Belle Fury: Manhatten Ten, Book 3 by Lola Dodge

dropped her pen. “We didn’t think you’d be back…”
    “Neither did I. “
    “Are you still…?” She didn’t know what to call it.  
    “All gone. I’m back.”
    “Oh.” Vivi punched something into her phone—either letting the director know I was here or avoiding my eyes. “You’ll have to talk to Steven.”
    So they’d called in an understudy. Anger bubbled up, but so did my drive. Whoever she was, I could out-dance her.
    It was three o’clock, and that meant rehearsal in Studio A. Time to kick the bitch off my throne. “I’ll let myself in.”
    The muffled music made my spine tingle. I didn’t doubt my abilities, but even if it felt like years had passed, it had only been a few days since I destroyed the show and almost killed our entire company. Nobody’s forgetting that. I could almost hear Ivory telling me to breathe. After one big inhale, I pushed the door open.  
    At full blast, the music hit me like a piano. Everyone on the fringes turned my way in varying degrees of horror, but the principals didn’t miss a step. Didn’t even notice me.
    Aaron danced the pas-de-deux with a skeletal blonde whose neck and leg stretched for days. She wasn’t from the company. Where…
    Russia.
    Goddamn. Katrina Jesky? We were importing them from Moscow now?
    If she weren’t wearing my costume, I might’ve admired her long, clean lines. And that extension.  
    She’d make an excellent understudy.
    This was still my company, and no way was she horning in. I’d worked too hard.
    Shucking off the baggy sweatshirt, I made my way to the sound system. Steven had noticed me. Some director. He should’ve come over as soon as I walked in.
    If they weren’t going to welcome me, then I’d welcome myself. I flicked the speakers off. The music cut and the dancing pair made a few awkward steps before they realized. Katrina gasped.
    “Belle?” Aaron backed away. I’d almost blown him up, so I couldn’t hold a grudge. “What are you doing?”
    “Great question.” Steven folded his arms. “You owe me a new stage.”
    “Dock my salary.” I’d be dead before I made up the cost. I folded my arms right back at him. It was totally my fault, but I wasn’t giving him an inch. If I showed any weakness, I’d be out on my ass.
    “I would, but your hero friends are taking care of it. Care to explain why you’re gracing us with your super presence?”
    “Are you still a hazard?” Katrina’s accent was barely there. Just a flirty little roll to her Rs. Not cute. Not her business.
    “I’m cured. They’re real problem solvers, those Manhattan Ten.” And money throwers, apparently. What did it cost to repair a landmark?  
    “They can do that?” Aaron took back the step he’d retreated. That was a start.
    “I’m pretty sure they can do anything they want.” It was nice to be out of fantasyland. “Including strip my powers.”
    “How?” Now Katrina folded her arms. Wasn’t it just a stubborn party? But someone was realizing her cushy headline by-invitation was about to disappear.
    “Does it matter?” They didn’t need to know about Jenny. She hadn’t said anything, but her gift was better left secret. People didn’t need to know the girl was like an ATM for superpowers. Deposits and withdrawals. Not that I planned to cash out.
    “Belle.” Steven’s beady eyes narrowed even more. “You’d better not be putting us in danger again, because if you are, you can get the fuck out of my studio.”
    As much as I wanted to flip him off, I tamped it down. “Whatever happened is over. Do I have Giselle or not?”
    “You can audition.”
    “Screw you. Want me to call San Francisco?” Their director would take me and double my salary. Unlike Steven, the guy even knew how to smile.
    But San Fran wasn’t New York.
    Steven’s nose wrinkled. He did not like that. Not at all.
    “Act I,” he said at last. “You dance it like before without shattering my mirrors, and the part’s yours.”
    Katrina’s