Page 18 of Wicked Knight

A piercing silence stretches between us. Harsh and cold, callous and cruel. It coils around my nerves like vines, making me wish I’d never asked.

“No. Nothing to worry about,” Dad answers in a calm voice, but the tightlipped smile betrays him, and I know he’s lying.

With a clipped nod, he leaves me, and the hollow in my soul grows, whispering ominous things to me that my worries have only just begun.

Things are going to get worse.

Chapter Five

Mackenzie

My nerves tingle as I walk out to center stage and pose en pointe with my hands crossed over my chest and my head bowed.

I’m wearing a stunning black and silver tutu with a diamond-covered decorative headpiece in my hair. It’s one of the most beautiful costumes I’ve ever worn in my life.

I should be savoring my last chance to wear this gorgeous dress and be the star of tonight’s performance one last time, but I feel like hell.

I’ve been trying all day to clear my mind, but that unsettling feeling from the other day is still clinging to the edges of my heart.

I’d hoped it would be gone by now or at least under control, but it’s gotten worse.

Maybe it’s because Dad isn’t here, and Mom has been acting strange since he left.

The velvet curtains draw open, and the sweet melody of violin music fills the air, touching every corner of the theater. The spotlight shines on me, swallowing me whole, and I surrender to the music, sliding gracefully into a pirouette to begin my solo piece.

I glide across the stage like I’m floating through the air. Then I look past the orchestra pit to the front row of the audience and spot my mother and my friends— Isabelle, Annika, the twins, Savannah and Sawyer, and Eilish. They’re all here.

Seeing them dissolves the angst inside me, and it floats away.

This ballet is calledtThe Cursed Bride. The music and storyline have reminded me of a beautiful mashup ofRomeo and JulietmeetsGiselle.

It’s about a girl of noble birth who’s betrothed to a prince, but her heart belongs to her childhood sweetheart. They run away together and lose each other along the way for years. They only find each other again after a war, but her sweetheart is dying.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each performance, but I wonder if I found it easy to slip into character effortlessly because elements of the story have felt similar to my life.

Sometimes, the characters we play on stage are pieces of our true selves come to life.

One leap, one turn, one arabesque, and I’m lost in the music, then I own the stage and feel like I’m Mackenzie Domachenkov again. The girl who had to fight to be here. The girl who had to fight for this moment of happiness. The girl who had to fight for her dream.

Regardless of whatever outlandish thing is happening outside the walls of this theatre,nothingwill ever steal my accomplishments from me. Nor the strength it took to get here.

It’s been great to live the dream this summer. A dream that wouldn’t have happened if Dad’s original plans went ahead. I’d be preparing to marry Levi now.

I flow with each note, my body welcoming the movements in my routine as though they were made for me.

The music crescendos into the bridge, and I get ready for the last few minutes of my performance.

With a wide smile, I lift my arms above my head, pausing with the last note of the string quartet. My gaze flickers upward to the balcony of the dress circle, and my pulse stumbles when I see a hooded figure standing in the shadowed edge of the alcove, watching me.

It’s a man.

A man as tall as a giant with a build like the Hulk.

It’s silly to take note of one person when there are at least three hundred people here tonight, but there’s something different about this person.

A tingle prickles the nape of my neck as I quickly take in his build and stature and height.

The shroud of darkness engulfs him, but there’s something familiar, something recognizable, something that tells me I know him.

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