Page 14 of Wicked Knight
“It's true. Everything is a disaster.” I sigh, flopping onto my back and reaching for a pillow from the stack beside me.
“Okay, so I'm guessing you haven't spoken to Dimitri yet.”
“No. I haven’t.” Isabelle and I talked three weeks ago. I was hoping I would have better news to tell her today. “Believe me, you'd be the first to know if I’d seen him.”
“Oh, Mackenzie,” she sighs. “So, you’re still waiting, and he’s made no attempt to see you.”
“Yeah. That’s my summer in a nutshell.”
Isabelle is the only one of my friends who knows of the new developments of my contract. She’s also the only one who knows some details about the past. I didn’t tell her everything, just enough to give her more insight into the family feud. I think, like many other people, she was able to figure out the rest. All the parts I couldn’t talk about.
I had to tell someone. And it had to be her.
Over the years, as our friendship circle has shifted, Isabelle and I have grown closer.
There are a few of my friends who have been through some dark shit in their lives. Isabelle is at the top of that list. I’m not sure where I fit on that list because I can’t remember what happened to me.
The contract has pushed me to talk about the past. I couldn’t before. It was too dark, too painful, too raw. I knew out of everyone, Isabelle would understand me and my need to only tell her things I was comfortable sharing in dribs and drabs.
“Mackenzie, it’s beenthreewhole months,” Isabelle scoffs. “That’s completely crazy.”
“I know.”
“If I were in New York, I’d march you over to his house right now and make sure you sorted this mess out.”
A little smile tugs on my lips. I believe her. Isabelle may appear to be the shy, good girl who has an obsession with Lolita doll dresses, but she has some balls on her. I’m the free spirit who pushes the limit to get what I want, but I envy her strength. I don’t have her strength.
And right now, I miss her. She’s been in England for the summer on an art internship.
“I'm planning to talk to him when we get back to Raventhorn.” I try to sound more confident than I feel. “The plan is to ask Dmitri to let me out of the contract early.
“Good. I like the sound of that. You can't live in the dark for the next six months.”
“I know. I’m going insane, Isabelle. And I keep wondering what will happen when my father finds out.” I keep my voice low. Dad is downstairs with Mom, but he’s always lurking close by.
I've been avoiding my parents since the other night because Dad and I had another horrible argument, and as usual, Mom did nothing but watch.
“Try not to think about your father.”
“It’s hard.” I smirk. “It’s a miracle he hasn’t found out already. And then there’s Dmitri’s father, who hates me. What are the chances of him getting the Lord Chancellor position?”
It’s like the universe was picking on me. That man loathes me as much as if I were the one who killed his son. I suppose I’m equally at fault because he thinks my father killed Tommy.
“Don’t think about him either.”
“Are you kidding? On wrong move, and he’ll kick me out of Raventhorn, then I’m sure he’ll see to it that I never get to dance.”
“Mackenzie, stop overreacting. That’snotgoing to happen.”
“I wouldn’t put anything past that man.”
It’s uncommon for the scouts at the New York City Ballet to select dancers in their early years at college to join their cast, but they picked me the moment they watched me dance.
There isn’t much to me that I’m proud of, but I always knew I was born to dance. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. Ballet flowed through my veins and the music my blood. When I dance, I’m transported to another world, where I belong.
I decided it was what I was going to do when I was five. I also knew that I wanted to dance with the New York City Ballet. It’s been my life’s mission ever since to be part of them. Words can’t express how much I value that part of my life.
Knowing that someone like Maxim Valneko could take it away from me cripples my soul.