Page 22 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
After I lifted over my head, I lowered her down my chest and set Beyla on her feet. Our chests were heaving from the exertion of the dance. Hades was supposed to grab Persephone then, and kiss her at the end of the duet, but I wasn’t about to ruin this by kissing her when she didn’t want it.
I pressed Beyla against me and felt her hands resting against my chest. If she were anyone else, I would have kissed her without hesitating. Instead, Istepped back and offered her my hand to shake.What the fuck?! Of all the smooth things I could do, I did that?! She looked so confused… should I have just kissed her?
Madame Lucinda smacked her cane against the floor just as applause broke out. Beyla’s little talk with our teacher meant people had come in while we were dancing, and I didn’t even notice.
“All that chemistry, and you didn’t kiss?” Madame Lucinda barked.
I looked around. Bellatrix and Ivory were sitting in the corner, scowling at us. Bevan was beaming at us. He wasn’t jealous at all. Merlin was smirking, and looking at Beyla in a new light. Arden looked ready to murder me. What was his deal?
Bellatrix and Ivory were going to be out for Beyla even more now. They mostly left me alone. Beyla should have been dancing the lead, not Bellatrix. I already knew she had off the chart’s chemistry with Bevan and me, and we played two of the leads. I needed to do something.
I stepped back and held up my hands.
“She threatened to murder me before our dance… I didn’t think she was joking!”
Madame Lucinda rolled her eyes and dismissed us. I bowed, and Beyla curtsied. I gave her a little wink as we went to our dance bags to get ready for class.
I hoped she understood what I’d just tried to do. I was trying to give these ballet bitches a warning.
Chapter19
Merlin
Ididn’t know if the tiny new girl did or didn’t threaten to kill Nicolai, but based on how she’d totally shut me down when I was trying to hit her with my incubus, it wouldn’t shock me. Most people fell into my bed with just a little persuasion, and I’d hit her with more than usual.
Who was this girl? I caught the tail end of herpas de deuxwith Nicolai. She was who he’d been searching for the entire time he’d become a principal dancer. Beyla had the same thing with Bevan, he’d elbowed me in the ribs and told me as much.
I saw her heading towards her dance bag and tried to nip it in the bud. Bellatrix was over there when she was dancing, and I trusted that bitch about as far as I could throw her. I plopped down next to her on the floor as she pulled out a pair of pointe shoes. She didn’t even acknowledge my presence.
“I’d shake those out before you put them on.”
She finally looked at me with those intense silver eyes.
“Why would I do that?”
“Bellatrix and Ivory were by your dance bag… one of their favorite tricks is sprinkling broken glass in pointe shoes.”
We all knew it was them. Dancers had gone to Marsden before, after they got out of the hospital, and those two were still dancing with us. If this were my company, I would have fired their asses way back. Yeah, Bellatrix was famous, and patrons loved a diva, but she took it too far.
I saw a blush start in Beyla’s cleavage, and watched it rise up to her cheeks. That wasn’t embarrassment, she waspissed.Bellatrix would do well to remember Beyla was a witch, and if she fought back, she could do way worse than just ruin her career.
Sure enough, there was broken glass in every pair of pointe shoes, all except one. Beyla was furious as she wound the ribbons around her ankles, tied them off, and tucked them under.
“I’ll show you where the shoe room is after this.”
“Thanks.”
We needed a plan. I went to get Nicolai. Bellatrix and Ivory rarely brought out the broken glass as a first trick. They usually played mind games first. Nicolai and Bevan were talking animatedly with Madame Lucinda. I felt left out. I was the only one who hadn’t partnered with Beyla yet.
As soon as my back was turned, Beyla took her place at the barre, then Bellatrix and Ivory got right in her dance space and boxed her in. Shit. They were bringing everything out. Everyone who saw Beyla and Nicolai dance together saw the magic. She didn’t even know about Bevan, but she felt threatened… and she should be. After seeing Beyla and Nicolai, and knowing she had that same chemistry with Bevan, three of the four male leads wanted Beyla dancing Damita, not Bellatrix.
Arden wasn’t our friend. Sure, he liked Bevan, but most people that gave him a chance liked Bevan. Arden had buddied up with Nyx since she got accepted into the company. Nyx was once the subject of a bet between Nicolai and me, but that bet didn’t get very far. We never pressed if a woman wasn’t interested.
Nyx had made it pretty damn clear she wasn't interested by shrieking in my face when I tried to hit her with a bit of incubus mojo, and had told Nicolai she had the power to explode his testicles with her voice when he tried it on.
We could respect that. If we were going to get totally shot down, then shit… might as well go big or go home. We also liked the fact that Nyx was quite vocal about turning Marsden down, despite what that would do to her career. Nyx could have been a friend, but Arden swooped in.
Nicolai wasn’t going to fuck her, since she’d made it abundantly clear she didn’t want that, but he still wanted to partner with her during his private lessons to see if she was that mythical one he’d been searching for. It would have gotten her out of the corps, and furthered her career, but Arden ruined it every time he tried to ask.
