Page 15 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
“Hey, incubus boy! Quit throwing that at me. I’m trying to eat here!”
Merlin’s mouth fell open. Nicolai and Bevan started laughing. I guess he wasn’t used to girls who could fight back.
“I like her,” Nicolai said.
“Beyla, meet my roommates,” Bevan said. “They are pigs. Ignore them. What the fuck are you both doing here?”
“You always come here when you want to celebrate. We knew you’d eventually make your way here after Madame Lucinda was done with you. It’s about fucking time you got a lead, Bevan. You’re a better dancer than Julian any day,” Nicolai said.
“I saw you in class, new girl,” Merlin said. “You’re being wasted as Bellatrix’s understudy. She’s never going to let you go on, and you’re better than she is.”
Okay, no, I wasn’t. Bellatrix might be sleeping with Marsden, and she might have done fewer pirouettes than the rest of the class, but she was famous because she’d earned it. Audiences didn’t know what I had learned about her now that I was pretending to be a company member… and honestly, even if they did, it wouldn’t have changed anything. She had the talent to back up her nasty attitude, and people loved diva prima ballerinas.
Even if she was past her prime, and everyone hated partnering with her, she was still a better dancer than I was. If this ballet was so good that Marsden was willing to risk the lives of his entire company to get it in front of an audience, then her name would help get butts in seats… mine wouldn’t. And I wasn’t even here to dance leads or solos.
I pointed my fork at Merlin and glared at him.
“No incubus mojo, and no hitting on me when I’m trying to pig out after class.”
Well, shit. It looked like I’d hurt his feelings, but I wasn’t fucking him. It was best to nip this in the bud early to focus on my job, instead of a horny incubus who liked bedding ballerinas.
“I wasn’t hitting on you, new girl. I was being honest. Bellatrix made her career by destroying anyone who got in her way. Bevan’s bitch-dar has always been spot on. You wouldn’t have been invited to his special place if you weren’t cool.”
“And people in his company either ignore Bevan, or are awful to him,” Nicolai said. “You get bonus points with us for not doing either.”
Bevan had turned the color of an eggplant, but he wasn’t afraid to stand up to his roommates.
“She’s cool, guys. We didSekhmet and Raafter class, and it was amazing. Don’t whip your dicks out and fuck this up for me. I’m always guilty by association because I share an apartment with you.”
Merlin looked like he got it, and I got the feeling that I wouldn’t be the target of some fucked up game between him and Nicolai, but Nicolai lookedpissed.I didn’t know why he was upset about Bevan and me doing an insanely hard variation after class.
“Seriously, Bevan? You weren’t even looking for the perfect partner. Youknowhow hard I’ve been searching for her. I didn’t even get a chance to try with Beyla, and I won’t, if you’ve claimed her that is.”
“Hold up a fucking minute here,” I said. “Bevan didn’t do a damn thing wrong. It was Madame Lucinda’s suggestion, and no one at this table owns me or has claimed me. Bevan is amazing to partner with, yes, but Madame Lucinda doesn’t decide who gets partnered up with who—Marsden does, and he just fucked me over and put a target on my back.”
Nicolai and Merlin both snapped out of it. Bevan must have meant a lot to them, while I was just a shiny new thing that’d caught their fancy.
“We’re going to need a plan,” Merlin said.
“We need to form a united front, because Julian is going to team up with the toxic twins to come at both of you,” Nicolai said. “Bevan is like our brother, and he deserves a chance to dance a lead. Beyla, you don’t deserve to feel their wrath for being understudy. Bellatrix could totally just ignore you and never let you go on, but that’s not her style. She’s going to view you as a threat, and so she’ll be out for blood.”
I could deal with a petty succubus… I was more worried about how I would get Madame Lucinda to spill the details about this ballet, and precisely what the atmosphere would be like with Nyx when I got back to the apartment we shared.
Chapter15
Arden
Ishouldhave been spanking a hot little succubus in that moment, but Nyx needed me. Well, in truth, Beyla needed me... she just didn’t know it. Nyx was pissed to the point she would let out a banshee shriek as soon as she walked through the door to shatter her eardrums. The succubus meant nothing to me, but Nyx was my best friend and there was something about Beyla that drew me to her. It was probably the same something that made me totally avoid relationships, but I couldn’t walk away from it.
“She woke me up,on my day off,because she wanted help to look as ugly as possible so Marsden wouldn’t try to sleep with her. She had me convinced she wasn’t going to go there. I wouldn’t have been mad at her if she fucked him. It’s just the big ruse that she wasn’t going to do it that bothers me... sheplayedme! I thought she was cool, but she’s just like Bellatrix and Ivory.”
Nyx finally took a breath. Once she got started, it was best to let her rant and get it all out. I was about to say something she would not like… someone needed to say it.
“She seemed pretty pissed about it all, Nyx. Her scent changed, and it looked like she was ready to beat the shit out of Marsden. He likes his games, we both know that. He’s doing something weird with this entire show, or we wouldn’t be sworn to secrecy. He passed over Julian to give Bevan a lead, and heneverwants to throw Bevan a bone. We both know Bevan deserved that part over Julian.
“Beyla was good in class. Bellatrixhasto be retiring soon. She couldn’t pull as many turns as the rest of us, and she was limping on the way out of class. She’s going to eventually have to admit to herself that her body can’t handle this anymore. Ivory is a favorite, but she’s nowhere near as good as Bellatrix was in her prime. Maybe Marsden has finally grown up and decided to stop casting this company with his dick… stranger things have happened.”
“Thanks, asshole! You’re supposed to be on my side, remember? I didn’t get a solo,again!”
