Page 55 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
No one had died yet, but it was going to happen, eventually. If I was going to get dragged along and manipulated into a role I didn’t want to play, he could at least look me in the fucking eye and give me a little help.
Chapter7
Nicolai
Something bizarre was going on. Marsden always got weird when it came to his ballet… but this was next level. He once bought an entire team of human Buddhist monks into the studio because he thought it would get us in the right headspace. Marsden had also once dragged a clawfoot tub full of water on stage, with mood lighting and a bunch of runes floating around in it, then made us all get in. He cast that show based on the runes!
This wasn’t just eccentric anymore. Bellatrix was trying to hurt Bevan before. If Marsden had organized the bust when he was at home, she might have just thought he got caught selling to his other customers. But nope, the way it went down made it was pretty damn obvious someone at rehearsal had tipped off the bureau. We all knew it was Marsden, but she would blame one of us, and Bevan had a motive.
And what was up with this morning? I was freaked out, and Beyla was pissed. I suspected Beyla knew something, or we wouldn’t all be invited to dinner. She wouldn’t put Merlin and me in the same room as Arden, unless it was absolutely necessary.
Whatever was going on, she needed to talk to Madame Lucinda alone, and she’d been in there a while. She was going to miss lunch. Merlin and I were waiting on one side of the hall, and Nyx and Arden on the other. Arden had stolen Bevan, and was acting really weird about it.
“We need to get her something to eat from the café,” I said. “Whatever she’s discussing in there is clearly important, but she danced her ass off with me in that impromptu rehearsal, and that class was brutal. She needs to eat something if she’s going to make it through rehearsal.”
“Ooh, good idea. What does she eat?”
Merlin and I started walking towards the café.
“Fuck if I know! The café has plenty of things that will make you barf in rehearsal if you eat them, but soup and a sandwich should be okay, right?”
“The chicken club and the lentil soup are excellent. We should get them.”
“Good idea.”
This felt good. I took women on dates all the time, but this wasn’t a date at all. I expected nothing from it. I really didn’t want her passing out in rehearsal. Thepas de deuxMarsden taught us was passionate, but complex. I had to lift her a lot, and she had a lot of quick footwork and turns to pull off. We were both dripping with sweat, and then Madame Lucinda tried to kill us in class.
She might hate me for it, but I grabbed two of their homemade cookies for her. I didn’t even know if she ate cookies, but the chocolate chip cookies at this café were good for a splurge if you needed sugar. I just wanted her to know I cared, even if she didn’t eat them.
Shit. I hated that motherfucker, but she’d invited him to the team. So, I ordered sandwiches for Bevan, Nyx, and Arden too. I had no problem buying a meal for Bevan, and Nyx wasn’t so bad, but I really didn’t give a shit if Arden didn’t eat because he was standing outside waiting for her. She did care though, so I bought him a damn sandwich.
Beyla was just coming out as we got back to the studio. I waved the food bags and directed them towards the couches in the lobby.
“We got enough for everyone. I didn’t know everyone’s food preferences, so we grabbed a few of everything. There’s enough soup and sandwiches for everyone.”
Beyla smiled and kissed my cheek.
“Thanks, Nicolai and Merlin. I’m starving, and I really needed to talk to Madame Lucinda. The snacks I packed wouldn’t have gotten me through rehearsal after the morning I just had. Thanks for getting enough for everyone.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Nyx said. “See? The two of you are perfectly capable of being nice without expecting sex. I’d pay to see Beyla put you on your ass like she did Bellatrix if you do, though.”
“I wish I had my phone out when that went down, because I would have plastered that all over my social media,” Merlin said. “It would have gone viral because her feet went over her head, and the floor vibrated when she landed. Plus, I just want to watch it again.”
“Shit, I don’t follow you, but I would to watch that video!” Nyx said.
“I was just trying to stop her from attacking Madame Lucinda.”
“Well, you might have to do it again,” Bevan said. “It’s like Marsden is intentionally antagonizing her. I don’t know what I ever did to him to make him want to sic his deranged girlfriend on me like that.”
“It’s not about you, Bevan. It’s about me. I’ll explain everything over dinner. I promise.”
“It sure feels a lot like it’s about me. I’m the one she’s trying to get replaced. Marsden was a famous dancer who had several partners. He can see what she’s doing to me, and he’s letting her get away with it. He understood me loud and clear when I mentioned that Bellatrix was buying cocaine from Julian. If he was only going to punish him instead of her, he didn’t have to arrange for it to go down where she could see it.”
Beyla gave him his sad smile.
“Are Arden and Bevan the only ones here into ballet conspiracy theories?”
“Oh, shit. Here we go,” Nyx groaned.
