for Steve. What does it say about his memory if we’ve already replaced him?’
‘That’s not what we’re doing.’ Ash reached out to her, but she backed away like a startled cat. ‘Elspeth, please. I know this is hard. Steve meant a lot to all of us, but we need a new drummer now. We don’t have the luxury to wait. The tour kicks off tonight.’
‘Well, I don’t see what was wrong with what we had planned.’
Ash shoved his hands into his hair despairingly. ‘Open your ears and listen, woman.’
‘Hey, go easy on her,’ Rock Giant warned.
Ash sighed. ‘Elspeth, we’re not replacing Steve. This isn’t about taking on a new permanent member. It’s about getting through the tour.’
‘For God’s sake, just have your vote, Ash,’ Xane said. The sooner this was over with the better.
‘Ayes?’
Ash raised his hand, so too did Rock Giant. Elspeth shook her head violently even before Ash asked for the nays. Making it two for and two against with Xane’s vote. He wasn’t taking on anyone without hearing them play first. That left Spook with the decider.
Spook stood quietly for a moment, with his fingers flat against the strings of his guitar. ‘I don’t want to replace Steve, but there’s no denying that we need a drummer. The mix isn’t right at the moment, which you’re going to realise the minute you start singing,’ he said looking at Xane. ‘Sorry but –’ he hunched his shoulders apologetically ‘– I guess that makes me a yes. Let’s see what he can do, eh?’
‘Two to three carries it,’ Ash called the vote. ‘He’s in for tonight at least. OK, people, let’s get on with this soundcheck.’
‘“Ripped”,’ Xane announced, making an impromptu change to the set. He needed the release he got from belting out the chorus of this song. ‘He’d better be good,’ he mouthed to Ash, who started strumming the intro. ‘And you better not have stolen him from anybody.’
‘Actually, you stole me off him.’
Xane rolled his eyes. He didn’t know what the hell that meant, and wasn’t sure he wanted to.
No way! He couldn’t fucking well believe it. Luthor kicked the roll of tape he’d been using and sent it slamming into a nearby wall. This could not be happening. He thought the day sucked enough when he’d been sent to collect Xane’s girlfriend and he’d discovered that not only was she hot and cute, she was nice too, which put a massive damper on his plans to seduce the guy again. And now his sticks weren’t going to see any action.
‘Easy, lad,’ Ulf muttered, but that was because he was looking out for his equipment. He didn’t give a fig about Luthor’s dreams being crushed.
‘Just wait, you said,’ Luthor hissed in accusation. ‘They’ll be begging for a drummer. Well, that was shit advice.’ Sitting on their arses meant Black Halo had found someone else.
‘Shouldn’t you tell them that you have an alternative drummer available?’ Dani asked, proving yet again that she was a goddamned saint. ‘It seems only fair. I mean, if there are two contenders, they ought to both be given a chance to try out.’ He wanted to hug her for the suggestion and at the same time curse her for being his rival, though she didn’t realise it.
His uncle scratched his woolly beard. ‘There isn’t time to have two of them battling it out.’
Dani looked as crushed as Luthor did. ‘That’s not fair,’ she blurted.
‘Nothing about this industry is fair.’ Ulf answered her, but he was looking at Luthor. ‘If you think talent is what gets you places, you’re wrong. It’s all about being in the right place and knowing the right people.’
‘I thought I had that bit covered.’ He’d been dreaming of seeing Xane again since the first time they met, but it’d never happened. Then Ulf had suddenly appeared at one of the shitty dives where he and the guys were playing, and proposed something he couldn’t possibly refuse. ‘Come and play for Black Halo.’ That was three weeks ago. He’d spent the whole time practising, learning every song, making his timing perfect, but there’d been no contact with the actual band. Now there wouldn’t be. He’d given up everything for nothing.
‘Knowing Ash trumps knowing me. It’s harsh, but that’s the way it goes.’
Dream over – dismissed with a shrug from Ulf.
He ought to have realised that both drumming for Black Halo and hooking up with Xane again were wild fantasies. If he’d been thinking with his head instead of his dick, maybe he would have, but he’d never been able to forget that night he’d spent with Xane three years back at the Sölvesborg Rock Festival. He’d agreed to Ulf’s proposal as much for the chance of Xane remembering him and wanting a repeat as for a shot at the top. Of course, he’d also imagined Xane still reeling at the loss of his best friend, and him being able to jump in and offer comfort. Nope, that role had already been filled too, and by a real sweetheart. He tried not to wince when she gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder.
‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Luthor.’
Yeah, him too.
‘What will you do now?’
‘Get on with the job he has,’ Ulf replied.
Luthor made for the door instead.
‘Don’t you dare walk out!’
He went as far as the stairs, where he stopped in a corner and banged his head against the wall a few times. ‘Damn … fucking … awful … luck.’ The action didn’t improve his mood; it only gave him a bigger sore head. Ulf was right, though: he’d be a fool to walk away now. Being Ulf’s paid understudy was a position many people would kill for. The guy was a technical genius. And who knew what would happen on the road? Six months was a heck of a long time, especially in the lifespan of a top band. Iain Willows might turn out to be a complete dud. Xane might decide Dani was too sweet, or that he needed a boyfriend too. Luthor could live with sharing. He’d been on tour with his band for most of the last three years. He knew all about fluid relationships. Also, he’d lay money on Dani being an inferno between the sheets. She had to be, or how was she holding Xane’s attention? The whole rock circuit knew how much he loved to fuck and how often. No way were they keeping it plain old vanilla. Well, he was more than happy to step in and help spice things up.
Really, almost anything …
This dream couldn’t be over yet.