Page 40 of Encore
I didn’t know Tabitha or Selena, but we lived our lives dancing out drama for audiences. Was it too much to ask to leave it on the stage and out of the studio? Because all of this was the kind of shit that reminded me of reality television, and we were better than that.
“I can say that I’ve never been able to catch him in the act or even figure outhowhe’s doing it. I’m sure Beyla has questions about how he’s gotten away with it if company members are dying.”
“I always just assumed he traded Unseelie secrets,” Beyla said. “It was how he avoided a cell the first time when the bureau knew he was cursed and why they are breaking protocols with my assignment.”
“The bureau always came, but there were no bodies and no evidence. They were investigating missing persons. It’s always the same. One-by-one, dancers would stop showing up to class. I knew who it was, but I couldn’t say anything, so I reported them missing. They were just gone. There was no sign of a struggle or any evidence left behind. They couldn’t pin a motive on anyone. Some of them are cold cases, and some of them were closed because the agent thought it was a case of mass burnout, and they just disappeared.”
“Derek,” Beyla whispered. “My ex that broke my feet disappeared without a trace. Human police could find nothing. Kaine isn’t supposed to, but he looked into it. I joined the bureau to find out what had happened to him. When I called Kaine to tell him about Marsden and that he had been creeping in the shadows when I was a teenager, he suggested Marsden killed Derek. It makes sense.”
“Why was he watching you when you were a teenager?” Madame Lucinda asked. “Santiago only kills when he has to. He did it to escape the Unseelie the first time, and he did again when they came for him in Mexico. It was only ever for self-preservation until this curse.”
“The reason Marsden thinks it’s going to work this time is apparently I’m a descendant of Selena’s. He didn’t know that until recently. He did some Unseelie stuff which led him to me. He was there the night Derek broke my feet. If he hadn’t have taken a phone call and looked away, he might have been able to stop him.”
“Are you kidding me?” Madame Lucinda said. “Selena didn’t have any children. She was too career driven. If she planned to have them when she retired, she didn’t get that chance.”
“Secret teenage pregnancy that happened when a choreographer raped her. She gave the baby up for adoption. Marsden got ahold of the adoption records with the name she was given. So, when he told us her name, I knew it. I didn’t know Selena, but I knew her name.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed that. I knew Selena, and you look nothing like her except maybe around the eyes a little. But this is major. Selena was always kind to me. She’d drop in at the academy and sometimes teach when I was a student.
“I heard rumors about what went down in Mexico when Selena and Santiago had to flee. They fought together. Selena was capable of some serious magic. Selena and Santiago got the Unseelie Court to back off from bringing him back. The States didn’t want him at first because their court was still intent on bringing him back because of his talents. Then, something happened in Mexico that they no longer became a problem, and they could immigrate here.
“If she was going to curse her soulmate for betraying her, she was only going to want someone she trusted dancing her role and breaking this curse. He’s tried witches before. It can’t just beanywitch. It had to be someone she knew she’d have a connection with, even though witches can’t see the future. It had to be her blood.”
Holy shit. I had my doubts about Marsden’s theory because of the sheer level of manipulation on his part, and he utterly lost my trust after we found out he was really Santiago Suarez. But Madame Lucinda was someone I trusted with my body and my career. She knew Selena, too, and she wasn’t blinded by love for her like Marsden was.
People that knew Selena were in short supply, but we had access to two people who did. They both agreed that if Selena had a secret child out there, she’d probably use her lineage as the kill switch to the curse.
We might actually be able to pull this off. I still wanted to punch Marsden in the face, though.
Chapter36
Beyla
We didn’t get a lot of opportunities just to go out and enjoy ourselves. That gala didn’t count. Since we knew the truth about Marsden, I hoped we didn’t have to hole up in the apartment looking at photos and trying to find Santiago.
Now that I knew we were related, I had to admit I was curious about Selena a little. I had every intention of cursing Derek for what he did to me, but did I have it in me to put a curse that killed other people on someone like she did to Marsden? Did I have that kind of darkness inside me?
I disagreed with the curse she cast because it hurt innocents more than it hurt her husband. But after hearing Madame Lucinda and Marsden talk about her, I didn’t think she was a horrible person. Marsden was trying to explain things from her point of view.
He told us most of the things Tabitha did to her. Tabitha truly was evil, and I agreed with Madame Lucinda. She should have been fired. Tabitha must have realized Marsden would never leave Selena for her, even with her succubus tricks.
She preyed on Selena’s worst fears. The bitch was leaving dead animals out to torment her. And then her husband, who was supposed to support her, decided to give her part to the deranged woman tormenting her instead of firing the bitch. He didn’t even talk to Selena and ask if she wanted a break. He just decided for her and broke her heart.
It sounded like she just snapped. Bellatrix did, too, really. Ballet was a high-pressure world, but some people just made it extra dramatic when it didn’t have to be. Honestly, all this could have been solved if Marsden was a little heavier-handed with terminating contracts no matter what name he was using.
We had been back in rehearsals for two weeks now. Classes were so much less dramatic without Bellatrix and Ivory. Marsden wasn’t abusing us to get to Damita’s death anymore. He was throwing a lot at us, but it felt like a typical rehearsal for a professional company. We were getting a lot done with no tantrums at rehearsals.
Marsden was open and honest, which was shocking after being here this long. We were wrapping up rehearsal for the day. We were all panting and dripping with sweat. This ballet was brutal, but it was pretty amazing.
“So, full disclosure,” Marsden said. “Tomorrow, we’ll be starting Damita’s death scene. It’s not very long, so we should finish it by the end of the rehearsal. It’ll mostly be fight choreography with the guys until Damita steps in to stop it, and Arden accidentally stabs her. I’ll be able to feel it as soon as rehearsal wraps if it’s like the other times. I’ll tell you; I promise.”
“Merlin had a damned good idea, and I’m not sure why you haven’t tried it,” I said. “If you’re feeling like something has triggered the curse, I’ll lock your ass in a cell, and we’ll do this ballet without you.”
“Set me up with a video camera so I can teach you the rest of the choreography, and I’ll go willingly.”
I didn’t expect that at all. For one, Marsden was a bit of a control freak. Secondly, Marsden never talked about his time with the Unseelie. Most people who defected were left alone after they left. I might think some of his decisions were epically stupid, but he was a virtuoso in several arts-related fields.
I knew enough about his time with the Unseelie that they made an utter mess in Mexico trying to bring him back by force. I didn’t know how they treated him when he was a member of their court, but it wouldn’t shock me if Marsden made it a point to avoid staying in a cell for everyone’s safety and hadn’t tried Merlin’s idea before because the Unseelie kept him in one at some point. At least he was willing to work with me on this.
