Hearing Evan’s laugh behind me, I turned to see him and Matt standing there, grinning at me. “What?” I asked.

Evan shook his head. “Everywhere we go…”

Matt nodded at him. “I know, right? He’s the best form of marketing we have.” He frowned. “He should be wearing our band shirt, like all the time, twenty-four-seven.” From the contemplative look in his pale eyes, I could tell he was actually serious about that. He wanted me to be a walking, talking billboard everywhere we went. I don’t think so.

Not liking the idea of Matt dressing me every morning, I rolled my eyes and angled my head toward the stage. “Come on, let’s go see how packed it is.”

Leaving the backstage area, I started heading for the entrance to the stage. I just had to know how many people were out there…because I could hear them. Even through the noise and laughter of the people behind the scenes, I could make out the steady buzz of thousands of people talking. Evan and Matt nodded and followed me, Matt chewing on his lip. Griffin stayed behind to flirt with a group of giggling girls, his hopeful groupies. Weaving our way through various people, we eventually found the area directly behind the stage. Security was even tighter here, as was the noise. There was a huge curtain, mostly closed, blocking the entrance to the stage. Wondering if security would stop us, I slowly approached. They did glance our way, but after we flashed them our credentials, they let us pass.

Giddy, I moved the curtain aside and stepped forward onto the stairs, so I could get a good look at the crowd beyond the stage. My jaw dropped as I stared at them all. The crowd was massive, like one giant swarming mess of bodies. This place wasn’t as huge as a stadium show, but it was way bigger than what we were used to. Way bigger than Pete’s. God, I wished Kiera was here to see this. She’d probably freak out for me, but I wasn’t scared, I was…eager. Adrenaline was already filling my stomach, and I had to force myself to not walk out there. Is it time yet?

From behind me, I heard a soft voice say, “Oh my God…”

I looked back to see Matt standing there, eyes locked on the crowd; he looked paler than I’d ever seen him. His panicked eyes flashed to mine. “There’s so many people…how are there so many people?”