Page 42 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Did girls like that? Being real with them? It was exhausting being fake sometimes. Making those bets was fun, and so was the sex… but sometimes, I just liked hanging around with Merlin and Bevan and being stupid. Could I do that around Beyla, might that even impress her more than pickup lines?
I kind of dug that about her, and I could be just as stupid as Merlin.
I held up my fist.
“Minion powers activated!”
That got a laugh from her, and she bumped my fist. She hadn’t found a single thing I said funny before we’d set foot in this closet. This was amazing. Ilikedmaking her laugh, and I wanted to do it more.
“I do need to get home. I’ve been waiting on an important email all day, but it was nice sharing this closet with you boys.”
She floated out of the closet and left Merlin and me just standing there. I’d never seen that look on his face before. He was totally smitten, and I didn’t think he was capable of that. The bets had originally been Merlin’s idea, and he certainly had some shitty opinions about ballerinas. I’d honestly always pegged Merlin as someone who'd end up meeting a powerful succubus and falling under her spell, rather than actually meeting someone he truly wanted to be with.
This was amazing. I was so happy for him. I was happy forus.We all wanted Beyla. We didn’t have her, yet, but we didn’t have to fake it to impress her. She was more impressed with us when we were ourselves.
I’d honor her wishes that she really didn’t want the lead, even if I knew in my soul she was perfect for it. I wouldn’t do to Bellatrix what she had done to countless dancers… but she was going to learn firsthand what skinwalkers did to people who came for what was theirs.
If she hurt Bevan or Beyla, it wouldn’t be glass in her pointe shoes, or a trip down the stairs. I had an uncle in upstate New York who could make people disappear without a trace. All I had to do was make one phone call, no questions asked. He could drag it out for days in some dirty old abandoned warehouse if I let it slip she’d hurt someone I loved. Uncle Angelo did that for a living, but he wouldn’t charge me a dime, both because I was family, and because he liked to brag about his fancy, famous nephew.
Bellatrix really had really bitten off more than she could chew with this. I got the feeling Beyla was perfectly capable of defending herself, but all four male leads were on her side. Bellatrix never gave us a second look, because she had Marsden wrapped around her finger, and she didn’t have Julian try to gather intel on us… she probably should have.
The cocaine my family sold was way purer than the shit Julian sold. We also never would have hired Julian as a mule. One of my cousins would have shot him in the head and stuck him in a vat of acid for giving away that much cocaine because of a woman he wasn’t even dating. Even if sex were involved, it wouldn’t have been tolerated. Julian was lucky he was only getting arrested.
Bevan’s family was full of super powerful witches and warlocks, and he was a prodigy when it came to ballet. Still, when his powers awakened, his magic was so strong, there were plenty of people who'd discouraged him from doing ballet professionally because they wanted him in the family business. Bevan’s family were some of the best curse breakers in the entire world. Some people in his family were still hoping he’d tire of ballet and come work for them, but Bevan live and breathed ballet.
Merlin’s mom was a pretty famous actress, his dad was a powerful politician, and he was a pretty powerful incubus in his own right. I still didn’t know how Nyx and Beyla had totally shut him down like that, because most people couldn’t. All Merlin had to do was make a phone call, and his dad could make lifeverydifficult for Marsden until he fired Bellatrix. Marsden got away from the Unseelie once, and we knew he didn’t want to go back. Merlin’s dad could have him sent back with just a quick email on his lunch break.
Arden was a turd, I hated his pretentious ass and the way he looked down on Merlin and me. I looked him up one day, because I had this half-ass revenge plan when he threatened me over Nyx… I knew his last name sounded familiar.
Arden’s family used to be royalty, until one of his kingly ancestors gave it up. That was back when most everyone else was getting rid of the monarchy, some fell by war and some were assassinated. Gryphons were fierce fighters, but they were also cunning and shrewd and they knew when not to fight. His family was all ambassadors now.
I decided not to fuck with Arden, because his family had a lot of political power, and my family was all criminals… I also knew when not to fight. Though I still hated him, and I would if I could.
So, we’d officially gotten in as minions. Now, we needed to work on the harem and getting rid of Arden.
Chapter31
Beyla
Ihad this feeling that the only reason Arden wasn’t waiting for me after I left the studio was because Nicolai and Merlin had sent him on some weird goose chase. I wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but he was being oddly possessive of both me and Bevan. It was a little suffocating.
I was definitely glad to see Merlin and Nicolai were waiting. The only reason I’d told them about Julian was that three of the four male leads were hotheads and I had a feeling Arden was off trying to find him to give him a beating. We already knew Julian was a petty little bitch, so if the cops took him in with his face bashed in, he’d be sure to tell them it wasn’t his supplier. He’d press charges to make sure whoever beat his ass had to face assault charges. I didn’t need that hanging over my head. I told Merlin and Nicolai, and I was glad they dropped the whole testosterone act around me. I was finally seeing them without the whole tiresome macho pretense they usually put up when trying to bed girls.
Merlin was totally adorable while babbling about minions. Nicolai looked wholly irritated with him like they talked about it, but he wasn’t supposed to say anything to me. Guys were so weird. Why couldn’t they be like how they were around their guy friends, instead of trying so hard with awful pickup lines?
I didn’t want minions, but I could use more friends here to watch my back. I had no problem including Nicolai and Merlin in that after our little closet rendezvous.
Now, I just needed to find Arden and stop him from maiming Julian before he got arrested. I didn’t have his number, but I had Nyx’s. She would know how to find him. As I walked home, I fired off a text to Nyx asking if she knew where he was. She replied back almost immediately.
“He’s on my couch trying not to get malignant with Bevan for not getting him into the club Julian goes to. Please come home and give us an assist. Arden is going to get himself arrested.”
Shit. I started walking faster, practically running. Arden was mad at Julian, but he was also pissed at Marsden and Bellatrix. He was going to take everything out on Julian. Arden would kill him. Bevan did the right thing by refusing to take him to the club, even if Bevan had every reason to let Arden beat the shit out of him.
The elevator justhadto be broken again. It always seemed to be out of service, and I lived on the sixth floor. I considered those stairs my thigh workout most of the time, but, right now, I really needed the fucking elevator to work!
My thighs were screaming by the time I’d sprinted up all those stairs and down the hall to my apartment. I flung the door open and struggled to catch my breath. Arden looked furious and was pacing a hole in the rug, Bevan looked stressed, and Nyx… was casually eating fish and veggies like this was totally normal.
“You can’t go kill Julian!” I gasped.
