Page 15 of Never Say Die
“I stabbed you once, I’ll stab you again.”
Shay laughed in his throat.
They drove to Koreatown and parked in the garage under the Wiltern Theater. Knight’s Blood had played there a few times—stared at half-filled red seats, snapped selfies backdropped with elaborate deécor, signed EPs next to the ticket booth—and always stopped at the café on the corner for a cup of the best whipped coffee around. Aiden adjusted his sunglasses and faced a still waking city. On the sidewalk, a vendor popped open a pink umbrella, shading a vibrant fruit cart. Juicy mangoes crowded in an ice bin and bagged pomegranate juice hung from the glass shield. Across the street, Aiden’s favorite food truck idled along the curb, shaded by palm trees.
Shay came to a sudden halt, searching the dirty ground before he looked at Aiden. “What do we say about these?” he asked and licked his teeth.
“Dental modifications.” Aiden fanned his white tank, fending off morning heat.
“Oh. . . Okay, yeah.” He wrung his hands and shifted his gaze to the neon OPEN sign in Java’s window. “Should you go in first?”
“It’s gonna be shitty regardless, just follow me.”
Aiden took a breath. This was the serious shit. Thehey, let’s take back the person who completely screwed usshit. Thewe might’ve murdered Thomas but here’s a solutionshit. Realistically, they all knew Shay Bennett could potentially make or break Knight’s Blood. Didn’t change the past, though. Just made betrayal harder to swallow. He shouldered through the door and walked toward the square table in the corner. Georgia talked with her hands. She stopped mid-flick of her wrist,stunned into silence. Dylan tipped his head and gave Shay a calm once over, as if he’d known all along what Aiden had in store.
Jacob laughed like a fucking hyena. “I should’ve known.”
“He’s all we’ve got,” Aiden said. He grabbed a chair from an unoccupied table and dragged it over, kicking it toward Shay. “Thomas skipped town; Chain Reaction fired him?—”
“Good.” Georgia seethed.
“And we need a singer,” Aiden concluded.
Dylan held his fist out to Shay. “’Sup, asshole. Long time, no see.”
“Yeah, it’s been a minute,” Shay said, and bumped his knuckles against Dylan’s fist.
“A minute?” Georgia curled her top lip back.
“Hi Georgia,” Shay mumbled. He nudged his chin toward the counter. “I’ll get a coffee while you guys talk.”
“Yeah, you do that,” she said. As soon as Shay walked away, she shot Aiden a bewildered look. “Are you kidding me? What the hell is goin’ on?”
“Look, Thomas is gone, I don’t give a single shit where he went—he’s dead to me.” He swallowed against the anxiety tightening his throat.Like, really dead, guys.“But we still have a tour on the line. Shay wrote most of our songs. He knows how we play; he has stage presenceandname-recognition. Yeah, he’s a tool, but he could beourtool if we utilize him,” Aiden said. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, turning his attention to Jacob. “You know I’m right, Jake.”
Jacob sipped his espresso. “Can we trust him?”
“No,” Georgia barked.
Dylan offered a small smile. “Nope.”
“Give me an option as good as this one,” Aiden said. “Anyoption.”
Jacob Hill remained thoughtfully stoic. He ran his big handover his salt-and-peppered stubble and tucked his amber-tinted glasses into his shirt pocket.
Georgia shook her head at Aiden, disbelief folding her expression into another fierce snarl. “You werejusttalking about how much you despise him,” she whispered, glancing at the counter where Shay waited for his drink. “Or have you conveniently forgotten that he put a knife in our back?”
Ironic. “I hear you, okay? I get it. But he’s our best shot at making this tour work. He’s our only shot.”
She went quiet, mouth pinched, shoulders pulled taut, then she exhaled, sinking lower in her seat. “I hate this.”
“I do, too,” Aiden said.
“Aiden’s right, though,” Dylan chimed in. “Shay’s got the pipes, he’s got the looks, he’s got the following, and he knows the tunes. I vote yes. For now, at least.”
“This can’t befor now,” Jacob said. He set his elbows on the table as Shay took the seat between Aiden and Dylan. “Look at me, Bennett—I’m serious, look at me.” Shay lifted his face and met Jacob’s eyes. “This’ll be a three-year contract. I want your signature in blood, you understand? You fuck us over again, I’ll throw you off a building and leave you on skid row with two broken legs. Is that clear?”
Shay sighed, relieved. “Sure, crystal.”
