Page 83 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Chapter24
Beyla
There was so much shit I needed to be dealing with. I needed to find Santiago Suarez and dosomethingwith him before he started killing people. I was putting off having an existential crisis about fate, my career, and my blossoming love life. Idid notneed to be trying to manage a deranged prima ballerina and what sinister shit she might have planned for our ballet teacher on top of all that.
I was eventually going to get Marsden alone, and I was going to have to avoid punching him right in the nuts. I knew Nicolai got there early, like I did, so that we could warm up and have an empty studio to improvise in and dance freely.
Neither of us did that this morning. Instead, we stretched, warmed up, and tried to figure out what would happen when we got to class. Despite what plenty of them claimed, there wasn’t a single supernatural species that could read minds. I could read auras with no problem. A vampire could compel someone to tell them their deepest, darkest secrets if they were good enough at it. Plenty of people spilled things they shouldn’t to an incubus or succubus after they’d gone to bed with them, but no one could look at someone and know what they were thinking.
I really wished I could read minds right about now. I was hoping Bellatrix and Marsden would be gone when we got to the main studio for class. I could see them skulking around near the hallway when we walked inside. We were still relatively early, but there were already people inside warming up. Madame Lucinda was up at the front, chatting with the accompanist.
Nyx came in with Bevan, Arden, and Merlin shortly after we arrived. Nicolai and I walked over and pulled them into a huddle, but they spotted Bellatrix and Marsden outside, too.
“What the actual shit are they doing out there?!” Nyx said.
“Marsden is claiming he booked the studio to work with her on Damita,” Nicolai said.
Merlin just snorted.
“Didn’t she tell you how she doesn’t get out of bed that early unless they pay her your annual salary when you ask for extra rehearsals?”
“That she did.”
“Can’t we just ship her somewhere?” Bevan asked.
“I have the Amazon box my shampoo came in,” Nyx said.
“I can make her fit,” Arden grunted.
Madame Lucinda whirled around as Bellatrix and Marsden strode in. She looked properly chastised, but I knew she was faking it. Madame Lucinda put her hands on her hips and glared at both of them.
“Dancers, I won’t take up too much of your time,” Marsden said. “I understand there’s been a few… incidents… in class recently. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
It wouldn’t happen again if Bellatrix and Ivory weren’t allowed back in class. Ivory slunk in and stood behind Bellatrix and Marsden. Madame Lucinda was just glaring at all three of them.
Marsden put his hand on the small of Bellatrix’s back and urged her forwards. She bowed her head and shuffled towards the center of the room. She at least had the decency to look humbled and ashamed.
“I’m sorry for my outbursts in class recently. I’ve been going through some personal issues a-a-and… losing Julian was… hard. It won’t happen again though.”
Bellatrix kept her head bowed, but she looked dead at me through her lashes. I knew right then and there she was done attacking Madame Lucinda. She was coming for me now. She wasn’t sorry she went that far with Madame Lucinda. She was doing what she needed to do to get her ass back in class.
I hadn’t been at the company very long, so I couldn’t compare her most recent tantrums to those in the past. Sheneededto be in technique classes, but the rest of us needed our classes too… without her interruptions.
“This is her last chance, Marsden,” Madame Lucinda said, pointing a gnarled finger at him. “If she startsanydrama in my classroom, she’s gone for good. That goes for her evil twin, too.”
“It won’t. I promise. And I’m sorry about what happened,” Bellatrix said.
Madame Lucinda looked like she believed her just as much as I did. Finally, she just sniffed and turned away.
“You owe an apology to way more than just me, you owe every dancer in this room one, and plenty that are no longer here. Now! Places, everyone! I don’t like it when my class starts late.”
I didn’t want to put myself in Bellatrix’s line of sight, but I didn’t trust this new leaf she was acting like she’d turned over. I had a feeling she’d be on the offensive again before long, so we all took our places at the barre near her so we could stop her without needing magic.
Chapter25
Beyla
Class was completely uneventful, but part of that had to do with the fact Marsden was sitting in a chair in the corner and watching. He didn’t say a damn thing, just stared at me the entire time, like mytenduswere fascinating. It wasn’t sexual, and I wasn’t weaving an enchantment. There was just no reason for it.
