Page 32 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Nyx rolled her eyes. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms.
“Arden, why don’t you put some fucking pants on? I’ve heard tales of this hangover remedy, but dragons are secretive bastards, and I’m dying to know how Beyla knows it.”
Arden winked at me and sauntered off to the living room like he wasn’t stark naked and hadn’t just assaulted me with snuggles. He strutted slow, totally showing off that tight dancer’s ass.
“What the fuck is happening?” I asked out loud.
“Shit just got interesting,” Nyx said. “I’m just here for popcorn, and to see who thinks this is all Obama’s fault.”
“You’re weird, Nyx.”
“I’m an artist. I’m allowed to be eccentric. Everyone in the company is weird. I’m just the only one who owns it. You’re probably bizarre as fuck, you just haven’t outed yourself yet.”
I couldn’t help laughing. I liked Nyx, and I was glad she wasn’t mad at me anymore.
“I have my moments.”
“I believed we were promised famous dragon hangover cures. Bevan usually only breaks his moonshine out for cast parties. I think he was trying to impress you.”
I filed that gem away for later. All the excitement was making my headache worse, and I’d stopped drinking before Arden and Nyx so knew they had to be feeling even worse than I was.
I liked Madame Lucinda, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t tolerate hungover dancers, and I didn’t want anyone getting into trouble. Especially since I had more information than I did before, thanks to Arden, Bevan, and Nyx.
Chapter25
Bevan
Iwasn’t complaining when Beyla asked Nyx to invite me to breakfast, but I was a little surprised she was making hangover cures the dragon way, despite the fact she was a witch. I had just started making a potion for mine when I got the call. I already knew my potion would knock it right out, but I wanted to spend more time with Beyla. And Arden and I shared this weird moment when he tasted my blood. What was up with that?
Dragons were usually super secretive about everything, and had been known to watch their friends suffer before concocting this for them. I was dying to know how she knew how to make it… I was dying to know everything about her to be honest. All of her social media was private, and Google wasn’t helping me stalk her online. I didn’t want to be that weirdo who sent her a friend request after one dance and liked every single post she made.
I wasn’t going to ask though, as she seemed to like her secrets, or her social media would be public like every other dancer I knew. Something had gotten into Arden. He was only wearing his boxer shorts at the table, and he was doing everything he could to show off his body. I thought the whole point of staying here was to protect her without her knowing?
The dragon hangover cure appeared to be a bunch of greasy breakfast foods all mashed together in a bowl. It looked totally vile, but it tasted amazing. It was so spicy, my nose wouldn’t stop running. I kept downing water, but I wasn’t complaining. My potion had way more side effects, as it forced everything to work its way out of your system.
“Fess up, Beyla,” Nyx said. “How’d you get a dragon to teach you this?”
“My parent’s best friend was a dragon. After my parents died, I moved in with him. He’s pretty amazing. I didn’t know I was a witch at the time… he was the one that told me the truth and helped me get through everything. He even turned his garage into a studio for me. He’s always wanted me here atThe P.”
“Well, that settled that mystery,” Nyx said. “Care to explain your lack of online presence, Beyla?”
I think we were all dying to know that, but I wouldn’t have asked her straight out like Nyx did. In fact, it was probably better to leave that a mystery.
“Don’t tell anyone,” I said. “Everyone is going to assume the worst. Let them come up with some urban legends about it. The more mystery there is, the more afraid they will be to come at you directly. Bellatrix is just going to get nastier, and she has Ivory and Julian helping her. The mystery could stop her from pushing you down the stairs.”
“She’s done that before, and Julian or Ivory were always there as witnesses to claim she was innocent,” Arden said. “They are coming for you too, Bevan. She was blowing those lifts with you at rehearsal on purpose. She wanted to make you look bad, so Marsden replaces you with Julian.”
Oh, I totally knew that. Marsden should have said something to her, instead of telling her to just take a break. There were a lot of things Marsden should have said to her, but being under a succubus’ spell stopped that. Not even the Unseelie were immune.
Bellatrix was a beautiful dancer. The audiences loved her dancing, and lapped up the stories about her diva attitude. There was a fine line between diva and toxic. Fuck, every last one of us in the company was a diva about something. I was. Even big, bad Arden and his motorcycle could be.
She had to have dirt on Marsden. After the shit she pulled over the years, this was way beyond sex magic and being good in bed. Marsden used to be one of the most famous male dancers in the world, and had retired because of an injury. He only taught atThe Pfor a year before they hired him as the resident choreographer. He did that for two years before being promoted to artistic director.
I’d danced his choreography before. He still choreographed entire ballets. Marsden understood his dancers on a deep level. He’d never set a solo on me before, but he always played up his dancer’s strengths. If this were one of Marsden’s ballets, Bellatrix would have been featured in several solos and been given minimal partner work.
So, Marsden knew she wasn’t pulling her weight during apas de deux.He knew the fact that I couldn’t even get her over my head yesterday had nothing to do with my shortcomings. She turned into a total noodle every time I tried to lift her, and she could have seriously injured me with that bullshit.
He didn’t say a fucking thing to her, except to take a break when she pitched a fit after creating drama.
