Page 64 of Unraveling Fate

“Wait, Canon is hiring us to sing at his event?” Cadenza asked, still confused. He hadn’t said one word about it in the garage.

Reyna nodded. “Paying us each five thousand dollars. Said that should get you to Italy.”

Cadenza’s breath caught, but she waited for the other shoe to drop—there must be some catch, some loophole—but Reyna didn’t say anything else.

“That’s it?” Cadenza asked. “He didn’t say anything else about maybe something else he wanted in exchange?”

“Nope.” Reyna shook her head. “He just said he wants the best for his event and that’s us.”

“Five thousand dollars? For one gig?” Cadenza's voice was barely a whisper. All of Italy covered. Just like that. The tangle of anxiety in her gut loosened, and she drew in a ragged breath. But why hadn’t Canon told her himself? She would have thought he’d tell her himself in the hope it would help his case.

Yes,she realized.I would have thought that.But he hadn’t used it to bolster his case. He’d just done it. Because she needed it.

And I asked him why he couldn’t be normal.Shame burned her cheeks.

“Yeah. I think that’s pretty generous of him. Especially since he’s payingmethat much too, and I’m not going to Italy. He seems like kind of an amazing guy,” Reyna said, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

Cadenza narrowed her eyes, a smile forming. “Wait a sec. Do you have a thing for Canon?”

“I’m just saying that with the money from this gig, I might like to put a down payment on a new car or something, and”—she stretched out the word—“I may need to go into Norroway’s and check out the imports. That’s all. As far as Canon goes, I know he has a thing foryouright now, but you’re with Taran, so you won’t mind if I try to convince him otherwise, right?”

Cadenza sobered. The last thing she wanted was for Reyna to get hurt because Canon was too stubborn to know when an amazing woman was interested in him. “I’d be thrilled for Canon to find someone wonderful, as long as she’s fully aware of the situation and there’s no weirdness between friends.”

Reyna bumped shoulders with her in a shower of strings. “No weirdness. And one thing at a time of course. I’m just saying he’s generous, and he’s hot, and I may need to come into Norroway’s to check him out again.” She winked.

Cadenza laughed. “I thought you said you wanted to check out the imports.”

“Is Canon from Sonora?”

“No, he moved up from Hayward.”

Reyna arched an eyebrow, smirking. “That’s imported enough for me.”

“But what, exactly, have you tried?”Cadenza took Taran’s hand on the way to the back field that evening. Bodhran rhythm rolled up her arm and timpani boomed in her stomach, but his heartbeat kept her steady.

“Oh, the usual. Eye of newt, lizard tongue.” He leapt onto a log at the edge of the dirt road and lifted her up after him. “They were quite nasty though.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” He made a face, walking backwards on the log. “They tasted awful.”

She laughed and swatted his shoulder. “You are so full of it. I need to know how you’ve already tried to break the curse, so I know what not to waste time on.”

A dark shape swooped out of the trees, and he pointed to it.

“Oh, look at that. It’s the owl again,” he said.

Cadenza set her hands on her hips. “Stop changing the subject.”

Taran hopped off the end of the log. “You’re beautiful when you’re stubborn, did you know that?”

She lifted her chin and sniffed. “I prefer determined.”

Drumsong surged as he scooped her off the fallen tree, swung her in a circle and caught her in his arms. “Stubborn or determined, you’re still beautiful. And I’m still more stubborn than you are. We have a more pressing problem we should be addressing.”

She threw a hand up in exasperation. “What is more pressing than making sure you can see the sun again?”

He made a show of thinking. “Well, there is that small matter of someone trying to kill you.”