Page 8 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
I just needed this over. I was the one remaining original cast member of that show. She did that on purpose. It would never be over for me, not until this ballet had a live audience. Any and all past attempts to make that happen had always proven fatal.
I just had to hope this time would be different.
Chapter8
Beyla
Marsden gave me his cell phone when he was checking out my legs in his office. I called him first thing in the morning and demanded an audience. I’d clearly woken him up, and there was a woman with him. He didn’t even try to make sure I didn’t hear when he kicked her out of his apartment to invite me over as she wasn’t even out the door when he invited me over.
Based on everything Nyx and Arden had told me, she was probably a dancer in the company, and I’d just made an enemy. Fucking Marsden. I barely knew Nyx, but I knocked on her door and woke her up. She opened the door a crack and glared at me.
“It’s my day off. You’d better be dying.”
“I’m desperate, Nyx, there are still things I need to talk to Marsden about before I start. I left his office because he made me uncomfortable. He wants to meet at his apartment, and he kicked someone out of his bed to invite me over… whoever she was overheard, too. I need to be as frumpy as possible. It’s an emergency!”
Nyx flung the door open and dragged me inside.
“You should have said so. That was probably Bellatrix in his bed. She’s his long time favorite and totally toxic. Please, tell me he never said your name when he was booting her out of his bed to invite you over.”
I sighed.
“He did... several times. How bad is it going to be? She’s not going to have me killed, is she?”
Nyx started digging through her dresser.
“She’s never gone that far, but don’t let your pointe shoes out of your sight. Simone is the lead costume mistress, and she totally hates Bellatrix and Ivory. Both those bitches will happily destroy a costume right before someone is supposed to go on.”
I rolled my eyes. Dancers didn’t even do that when I was in high school. It didn’t matter whether I was at a human ballet school or supernatural, my teachers had drilled respect into us. That respect wasn’t just for your fellow dancers, but extended to the crew and costumers, too. Yeah, there was still drama, but not of the property destroying kind.
“How old are these people again?”
“Bellatrix is ancient. She should have retired years ago. We’re alldyingto know what it is that she lets Marsden get away that means she is still a favorite. When your knees start cracking that loudly every class, well, he cans you for someone younger.”
“I’ve seen her dance in video clips, Nyx. Even if she wasn’t sleeping with Marsden, she has the talent to merit getting solos.”
Nyx launched a pair of stained sweat pants at my face.
“Traitor. We all have talent, or we’d be teaching a bunch of snot-nosed kids in the middle of nowhere, with nightmare parents.”
“Ballet careers are brief, Nyx. What exactly do you think you’ll be doing when you retire, besides teaching?”
“I hate kids,” Nyx grumped. “Let’s focus on getting you through this meeting. You should know that Marsden isn’t going to straight out proposition you... he’s going to ask you to dinner first. He’ll offer to cook you something special. He only does this once. Take him up on it, and your career will skyrocket. Turn him down, and you’ll be stuck in the corps like me. We’ll come up with a game plan for Bellatrix when you get home. We need Arden for that.”
I pulled on the sweatpants and sweatshirt Nyx gave me. She was taller than I was, but very slim. These would have been big on her, but I was swimming in them. I started pulling my hair up into a bun, but Nyx slapped my hands away from my hair.
“Don’t do that. Arden has his no ballerinas rule, and Marsdenonlydoes ballerinas. You want to walk in there lookingnothinglike a dancer. I realize that’s impossible, since you’ve spent your life training to become one, but you gotta try.”
“I’m not going to be in danger… going to his apartment alone, am I?”
I suddenly had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really didn’t want to go to Marsden’s apartment. Derek hadn’t given me a single warning sign before he broke my feet, but Marsden was setting off a ton of warning bells even when I was just in his office, so I left.
The ballet world covered up a lot of things, this ballet was a good example, but it also loved a good scandal and wouldn’t cover up a serial rapist.
Nyx plopped on her bed next to me and sighed.
“Marsden likes women, but not enough to take sex by force. Someone in the company would talk if he had. He doesn’t even try to pressure you if he has his eye on you. Marsden will invite you over to a home-cooked meal, and if you decline, that’s it… he just moves on. He doesn’t even treat you differently to your face, he’ll be perfectly nice to you after that. He’ll give you pep talks and tell you how amazing you are before and after performances… you just won’t get the same perks as the people who take him up on dinner, and uhh… dessert.”
“There was just something off about him when I was in his office, other than him staring at my legs that is.”
