Page 26 of Devoured
“As much as any person is.” He motioned towards my pants. “Get dressed. You’ll need pants to enter this establishment.”
By the time I was clothed, the driver opened the door for us, and we were escorted by the concierge to the VIP section of the venue. It was a large area in the middle of the stadium seating, with two cushioned seats near the railing. All other seats in the venue were empty. It was only then that I realized that this was a private showing.
“Roland,” I twisted around. But what could I say? “This—” I looked around, seeing how incredibly small I was inside of that huge venue. “This is too much. I—”
“Shut up and enjoy it,” he said. The lights dimmed. “It’s rude to talk during a performance.”
I gave him side-eyes, but then a performer came out onto the stage, his legs moving as if gliding through liquid, followed by another performer, shorter than him. Both were strong and lean, but the taller one threw the shorter man up, holding him above by his ankle. Then he tossed the shorter performer again into the air, and the shorter man flipped, landing with his hands pressed into the taller man’s shoulders.
It’s one thing to scrutinize it on a screen, and quite another to watch it in person. The acrobatics. The aerialists. The dancing. Sensual, mysterious, and ultimately captivating. When the two ‘twin’ contortionists performed to the song,I Put a Spell on You, I was completely lost in awe. It was one of the few performances I hadn’t seen online. They timed their moves, twisting their torsos to the music, one performer always looking as if they were controlling the other, though the power seemed to switch back and forth. Bending in half backward, pulling their necks completely sideways. A growing need to perform swelled inside of me, begging to burst free.
Which is to say that it was fifty minutes of pure bliss.
When the performance ended, the music was shatteringly loud, but I clapped anyway, enthusiastic. Then I exhaled deeply, sad that it was over. It was easy to forget it was midday, tucked inside of that dark venue. Even as we went to the brightly-lit private lounge off to the side of the VIP viewing area, there were no windows, as if we were hiding deep within the depths of another world.
Roland had ordered an extraordinary amount of drinks—two of each artisanal cocktail on the menu, a bottle of vodka, another of champagne—plus gourmet appetizers. Once everything was in its place, the staff left us alone. It had taken me years and years of painstaking work to save up as much as I had, and I had this sick feeling that he had blown that much on this afternoon alone. The way he flaunted his money was aggravating and intimidating. I was used to interacting with billionaires at the Dahlia District, some even wealthier than Roland, but in the confines of the entertainment club, everyone was on the same playing field. But here, in the Echo? I was on Roland’s terms.
He lifted a lime-infused vodka drink, his eyes dilated.
“What did you think of the performance?” he asked.
“It was—” How did I express my confidence, that I could actually do a lot of what they did, but that I was still in awe, that I thought the show was beautiful? I rolled my shoulders, then adjusted the collar of my shirt. “You know, at the Dahlia District, we’ve got as much variety, if notmore
than those shows.”
“Oh?”
“Fire dancers. Aerialists. Harpists. Other musicians. Servers that can paint themselves into a mural, or pour hot wax over their bodies. You name it,” I said. Though the truth was that a lot of those servers, especially the ones I had specifically named, weren’t there anymore. Still, I perked up, knowing that we had plenty of excellent talent still working. “You need to come and watch how the club operates for a night. It’s a creature of its own.”
“I’ve been there,” he said flatly.
“You were chatting the whole time, doing your Roland thing,” I said. He raised a brow, but I continued: “Observe. Listen. See how we operate.”
“My Roland thing?”
I shrugged. “You’re pretty social.”
He smirked. “All right. I’ll watch. But make sure the servers know not to approach me unless they have an issue to discuss,” he said. I nodded; I could do that. “But you didn’t answer my question.” He leaned forward. “What did you think of the show?”
“It was incredible.” That was the honest truth. I sat up, thinking about it for a moment. “But I can do a lot of the contortion moves. Easily. Maybe even better than them.” He cocked his chin, a gleam in his eye. “I’m just saying that they used the two twin dancers as a way to distract the audience from the fact that they were both pretty average.”
“Average?” He chuckled. “They’re an international circus troupe. I don’t think there was anything average about their performance.”
In all honesty, he was right. But I knew I was as well-trained as they were.
“I’m just as good.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
“Maybe even better.”
“Prove it.”
He said it so quickly that my jaw dropped. He lifted his drink again, and we both took sips.
“If you’re the best, then I want to see that side of you.” He gestured in front of him. “Go on. Show off.”
I hesitated. My pants and button-up shirt weren’t exactly the best for my skill.
