Companion to Darkness (The Phoenix Initiative Book 5) by Moores Casey

Author:Moores, Casey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seventh Seal Press
Published: 2023-05-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22: Light of Day

Paradise City

Gor’Mak

Water dripped in a corner, but Blackheart did her very best to ignore it. Her very best wasn’t all that good, especially since every drip pinged against a metal pipe with such resonance that it echoed through the room and got louder as it went. Its volume vied for attention with their instruments, and the overall effect was testing the bounds of her sanity.

“Blackheart, you with us?” Veronica asked.

“Sorry,” Blackheart said. She waved a paw toward the drip. “It’s just that this place is disgusting. I can’t focus with that dripping sound, and the light in here is worse than the jungles of Khatash, and it’s kind of cold, and I know I’m a Hunter, and I’m not supposed to complain about stupid little comforts, but here I am. Never been that good of a Hunter, have I?”

With a dramatic flourish, Veronica whipped the strap off her shoulder and set her bass guitar down. With both hands raised innocuously and a look of concern on her face, she approached Blackheart.

“Okay, now, something’s going on, and I’m not sure what it is, but do you want to talk about it?” Before Blackheart could stop her, the woman stretched her arms to give Blackheart a hug.

After a few settling huffs, Blackheart relaxed into the embrace and closed her eyes.

“I’m not convinced we are where we need to be,” Blackheart said. “This feels futile, or a waste of time, or… I don’t know. I’m also frustrated because we’re not supposed to do this. Hunters don’t share their feelings or express their frustrations or—”

“Okay, easy there,” Veronica said.

Another set of arms stretched around her, and her nose informed her that Genki had joined the hug. With a flick of her arms, Blackheart pushed the Humans away.

“Okay, I’m fine. I’m saying I don’t understand what we’re doing here. We already have songs we can play, and you’re saying we need to come up with new songs.”

“Well, yeah, it’s kind of expected,” Veronica said, narrowing her eyes as she backed away.

“Why?” Blackheart asked. “What’s the point? I thought the whole attraction was having me, a Hunter, as a band member. Isn’t that enough? Even without me as the main attraction, the songs you two had were enough on the way here, weren’t they?”

“You’re enough to get us a single show, opening for some other big band,” Veronica said. She retrieved her guitar and tossed the strap back over her shoulder. As she spoke, she absently strummed on it. “And on the trip over here, we were just a small bar band playing for a captive audience. They literally had nowhere else to go. But we’re playing in the big leagues now. Maybe we could get by playing the covers and the few songs you’ve got—which are really covers with new lyrics—but if we’re going to be great, we need to create our own stuff.”

Genki coughed. When Veronica and Blackheart looked at him, he was waving his arm to get their attention.

“I mean, I’ve got a song.

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