Page 59 of Stripped

Wraith watched as his fingers lingered, softly caressing her bare shoulders as he adjusted the nude elastic straps. His jaw clenched, that was his body, the same beautiful body he'd made love to two nights ago, when she had surrendered to him. No one else had the right to touch her so possessively. Peter kissed her cheek as the other woman pinned a white-feathered headdress in her hair. Her clear eyes caught Wraith's for a second before she returned to the stage, and for a moment, he wondered if she even recognized him.

"So alluring," Peter said, his chest thrust out like a puffed up bird, as he came to stand beside Wraith.

"How much longer until this happily ever after is over?" He was feeling a bit set off by Pim's blatant disregard.

Peter laughed. "It's not a happily ever after. How classically redundant that would be. No, this is a sinister tragedy. I don't go in for the fairy princess stuff. That ending of Swan Lake would be wasted on Pim." Wraith watched as she, Paul, and the dancer playing Von Rothbart, the evil owl, began a wicked pas de trois. Pim's eyes grew wide for a moment, akin to shock, and Wraith saw in an instant what she did. It was the same man from the other night who had run through the audience, knocking people over.

"Who's playing Rothbart?" he asked Peter.

"Thomas Laurence, our original Siegfried. I got a note during intermission from Jerome, who normally plays the part, saying he fell ill. Thomas agreed to fill in."

"We need to close the curtain," Wraith said. He glanced across the stage to the other wing, where Gabriel stood, giving him a quick nod and running his hand across his forehead as a sign.

"Are you fucking mad? This is the best performance SNB has had in years."

"Close the fucking curtain. Pim's in danger." Siegfried and Rothbart continued to battle it out on stage for Odette, dancing in a mad-lover's embrace until Siegfried fell to his death, leaving just Odette and Rothbart, a red stain growing on his chest. Wraith saw the fear in Pim's eyes; it was real. The music grew in a heartbreaking climax. Rothbart put his wings around her, picking her up as mist filled the stage and the background changed, giving the audience the illusion he was flying away with her. His razor-sharp talon was placed strategically on her throat. A small red light appeared on Rothbart's forehead. "Shut the fucking curtain." Wraith charged the stagehand, pulling the gold cord himself as sheets of red velvet came tumbling down. The audience exploded in applause. He rushed out on stage, but Rothbart had fled. Pim lay on the floor, blood dripping from her throat. He picked her up and ran offstage, toward the dressing rooms.

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