Page 49 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
“I had to go on iron supplements, so they are almost certain there’s a vampire in there. Balthazar has totally lost his shit. The nursery is starting to look like a rave.”
“That’s not all he’s doing,” Ravyn said. “He’sobsessedwith videos of vampire births. Felix invited us all over to watch the dodgeball playoffs, and Balthazar wouldn’t give up the flatscreen. There was a gaping vagina pushing out a child, and he was shoving popcorn in his face like England and Spain weren’t playing.”
“I still want to know what came first—human dodgeball, or supernatural dodgeball,” I said.
“I looked it up, back when you told us humans throw rubber balls at each other and call it a sport. They don’t even play it anymore, because they don’t want their kids getting smacked in the face with a ball. So supernatural dodgeball had to have come first, because it’smuchmore dangerous and exciting,” Ravyn said.
“Did you get to watch the playoffs?”
“Loki and Reyson teamed up and promised to get fully creative with their god powers if he didn’t give up the TV. Balthazar is a little… extra, but he’s not stupid. You didn’t just call to ask about our kids. What’s really up?”
“They sent me undercover to prevent a ballet from getting lethal. I know, that sounds crazy, but every time it’s been tried, people have died, and the ballet has never seen an audience. The ballet director isn’t giving me the whole story, and the only person still here who was around then has a geas on her. She was able to give me names.
“I found out a good bit on my own. When the original production was going on, the star was put aside for her understudy by her husband, the director, and was also performing in the show. I’m fairly certain she cursed him to kill the cast before he had her arrested, but everything I’ve found out about what happened next points to him fleeing to Canada. He’d be ancient by now. I highly doubt he’s been coming back to New York to stab people… especially since he was exceptional in many different art forms, and escaped the Unseelie once.”
“That’s a tricky one, kid,” Ravyn said. “Curses on people, especially if a witch thinks they’ve wronged them, are very creative. It’s entirely possible he can’t die at all unless the curse is broken. If that’s the case, well, your boy never went to Canada. He’s been close to that ballet company this entire time. He’s probably been whispering in ears, trying to get it attempted, then doing everything he can to make sure that ballet sees an audience. He fails every time though, because the curse makes him kill people.”
That was brilliant. It made a lot of sense. I didn’t get the vibe Marsden wanted his dancers to die, or that Bellatrix had him under an intense spell that made him overlook literally everything. This was deliberate. I knew Marsden was a hard ass about his dancers taking care of themselves. I mean, he was ready to ship me home just for not eating breakfast. Someonehadto be whispering in his ear, and I knew he wouldn’t be pulling this kind of nonsense, not unless it was from another Unseelie.
“That’s fucking brilliant!”
“Ravyn usually is when it comes to curses. So you’d better not tell her anymore, or she’s going to haul her nursing infant and her whole harem to New York to help you figure this out.”
“I’d love to see you, but my apartment is the size of a closet, and the elevator in the building never works. Also, my roommate likes her sleep and might murder all of you with a banshee shriek if you wake her up. I’m also dealing with a minor gryphon problem.”
“Ravyn and I are both experts at picking shitty men, too. We had our fair share before we hit the man lottery. Tell us all about it.”
“He’s not shitty. He’s one of the dancers here, and my roommate’s best friend. Arden is actually pretty cool. I learned a good bit about the names I was given from Arden and Bevan. I left the conversation to do some research, and for some reason, he thought I was in danger. He shifted and slept outside my door. HeknowsI’m not on the run from the Unseelie anymore, but he did the same thing again last night. I felt bad about it, so I offered to let him sleep in my bed, but he kept muttering about inviting Bevan. Bevan is a warlock, and he’s pretty great. The idea isn’t exactly unappealing… but it’s weird.”
Ravyn and Ripley fell about laughing. I didn’t think it was funny at all.
“Youreallyshould have attended the Academy of the Profane instead of going straight into the bureau academy, if you are seriously insisting you aren’t meant to be a professional dancer! Then you’d know more about gryphons than just how to kill them. This Arden is sensing you’re his mate, and now he feels compelled to protect you at all costs. Gryphons mate for life, and rarely share, but it sounds like he’s claimed this Bevan as part of the clan, too. You’re a witch, Beyla. No one is going to get mad if you make a harem.”
“No way! Arden is meant to dance. I’m just here for a job.”
“Literally everyone who has seen you perform has told you to your face that you’re meant to dance, kid,” Ripley said. “I know you think you need to be an agent, because fate had some strong opinions when you tried to leave to pursue a dance career, but you need to read the signs.”
“It’s pretty obvious, Beyla,” Ravyn laughed. “She didn’t want you there when you were a teenager, but she wants you there now. Fate is giving you every reason to turn in your badge and stay there. It’s a glowing neon sign that you were meant to break this curse, land yourself a little harem, and be a professional dancer like you were always meant to! I know you aren’t about to lie to us and tell us people aren’t impressed and interested.”
“Fate has a twisted fucking sense of humor for doing that to me when I was just a kid.”
“She’s not gentle when she’s trying to make a point, kid, but embrace it and relax. You’re going to figure this out. Get to know the gryphon and this Bevan character, too. I know they aren’t even remotely like professional ballet dancers, but I’ve had some wild times with male strippers,” Ripley said.
“They look amazing in those tights, too,” Ravyn said.
“Arden has a motorcycle,” I said.
Where did that even come from? I clicked with Ripley and Ravyn, and their husbands had always treated me like their younger sister. We had our things, but they were very different. I was always all about dancing. Ripley loved her library and her books. Ravyn was a little unhinged and loved playing with cursed things.
We also approached men very differently. Derrick was my first serious boyfriend. After he hurt me, I never let anything or anyone go that far again. Ripley had just met her husband when I met her. Ravyn met hers later. I got to watch those relationships bloom and blossom. It was beautiful, and I wanted that for myself in many ways, but I couldn’t let go and try again.
Maybe I blurted out that bit about Arden’s motorcycle because I liked it, and I knew they would too. Arden seemed like a complicated gryphon, but I hadn’t forgotten that he had been kind to me from day one, even when Nyx didn’t want a new roommate.
He hadn’t hit on me, or wanted anything from me besides friendship and to help me survive company politics. He had said nothing about sensing I was his mate. Arden hadn’t done a damned thing either, except for sleep outside my door without telling me. I was sure he didn’t want me to find him out there, but our sleep schedules differed so much that I did.
I wasn’t feeling the same pull he was, probably because I wasn’t a gryphon. Still, as soon as I started going to school with other supernaturals, and Ripley and Ravyn took me under their wing, I learned pretty damn quickly that witches need to be vigilant. Watching the stars and reading tarot cards is vital, because fate messes with everyone. It meant something that I was here now. I just needed a reminder.
“A tight ass and a motorcycle? Girl, you need to get that,” Ravyn said.
