Free Taste Me by Tamara Hogan

Annika, Sasha’s other roommate—who could drink six Kamikazes and dance all night—was the Siren Second.
    Mythology was full of stories about seagoing men crashing their ships into the cliffs, lulled by a siren’s song. Suddenly Scarlett’s vocal talent made a whole different kind of sense. But why was Lukas so pissed off? “Who’s Andi Woolf?” Bailey asked aloud.
    “Krispin Woolf’s youngest child,” Jack said, quickly explaining the details of Andi’s assault. “We don’t have any reason to believe that Andi’s assault was politically motivated, but unfortunately we can’t rule it out yet either. Claudette is worried, and asked us to put additional security measures in place at Scarlett’s show tonight.” Lukas tossed his pen to the table, and Jack cleared his throat. “Of course we’re going to fulfill Ms. Fontaine’s request. So here’s the plan.” He tapped some keys on his laptop and displayed a three-dimensional schematic of Underbelly’s performance space. Plucking the stylus off his mini-comp, he activated it and pointed a red laser beam to an area backstage. “Lukas will be positioned in the wings over here, where I was going to be. Jesse will still be standing stage right. I’ll be down in the pit,” he said, “which frankly, I’m a little happier about.”
    “Why is that?” Lukas asked.
    “In case she stage-dives.”
    Lukas sat up in his seat, massive, booted feet dropping from the adjacent chair to the floor like blocks of cement. “Damn it, I thought you’d nipped that in the bud, Jack. It’s not safe.”
    Jack shrugged. “You know Scarlett.”
    Lukas swore, and a flush crawled up his neck. Sasha’s nostrils were twitching up a storm. Hmm. Just how well did her tight-lipped boss know Scarlett Fontaine? She opened her mouth to tease Lukas about his crush, but then stopped. Sasha looked deadly serious. Something was going on here that she didn’t understand.
    “So, Lukas and Jesse are backstage. You’re in the pit,” she said to Jack, not looking at the Sebastiani siblings as some sort of unspoken message bounced between them. “What do you need me to do? Not that I’m complaining, you understand—I couldn’t get a ticket to this show to save my life. But how can I help?”
    “Just keep your eyes open. Lukas wasn’t kidding about reassigning nearly every Sebastiani Security employee to Scarlett’s show tonight. We need all hands on deck, all available eyes and ears,” Jack replied. “This concert’s a high profile event on a couple of fronts. For one thing, it’s the last show of Scarlett’s tour. She hasn’t performed locally for over a year. It’s going to get rowdy. Scarlett’s manager and I have been working with Sasha on these plans for months. And if Scarlett’s security needs weren’t a big enough challenge, most of the people on that org chart will be here tonight too.”
    “A command performance.”
    “What?” Sasha tugged at her hair, already standing straight up in the air.
    “The people on that org chart may be family, but they’re also the rulers of your people. Royalty,” she added with a shrug. “The pressure on Scarlett must be enormous.”
    Sasha pursed her lips. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. They’re just… the Council. Hmm, that might explain why she seemed so…” Sasha trailed off, shook her head slightly, and focused again. “There was a reason you couldn’t get a ticket. Due to the security considerations, and the pheromone issue, there’s a private guest list.” At Bailey’s blank look, she glared at the men. “What were you guys doing before I got here, playing grab-ass?”
    Lukas ground his teeth together so hard that Bailey thought his jaw would shatter. “We haven’t gotten to physiological considerations yet.”
    Jack picked up the explanation of procedures. “The floor is General Availability, so anyone with a ticket has access. Second floor is reserved seating, a little pricier. Council members and