Page 38 of Encore
She wasn’t mad at me. She was smiling. We all knew what happened to Bellatrix that day in the studio was an accident. We all would have taken it back if we could. None of us wanted Bellatrix dead. We just wanted her gone. But any of us would be lying if we said it wasn’t a little perfect watching Beyla and Bevan magically break her nose.
“You know I’m fully invested in my dancers, Nicolai. I want you all to survive this ballet. But I can also recognize talent when I see it, and Beyla has what it takes. So, I’ll be there because I have a vested interest in stopping him. But I’m also going to be there for selfish reasons. When dance partners ooze chemistry on stage and off and people know they are in a relationship, it boosts the company. The five of you together are going to take this world by storm, but we can’t give heranyreason to give up on ballet, and there’s a lot stacked against her right now.”
“Madame Lucinda, are you playing matchmaker?”
Madame Lucinda was a player back in her day. She still was. Merlin and I used to revel in being players, but we hadnothingon Madame Lucinda in her prime. She never married because she told me she never wanted to be tied down like that. Madame Lucinda used men to her advantage. She never struck me as much of a romantic.
“Shut up, Nicolai. I never had much use for romance in my personal life, but it’s my favorite genre to read. You and Merlin tried to give it a go, and honestly, you did it all wrong. If you’re going to play the field, youalwaysend things on good terms in case you need something later. You two assholes were spectacular failures in that regard. She needs to take you off the playing field for all our sakes. The strong woman getting the guy who is shitty at playing the field to settle down and stop fucking things up is my favorite trope.”
“You’re so mean sometimes,” I laughed.
“I’m old. I’m allowed to say what I think, and everyone has to swallow their feelings because they think I’m going to die any day now. Now, shut up and don’t ruin this with Beyla. I’m starving. When are we eating? I’m already dressed up.”
“An hour? We’re pretty dressed down.”
“Well, get dressed because the Kitsunes who run the place get really offended if you show up looking like a slob. You won’t get past the hostess.”
“I know. They’ll also kick you out and ban you if you’re rude to the staff. I have it on good authority Bellatrix, Ivory, and Julian all got banned.”
“Stop talking, Nicolai. Go put some pants on so I can eat.”
I hung up so we could all get ready. This was perfect. Madame Lucinda had given us all so much. Taking her to dinner to tell her Beyla would break this curse didn’t even come close to giving all that back. Kitsunes made sushi was so damned good, they could afford to kick anyone out for doing something they didn’t like.
I couldn’twaitto take Beyla there.
Chapter35
Bevan
Ididn’t count the gala where several cougars and men who thought I was just a bottom made me feel like a piece of meat. This was technically our first date with Beyla, but I don’t think any of us had a problem with Nyx and Madame Lucinda coming.
Beyla wouldn’t have figured out Marsden was really Santiago if it weren’t for Nyx. Of course, she wasn’t interested in any of us romantically and would probably be offended if any of us had feelings for her that way, but she was still a part of all of this. Nyx would be an honorary member of this coven until she got sick of our shit and decided not to be.
Madame Lucinda didn’t mentor all of us, but we were all better dancers because of her. Since my third class with her, she had believed in me after joining the company. Madame Lucinda had asked me to stay after, and I thought I was in trouble. But instead, she was nothing but supportive. She offered me private lessons and all this encouragement. Marsden finally cast me in a lead role, and I knew it had everything to do with her mentorship.
I’d been to this particular sushi place before, but only on special occasions. This place was famous among the supernaturals of New York. It didn’t look like much from the outside, but it was beautiful inside once you got past the lobby.
A family of Kitsunes had run it for generations. The old granny Kitsune was still working the kitchen with her kids and grandkids. The little cousins and extended family waited and bussed tabled while they were in school. When they hired outside of the family, they carefully vetted people. The food was straight up excellent.
I couldn’t wait to eat there with everyone I cared about. Nyx and I came here sometimes with Arden to celebrate when he got the lead again. We were either in the corps or in drag, but we were both happy for him. Nyx might be prickly and have no mouth filter with pretty much everyone, but never to an employee when she was out.
You got the full Nyx experience if she saw someone being rude to a server, cashier, or retail worker, too. She put the smackdown on some vampires who were being rude to a new waiter here before they could get kicked out.
Hana, the matriarch who ran this restaurant, came out to personally thank Nyx for stopping two assholes from bullying her great-great-grandson over tea. Being a tourist is no excuse. Who goes to a traditional Japanese restaurant, orders tea, and gets furious when it comes out hot? They were berating this kid because it didn’t come out iced and sweet. That wasn’t even an option here.
Hana absolutely adored Nyx for standing up for her family. She tried to comp our meal, and Nyx refused. That kid also waited on us. He was seventeen, and his family was going to send him to business school to manage the restaurant in the future. Nyx told her that when she refused.
We never got free food when we went, but Nyx would be the reason we could get a table without booking a reservation weeks in advance. There was one table in the restaurant that was never booked. It was still a lovely table, but it was towards the back and for friends and family. Nyx now had the honor of being invited to that table when she showed up.
We met Madame Lucinda outside, and she was worried about not having a reservation. This place was such an iconic part of the supernatural scene in New York City that humans tried to eat here, too. No one was getting a table without a reservation made weeks in advance unless you were friends with the owner.
“Hana is great,” Nyx gushed. “If someone is not already using it, there will be a table for us. Since my family doesn’t live in the States, I give her two of my comp tickets so she and her husband can have a date night at the ballet. She’s going todiewhen I tell her I have a solo this time.”
I didn’t know this about Nyx, but it didn’t shock me. She was fiercely loyal to her people, and she adopted them randomly. There were plenty of dancers in the company with family far away and friends who didn’t like ballet. Tickets to our performances were in high demand for the people who enjoyed ballet.
We were all given a certain number of comp tickets for opening night for friends and family. There were plenty of broke-ass dancers in this company who sold theirs for some wriggle room after they paid rent and expenses.
None of us here did. Nicolai, Merlin, and I kept two for friends, and we were big brothers to some youths in a program that was meant to keep them out of juvenile detention centers or jail when they were old enough. My little brother thought he would hate it, but he came and ended up loving it. I pulled some strings to get him into ballet lessons.
