Page 7 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
I got the feeling that, even if I pressed him, Marsden wasn’t going to tell me everything I needed to know. Therehadto be someone else here who I could work over for information.
“Is there someone who knows more about the company history and why this ballet is so secretive?”
“Madame Lucinda… if you butter her up first,” Arden said.
Nyx smacked Arden on the back of the head.
“Don’t listen to him! You can only butter up that old bat if she likes you, and Arden is her favorite. She’s a vampire, so she’s ancient. She was ballet mistress here years ago, Marsden was her student, and he was a favorite, too. She’s not going to do anything unless Marsden tells her to.”
I perked up. Supernaturals lived longer than humans, but we still eventually aged and died. Out of all the supernatural races, vampires aged the slowest because of their diet. Madame Lucinda could very well have been alive one hundred and fifty years ago, back when everything first went down withThe Sugar Skull Girl.
I didn’t have any grand ideas about being anyone’s favorite here. I knew exactly how I got this job, and it had nothing to do with how good I was at ballet. I was literally their only choice. If Madame Lucinda had her favorites, that meant she regarded some as the opposite, too. As the newest member of the company, I figured I’d likely be on that least favorite list by default. Kaine always told me how good I was, but I knew I wasn’t going to blow everyone away on my first day. Everyone here was good.
Arden bumped Nyx with his shoulder.
“You’d be a favorite too, if you didn’t do that resting bitch face thing when she tells you to get yourarabesquehigher. She loves everything else you do.”
“Fuck you both. Myarabesqueis high, but it’s never going to be Bellatrix high. She’s a succubus, they are natural contortionists. None of us should be bitched at because we can’t bend our bodies like a damn sex demon!”
“Do you think she would answer my questions if I asked her about this ballet? I mean, I’d be asking about dance history… don’t ballet teachers usually love to drone on about that?” I asked.
They both shrugged.
“You’ll meet her at class on Monday, at seven AM sharp. Don’t ask her straight off the bat, and don’t walk up to her and introduce yourself either. She’ll think you’re sucking up. He’ll be late, but Marsden will come in just before barre starts and introduce you. She’ll pretend she didn’t notice you until Marsden tells everyone you officially exist. Madame Lucinda won’t give you a single correction your first day, and you’ll feel like she’s ignoring you, but she’s watching everything you do and making an assessment. Be prepared, because the next day, she’ll be brutal,” Nyx said.
“Unless she decides you’re her favorite,” Arden said in a singsong voice.
“Your penis helps with that, asshole.”
Just then, Arden’s phone went off. He checked his messages and jumped off the sofa.
“I’ve got a girl that can’t wait! Bye, you two.”
Nyx scowled as Arden floated out the door.
“He has a strict no ballerina rule. You’re cool, but if you are going to live with me, then you can’t get all obsessed with my best friend, okay?”
“I have a strict no male dancer rule,” I said, crossing my arms. I wasn’t there to date.
“Good, because Nicolai and Merlin are going to smell fresh blood as soon as they see you… they’ll probably bet about who beds you first.”
I sighed. I loved everything about ballet… except ballet politics. I’d seen videos of Nicolai and Merlin dancing, and had to admit that they were both immensely talented. Though I’d read between the lines in the interviews they gave and could tell their careers had gone to their heads a bit.
I didn’t want to be seen as fresh meat by a bunch of horny male dancers. Things would be so much easier if only I could outright tell them I was here to save their miserable, horny little lives so this ballet didn’t kill them.
Chapter7
El Gato Blanco
The little teenager that my runes and visions led me to was now a fully trained witch. I lost hope when she didn’t audition for the academy the following year, and she didn’t seem to have any intention of dancing forThe P.Doubt had begun to creep in then, but my runes and visions were quite clear about her being the one.
She was here now, but she wasn’t the first. Beyla was the first federal agent brought in, but they had brought many different supernatural specialists in as consultants before, and they'd all failed. Casts and crews had died, and they’d eventually canceled the production.
Beyla was given limited information, which was another thing that was being done differently this time. She needed to come at this from an outsider's perspective, she needed to study it and understand things in detail. If she had been given everything she needed to know from the start, she would likely have overlooked something.
But, if she genuinely investigated every detail, she could figure this out. I had to believe that. My runes led me to her. I saw her face when I induced a vision. She was going to do the impossible.
Frankly, I didn’t care ifThe Sugar Skull Girlwas a massive flop and got shelved. I didn’t care if the audience hated it so severely that they threw fruit like they used to do. I didn’t even care if there was a riot like on the opening night ofThe Rite of Spring.
