Page 50 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
“Don’t traumatize the kid, Ravyn. Get to know him, and if you like this Bevan, bring him in too. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, and you’re going to break this curse.”
“Bevan is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, and he’s amazing to dance with. Madame Lucinda asked me to stay after class to do apas de deuxwith him. She thought we’d dance well together. It wasawesome.”
“You can keep denying it, kid, but when the dust settles, your life is going to be tutus and two hot men. Don’t try and deny it! Even this Madame Lucinda sees it.”
“They helped me, even when they didn’t realize it. So I’m going to tell them the truth. My roommate is pretty great, and two other male dancers have been trying to help me with this totally awful prima ballerina who will probably try to kill me, if Santiago Suarez doesn’t get to me first. I’m pretty sure the only reason she’s still around is this curse.”
“You didn’t go to the academy like we did, so I’m going to give you a little advice, kid. You can’t take the higher ground with petty bitches. You can’t make them your friends, because they will only pretend to play along and stab you in the back. There’s nothing wrong with letting your freak flag fly to put them in their place. If anything, they’ll respect that,” Ripley said.
I just laughed.
“I’ve been dealing with assholes my entire life, Ripley. They exist in the human world, too, and things tend to get dramatic if you get a role someone else thinks they were owed. I can handle Bellatrix and Ivory. Bevan got her other goon arrested for planting cocaine in my bag.”
“What the fuck, Beyla?” Ravyn asked.
“I have a lock on my dance bag now. So I can handle her.”
“Well, better assemble your dream team, because you don’t need that drama while you track down this cursed Unseelie.”
“I will. Thanks for the advice. I need to get to the studio to warm up.”
“When you pull this off, and this ballet sees an audience for the first time, you’d better comp us tickets! We’ll make the trip with Kaine. The kids miss you and want to know when they can watch you dance again.”
“I’ll try. Thanks for the pep talk, but I still have a ton of work to do before anyone sees this ballet. I don’t even know what Santiago looks like.”
“That’s why you need men to be your minions and help you.”
I instantly thought of Merlin and how cute he was when he was babbling.
“Someone has already offered. I really do have to go now!”
“See you later, kid. You can do this.”
I had a little more faith that I could.
Chapter2
Beyla
Igot to the studio later than intended, but still way earlier than the class was supposed to start. I had a feeling Nicolai was going to be there, and possibly Madame Lucinda. When I walked in, Nicolai was shooting me this panicked look, and Marsden was tapping his foot like I was late for something. What was he even doing here, and why did he look like he was waiting for me?
“Ah, good. You’re here. Get warmed up, Beyla.”
I set my dance bag down in the corner and sat next to Nicolai while we both warmed up.
“What is this?” I whispered. “Does he show up to your lessons often? How did he even know I was coming?”
“Henevercomes to private lessons. He knows what our strengths and weaknesses are, and so does Madame Lucinda. He trusts her to help us improve at the things we aren’t as proficient at, and he plays up our strengths if he’s choreographing a ballet. He seemed pissed you weren’t here yet, like this was a scheduled rehearsal. You don’t want to be around him when he gets in one of his moods.”
Marsden was up to something. He’d been up to something this entire time, or I wouldn’t be working blind, and Bellatrix would have been fired. So, I decided to bring them all in and tell them the truth. If I were just dealing with a curse, that would be one thing... but I couldn’t deal with a bitchy prima ballerinaanda plotting Unseelie at the same time!
I knew Arden, Nicolai, and Merlin had this entire thing going on, and that it’d started way before I arrived. I was reasonably sure it had something to do with Nyx and Arden not liking how they treated women. They certainly flirted pretty hard with me at first.
But as soon as I said it was unwanted, they backed off, and I was pretty confident that wasn’t just because Bevan asked them to. They showed me who they were when they weren’t trying to get women in their beds in a broom closet. They were actually kind of goofy and sweet. Maybe Arden just needed to see that, because I could feel it in my gut that all four male leads needed to be in the know about this.
“I need to tell you all something, but not here. Can you, Merlin, and Bevan come to my apartment after rehearsal? I’ll cook an amazing meal I learned from a dragon.”
Nicolai smirked at me like I’d just said exactly what he wanted to hear.
