After leaving the hospital, we made it back to the venue with just enough time for Damon and Ian to change into their rock star best. Cherry Lips was already on stage, but their set was going to be ending soon, and our guys were up next.

"Can't you just go on like this?" I asked, gesturing to their jeans and t-shirts.

Hope looked scandalized. "Have you ever even seen a Darkest Days concert?"

"Um. That would be a no."

"It's all about the leather pants and eyeliner," she said.

I almost snorted. How cliché was that?

But Hope was serious. She got out her cell phone and made a few calls. The moment we showed up behind the impromptu stage that had been constructed in the stadium, a flurry of assistants surrounded Damon and Ian, ushering them away quickly.

I surveyed the stadium. The crowds seemed to be milling together peacefully. Hundreds of people had already arrived and set up their sleeping bags in nice, uniform rows on one side of the field. They were ringed by booths manned by the community groups, food and entertainment vendors and our various sponsors. The other side of the field was dedicated to the concert stage and pit, which was quickly filling with fans.

I looked around for Katherine and saw her speaking with a group of tech guys.

"Hey Kat, you doing okay?" I called out.

She threw me a thumbs up and a nod. I returned it.

No emergencies. No crises.

I couldn't help the grin spreading from ear to ear. Somehow we'd actually managed to pull this off.

"What's got you looking so happy?" Damon's voice said from behind me.

I turned around and immediately stopped with a jerk. My mouth popped open.

Damon was handsome enough when he was dressed casually, short sleeves shirts showing off his muscled arms, and green eyes sparkling with mischief. I hadn't thought he could get much more attractive.

But Damon in leather pants, black mesh and eyeliner was almost more than I could take. The thin black smudges around his eyes turned them a brilliant, hypnotizing green. The leather molded to every thigh muscle. The black mesh allowed his chiseled abs to show through.

I let out a small, embarrassing noise.

Damon smirked. "Are you fangirling over me?" he said. "Has Faith Briars turned into a groupie?"

I swallowed hard. He leaned in for a kiss. I parted my lips, wetting them. His eyes flicked over my shoulder. He pulled away abruptly and nodded behind me.

"I think your boss is backstage," he said. "Pretty sure you don't want her to see us sucking face."

He was giving up a make-out session because he knew I wouldn't want to look unprofessional in front of my boss. That was the kind of oddly thoughtful thing I'd become to associate with Damon.

"You're on!" a voice called backstage.

"Gotta go, sweetness." Damon threw me a wink. "Try to breathe. I don't want you passing out on me."

"Uh-huh," I said dumbly.

When I finally recovered from a Damon-induced stupor, I saw dozens of others standing backstage, just behind the curtain. They were waiting for the performance to start, mostly crew and event volunteers. Everyone seemed to be anticipating Darkest Days with bated breath. They certainly did have a reputation.

"Can someone tell me why the guys aren't playing last?" I heard Jen ask. "Shouldn't Darkest Days be the headliners?"

A blond with wavy hair flopping over his forehead bounced over. A man with long dark hair wearing a fashionable suit and skinny tie followed behind, throwing him an exasperated look.

"That's because Kell insisted on playing last," the dark haired man said.

The blond threw his arms around the man's shoulders. "And I always get what I want," he said with a cheeky grin.

Skinny Tie laughed at him and pushed him off with a shove.

"You insisted?" I asked with a frown. I thought I recognized the two men as members of the other band, Feral Silence. "I'm surprised Damon's ego allowed that."

The blond lifted his chin with a smug look and puffed his chest out. "No one out-egos Kell Pierce," he declared loudly.

"You better get ready, Mr. Ego," the man with dark hair said. "Because their set is almost done. We're on soon."

"Oh shit." Kell's face dropped. "I haven't done my vocal exercises yet." He bounced off in the opposite direction, an erratic bundle of energy.

"And I thought dealing with Damon was tiring," I said. "I can't imagine being around that man for more than a few minutes without wanting to smack him."

Skinny Tie shook his head ruefully. "It's a daily struggle." He examined me with dark eyes. "You're Faith Briars? The one who planned this event?"

I nodded.

His eyes lit up. "I'm Ren. Bassist of Feral Silence. I wanted to thank you. My background is similar to Damon's, so this cause really hits close to home."

I felt a pang of sympathy. "I'm just glad that so many people have agreed to help out," I said. "The response from the community has been absolutely wonderful."

"We're more than happy to play for this cause. Well," he laughed. "Kell's more than happy to play for any audience for any reason."

After thanking me one last time, Ren left to get ready himself. I was going to go watch Darkest Days perform myself when I heard my boss call my name.

"Faith! There you are." She appeared through a side door. "Kat told me you had some sort of emergency?"

"Yes, a family emergency," I said, trying to sound remorseful. "I'm sorry I had to leave."

"Don't worry at all," Martha said. "I understand. Besides, with all the planning and forethought you put into this, everything's running smoothly on its own."

"Kat did a great job stepping up in my place," I added, making sure to give her credit.

"You've both done a great job," she said. "I'm going to talk with the Director about those promotions."

My insides did a flip and my toes wiggled in my heels.

"It's about time we made you Events Manager, don't you think?" Martha said with a smile.

"That would be amazing," I said, trying not to sound breathless. "Thank you."

"You deserve it," Martha said.

"Can we also talk about Kat?" I made sure to interject. "She's been a wonderful help. I really couldn't have done this without her. Most of it was her idea, to be honest."

"I agree, she's definitely proven herself," Martha said. "She'd be a great fit for that coordinator position we've got coming up. Let's all have a meeting sometime early next week, yes?"

After agreeing on a time, Martha left. I hugged my arms to my chest, grinning madly. I allowed myself a minute to sway back and forth in a little happy dance, before taking a deep breath and calming myself. It didn't stop the ear to ear grin on my face, though.

I wanted to tell Katherine the good news in person, so I wandered around a bit. When I found her, I saw she was speaking with the band Cherry Lips. I was glad to see she was checking up with the bands after their sets, making sure everything was okay.

But Katherine didn't seem to be the one speaking. Her back was pressed against the wall. Nathan had playfully tangled one finger in her long hair. She was looking up at him, lips parted, cheeks flushed.

"It was bad enough when Damon did it, but does every rock star have to flirt with my intern?" I said loudly.

Katherine jumped. The man turned his head a fraction of an inch, giving me a lazy smile before turning his attention back to her.

"Thank about it, kitten," he said. With one last tug of her hair, he sauntered off with an easy stride. Katherine gazed after him, flushed, with stars in her eyes.

"I guess Cherry Lips is your favorite now?" I said with an arched brow.

She flushed even hotter and stammered.

"It's fine," I said. "Soon I won't have to worry about anything flirting with my intern anymore."

She looked alarmed, no doubt imaging the worst case scenario.

"You're not my intern," I explained. "We're promoting you to coordinator."

"Oh my god!" She pressed her hands to her chest, as if forcing herself to breathe. "Thank you so, so much, Faith!"

"You're the one who did the work," I reminded her.

"You and Damon helped me a ton," she said. "He was so patient when I had no idea what I was doing. I'll have to thank him."

"He's around here somewhere," I said. "I'll go look around to find him for you."

And also to have that make-out session he promised.

I couldn't find him backstage, and no one else had seen him since coming off stage. He didn't respond when I texted him. Stymied, I wandered around the stadium, keeping an eye out for a tall, gorgeous man with tattoos on his arms.

At an event with dozens of rock stars, that was a difficult feat.

When I finally found Damon, he wasn't out on the stadium field. He was inside the building, near the offices I'd been working in. I was on second floor, too far away to catch his eye. I started down the stairs, meaning to call out to him.

I saw Gareth Drake standing in front of him.

Damon's fists clenched. His jaw set firmly. His muscles bunched. He looked second away from launching himself at his father. Heart in my throat, I ran down the stairs, taking two at a time.

I didn't know why his father had shown up again, but I had the worst feeling that, this time, Damon was going to snap.