Free Rusted Veins: A Sabina Kane Novella by Jaye Wells Page A

Cadence had more friends than she realized.
    A throat cleared behind me. I turned to see Erron in the doorway. He wore huge, dark sunglasses that hinted at a bender the night before. “You’re still alive!” I teased, referring to the prediction his bassist had made about his heart stopping.
    “So far, so good.” A line formed between his brows. “Weird, though, because Rocco is usually dead on with his predictions.”
    Giguhl came to join us by the door. He and Erron high-fived. “Isn’t your show tonight?”
    “I just came from the sound check. Brooks called to say you found your friend, so I wanted to stop in.”
    I nodded and turned to motion toward Cadence. Before I could say anything, though, Erron froze. I looked from him toward where Cadence lay in the bed. Her tear-stained face was a mask of shock, too.
    “Um…?” I said.
    Erron jerked out of stillness with a gasp and his hand went to his chest. “Ow.”
    “Dude, are you okay?” Giguhl whispered.
    At that point, Brooks, Zen, and Adam had all clued in that something was going down. While Zen rushed to Erron to check on him, I kept my eyes on Cadence. She didn’t look worried about Erron’s health. Instead, she tilted her head and met his gaze across the room. The clouds behind her eyes cleared and a small, mysterious smile tilted up the corner of her mouth. “Oh,” she whispered, “it’s you.”
    Erron pushed Zen and Giguhl away with a muttered, “I’m fine.” He took a couple of steps toward Cadence, his hand still on his heart. “Do I know you?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “I’m Cadence.”
    “Erron,” he said dumbly.
    That’s when I realized what was going on. Erron’s bandmate hadn’t seen the singer’s death. He’d seen that Erron was going to meet a special someone who made his heart stop.
    Cadence held out her hand, as if it were the most natural and normal thing in the world to reach for a man you’d only just met. While the rest of us looked on, flabbergasted, Erron walked directly toward her, took her hands in his, and leaned over to kiss them. “I think—” he began, and cut off.
    Cadence smiled, the expression making her look younger. “Don’t think,” she said. “Sit.”
    With a look I can only describe as shell-shocked, Erron Zorn, lead singer of The Foreskins, Recreant mage, and all-around bad boy dropped onto the bed and gazed at Cadence McShane like she was his own personal goddess.
    The room fell awkwardly silent for a few beats before Zen took control. “All right, everyone. Let’s give her a chance to rest.”
    Giguhl, Brooks, and Adam filed out as instructed, each looking more confused than the last. I turned to go just as Erron started to stand.
    “No,” Cadence said, “you’re staying.”
    Zen covered her smile with a hand and came to guide me out the door. Just before the panel closed, I saw a look of such uncomplicated connection pass between them that my eyes got a little misty.
    When I turned away from the door, I found the hallway empty. I passed the living area and saw Brooks, Zen, and Giguhl chatting away and making a meal. “Where’s Adam?” I asked.
    Giguhl shrugged. “Said he needed some fresh air.”
    I paused and glanced toward the stairs. Adam had been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours. First, having to see Cadence in that drug den and then helping her through the horrible detox. And after all that, witnessing her and Erron Zorn fall under each other’s spell like that.
    Talk about an ass-kick of a night.
    I found him leaning against a lamppost just in front of the store on Bourbon Street. The crowd was thick as the annual Halloween parades crawled through the French Quarter. Beads and candy flew through the air, and every sense was assaulted by color and light and music and screams and the scent of spilled beer and the turned-soil-and-blood scent of humanity. Normally, I would have enjoyed the sensory overload, but that night it felt…too much.
    On one side of