Page 7 of Ticket to the Stars: Part One

“The person coming into Black Sacrament is actually,” Ramona paused for either dramatic effect or to let us catch our breath, “a girl.”

No one spoke right away. My mouth dropped open, while Deacon’s scowling intensified. Priest, on the other hand, threw up his hands, always one to speak his mind, even if it got him in trouble. He said, “A girl? In Black Sacrament? Come on, Ramona, that’s a shitty idea, and you know it. There’s no place for a girl in B.S.”

“As much as I hate agreeing with him, he’s right,” Deacon muttered with a deep frown. “I’m fucking done with this.” He got up, and he started to move around the couch, his intent to leave the suite, but Ramona stopped him.

“Sit your ass back down, Deacon, if you want to have any hope of having a career in this business.” Her tone was hard and demanding, the kind of tone she took on when she caught us letting loose before a show.

Deacon grumbled, slow to sit back down.

“After what Pope did, you need something different, something to re-endear you to your fans. Something they won’t expect. Black Sacrament has always been a dick show—” Ramona’s stare was hard and serious, telling me there was no way we would change her mind. “—so I’m bringing in a cute little girl from a small town. You’re demons on the stage. She’s going to be your angel.”

Ramona’s words fell on my ears like bricks. Heavy as they were, as much as I wanted to struggle against them, it’d be pointless. Once she had her mind set on something, no one could change it, and if this was what it’d take for us to bring Black Sacrament back from the dead, then that’s what we’d do.

We’d invite a girl into our ranks and make her our angel.

“A girl, huh?” Priest spoke with a smirk. He leaned back on the couch, folding his hands behind his head and flexing his arms somewhat, as if the girl in question was about to walk through that door right now. “It might not be so bad, having a girl in the band.” Anyone with eyes and ears would be able to tell exactly what was on his mind.

The possibility of in-house pussy.

Ramona snapped her fingers to bring him back to reality. “No. Angel’s off-limits, okay? The moment she walks through that door, I don’t want any of you guys to touch her. She’ll be coming here to be your sister-in-arms, not your personal fuck-buddy, okay? Tell me you understand. Priest, I’m mainly talking to you.”

Groaning, Priest rolled his eyes and said, “Fine. I don’t really like them cute, anyway.” He shot me a devilish smirk as he added, “I’d rather go for the sexy ones. Cute’s more your style, bro.” He slapped my back with a chuckle, and I just barely resisted the urge to punch him in the gut.

“Nobody is going to go for her,” Ramona hissed out. “Think of her as the new Pope.” To Priest, she said, “You’re going to be singing with her, Priest. You can have all the sexual tension you want with her on stage, but that’s it, do you understand me? I ain’t playing with you.”

Deacon was the one who spoke next: “Having a girl in Black Sacrament is going to completely change our sound. What if the fans hate her?”

“If we play it right, they’ll love her. They’ll want to be her. Duets, when done right, are better than singles. You guys can do this. I have faith in you… not a lot of faith, but some.” She lifted a finger at us, wagging it at us like she was our mother. “Don’t fuck this up. I’ve been working really hard on this rebrand, so it needs to work.”

I leaned forward and asked, “How long are we going to be stuck with her?”

“Minimum one year, or however long it takes to create enough buzz, record an album, and do a tour with her. If things go the way I want them to—and if you three idiots play nice with her—I know we can go the distance together. Who knows? Maybe by the end of the year, you’ll be begging for her to stay.”

Deacon harrumphed, “I doubt that.” All Priest did was shrug.

I did nothing. Out of the three of us, I think I was the most open to accepting a girl into our ranks, but I didn’t want to seem overly enthusiastic about it. This could either be a fun experiment or blow up in our faces, and it really all depended on how well Deacon and Priest got along with this girl, whoever she was.

“When is she coming?” I asked, since no one else was going to.

“She’s got until tomorrow to sign the contract and NDA—which she will. No country bumpkin can turn down the money she’ll make joining Black Sacrament. I’ll be going to get her next Monday and bring her here. Just make sure, once she’s here, you are on your best behavior.” She lifted a brow, sending a hard look Priest’s way.

She might go for the ladies herself and therefore not give a shit about men, but even she knew Priest was the pantie-chaser out of the three of us.

“I’m always good,” Priest spoke with a smile. “Unless bondage is involved, and then all the rules get thrown out of the window—”

Ramona waved a hand through the air and started to walk away. “I’m heading home. Call me if you need anything.” She didn’t look back once as she left.

Deacon, Priest, and I sat on the couch in silence for a while, neither of us moving or saying a word. Ramona hadn’t even shown us the video that won this girl the position. We didn’t know what she looked like or who she was. We didn’t even know how old she was.

Well, Ramona was smart. She hadn’t let us down yet. She was the only reason we were still here, that Black Sacrament didn’t implode the moment Pope fucked everything up. If she thought we needed new blood to reignite the fire B.S. used to have, then that’s what we’d do.

Still, telling a group of guys that one particular girl was off-limits was pretty much a surefire way to make us all want her. I wasn’t too worried about myself or Deacon; I could keep my hands to myself, and Deacon’s personality didn’t lend to many girls swooning over him. Priest, on the other hand…

He’d be the one to watch.

Chapter Four– Maggie

Mom called off her stocking job to go over the contract with me and the NDAs we all had to sign—which was a big deal. Mom never called off work. We needed the money too much. Keeping a roof over our heads and food in our bellies, not to mention all the other bills that came with owning a house and having two daughters.

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