Page 17 of The Devil and His Goddess

Dangerous because, for a moment, I’d wanted him.

Chapter 7

Harper

KATERINA CAME OUT OF THE director’s office, a grin on her beautiful face. Elijah and I practically bounced on our feet as she made it to us.

“Well?” I demanded in excited anticipation.

“What role did you get?” Elijah asked just as enthusiastically. “Did he say which ballet you’ll do?”

She rubbed her glossy lips together like she was trying to seal the words inside her before they finally burst out in a rush, “I’m a soloist! I’m getting a role inDancing in the Dark!”

Elijah and I quickly tugged her into our arms in an elated group hug. Like Katerina, Elijah had just learned he’d gotten principal danseur and the lead male role inDancing in the Dark. Both were over the moon to be ranked so highly, and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them. They were brilliant and beyond deserving of the roles they’d received.

“This is amazing!” Elijah said. His glee suddenly dampened as he frowned at me. “I just hate that we’re not going to be in the same show. We all know you’re getting Odette and Odile inSwan Lake.”

“Being in different shows will be worth it to see you as the swan again,” Katerina said as she squeezed my hand and beamed at me with pride. “You’re the best Odette I’ve ever seen. I’m excited for you to get the role again this year. Speaking of … it’s your turn! Try to act surprised when you get the lead inSwan Lake.”

“Thanks, guys,” I gushed as I pulled them in for hugs again.

I did hate the idea of not being able to dance alongside them, though I knew there would be other shows we would do together in the future.Swan LakeandDancing in the Darkwere just the first of what would be an amazing year of shows, and while they worked on theirs, I’d be giving the beautiful swan my all, as I’d done every year since becoming a part of Silverlight.

Fresh nerves coiled tightly in my stomach as I headed toward Perseus’s office. I wasn’t so much anxious about being given my role as I was about being in a small room, all alone with Perseus. Though, it wasn’t him I was afraid of. I was afraid ofmyself.

Even after an entire week of seeing him during daily classes and rehearsals for this very moment, my attraction to him hadn’t dwindled. If anything, it had grown as I watched the way he carried himself, observed him as he treated every dancer with patience and a smile, or felt his eyes on me while I worked. Never had a gaze scorched my very skin with desire like his had.

Except for one.

I still wasn’t sure if the masked man was real or a momentary lapse in my sense of reality. He hadn’t appeared since Monday night, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or disappointed.

The fact that I evencouldbe disappointed should’ve been a red flag about my mental state, yet here I was.

The mystery texts and voicemails I’d gotten this past week made no mention of being with me in that strange visit, which was more evidence to suggest that the two people weren’t the same. Not that the masked man was apersonat all.

Shaking the thoughts away, I focused on theotherman plaguing me.

When I walked into Perseus’s office, his attention was fixed on some papers in his ringed fingers. A crisp white button-up hugged his torso, and I had to force my gaze elsewhere since the sight of the material stretched over his muscles caused a burn at my center that shouldn’t be felt for one’s superior. His golden curls were pulled back in a bun at the nape of his neck, but a few strands fell into his green eyes.

He looked up at the sound of the door shutting, and a smile claimed his mouth the minute his gaze locked on mine.

“Good morning, sir,” I greeted and took the chair across from him.

“‘Sir,’” he repeated with a chuckle. He leaned back in his chair and ran a finger under his mouth as he appraised me. “That makes me feel like some old, stiff executive.”

“What would you prefer I call you, then?”

That little smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. “‘Peasant’ works.”

Heat climbed my neck, but I ignored it with a flip of my hair over my shoulder. “I’ll stick with ‘sir.’”

“Even if I said I liked it?”

Especially then.

I stayed silent, to which he shrugged. He leaned forward to rest his clasped hands on the top of his desk. “Well, Goddess—”

“Harper,” I corrected with a slight narrowing of my eyes.

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