Page 12 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Bellatrix and Ivory usually alternated leads, though Bellatrix had more of them. Theyalwaysunderstudied each other and had this system where the understudy got to do at least two matinees. No one understudied either of them except the other. They were viciously jealous of everyone in the company, except each other.
They were going to destroy the new girl.
Based on the look on her face, she was just as shocked as we were. She looked like she was ready to beat the shit out of Marsden. I would have paid money to watch a tiny ballerina beat him up with her pointe shoes. She looked like this prim little ballerina… except for that look in her eyes… I’ll bet she could kick his ass!
That kind of stink eye wasn’t because Marsden had promised her a lead during pillow talk and instead only made her understudy. No, that was the stink eye of a woman who didn’t go there with him and knew what everyone would think after he gave her this. Marsden just put amassivetarget on her back.
Julian was technically part of The Toxic Trio ofThe P.He adored Bellatrix and Ivory, and thought their shit was adorable. He’d done solos with both of them. Don’t ask me why he was still #teambitches after trying to lift them, let alone all the nasty shit they got up to.
This was going to be a cluster fuck… Julian was going to team up with Bellatrix and Ivory to destroy Beyla, and he was going to convince them to go after Bevan for taking his lead. Bevan deserved it, he was a good dancer, and he’d put in his time.
I watched Beyla in class. I watched all the new girls. Nicolai was always looking for the perfect partner, though I was just bored and looking for someone new to fuck. She was good. If she had put in her dues, I could see her getting solos and even leads. But, she hadn’t. And based on the murderous glances she was shooting Marsden, she hadn’t fucked him either.
What in the world was going on? Something was definitely going on with the new girl, and the entire ballet, really. Why was it such a big secret that Marsden wasn’t promoting it, and why’d we have to sign an NDA in blood?
Marsden was boringly predictable. I didn’t trust predictable people when they started making changes. Whatever was going on, it all revolved around this new girl.
I was going to figure this out, and if it meant protecting her from ballet mean girls, I’d do it… at least, until I was doing her. If she needed to be destroyed, I’d do it in my own way.
Chapter12
Beyla
Iwas ready to murder Marsden… I knew there were some fucked up ballet politics atThe Pthat involved sleeping with him. I had heard the gossip from Arden and Nyx, and I got part of Marsden’s story, but I knew what everyone would think when a new corps member understudied the lead on their first day.
I understood why he did it, even if he refused to tell me. There were five leads in this ballet. If someone or something didn’t want this ballet to see an audience, the quickest way to make sure it didn’t was to kill off the leads. That was just my theory though, since he’d refused to tell me who any previous victims were in this ballet.
My goal was to blend in and do this with as little drama as possible, but that was now never going to happen. I wasn’t formally introduced because of Bellatrix and Ivory, who made that loud ass noise when I was announced as the understudy.
They were both looking at me like I’d killed their puppy right in front of them. The entire company was looking at me like I’d sweated through my deodorant and stank. I picked up my dance bag and just wanted to get out of there, go straight to Marsden’s office and rip him a new asshole.
“Beyla? I need you and Bevan to stay behind,” Madame Lucinda said.
What. The. Fuck?! Arden and Nyx said I wouldn’t exist to her in my first class. This whole assignment was starting to stink. Marsden was famous internationally. I knew I wouldn’t be seen on stage if this ballet saw the light of day, but he was risking his entire reputation with his cast and crew by bringing in an agent undercover as a dancer.
It made alotmore fucking sense to bring me in as his assistant. That way I’d be at the heart of everything, and he wouldn’t be risking a totally gauche dancer who didn’t know what they were doing in front of his company. He didn’t knowanythingabout my training, nor had he seen me dance when he decided I would be doing this. I doubted he really remembered me from my audition at the academy.
I held my own in class with the company, I didn’t ask any stupid questions, and I pulled off everything Madame Lucinda wanted us to do. It was challenging, and I was dripping with sweat by the end of it. I’d need ice on my feet and a heating pad on my back when I got home, but I did it.
I even forgot why I was here for a minute and lost myself in my enjoyment of ballet. I actually hadfun!All that came crashing down when Marsden announced the cast. And what did Madame Lucinda want with me?
Hopefully, it was something good… because I hoped she would give me information about this fucking ballet they’d sent me to save.
Chapter13
Bevan
What the actual fuck was happening? I got solos, and minor roles withThe P.Marsden usually used me when he required a male to play someone’s ugly stepsister or wicked stepmother. It wasn’t like that was my first time in drag, and it meant I didn’t have to partner with Bellatrix or Ivory.
Madame Lucinda stuck me with both of them to try me out during apas de deuxclass, because I was the right height. It was worth, not getting leads, just to never have to do that again with either of them!
Not only were they both totally toxic, but it was also like lifting a gigantic bag of rocks with both of them. They were both very slim dancers, but they didn’t seem to understand this was a fifty-fifty thing, and that they needed to help a little when it came to lifting them over my head.
What the fuck had changed that meant I was now one of the leads? I couldn’t even get excited about it because I knew Julian expected to get one of them, and he had been demoted to soloist. Fuck, I think all of us, including me, expected Julian to play one of the warriors.
He was just as toxic as Bellatrix and Ivory. The new girl that got asked to stay behind with me had just as big a target on her back as I did. I’d watched her in class, and realized that she hadn’t paid her dues like the rest of us, but she was undeniably good. I saw her aura change when it was announced. She didn’t know, and she was furious about it. She didn’t go there with Marsden, which meant he saw something special in her.
I just didn’t get why we were both being asked to stay behind.
