Page 27 of Encore
“Girl, you should do it. I don’t think I’ve ever looked this good in my entire life.”
“I brought my best work out tonight. It means a lot to Arden, and he’s my best friend. Plus, this is your first gala, and now you’re the lead. Marsden will be whoring you out to people for donations, and people will be taking photos. Ilikeyou, and I’m not sending you to the lions with anything they can use for ammunition. Some reporters are nasty and will try to trick you into saying something they can quote out of context. Watch out for those bitches.”
“Thanks, Nyx. You have no idea how glad I am that I ended up your roommate.”
“Now, Arden is waiting with your pumpkin to take you to the ball. You’d better treat him well because we are besties. Go forth and meet your prince. I’m meeting Bevan and the other guys to get there together.”
When I opened the door to our apartment, Arden was already waiting. He lookedstunningin his tux. They cut it just right. He had just enough stubble on his face to look a little dangerous. His hair was styled, and since he was a dancer, he knew how to apply night makeup and make it look natural. Arden had just a touch of eyeliner on. He held out his arm to me.
“Are you ready to go to the ball, my princess?”
I kissed his cheek.
“Bring it.”
Chapter24
Arden
Plenty of people had asked, but I didn’t let justanyoneon the back of my motorcycle. I didn’t technically need it in New York City. Parking was a nightmare here, and our shitty landlord charged me extra to store it inside. I really wanted a cute little void cat to keep me company, but that was extra, too. A toddler did more property damage than a cat, but it was illegal to charge a kid deposit and child fees like it was with pets.
Still, there was nothing better than my bike and the open road once I rode away from the traffic. It wasn’t a long ride to the hall the gala was being thrown in. I wouldn’t have tried to walk it in a tuxedo in spring or make my date do it in heels. It was a quick subway ride, but I generally rocked up to galas on my motorcycle because it was a fan favorite.
Riding had always calmed my gryphon. It was right up there with ballet on the list of my favorite things. Riding with Beyla behind me and her arms squeezing my waist was just awesome. She smelled amazing, and when I took off, she squeezed me harder and shrieked in glee.
The ride didn’t take long at all. She wasn’t even getting close to my bike without a helmet. Nyx would murder me if I messed up Beyla’s hair and makeup, but the ride wasn’t long enough to do any of that. I roared up to the gala, hopped off my bike, and ripped off my helmet.
The flash of cameras nearly blinded me, but I was used to this. I helped Beyla off the back of my bike. This was new to her, but she handled it like a total pro. She gave her hair a sexy shake when she took her helmet off and a brilliant smile. I could tell she was nervous, though.
I tossed my keys to the valet and wrapped my arm around her waist. We planned this next bit together. Beyla didn’t know, and we swore Nyx to secrecy. She thought she was my date tonight, but I was just her ride. We walked in like a coven, and Nyx was coming with us.
We all knew Marsden would be heavily pimping out Beyla at this gala. There would be plenty of patrons at the gala tonight that had season tickets because they enjoyed watching Bellatrix dance. They wanted more than justan unfortunate accidentregarding her death.
Marsden would have to open up a whole can of bad publicity that would cost him his job. He was going to use Beyla as a distraction. So, we made a plan to just use him back and use it to our benefit. He decided she would dance Damita instead of bringing in a company dancer. There was no question she was the perfect dancer for the part, but she was supposed to be here undercover.
If he was going to go through all this trouble to make the public think she was his next ingenue, we were going to make damned sure he couldn’t take it back if we pulled this off. Of course, he’d be stupid to let her leave without an offer after seeing her dance, but his decision-making skills lately hadn’t been too great.
Plus, we weren’t just trying to help Beyla. This ballet could cement Bevan and Nyx’s careers, too. There were plenty of professional dancers who were the best at their ballet schools when they were teenagers who would never dance a lead role or graduate from the corps.
They were fabulous dancers, or they would never have made it into a professional dance company. They just didn’t have that something extra required for leads or solos. And that was totally okay. You couldn’t have a ballet without the corps.
But Nyx and Bevan had that something extra, and Marsden wasfinallygiving them a chance. Nyx was a versatile dancer. She could blend in perfectly with everyone else as a corps member, or she could turn it up and shine as a soloist. Bevan excelled at roles of strength since he was on the taller side for a dancer. He was never meant for drag roles.
Everyone was right on time. Bevan slipped his arm into Beyla’s, and we presented a united front as we walked inside. Oh, man. The press waseatingthis shit up. The video we made for Beyla went viral, even before stupid Marsden commandeered it for press. They wanted to know all about Beyla right now and how she managed to get the attention of all four of us.
Press was the simple part when you were still outside. They just wanted photos, and they didn’t mind much if you didn’t answer their questions as long as they got a fantastic shot. Inside was a different story. They cornered you and wanted a quote.
We were fashionably late. We all made it a point to be one of the last people to arrive. We never managed to get there after Bellatrix and Ivory, but tonight was different. I was reasonably confident we were the last cast members to arrive tonight.
We all had our swagger on as we walked into the hall. Marsden had clearly been looking for us because as soon as he saw us, he signaled for the band to stop playing and grabbed their mic. Oh, fuck. It was starting. I had to resist the urge to scoop my mate up and carry her ass out of her.
A small part of me was curious about what Marsden was going to say. None of us had posed for a single promo photo for this ballet. Every time we had a gala, there were banners everywhere with Bellatrix or Ivory’s face plastered all over them. There were other banners with his male leads doing action shots.
There were zero photos of company members out today. All the banners and pop-ups were these absolutely gorgeous sketches of sets and costumes. Those were the originals from when this ballet was first conceived based on the slight fading. Which meant he had to have gotten them from Santiago because Bevan was a geek and had gone through the archives even before Beyla got here. They weren’t there.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have a huge announcement tonight. Our final show of the year is a ballet conceived one hundred and fifty years ago. It was the only time in the history of this company that they ever canceled a ballet, and there was no final show that year. It was revolutionary then, and it’s revolutionary now.
“I know some of you can’t pick a favorite among some of our male dancers, and some of you have already made up your mind. This ballet has Nicolai, Merlin, and Arden dancing in the lead. You’ll also be introduced to another one of our male dancers debuting in his first lead role. Bevan Hart will be dancing the part of one of the warriors and love interests.
