Page 26 of Encore
“You guys are so fucking stupid sometimes,” Nyx said. “You’re lucky I like all of you, and I’m a banshee. Hello? You all saw me have a death omen a few days ago. Selena wasn’t a banshee, but the perfect way to kick off her stupid revenge curse is to kill off innocent cast members by killing one of the characters. Seriously, do none of you read paranormal romance? Because I’m getting those vibes with all of this.”
Her delivery could use some work, but Nyx was utterly right. Marsden admitted he roomed me with a banshee because they could foretell death, but Nyx wasn’t the only banshee in the company. She had some pretty big opinions on Marsden. If he just wanted someone to shriek to warn me when a death was coming, I would think he would want someone working with me that didn’t loathe him and everything he stood for.
Marsden had a bigger opinion of Nyx than she knew. It wasn’t just that he finally recognized her talent and gave her a solo. That big, beautiful, sarcastic brain of hers was precisely what I needed right now. I didn’t just need a banshee. I needed Nyx.
I grabbed Nyx and kissed her on the cheek. She shoved me away and scowled at me.
“You’re brilliant, Nyx. I love you.”
“You could have told me that without getting your cooties on me.”
“If Nyx and Merlin are correct, and I can feel in my gut they are, then we can throw out the theory the Bellatrix died because of the curse. I don’t think it’s officially gotten started yet.”
“Of course, I’m right. I always am about death omens. However, that doesn’t explain why that Unseelie turd is throwing a gala to announce this ballet to the world when Santiago hasn’t even started getting stabby with you lot. It’s going to be bad publicity if it’s canceled after all that.”
Nicolai scratched his chin.
“If Damita’s death is the death omen to the real cast dying, why is Marsden pushing us so hard to get to it?”
“So, I’m a hardcore nerd, and Battlestar Galactica got me through some rough times,” Bevan said. “One thing they say a good bit in that show isall of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.That’s precisely what we’re dealing with now. We know this isn’t the first time Santiago has convinced an artistic director to try this ballet. I need to start deep-diving into history. Even with the geas placed on everyone in the company, it still ended up on an episode of Ballet Conspiracy theories becauseThe Pdoesn’t cancel shows.
“They dig deep on every podcast. That one came out last year.The Sugar Skull Girlgetting canceled the first time wouldn’t have caught their attention if it wasn’t the only ballet that had ever been canceled. They went through a lot of trouble to cover up what happened the first time and make sure no one in the company who was still alive could talk about it, but it was that cancellation that was suspicious.”
Merlin was nodding.
“They had to have replaced it with something else, but carefully as they probably lost a good bit of their stars.The Pdoesn’t tend to repeat shows until decades have gone by, and it was really popular. They rarely do it because they pride themselves on innovative ballets. The only time I can think of that they’ve dragged out old favorites was when it was an anniversary for the company. If you can find a repeat or a ballet that seems out of the ordinary, we might figure out which years this ballet was attempted again.”
“Yes!” Bevan said. “I can do that while the rest of you dig through those photos.”
“I’ll do that, too,” Nyx said. “Looking at those photos is boring as fuck, but I don’t want any of you getting murdered. And if this ballet gets canceled, I don’t know if Marsden will give me a solo again.”
“You still riding to the gala tomorrow with me?” Arden asked.
The dress Marsden sent me was actually cut perfectly to ride on the back of his motorcycle. And he worked it out with everyone else to make the perfect entrance. Arden looked worried I had changed my mind. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
“Of course. I’m excited about riding bitch on your motorcycle.”
He seemed to still be planning how he would claim me, but this was my official first date with all four of them.
Chapter23
Beyla
I’d never really been to a big gala like this before. I’d tagged along with Kaine for bureau fundraising parties, and we both got invited when the Library and Museum of the Profane did their fundraising. I was just some little insignificant guest who could hang out with the people I liked and enjoy the finger food.
This was different. I couldn’t see the future, but I already knew how Marsden would play this. No one who had ever danced with Bellatrix liked that succubus, but the public sure did. Marsden was being tightlipped as hell about what happened in rehearsal that she went flying out of the window.
It was going to take more than a fancy gala and a new ballet to get people’s minds off of what really happened to Bellatrix. He was going to be shoving me in everyone’s faces as his next ingenue. That wasn’t like the long-term plotting I expected from him. He hadn’t remotely acted like he wanted me to stay when this was all over.
I was definitely going to have to play nice with people I couldn’t stand and crusty-ass old men with roaming hands. I’d have to be careful what I said about Marsden, Bellatrix, and this ballet because I was definitely going to be quoted in various places. Of course, I could say exactly what was on my mind, and there would be people out there that ate it up, but if I was going to go full out with a ballet career, I wasn’t going to kick it off with a reputation as a diva.
I was nervous as hell, but Nyx kicked everyone out of our apartment while we got ready, and my guys didn’t really fight it much because they didn’t want me to see them in their tuxes. They seemed to be of the mindset this was a wedding and not a gala.
I had to admit, Nyx was fabulous at doing hair and makeup, and we had a blast while we were getting ready. I was so glad we ended up being roommates. It wasn’t just that she’d been a tremendous help on this. We got along, and I adored that banshee.
She had left my hair loose but curled it. She hosed me down with hairspray one last time and stood back to look at me.
“I don’t want to teach little crotch demons when I retire. Maybe I’ll be a surly-ass fairy godmother and do makeovers for money.”
