Page 10 of The Devil and His Goddess

“Work is going to be torture,” I huffed.

“Are you going to sleep with him?”

“Absolutely not!” I screeched, going into a plié and then a relevé. “Mandi already made herlovelycomments about me trying to sleep my way to the top. I donotneed to give her more ammunition against me.”

Aiysha peeled her lips back in disgust and rose with me back to first position. Her form wasn’t as sharp as it once was, but she still managed to move through the motions with me.

“Mandi is probably just pissed because you made a move on him before she could,” Aiysha grumbled.

Mandi had danced with us since middle school, and while she’d been friendly enough at the start, her true colors soon came out. She’dhatedwhen Aiysha or I got picked for solos or featured parts over her, and she’d do petty things out of spite—snip holes into our tights, throw away our brand new make-up, steal our snacks. Once, she’d even slipped laxatives into Aiysha’s drink before a performance.

We never had proof that she was the one behind all of the issues, but Aiysha and I always knew it was her. Between her snide comments or the gleeful look on her face after an incident, it was more than obvious she was the mastermind. She always looked like she was eagerly waiting on us to notice the latest stunt she’d pulled.

In an effort to not lose our breakfast, we dropped our talk about Mandi. Instead, we continued moving through the barre exercises. It wasn’t long before my body warmed, and I shed my jacket so that I stood in only my leotard and tights.

Aiysha caught me up on how her parents and two siblings were doing out in California. Her mom, a well-loved actress, was prepping for a new film, and her dad was directing a documentary. Her younger brother was dominating his eighth grade classes, and her sister was eager to begin her final semester of senior year. I missed all of the Jacksons, so hearing about them now warmed my heart.

The day turned into evening, and the glow from the fading sun lit the dance room in a fiery glow.

I downed some water and tried to catch my breath after finishing a long day of working on techniques. Aiysha, who’d done a lot of it with me, braced her hands on her knees, panting hard.

“Fuck,” Aiysha gasped. “I’m out of shape. I’m also starving. Ready to order food?”

I nodded, finishing off my water. I followed her to the kitchen where she called in dinner for both of us. With time to kill, I bounced upstairs and hopped into the shower. The warm water felt great against my body after an all-day workout, and I stood there, even after I’d finished washing off.

I soaked in the feel of the water and let my mind finally drift to what life at the studio was going to be like. I was sure I was overreacting—Perseuswasn’tgoing to fire me. But that company was my home. Was it going to be weird now, not only because of the new ownership, but because of my attraction to said owner? I wouldn’t know until I started back, but the nerves were there all the same.

I finally stepped out of the shower and slipped into my fluffy pajama bottoms and sweatshirt. I could hear the water still going in Aiysha’s bathroom, so I headed down to the living room to wait for her and the food. I made myself at home on the leather couch and pulled up the reality show she and I watched together, finding the episode we’d left off on.

That was when movement outside caught my eye. Hopping up from the couch, I started toward the window to see if it was the delivery driver with our food, but I stopped dead in my tracks. A figure clad in black pants and a hoodie stood in the driveway, facing the house. A fine layer of sweat broke out on the back of my neck, and a jolt of fear froze every muscle in my body. I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, couldn’tbreathe.

Until I heard footsteps bounding down the stairs.

“Aiysha!” I yelled, racing in her direction. I met her at the bottom and gripped her arm tightly as I pointed toward the living room window. “A-A man! There’s a man outside!”

“What?” she asked, her brows slamming down in confusion. “Why are you freaking out? It’s probably the food.”

She crossed the floor to the front door, so I held onto her arm, trying to pull her away. “Aiysha, stop! There’s—”

She swung the door open, and standing there on the porch was a smiling teenage girl with our to-go orders.

“Perfect timing!” the girl said. “I was just about to ring the doorbell.”

I peered around Aiysha and the door frame as she took the food and tipped the girl. I scanned the front yard and the distance of unobstructed ground between here and the woods beyond. There was no sign of a man decked out in black.

“You didn’t happen to see anyone as you drove or walked up here, did you?” I asked the girl with a slight panicked edge in my voice.

The blonde looked around her, peering over her shoulder to where her idle car waited. “No. It’s just me.”

I nodded slowly and followed Aiysha back to the living room like a robot on autopilot. She sat the bag of food on the coffee table and looked at me with a teasing smirk. “So no scary movies tonight, obviously.”

I went back to the window and watched the girl drive away. There was no evidence of any other presence having been here, nor was there any dark-cladded figure lurking in our yard. Maybe Ihadn’tseen anyone. It happened so fast. The delivery girl’s car was dark. Maybe my mind caught the flash of her car and jumped to conclusions. The reasoning sounded crazy, even to me.

“I swear, I thought I saw someone,” I insisted, turning to my friend again.

With a worried shiver, I wondered if it was whoever was behind those voicemails and texts. They’d never approached me. Their interactions were always done from a distance, which had been a huge part of why I thought it was a harmless prank by teenagers.

But seeing that dark figure outside had me requestioning that idea.

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