Do NOT go online.
I mean it, Bells.
Oh, that's not ominous at all.
I grab the papers.
The top sheet is a printout, timestamped six hours ago.
BREAKING: VESPYR FRONTMAN "BELLS" CONFIRMED AS MISSING POP STAR ISABEL FROST
Oh.
FUCK!
I keep reading because I'm a fucking masochist.
...sources within Seattle General Hospital have confirmed that Vespyr's enigmatic lead singer, known publicly as "Bells," is in fact Isabel Frost, the former pop sensation who vanished from public life years ago. Frost, believed by fans and industry insiders to be a male beta, has been revealed to be female.
My hands are shaking.
The revelation comes in the wake of a violent confrontation at the historic Leroux Opera House, which was destroyed by fire during what police are describing as a kidnapping and hostage situation involving The Reverie manager Stephen Hughes...
I put the paper down.
Pick it up again.
...concert footage showing the dramatic unmasking of Vespyr guitarist Hendrix "Rex" Steele has gone viral, amassing over forty million views in under twelve hours. The footage captures the moment Frost removes Steele's trademark mask, revealing extensive disfigurement, followed by an onstage kiss that has been described as...
I stop reading.
I set the papers face down on the tray table and stare at the ceiling tiles and breathe.
Everyone knows.
The whole world knows everything.
Isabel Frost. Alive. Not dead, not in witness protection, not in rehab, not any of the thousand theories that circulated after I disappeared. Alive, andfemale, and standing on a stage in leather pants with a silicone dick in her jeans, fronting a masked rock band, kissing a scarred alpha while the pyrotechnics exploded around them.
Okay. They don't knoweverything.
The article didn't mention I'm a fucking omega.
I press my palms over my eyes and laugh.
It comes out cracked and wet and borderline hysterical and it wakes Phoenix, whose blond head snaps up so fast he nearly topples the chair.
"Bells?" He's on his feet instantly, his huge hands finding my shoulders. "Hey. Hey, you're awake."
"Yep. I'm awake." My voice sounds like I ate gravel. "How long?"
"A little over a day." His blue eyes are scanning my face, my arms, the monitors, everything. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got kidnapped, drugged, locked in a cage, and set an opera house on fire?"
"So... accurate."
"Where's Rex?"