Page 53 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
And she would. That was beautiful to watch, and I wouldn’t have been angry at all if they had beat Julian around a little, but why did Marsden do this? He had the power to ask them to do this anywhere else, outside of rehearsal. He was high profile, and so was the company. Julian getting frog-marched out of the building in handcuffs… that was going to draw attention.
Someone on the street was going to take a photo and share it on social media. The paparazzi were going to pick that up, descend on us, and this would go viral. Marsden would have to give a statement. He had Julian’s entire life in his hands.
I knew the bureau didn’t care about a low-level cocaine dealer. They’d offer him a lesser sentence to take the entire ring down. He may or may not get out before he was utterly unable to perform on stage. Depending on what Marsden said to the press, the only way Julian would be allowed to return to the dance world would be in drag shows or stripping. If Marsden let it slip he was dealing to company members, there was no way in hell anyone was going to hire him to teach kids.
It was brutal, and Julian deserved it, but why only him? He was only doing all this because of Bellatrix, and she was his best customer. So why was only Julian being punished? We all knew better than to try to incur Marsden’s wrath because of shit like this.
It wasn’t just Marsden’s anger that was going to be at play here. Bellatrix was going to be go on the warpath… she’d demand vengeance for this, and she was already pissed off about the unscheduled rehearsal between Beyla and Nicolai. What was up with that, anyway? Marsden was an asshole, but he made sure they paid us for our time when it came to rehearsals. The studio was open and available to us, if we wanted to practice on our own time, but if he was teaching choreography for a new ballet, he never just popped in when he knew people would be there and he never demanded we attend an unpaid rehearsal.
Marsden was definitely up to something. Beyla invited all of us to dinner, and I knew it was high time for my friends to put aside their differences to figure out what was going on. Arden, Nicolai, and Merlin had decided they hated each other based on a few interactions. But I knew they’d get along if they just got over themselves and got to know each other.
I appreciated they didn’t give me shit if I hung out with them separately, but I hated it when they talked about each other in front of me. Something was going on atThe P.This was different from the usual drama. This wasn’t just Marsden looking the other way while Bellatrix misbehaved, not anymore.
I was going to be there at dinner, and I would forge peace between my friends. Beyla needed us, and I needed them, too. Bellatrix was already out for both of us, but I was the one who outed Julian as her dealer. So, we both needed as many people watching our backs as possible.
And my warlock senses were tingling. I drew a strange tarot spread last night, and my horoscope was wonky this morning. Marsden had always been a little weird, and we put up with a lot from him, but now I was getting bad vibes from him. Beyla was a witch. She’d be feeling it too, and I’d imagine she’d be reading her cards too.
I had a feeling Beyla knew something, and we’d find out at dinner. But, for once, I wanted the dancing part of my day to be over quickly. The vibes were making me nauseous.
Chapter5
Merlin
Imade another batch of buttered popcorn as a rehearsal snack. I was expecting some shit from Bellatrix after she heard about Julian. Iwas notexpecting Marsden to have the whole thing go down before class, right in front of her. I wanted my popcorn to watch the show, but Madame Lucinda had this thing about not allowing food in her class, and would have beaten me with her cane if I dared.
That was some next-level trolling. Nicolai and I went through ballerinas like toilet paper, but we treated them well and tried to end things on a pleasant note since we all still had to dance together. Everyone hated Bellatrix and Ivory. Julian was her little puppy dog. It was pretty fucking aggro, to have him arrested right in front of her like that. Say what you will about Nicolai and me, but we’d never do that to a woman we were supposed to have feelings for.
That Unseelie fucker just walked out and left us alone with his girlfriend, right after she promised to get revenge for her pet. Nicolai managed to tell me he showed up for an unscheduled rehearsal during his private lesson with Madame Lucinda, and that we were all invited to Beyla’s for a home cooked meal.
Iknewshe wanted a harem.
I forgot all about that. Madame Lucinda might like Marsden, and think he was a genius, but she didn’t tolerate class interruptions well. Or class starting late, for that matter. Marsden barged in, doing both those things in the process, and then left his pissed off girlfriend behind for us to deal with.
Madame Lucinda was ancient, and had been famous back in her day, but Marsden was still her boss. She’d kick us out of her class in a heartbeat, but Marsden paid her bills, so she couldn’t exactly beat him with her cane until he got the fuck out of the studio or so he didn’t make a mess.
She waspissed,and she was taking it out on us. Class was brutal, and no one was doing anything right. She always encouraged and doted on everyone when it was due, but she definitely had her favorites. Unfortunately, not even they were getting compliments today.
She gave us a combination of what seemed like endlessfouettés.The guys were doing them in second, and the women were doing regularfouettés.Sometimes,The Phad soloists do a ton of them on stage, but Madame Lucinda told us to go until she said stop.
We were all capable dancers, but it didn’t seem like she wanted to call it any time soon. Bellatrix had done this on stage countless times when she was younger, but these days she was trying to fight a body that wanted to retire. She fell out of her turn and just glared at Madame Lucinda while she tried to catch her breath.
Ivory was such a sheep. I caught her in the mirror while I was spotting. As soon as Bellatrix couldn’t cut it, she stopped too. Ivory was younger than Bellatrix, and even though I couldn’t stand her, she’d always been amazingly proficient at turning, even if I hated partnering with her. She was perfectly capable of continuing through the pain and dizziness like the rest of us.
Man,fuck this. I think we all wanted to just up and quit like Ivory did, but we respected Madame Lucinda enough not to. This was torture though, she was totally taking her frustrations out on us, but just like Marsden was her boss, this was her classroom and she was our boss.
“Finish up with a quadruple pirouette!” she yelled, slamming her cane on the floor.
I was about ready to die, and my landing wasn’t perfect, but I did what she asked. After that, every dancer in the studio followed suit, except Bellatrix and Ivory. Madame Lucindaknewthat was brutal, but she also knew dancers needed to be pushed right to their limits sometimes.
“Good job. Everyone take five and get some water, except Ivory and Bellatrix. Ivory, you insufferably show off yourfouettésin the back of the studio every time Marsden is observing to cast a show, even though I’ve asked you not to, and he already knows perfectly well you can turn. You quit because Bellatrix couldn’t cut it, and I’m not having that in my classroom. I want fifty pushups from both of you. Maybe a few more strengthening exercises will make enable you to keep up in my classroom.”
“Fuck you!” Bellatrix hissed. “That combination was abusive, and I’m not going to be punished for not being able to do it!”
Madame Lucinda bared her fangs, and her eyes flashed red. She pointed her cane at Bellatrix, and I half wondered if she was mad enough to lunge forward and bite her.
“Maybe you should consider the fact that literally the entire company was able to do it, except you, and your friend gave you a pity quit so you wouldn’t look bad. You can both drop and do pushups, or you can get out of my sight.”
Did Ivory even have opinions for herself? There were two options here, and instead of taking either one, she looked at Bellatrix to see what she was supposed to do. It was such a pity. Ivory was a talented dancer, and I had no doubt we’d all like dancing with her more if she wasn’t listening to that succubus.
