Page 68 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
“Hey, Merlin. What’s up?”
“Hey, Dad. You know that lead I told you about in this new ballet I can’t really talk about right now? It’s pretty incredible. The choreography is intense, and the score is fantastic. Right down to the sets and costumes, the entire production was all put together by an Unseelie refugee. Unfortunately, the production got canceled for some reason one hundred and fifty years ago.
“Marsden gave Bevan one of the leads this time, and this new girl is an understudy for Bellatrix, who should really have the lead. We’ve all been talking about how amazing this ballet is, and we’re curious about the brains behind it. Could you pull the files for a Santiago Suarez? Though, that’s probably not his real name.”
“No way, Merlin. I can appreciate that you’re curious, and he’s probably dead, but Unseelie refugees are practically entered into a witness protection program. We give them entirely new identities and encourage them to keep a low profile. Some of them, like your Marsden, choose not to do that and throw away everything we tried to do for them by becoming famous. I’m guessing that was the case for the man who did your ballet. Even if he’s dead, I can’t just pull those files and give them to a civilian. I trust you, but I don’t trust some of the people I work with. They’d use it against me to put me out of a job.”
“Ah, so definitely not then. Okay, but can you answer some questions?”
“You know I’m always happy to.”
“Would the government make sure any photos and articles about him were redacted? We know a little about him, but not a lot.”
“It’s not like that, Merlin. We give them a new identity and tell them to stay under the radar, but they often don’t, especially if they have special skills. They have a handler they check in with if they think the Unseelie are coming for them or they are being followed. If that happens then they are moved to safety and given another identity. They are warned again to keep a low profile. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Unseelie can be insufferable.
“People haven’t changed, Merlin. They like photos and stories about pretty, famous people. It sells. You nearly broke the damn internet when you posted that photo of you, Bevan, and Nicolai eating cheese fries in towels.
“Back then, there was more fear of the Unseelie than there is now. I’m sure some newspapers avoided taking photos of him because they didn’t want an Unseelie soldier coming down on their office for intel. There are photos out there, Merlin. They might be on microfiche, in an archive somewhere, but they are out there. Look at Marsden. He can’t shut up when it comes to the press, and he’s certainly not trying to hide from cameras. I wish he’d keep a lower profile with you dancing for him, but your career took off when he took an interest in you, so I’m trying not to judge.”
“You’re right. You usually are. We’ll keep digging.”
“I’d usually warn you not to when it comes to them. Unseelie live a long time. If he’s still alive, they aren’t coming for him because he’s of no use to them anymore. This ballet sounds like it’s going to be spectacular, and this understudy sounds promising. Bellatrix is going to have to retire soon.”
“Beyla is so great! She’s beautiful, and amazing to dance with. Bellatrix is being awful to her, and Beyla has no problem standing up to her.”
“Oh? And have you taken her out on a proper date yet?”
“I’m taking things slow with this one. I tried hitting her with some incubus vibes, and she asked me to stop. I want to do this the hard way. She’s special.”
“Sounds like it. We promise not to embarrass you when you bring her home to meet us.”
“Daaaad,” I groaned. “We aren’t even remotely close to that yet.”
“It’s better when you have to earn it. Your mother loathed me when we first met. I was still in law school and living off sad, microwave noodles so I could buy front row seats to all of her shows.”
They both loved to tell that story. I’d heard it countless times, and it never got old. Yeah, I was a total shit when it came to women, but I wasn’t always that way. I loved a good romance. My kindle was full of romance novels, even if I would never tell a soul that.
I spent a lot of time being a total asshole. I didn’t want to do that anymore. In truth, I only hurt people before they could hurt me. For some reason, Beyla just dug in deep, and I didn’t want to hurt her. Maybe it had something to do with her shooting me down when I hit her with everything I had. Maybe it was watching her stand up to everything Bellatrix threw at her.
It took her a while, but she’d trusted us with this massive secret. I knew I could trust her with my feelings.
Chapter14
Bevan
Ihad a feeling Beyla figured out why she had a gryphon sleeping outside her door, and that was what she wanted to talk to Arden about. I needed to talk to him, too. What was that at rehearsal? I appreciated Bellatrix was off my nuts now, but Arden totally lost it.
They trained gryphons at a young age to control their tempers, to make sure they didn’t shift and accidentally kill someone. When they were shifted, they were massive and extremely dangerous. By the time a gryphon got to Arden’s age, what happened in rehearsal usually only happened when their mate was threatened, and I certainly wasn’t that.
That wasn’t the first time I’d seen Arden lose his shit because of me, either. Arden was with me when I walked in on my boyfriend and Julian. His wings didn’t come out then, but his eyes changed. I was fully prepared to give them both a verbal beat down, take the subway home, and dump all his clothes on the sidewalk.
Arden didn’t even give me that chance. Instead, he shoved me into the hallway and slammed the door in my face. I could hear loud crashes, Julian begging, and my boyfriend crying because I was sure he thought he was next.
I wasn’t entirely angry at the idea Julian was getting his ass beat. My boyfriend hurt me by cheating on me with someone as awful as Julian. I stood outside the door for a little while and just listened to those two little bitches cry. Honestly, it was like music to my ears! I wasn’t some innocent little bisexual ballet dancer who got cheated on. I could be an epic asshole when I wanted to, but I only unleashed that side on those who were truly deserving.
I couldn’t see it, but I could tell Arden was as furious as if it was his own boyfriend’s dick getting sucked. It sounded like he was flinging Julian around my entire dressing room.
I could have listened to that all night, but I needed to get to work. So, I took the subway to a hardware store and purchased a new deadbolt for the front door. I made sure it had enough keys for Nicolai and Merlin.
