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“I… Thank you. For standing up for me. You didn’t have to do that.”

I made a face, but Zion cut us off before I could argue with him.

“Exactly what I was thinking. What the hell was that? We had it in the bag!”

I expected him to still be pissed, but we really didn’t have time to go over the contract points right now. The whole crowd was watching us, and we were supposed to be on stage. Now that I knew Art was alright, I needed to focus.

“We’ll talk about this later. I–”

“No, we fucking won’t! You chased away our shot to sign with a label! A big fucking label, Hen!”

Art frowned, trying to interject. “That contract wasn’t–”

Zion’s head snapped toward Art and he snarled, his teeth bared. “No one fucking asked you! You’re not part of this band! You’re just a fucking roadie who thinks he’s smarter than us! Just because you’re fucking the vocalist doesn’t make you a part of this!”

Hurt and embarrassment flashed over Art’s face, and a growl rattled my throat. Zion was crossing all kinds of lines and I was already pissed off.

“Zion, shut the hell up. Art has done a lot to support us.”

He swung his furious gaze back to me, snarling. “We’ve been in this way longer than he’s been bending over for you. I–”

My temper got the better of me and I lashed out, punching Zion and knocking him on his ass. I regretted it the minute I did it. He was a friend, and we had been in this band together for a long time. But I couldn’t take the shit he was saying about Art. He was a good guy and didn’t deserve to be shamed like that.

Scrambling to his feet, Zion stepped forward. It looked like it’d become an all-out brawl before Laz and Duncan stepped in, shoving him away. Ruby hovered at my side, still protecting Art behind me. The rest of the band was standing with me, leavingZion on his own. He hesitated, eyeing the group, before stepping back with a scoff.

“You know what? Weatherby is right. You guys are just going to hold me back. If you aren’t going to actually take a shot at a real label, then I’m out. Have fun doing the show on your own.”

Spinning on his heel, he shouldered through the crowd, hopping on stage long enough to grab his guitar before he stalked off through the back. Pain echoed through my chest at the loss. I’d known Zion for years, but this was a long time coming. He stopped being part of the band a while ago, and this would’ve happened eventually.

With a sigh, Ruby shook her head. “Well, that could’ve gone better. Come on. We’ve got a show to do.”

The rest of the band looked back at me, waiting for me to move, but I hesitated. I didn't know why, I just couldn’t make myself move away from Art. Not until the bartender spoke.

“He can sit back here with me. I’ll watch out for him.”

Turning around, I studied her. She wasn’t human, but I couldn’t tell what kind of paranormal she was just by looking at her. Still, she looked like she was strong enough to protect Art. I dipped my chin, glancing down at Art. He looked hurt and confused and I hated that I couldn’t comfort him right away, but I needed to get on stage. I lifted his chin with a knuckle, raising my eyebrows at him.

“Stay here. I’ll come right back when we’re through. Okay?”

His frown deepened, and he looked like he wanted to argue, probably looking for an escape after everything that happened, but I wanted to talk to him about this. He needed to know it wasn’t his fault. The stuff with Zion would’ve happened eventually. Art’s gaze flicked over my shoulder and he blushed, ducking his head.

“O-Okay.”

I’d take what I could get. Kissing his forehead quickly, I rushed to join the band on stage. The crowd was quiet, having watched the entire thing since this place wasn’t big enough for actual privacy. The air felt awkward and tense, and I needed to take a deep breath before I could start.

Flashing the crowd a grin, I shrugged. “Anyone know a decent guitarist?”

The crowd chuckled, and the tension eased a little. Since they probably heard plenty about what happened, I decided to be honest.

“We thought maybe we were getting our big break. But thanks to someone special, we saw that con for what it was. And you know us. No one is gonna hold us back.”

My little comment tipped the band off on the song I wanted to start with and gave us a decent segue into starting our set. I poured my heart into the music, dragging us out from the awkward situation we had started in. By our third song, the crowd was cheering, the confrontation forgotten, and the music pulsed through my system, setting me at ease. I cleared my head of everything other than the band and the music and we finished our set on a high note.

While the band cleared the way for the next people in line, I hopped off the stage to look for Art. People smiled at me, reached for me, and clapped my shoulder, giving me hope that Zion’s tantrum wasn’t a big setback for us. I found Art on a stool out of the way behind the bar. He was still frowning, probably still blaming himself for what happened. I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince him alone, so I didn’t say anything until I dragged him into the back with the rest of the band. Nudging him onto the sofa, I kneeled in front of him.

“Thank you.”

His head jerked up, and he looked around, confused. “What? Why?”