Chapter 1

The sound of the drums pounded through me, fast and hard, setting the pace for dancers going wild under the lights. Speeding their hearts to racing.

The more furious the dancing became, the slower my own heart pulsed. Relaxing into the rhythm. This was where I was meant to be. This was my home.

If you had told me when I was a kid that I was going to grow up to become a drummer in a rock band, I would have shaken my head and shown you my ballet slippers. If you had told me again when I was a teen, I would have cringed, hating the thought of being on stage. Drumming had just been something to take the edge off, a way of letting loose at the end of the day without hurting anyone, or myself.

Now?

Sitting behind my purple Zildjian drum kit on stage at The Hammer on a Thursday night, a couple hundred people dancing and grinding to the music our band was playing, I was in the zone. I’d answered Nick’s flyer for a drummer my second year in college on a whim, and we’d been playing together ever since. Nine years. We’d had several bassists come and go, toyed with a keyboardist or two in the early years, but our band, Molten Requiem, had enjoyed a strong local following throughout all that time. In a rock-and-roll city with over twenty colleges, you couldn’t really go wrong. Los Angeles was a musician’s haven. Bars and party gigs were practically on every corner. With Nick’s head for business and his Irish charm to back it up, the money had been steady and easy. I’d gone to school to be a social worker, but I hadn’t worked a day job since graduating.

Which was good, because I wasn’t really the office girl type. After almost a decade in a band, I’d come to view stretch vinyl pants and ripped tees as comfort wear. Right now, the music was picking up pace, and I shook my long, sweaty black hair out of my face, hitting the snare and rocketing through the cymbals. My hands became almost a blur, driving the song at breakneck speed, the 122 Ultraviolet lacquer on my nails catching the spotlight.

Nick nodded at me, his pale cheeks brightly flushed from the heat of the stage lights. He backed off to the side of the stage along with Jax, our current bassist, giving me the crowd’s attention.

Solo time. I took the beat and pulled it along, flaring the tempo, alternating between speed and a slow, tempting rhythm of need. Girls in the crowd screamed and threw themselves into wild jungle dance, while men bobbed their heads along in appreciation, feeling the music with their feet. Everybody in the band got to rock out a few solos each night, but this one was my favorite, taking me on a crazy ride every time. Passion, longing, dreams – all of mine went into this piece.

I closed my eyes and lost myself in it, the way I always did.

Peace and fulfillment threatened to overwhelm me, even as my arms and feet pushed the beat with a mind of their own. I let my