Mage Catalyst Read Online Free PDF Page A

magically glowing skin later.
I gestured to Tony a thumbs up. Conversation was out of the question as the music drowned out everything. I saw Tony get to his feet, grinning broadly, and wave to Sarah who had just walked into the bar. She was dressed in a slim black shirt and denim jeans, and I’ve got to admit she looked pretty hot. I nodded in way of greeting as she joined us at the table. She casually looped her arm through Tony’s and slid in next to him.
“Thank you, Melbourne!” the singer with the Mohawk shrieked. It was the only time I got to actually hear his voice. I guessed he was hoarse from trying to sing louder than the guitars and not suffering from a six-day-old throat infection, which is how his voice sounded.
The house music returned as the band began packing up their gear. It seemed like a lot of effort for about forty minutes of playing. I watched them lug their equipment off the stage and out a side door. The house music was softer than the band and we could hear the dull murmur of multiple conversations fill the club.
“I’ll buy you a drink,” I said to Sarah. “What would you like?” This would be the first time I’d ordered something and I was dying to use my ID. I’d brought it from home specifically for this.
“House red?” She smiled back, getting out her purse.
“This one’s on me.” I got to my feet and headed towards the bar. Since we had gotten in, the crowd had almost doubled in size. It was getting kind of hard to make my way through them. We were lucky to have our booth now. It took me some time to work my way through the crowd to get to the bar.
“House red and two beers,” I shouted as I finally attracted the bartender’s attention, frantically waving my ID at him.
He pushed my ID, but seemed to get some amusement from my eagerness to present it. Seconds later he produced our drinks. Working my way back to our booth required more skill as the place was filling up fast. I sat down just in time to watch the next band begin to set up.
“These are them,” Tony proclaimed, pointing at the band as I set our drinks down on the table.
This band was much larger than the previous – two guitarists, a drummer, a lead singer and a keyboardist. It was actually pretty amazing how quickly the band was able to set up all their equipment, considering the complexity. Then again I suppose that you’d get pretty good at it once you’d done enough gigs.
The lead singer purred loudly into the mike and began to pump her foot on the ground. The keyboardist lay down a complex series of notes and seconds later the guitarist broke in, weaving the guitar around the keyboard. It was intoxicating. This band was good – really good. I wasn’t surprised – Tony was normally pretty skilled at picking the good bands.
I was stunned into silence and sat and watched as the singer finally began to sing. Her voice pierced into my head with startling clarity and I found myself sitting mutely as the crowd around me burst into cheering, clapping and singing along. I had goose bumps all up and down my arms and that feeling you get when you’re listening to really, really good music.
The songs were dark, deep and vibrant and far better than the usual level of pub band rock. Their music had a taint of Goth but without all the melodramatic suicide references. The singer’s voice had that husky quality to it that I found appealing in women’s voices.
    “Wow, these guys are good,” I finally stammered.
“Yeah, I told you!” Tony shouted back, his hands clapping in time.
The band played three songs and a ballad and I sat stock still through the entire set, intoxicated by the sound. The guitarists and keyboardist broke into a complex instrumental that wove complicated melodies around each other. Each note built into a crescendo of sound that washed over the audience and led to more cheering and screaming from the crowd.
“Wow,” I mumbled again, unable to find the words to express myself.