Read Online The Magic's in the Music (Magic Series Book 5) by Susan Squires - Free Book Online

he’d raised his head and looked right at her, and the music had spiraled up into pain again. Was she imagining there might be a connection? She shook herself. Of course she was. It was just…well, he’d jerked himself away from those keyboards with such a sudden wrenching that the whole crowd was on edge. The story wasn’t finished. The monster had raised its head again after the hero had struck the killing blow, and the hero was in danger again and…nothing. No resolution.
    “Hey,” the guy behind her at the bar shouted to his companion. “Did you see him blow off Antari? Michael fucking Antari was trying to get him under contract, I bet you anything.”
    “You think Antari offered a contract, just like that?” The voice sounded wistful.
    “Who wouldn’t want to put that under contract? Fuck, he’s a god. I hate him.”
    They were right about the record contract. If you could bottle lightning, you’d make millions. Apparently the Ghost wasn’t interested in that.
    The crowd around the back hall to the bathrooms grew impatient. He’d been in there a long time. She heard Jax call out to someone, “Did you see the Ghost in there?” She tried to take her mind off the guy who had just ripped open his heart to deliver that music. She sipped her drink. Drunk would be good, but she wasn’t the type. Across the bar from her, she saw a guy get up. It was the guy with the scar from the other night at Magma. What were the odds she’d run into him again and the Ghost too? She should thank him for the other night, but before she could decide to get up, he strode toward the front exit and melted into the now-sizeable crowd. Oh, well. He didn’t really look like the kind of guy who wanted to be thanked.
    She glanced at her watch. One in the morning now. Suddenly, she wasn’t feeling really well. Her stomach started to roll. The hired band was making their way back to the stage. Had she had that much to drink? A couple of lemon drops shouldn’t be enough to make her feel so queasy. Finally, Jax wandered back with her acquisition of the night. He was a handsome lad in a high-school-football-hero kind of way, all freckles and strawberry-blond hair and square jaw. Greta wouldn’t have been surprised to see him wearing a letter sweater with his purple shirt and narrow, silver tie. Jax looked disappointed.
    “Derek went in for me and there was nobody in the restroom,” she said.
    “Nope,” Derek confirmed.
    “We saw him go in,” Jax muttered. “I think. Four guys came out. None of them him.”
    “Isn’t there an exit at the end of the hall?” Greta asked absently. Wow. She wasn’t feeling well at all. “There usually is.”
    “Nobody went out the exit,” Jax said.
    “You just weren’t paying attention.” Greta had broken out in a sweat.
    “Nope.” Derek was a real powerhouse thinker. “Just that kid into the kitchen.”
    “Look, Derek, let’s go down to Dutch. It’s only a couple of blocks. Maybe he’ll show up there.” Jax was in her flirty-wheedling mode.
    “Sure. Night’s young.” That seemed like a long sentence for Derek.
    “Come with us, Greta,” Jax pleaded.
    “I think I’m done for tonight.” She felt like crap. Plus, she definitely wasn’t in the mood to be a third wheel. And while she could just hear Jax saying she could remedy that, Greta wasn’t the kind to pick up a guy she didn’t know in a bar for some quick company. Too dangerous for somebody in her position. She could see the tabloid headlines now. A few antacids and a good night’s sleep was what she needed.
    Jax gave her a little grin before she turned to Derek. “Can I hitch a ride home with you?”
    Derek looked like he’d just scored a touchdown. Or soon would. “Sure.”
    Jax took Derek by the hand and wove her way to the front door, ass moving sinuously in her tight leather skirt for Derek’s benefit.
    Some night this was turning out to be. Greta fumbled in her little purse for some bills that would include a