Magic's Song Read Online Free Page A

been too afraid. That didn’t make rejection any easier. It sucked. They’d dismissed her already, probably because she didn’t have the right look.
    Sighing, she glanced at one of the women standing next to her. The vamp towered over her with legs encased in skin-hugging leopard pants. The black vest exposed most of the Amazon’s boobs and tons of makeup enhanced a classically beautiful face. What’s wrong with her look?
    “‘Lo,” the vamp said, flashing a row of perfect teeth. She gave her black-purple hair a bit of a shake, exposing green streaks randomly planted in the long black. Somehow, she looked sexy instead of garish.
    “Hello,” Tanith whispered, feeling overdressed. Even in her thigh baring dress, no one would notice her standing next to that dazzler. Not that it mattered.
    “We might as well leave,” she whispered to Darson. “This is obviously the reject line.”
    “Just a sec, hon.” He kept talking to the other female in the trio, as if she hadn’t spoken. His chat buddy wore a buzz cut and sported more chains than Tanith had ever seen without a Doberman nearby.
    “Dar—”
    A combined scream drowned out her words. Tanith looked around for the source of the commotion. She recognized the man sticking his head through the door from the picture on the flyer. Several girls in the other line shrieked.
    “Margo Stewart?” he yelled in a clipped accent, and then disappeared inside the building.
    The beautiful woman who’d been standing next to Tanith tottered toward the door on four-inch stilettos. Tanith grabbed Darson by his ear, forcing him to listen. “I don’t get it. Are they taking people from this line? I thought we were the discards.”
    He groaned. “You’re so negative. Of course this isn’t the reject line.”
    “But, Dar. Why would they want to listen to me and not all those women?” She gestured wildly toward the mob on the left.
    “They’re probably auditioning experienced singers first.”
    “I don’t have any experience.”
    “Sure you do. When I made the appointment, I had to submit a bio along with a listing of any musical training.” The smugness on his face frightened her.
    “Dar.” She shook her head, hoping she was wrong. “You didn’t? Tell me you didn’t fake my experience.”
    He shrugged. “Just a smidge.”
    She would have smacked him if she’d possessed the strength. Heaven help her. Darson had falsified her musical background.
    “I didn’t fake your training, sweetie. And you have the pipes. I’ll bet those women can’t even sing.” He pointed to the other line that kept growing longer.
    “But you lied about my experience, Dar. That isn’t fair.”
    “Get over yourself. You can sing. Those women are just groupies.”
    If his plan included getting her mind off her audition and onto his fraud, he succeeded—she felt completely distracted. “What are you talking about? Why would groupies come to an audition?”
    “Honey, if I were female, I’d be in that line too. Did you see the man who just stuck his head out of that door? He plays keyboard, and like the lead guitarist, he’s beyond gorgeous. These guys may not be big time yet, but they have groupies everywhere they play.”
    Darson maintained his continuous chatter, but Tanith couldn’t follow—mainly because she couldn’t breathe. What happened to the air ?
    The scenery began to spin. She leaned against Darson to stop the swaying. She focused on a light pole in the distance, trying to keep the bitter coffee from rising past her throat.
    “Tanith Cox.”
    Her name penetrated her consciousness. The three syllables sounded as if they’d been spoken from inside an aquarium.
    “That’s you, sweetie. Break a leg.” Darson gave her a gentle shove. Her unwilling body moved forward on unsteady legs.
    The man who’d checked her name off the list held the door open for her. “You okay?”
    “Bathroom?” Tanith croaked.
    She followed the shadow of his arm as it pointed. The swirly