Page 57 of Knot Their Opening Act

I have to give it a shot.

Kai steps toward the bus door and slams his hands over his ears as Jez’s sobs grow heavier. “I can’t listen to this. I’m going to break that door down. I’m heading into the dressing room.”

“We’ll come, too,” says Holden, as he ushers Thomas off the bus. The door closes. When I see their backs disappear toward the venue, next to the pub’s back door, I creep toward Jez’s room. Taking a deep breath, I rap lightly on the door with my knuckles.

“Jez, it’s Nico. Can I have a word?”

A whimper. But no reply.

“Jez, you can’t get through this alone, it’s not good for you.”And it’s not good for us.“Plus we’ve got sound check.”

A pause. “Are the rest of the guys with you?”

“No, no, they’ve gone into the venue. It’s just me. May I come in?”

After a moment and a sigh, the sounds of things moving away from the door indicates her agreement. Then it slides open, and she’s standing there with a blanket wrapped around her. My eyes goggle at the sight.

Not just that she must be roasting with her heat inside that blanket, but that she’s turned her room—somehow, in the short span of time she’s been on this bus—into a nest.

Everything is pastel. On the ceiling is a blue sky mural that makes the room look much larger. Pillows line the wall the bed touches. Some gauzy material hangs over the windows, still allowing light in but filtering it through the lavender material, giving the room a sort of glowy, magical ambience. A string of tube lights entwined with Christmassy tinsel has been draped carefully around the room, though it’s fallen down in a few places, but it twinkles on and off with a relaxing vibe. An incense holder has been blu-tacked to the built-in counter space, and three honest-to-God houseplants are also stuck down with adhesive. How she found the time to gather all this is beyond me. Probably had Caylee run out for it. But all in all, it’s a very pretty, relaxing, cozy … nest.

She built a nest, even though she hates us.

Jez backs onto the bed and sits down, again with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her eyes are red and puffy, and her turquoise tresses are tangled in a half-up, half-down style. Tears have streaked and dried and streaked again down her cheeks, and her makeup’s run slightly.

I hold up my hands to hopefully show I just want to help. “Look, I can help you if you want. Or I can just sit here while you berate me. Whatever you think would help the most, honestly. The others have gone into the dressing room. They agreed to leave me here to check in on you. I will leave if you tell me to. But since you opened the door—” I glance at the sliding door and she stares at her feet.

Then she does something I totally don’t expect. She nods, stands up, and takes my hand, drawing me to the bed.

It’s a hell of a lot softer and more luxurious than our cots, though ours aren’t bad, all things considered. She sits me down beside her, and rests her bare feet on the edge of the bed.

“I can’t do this. Not on and off for an unknown length of time. I want this tour more than I want anything. I want this chance. I want?—”

And then, she’s crying. She buries her face in her hands as her shoulders heave up and down.

“Oh, God, Jesamine, please. I didn’t mean to upset you more.”

“It’s not you! It’s not even Kai! It’s the fans—your fans. What they did, that photo was hideous, horrible! I’ve had media talk about me before, and fans make shit up online every day to seem relevant. Sometimes it’s even out of love! People are crazy. But this was done to make me look fucking tragic, and make Kai look like a stud. It was done to make me look like a laughingstock. Or to support what he said the other night.”

I nod. “You’re absolutely right. What they did was wrong. Unfortunately, shit like this isn’t unheard of.”

She wipes her nose on the back of her hand, and that’s when I notice the spreading damp between her legs. This poor Omega.

I want to comfort her and make her know she’s safe. That whatever feelings exist between us all, that she’s in good company that would never try to take advantage or risk her safety. No matter what.

I place my hand flat on the bed between us and turn to look her in the eye. Those big, beautiful blue eyes that almost match her hair in this light. I’ve never sat so close to her, or looked so closelyather. She is stunning, and no smudged makeup, no hair color, no horrific heat can change how perfect she looks to me.

Did I make a mistake in coming in here?

“Has that, that sort of thing happened to Fable?” she asks.

I almost laugh. “You really want to talk about that right now?”

She bites her lip and nods, then wipes her cheek.

“Well, if you were even a casual follower of us—before.”Before Ten to One.“—You might remember that incident with … Nyah. And how it was spread on every gossip site, entertainment news page, everywhere.”

She looks at me with an iron gaze, eyes flicking between mine. A shiver runs down my back. She nods again. “I knew you had an Omega, way before I met you all. I heard she fu—” She stops.

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