Page 33 of Revel
It’s him, the one with restless untamed eyes who’s here to save me and make it known I’m not going anywhere, at least not until he has the last say.
Color swiftly rises in my cheeks. At first sight of him, the crowd cheers in competition with the sound of the riff my band had been playing. The opening beat of my song “Maybe I.” Amidst the swirling smoke and dramatic lighting, a provocative image emerges from the side stage. Revel showing his true stagecraft of taking thousands into the palm of his hand with just his voice and allure, including my heart. A familiar riff begins. His lips press to the microphone in his hand, slowly walking toward me, speaking of the honest lyrics I wrote at a time when I needed both comfort and reassurance.
Maybe this is how I see through your lies
Maybe I just wasn’t good at hiding my fears
I guess maybe I fed the lies
Or maybe you should just open your eyes
And then he changes the chorus, by using the chorus of Revved’s song “Aftermath.” Never would I have thought the two songs could have been intertwined that way, until now.
Go ahead, baby, seal our fate
Maybe we both know where this is going
Yeah, I know I’m the danger
But, honey, I’m not the monster who destroyed you
Why can’t you see you’re a product of the aftermath?
Taunting the audience, his vocals are flawless as he stands mere inches from the edge of the stage. Faces and voices around me fade away. It’s Revel who has my attention now. His voice is unique. It’s what makes Revved. Speaking in a somewhat baritone voice, his singing is tenor range, yet he can easily move through to subharmonics when he wants. And he’s one of the best screamers there is. Okay, Prince was but still, Revel is right up there with him, and yes, I imagine, okay, obsess over what it might sound like in the throes of passion.
The crowd responds.
They adore him.
Here’s where it changes forme. When I know I’m in deeper than I can handle. We sing the chorus of “Maybe I” together, and you would have thought we’ve been playing together for years at our instant stage connection and perfect harmonics. Revel shifts his attention to my guitarist, and that’s when a bottle thrown from the left of the stage hits my foot, and I yelp in shock.
“Get off the stage!” a kid yells at me and starts chanting, “Revel! Revel! Revel!”
Standing next to Revel on stage, a place I never thought we’d share together, I search his eyes for a trace of emotion, and I’m neither granted nor denied anything I can decipher other than anger.
Revel notices the bottle, and it’s like a switch is flipped in him. He scowls harshly at the audience and motions to the band. They stop playing immediately. “Come up here and throw a motherfucking bottle at me!” He turns around, grabs a beer bottle from my drummer and then taunts the kid in front of him, motioning for him to come on stage. When he doesn’t, Revel pours the beer on him and hands him the bottle. “I’ll give you the bottle. I bet you can’t even hit me, ya fuckin’ douche.”
The kid says nothing and stares up at us, beer dripping from his hair matted to his face. I fight back a smile, my shock-stricken eyes on the wild man next to me.
“You motherfuckers throw another goddamn bottle or anything else for that matter, we’re going to walk out of this place and never return.” He stops, midsentence and raises an eyebrow. “You want that? And if that happens, we’ll never play in the fuckin’ city again.”
Silence.Dead. Silence.
“That’s what I thought,” Revel shouts in the mic. “She’s earned the right to be on this stage, and you give her the fuckin’ respect she deserves.” He’s motioning toward my band members. “Turn it up!”
And they do.
I know what you’re thinking. Or maybe it’s just me, but holy crap, did he really just do that? Did I mention he’s half-naked? He’s only wearing jeans and is freaking barefoot! So hot. Nope. Control yourself.
We finish out the song, together, and I’m still shaking by the time we come off the stage. Gasping, I grab his shoulders, around twenty or thirty people surrounding us from stage managers, bodyguards, assistants, road managers, everyone you can think of is beside the two of us. But all I see ishim. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think his eyes were black now under the harsh shadows.
Without warning, I yank him into a hug. I’m not even sure why. Revel pulls away immediately, but not away completely. Maybe he doesn’t like hugs?
My back stiffens because what I see in his eyes frightens me more than his presence on stage with me did. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, just that it’s intense. I break away from his gaze, blinking rapidly as though I’m trying to clear my memory of him. Not possible. Never.
My eyes wander back to his. “How did you do that?”
Revel smirks, raising a flask to his lips. It’s loud backstage, so he pulls me close, his touch gentle but callous. “Do what?” he asks, his breath tickling my ear.
