Page 113 of Cadence
She sighs, and I can picture her rubbing at her temples. “Deveraux Records is coming tonight.”
The name hits like an anvil’s been dropped right in the middle of the room. Beau’s and Eli’s heads snap up, and I don’t even need to turn to know Paige just went ramrod straight.
“What did you say?” she whispers.
“The label guy I mentioned? It’s them. They’re sending someone to watch the show. No promises, but it’s happening. So we need everyone on their A-game.”
Paige stares forward, eyes hazy, gaze far away like she’s no longer here.
“Of course it is,” she murmurs, and I see the exact second she fractures. She lifts a trembling hand to her mouth, stumbling back a step, head shaking. “No. No, no, no.”
I move to reach for her, as Beau does too, the pair of us stopping as she rushes to the door.
“Paige…”
Her fingers struggle to grip the handle as every emotion circling her body starts to overwhelm her and takeover.
“Wait,” I call out, and she stops, pausing on the threshold.
“I can’t do this,” she says, voice empty of emotion. Final.
And then, she’s gone.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Maddox
“Doyouthinkshe’llcome?”
I look up, heart sinking at the way Eli’s staring at the backstage door, hoping she’ll walk through, perking up each time it opens, only to deflate when it’s not her. I shrug, shadow-playing guitar strings, trying to get my head in the zone and not on the fact that neither of us have seen or heard from Paige since this morning.
“No idea.”
My fingers cramp from how tightly they grip the neck of my guitar. Every second the door stays shut, the weight in my chest gets heavier, like the longer she stays away, the more it feels like she’s not coming back.
Eli fiddles with a hip flask in his hand, takes a sip, then offers it to me. The whiskey burns as I swallow, and it takes everything in me not to finish the whole thing.
“Reign’s drummer said he can fill in if needed,” Beau says, leaning against the wall, arms folded. “Might need to find a replacement for the rest of the tour, and it could mean the record deal is pulled, but at least we can still go out there and perform.”
“Fuck the tour,” I snap, walking away from him. “Fuck the record deal.”
Always getting aggravated at Beau isn’t fair. None of this is fair. But if he hadn’t pushed so damn hard to get her in the band in the first place, ifIwere just up front with her in the first place, then we wouldn’t be in this mess.
And what? You’d live happily ever after with the secret that you’re the reason her sister isn’t here anymore? Good one, Maddox.
My neck aches, stress coiling every one of my muscles as I pace backstage. I hear someone call out, “Five minutes,” and I glance at the shut door.
A small part of me thought she’d come. A small part thought…
The door slams open and she walks in, head down, drumsticks in hand, like this is just another show. My heart jumps the second I see her, and for a breath, I think everything might be okay. But then I see her face, the absence of light in her expression when she passes me. Dark circles line her averted eyes as she heads straight to the wings to wait.
We’re handed our instruments and fall in beside her as she stretches out her wrists, going through the same warmup she always does. But what used to burn behind her gaze? The adrenaline, the fire, it’s gone.
Just ice.
This isn’t the girl who lit up behind the kit like everything made sense when she was playing. This is someone performing from muscle memory because it’s easier than feeling.
“Two minutes,” the voice calls out again.
