Page 31 of Encore
“Good job getting rid of her. I can’t stand Harmony.”
“Thanks, man. I owed you for saving me from Electra. She was two seconds away from grabbing my junk in front of the chocolate fountain.”
I let out a little growl. I’d never considered myself a jealous person, but excuse me, what? I wasn’t stupid. I knew the sordid history of what used to be expected of ballet dancers to keep the company afloat. Flirting and touching were pretty minor compared to some of the prostitution that went on when the curtain went down, but what century were we in again? Read the room and knock it off if someone wasn’t into it. Nicolai was taken.
“Should I hex her?” I growled. “I can do it where it can’t be traced back to this gala. I learned from the best.”
Ripley and Ravyn taught me the best hexes but warned me only to break them out when it was absolutely needed. I had one filed away in my spank bank if Derek ever showed his stupid face again. I was sure there was an appropriate one for a woman who tried to take something that wasn’t theirs.
“Leave it,” Nicolai said. “She makes me uncomfortable, but I feel sorry for her. Electra has a void she’s trying to fill with famous husbands and micromanaging their careers into the ground. She really needs a fish tank and some house plants.”
“She repeatedly tried to tell me we’d sell more tickets if I only performed in my dance belt, with a light show and live music from pop singers,” Arden said. “You should hex her for that.”
“Forget the hexing. She’s set her sights on Bevan now. He’s nice to everyone and tends to play the long game, but the boy still has limits. Ballet is sacred to Bevan, and as much as he enjoys showing off, he hates being treated like a piece of ass. I’m not letting Electra ruin his career when it’s just getting started,” Nicolai said.
I got the guys working together to save Bevan because everyone in my group universally liked him. It was pretty great to see Arden and Nicolai looking out for each other at these things. They weren’t just tolerating each other for my sake. That fist bump looked a lot like friendship.
Now, we needed to go rescue Bevan. I wasn’t going to hex her, but perhaps a girl talk was in order about fishing in a different pond for her next husband because it wasn’t cool to go after my coven.
Chapter29
Beyla
Isurvived my first gala, and honestly, I didn’t want to do that again for a very long time. Some of the people there had zero boundaries.The Phad funding from the public art fund given out to a good bit of the arts organizations in New York, but it was never enough to pay for the level of productions they had a reputation for.
I had it easy for the most part. After Arden and Nicolai got rid of Harmony, she pestered Marsden for the rest of the night. The rest of the press I spoke to were primarily respectful and just wanted to get to know me. I danced with several people, but they didn’t know me or my limits. They were mainly respectful aside from flirting, which was quickly shut down.
We were home in various stages of undress, lounging on the couch. Nyx and I had our shoes off and our feet propped up. We suffered several hours a day in pointe shoes. Was it unreasonable to ask that, literally, no one requested our presence anywhere in five-inch heels?
The guys looked fantastic in their tuxedos, but there was something sexy about them just sitting there with their bow ties untied and the first few buttons on their shirts undone. They looked good dressed up or dressed down.
“So, you survived your first gala,” Nicolai said.
Bevan moaned.
“They are less stressful when no one cares who you are. Everyone who came up to me would have been kicked out of single’s night at the gay club for boundary issues.
“I noticed. Merlin, who was that woman you were with all night?” I asked.
This lovely older woman seemed content to spend the night sitting at a table with Merlin. They both seemed quite satisfied, and Merlin looked like he was right where he wanted to be.
“That’s Athena Redwood. She and her husband were regulars at the galas and performances. Her husband passed my first year in the company. Athena came to the gala because she was lonely, and she always enjoyed it. That was back when I was nobody. The press didn’t want to talk to me, and I wasn’t famous enough for the women to flirt with. So, it was freeing, really.
“I saw her sitting by herself, and she seemed upset. So, I went over to introduce myself, and we ended up talking all night. Athena is an amazing woman. She’s been nothing but supportive, and she expects nothing from me. I’ve convinced her to let me help out around her apartment when she needs it, and sometimes, I take her out to eat. You’re my girlfriend and everything that comes with that, but she’ll always be my platonic side piece with none of the bedroom perks.”
Merlin was just so great, and he didn’t show enough people that. He could have gotten major brownie points with Nyx, Arden, and me before we all got together if he had told us that. There were plenty of things hedidlike to brag about, but his friendships and relationships were sacred. Nyx and Arden were looking at him with new respect.
“I’m going to bed,” Nyx announced. “If you bitches are going to get horny with each other, do it somewhere else. I plan on sleeping like the dead, and Mrs. Garcia hasn’t hogged the laundry room since you took your filthy fornicating down the hall.”
I looked right at Arden. I told him I wanted him to claim me, and he said he was planning something. He designed our entrance to the gala, and he seemed to be fighting it when we were alone.
“Oh, no. I want to more than you know, but it has to be special. Tonight, wasn’t that. I already have it planned. There isnothingmore special than curtain call your first time on stage dancing the lead role. We’re going to do it that night.”
I felt all the wind go out of my sails. I was on the fence about it when I found out I had been mated to a gryphon, but now I was all in. I loved this ballet, but I wasn’t any closer to breaking the curse on it. Now it was cock-blocking me.
“Stick that adorable lower lip back in, Beyla,” Arden said. “You might not be there yet, but Iknowyou’re going to break this curse. You’re going to be on stage right alongside us, and the audience is going to love you. Marsden all but offered you a position in the company when you were dancing. It’s just the first of many leads, but the feeling never gets old.”
“It’s true,” Nicolai said. “I know you’re going to break that curse. We’ll be here helping.”
