The moment he was gone, Ciara flipped her cornrows away from her face and scowled. “What an eejit. We’ll wait for you in the hall. You two can be hashing it out.”
Alanna didn’t ask if she meant Barry or the doctor. The band trooped out the door.
Liam shut the door behind them, then went to the keyboard and pulled out the chair. He settled in front of the keys and began to play.
“What’s that?” The haunting tune filled the room, evaporating her anger, lifting her spirits as she finally placed the melody. “It’s from my sister’s music box.” She stepped closer to him and laid her hand on his shoulder.
“It is.” He continued to play.
The melody with its pure passion sent chills down her spine. One of her clearest memories was of a music box her sister, Neila, had been given by their great-grandfather. Alanna never heard the melody anywhere else, though she’d never forgotten it and had picked it out on her fiddle the moment she learned to play.
Liam began to sing and Alanna gasped. “You wrote words for it.”
His intense gaze fastened on her, and love shimmered in his eyes. “Two souls bound and none can sever. This nightsong is for you. Our love will last through darkness, fire, and trouble. This nightsong is for you. Though death may try to break our hearts, I’ll find you where’ere you go. This nightsong is for you.”
The words bound themselves to the music and filled Alanna’s heart. “I’ve never heard anything so beautiful,” she whispered as the music stopped and faded.
He took her hand. “We’re beautiful together, love. We can’t let anything come between us. Not Barry, not Ceol, not our families.” He rose from the chair and took her in his arms. “Promise me.”
“I promise.” She burrowed her face against his chest and inhaled the scent of him deep into her lungs, into her very being.
His lingering kiss ignited her senses, and she snuggled closer, then sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “In just five months, we’ll be parents, Liam. We must tell everyone soon. Your parents, our mates.”
“It’s lucky we are that you aren’t showing much, but yes, we will need to let the world in on it soon.”
She put her hand on her belly, and his cell phone rang. She sighed and pulled away. “It’s Jesse wanting you.”
“I know.” He pressed his lips to her hair, then opened the door for her.
They found the rest of the group, along with Jesse, waiting by the exit. Jesse opened the heavy metal door into the dark alley where their van and Jesse’s car were parked.
Some fans lined the back alley and screamed out Fiona’s name. The beautiful blonde played Irish spoons and sang backup vocals. Fans bought the Celtic jewelry she designed, and Alanna spotted more than one of the beautifully crafted necklaces and earrings.
Fiona, Ciara, and Alanna stopped to sign a few photographs, but Ena kept her pink-dyed head down and ran for the van with her pennywhistle without looking at any of the fans calling her name.
Liam tugged Alanna to the van, then dropped a kiss onto her lips. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Have fun. You think Jesse will let you drive?”
He grinned. “I doubt it. He’s smitten with that car.”
She watched him disappear around the corner to join Jesse, then climbed into the back of the van with her friends.
“Deadly concert tonight,” Fiona said. “We’ll be having them all the time now.” When no one answered her, she glanced at the set faces and shut up.
Alanna wanted to say something to break the tension, but she ended up leaning her head against the back of the seat and closing her eyes. The music industry was filled with examples of people who left the operating room with their singing voices changed forever, husky and rough, and she refused to think about a fate like that. But the high notes she used to hit with ease had become harder and harder to reach, and Barry’s blather hadn’t dislodged her fear.
An explosion shook the van, and she turned to see smoke pouring from the corner where she’d last seen Liam.
“Liam!” She screamed. She pushed open the van door and rushed to the corner.
She rounded the end of the concert hall and gasped when she saw flames billowing from a yellow sports car. “Liam!” She started for the car, but Ciara grabbed her.
“The fire department is coming. You can do nothing.”
A siren’s wail grew louder and mingled with her own sobs as Ciara held her close. Alanna couldn’t tear her gaze from the burning car and could make out no figures inside. Deep inside, she knew no one could survive the intensity of those flames.
Two
Alanna rubbed her eyes, gritty from crying. She padded on bare feet to the window of her hotel room and turned up the air conditioning. Peering through sheets of rain, she stared down onto the wet street.