Page 118 of Hard Rock Muse

“We think we managed to make the song better,” I said. “Julian came to a sort of…” I looked to him with a fond look. “An epiphany, you might say. It inspired him to change the song.”

“Play it again,” Cerise said. “From the beginning.”

“We’ve only played it completely through the once,” I told her. “It’s still going to be rough.”

Julian put his hands to keys again and we began the song. Those same feelings of longing followed by frenetic energy filled my soul, and I knew we had something special.

The song came to a close. We looked to Cerise with eager eyes.

“This song…” she said.

“Yes?” Julian prompted warily, trying not to sound impatient.

“This sounds exactly like Where Angels Burn,” she said.

Seth and Julian twitched, looking surprised. I felt my heart sink. I’d been supposed to write a Julian Woods song. Had I failed?

But Cerise’s eyes were lighting up with excitement.

“I’m loving it,” Cerise said. “You’ve always had such a great sound. And you’ve clearly got a great chemistry. I know I wanted one of Julian’s songs for our album, but…”

Cerise looked at us with something almost like glee.

“Have you ever thought about starting up the old band?” she asked.

My heart leaped in my chest. Julian’s eyes went wide.

“Hells yeah, I have!” Seth grinned.

“Nathan’s been working on his own acoustic solo thing.” Cerise put a finger to her lip and tapped. “And Cherry Lips can’t be touring constantly. We’ve got to have some down time. We’ve all been thinking about our own side projects.”

Cerise met each of our eyes. “What if you re-formed Where Angels Burn?”

“I think it’s a fucking rad idea,” Seth said enthusiastically.

Julian was silent, but I could see the interest beginning to fill his eyes.

“You could release a couple new singles, do a couple local shows,” Cerise continued. “It doesn’t have to be a full-time thing. But you’ve clearly still got the talent. All you need is the drive and passion.”

“Come on, you guys,” Seth said, a beaming smile on his face. “We could totally do this.” He practically vibrated on the spot. “We could re-start the old band! Julian, my man, what do you say? Just for fun, for old time’s sake?”

Julian’s usual placid dark gaze was shining with excitement.

“I think that would be amazing,” he replied. “We’d have to do a lot of practicing, though. We haven’t played together in years. It’ll be a while before we’re good enough for live shows. But… “ He turned to me, his own grin spreading across his face. “What do you say, Ev? Want to change the world with our music?”

“I—”

Terror cut through me.

I loved the idea.

I’d thought about the old band almost every day for the last few years. I’d be working at Frank’s part-time for the foreseeable future, so why not have a side project?

But there was one thing standing in the way.

“I can’t,” I said quietly, averting my gaze and looking down at my feet. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Seth asked, sounding scandalized. “Don’t you want to?”