Page 58 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Oh, Lilith! Arden looked sexy as fuck as he gave Bellatrix that ferocious verbal beat down to protect Bevan. He was fighting with his gryphon the entire time. His eyes were gold, and his white tank top was in tatters because his wings had burst from his back. He had them snapped out to their full span, and he let out a lion's roar just to hammer his point home.
Bellatrix might think she had all this power—because she was fucking Marsden—but everyone knew better than to piss off a gryphon. Not even Marsden was trying to intervene. Bellatrix might be evil, but she wasn’t stupid. I had no doubts that Arden, Nicolai, and Merlin really could destroy her on social media, but they may not even need to… Arden might shift and rip her limb from limb!
Bellatrix cowered and averted her eyes. It was the only thing you could do if you pissed off a gryphon and didn’t have magic like a witch. Of course, she could try hitting him with a massive pulse of lust, but there was alonghistory of hatred there, and trying that could just piss him off.
“Fine! I get it. I’m outnumbered here. I’ll accept Bevan in this role and work with him. For the record though, I hate this fucking ballet! There shouldneverbe more male leads than there are prima ballerinas!”
Nicolai started clapping, and Merlin somehow grabbed a bag of popcorn and was shoving it in his face like this was the best movie he’d ever seen. Bevan looked like he didn’t know what he was feeling—embarrassment or awe—as he watched Arden finally put Bellatrix in her place. Honestly, I was a little turned on and wanted to kiss Arden. That assault was magnificent, and he hadn’t even laid a finger on her.
Arden snapped his wings back in sassily. As they retracted into his back, his eyes returned to normal. He turned to Marsden.
“If you don’t want to control your girlfriend, wewillfight back. That goes for Beyla, too. We’re all more than tired of the drama. We’re here to dance, and every male lead here loves this ballet so far. Wewantto perform it on stage. You know damn well we aren’t the reason we’re behind. So, fix it, or we will. I’m ready to dance now.”
Arden stalked off and took his place. I saw Nicolai and Merlin looking at him differently now. I knew they had this entire thing, but I also suspected that was based on impressions, and they didn’t really know anything about each other. I had a feeling that if they could just get over that, they might be friends.
One major thing they had in common was Bevan. You had to be a complete sociopath to want to hurt him. I felt this intense connection with him when we danced together for the first time, and then he was just so…amazingat lunch. I wanted to protect him.
Arden had just majorly ratcheted things up a notch with Nicolai and Merlin, and that seriously impressed me. But, Marsden wasn’t just his boss. Unseelie had powerful magic, and they were known to hold a grudge. Marsden got rid of Julian with a phone call, but if he had been furious about it, it could have been a million times worse.
Arden lost his shit at Bellatrix and threatened Marsden too. I could appreciate why he’d included me, if I really was his mate, but what was his deal with Bevan? That was the reaction of a gryphon when their mate was threatened, and he’d been acting that way with me, too. If I broke this curse and stayed here, it wouldn’t be so horrible having both of them close to me.
Marsden acted like nothing happened. Bellatrix looked like she was still terrified of Arden, and Marsden looked calm and collected, like he didn’t just nearly shift and rip his girlfriend apart.
“Now that’s settled, let’s get this rehearsal started.”
If Bellatrix wasn’t about to wet herself, I was reasonably certain she would have shrieked something to Marsden about punishing Arden for speaking to her like that. Of course, if you were dating someone and legitimately cared about them, anyone would have said something. Which lent credence to my theory that Marsden was playing mind games with Bellatrix.
That theory crystalized as we ran through the opening number. I usually lost myself in the music and movements when I was dancing, but I focused and listened to everything Marsden was saying. And he was sayinga lot.
“Look how easy she makes it look, Bella. She’s bending her knees and holding her center. They are lifting her like she’s weightless. Beyla’s transition steps are flawless. You need to tighten up yourbourréesand make them faster when you move to a warrior, like Beyla does. I want you to watch how she connects with all of them. That’s what I need from my Damita. Their polyamorous relationship has to be believable. You have to make the audience think you are desperately in love with all four of them. Watch Beyla closely, and take notes, because she’s doing it perfectly.”
I growled as I did atour jeteaway from them and ran off stage. I knew Marsden wasn’t genuinely complimenting me. Bellatrix had already learned this choreography. She just couldn’t get this far with it because she was trying to take out Bevan. Marsden could have given her all of those notes without comparing her to me.
That was just fanning the flames in her lizard brain and reinforcing paranoia that he would replace her with me. What was his end goal, anyway? Why did he need this rivalry revived to break this curse? That was what I needed to be asking myself.
We got through way more of the choreography today than we did when Bellatrix was dancing, because I wasn’t pitching tantrums and trying to sabotage my cast mates. These guys really were great to dance with. Some of the lifts were tricky and complicated, but I felt safe with all of them. There was just this solid connection, and I didn’t have to fake a single thing.
Marsden was pulling shit again as he taught us. He was acting like Bellatrix didn’t exist anymore, and he was fawning over me. Just me. I was about to punch him in the face and blow my cover. But, I wasn’t dancing alone, and if I looked good doing these steps, it was because I had help.
Marsden was driving me crazy, but he’d done a fantastic job casting the four male leads. They fit their roles like the choreography was initially set on them, and they were all generous dancers. They took what I sent them and gave it back tenfold. I wanted to make them look good, and they were doing the same in return.
Marsden was acting like they weren’t even in the room with me. He was ignoring his girlfriend, too, but I couldn’t do the same as her eyes were boring into me from where she was sitting. She had said nothing, but I could feel her negative vibes from here, and they were getting worse the longer this rehearsal went on.
Marsden finally called rehearsal. I knew I had dinner to cook, and secrets to spill, but I also needed to talk to him to find out what the actual fuck he was trying to do. He also needed to get me in front of Santiago Suarez, so I could finally get some answers.
He turned his back on us as soon as he dismissed us. I followed, until he went straight to Bellatrix and helped her to her feet. He saw me standing there, and gave me this look like he knew what I wanted and would do anything he could to avoid talking to me.
“Sorry, Beyla. I can’t stay and chat. Bella has had a trying day, and she’s injured. She lost a friend, and was nearly attacked by a gryphon in rehearsal. I need to take her home and take care of her.”
Bellatrix shot me this triumphant look. Did she actually think I was trying to steal Marsden, and that he was brushing me off to be with her?! If Marsden ever tried to point his Unseelie cock at me, I’d put a curse on it so bad that he’d regret ever meeting me. Yeah, he was good-looking, but I really just wanted to rearrange his face now that I’d met him.
I couldn’t say a damn thing about it, or get him to stay long enough to talk to me, without Bellatrix getting it in her head that I was trying to ruin her life.
I was sick of losing verbal battles with an Unseelie. I knew how to fight physical battles, but still needed to figure out how to outsmart a manipulative Unseelie.
Chapter9
Arden
