Page 68 of Wicked Knight

This is a routine that’s still a work in progress. I’m choreographing it with my tutor for my finals next year. I have a few shows with Raventhorn between now and then, but this is the routine that will count toward my final grade. It’s supposed to encompass one emotion at different levels. I’ve chosen grief.

I hear the note and lift my arms and my body en pointe, becoming the free-spirited version of myself.

I float across the stage, getting lost in my movements and the dulcet tones of the music.

The tension in my chest unwinds with every turn, every spin, every leap. I drown it in the music, letting the piano’s melancholic melody swallow it whole.

The mirrors flash around me with every pirouette, catching my reflection as I turn again and again.

My muscles thank me for the familiar pain and flow of movements through my body.

Then the final chords play. I leap through the air with my arms stretched wide, my legs in a perfect arc. For a moment, I could be flying. Flying like a graceful swan to the edge of the sun and beyond.

I land with a soft thud and lift into a high arabesque. There I stay, listening to the piano music fade into silence.

Mere seconds pass before the creak of a footstep on the floorboard catches my attention. It’s behind me.

Quickly, I straighten, and my head snaps toward the sound as I realize with a fright that I’m not alone. But the sight of the man who’s plagued my dreams asleep and awake has my heart beating faster.

Dmitri is standing by the curtains, the black leather jacket he’s wearing almost blending in with the shadows.

My nerves scatter, and I turn to look at him, hoping he isn’t a figment of my imagination or that he’ll fade away like my memories.

I remember thinking something similar back in New York when he came to see the show. I thought he would disappear then, too.

But he was real then. And he’s real now.

He’s really here.

I lift a hand to my heart as I realize that this isnext time.

He came to find me.

My soul lifts at the thought, and the thrill of having another chance—even one more—to be with him has me moving toward him.

Unlike last week, I want him to be my Hades. I don’t want to be free, and I don’t want to think of anybody else but me and him together. I want him to take me to the deepest parts of the Underworld and keep me there forever.

I stop in front of him, and he gazes down at me.

“Hello, Spider.” God, that voice. I could bottle it and keep it locked in my heart forever.

“Scorpion.”

“Sorry it took me so long.” He steps forward, and that’s it.

I throw myself into his awaiting arms, and he pulls me flush against his hard body.

The strong sound of his heartbeat fills my ear, and I savor it, inhaling him and committing everything to memory.

His hands slide down to my waist, and I’m surprised when he lifts me into the air like one of the male dancers would for a lift. This is different. The is sexy, and my insides melt from the predatory look in his eyes.

Dmitri smiles up at me, holding me in place above him with his big, strong arms. “Missed me?”

“Yes.” I smile back.

“How much?”

“Too much.”