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I nod, really just trying to take in his words. It’s my dream come true. Lead roles, a long-term contract. Only it feels empty not having William here to talk to about it, knowing he’ll be sleeping for hours yet. It will also mean a lot more exposure. That should be good. I’ve always accepted fame comes with success in this business. It’s not like Hollywood. Not like the movies where you can’t walk down the street without being recognized. But the nature of stage acting is means you perform for big crowds and if the show does well, your name and image are spread all over the city and beyond.
It’s only after the creepy messages from last night and the day before, this suddenly feels a whole hell of a lot scarier than it ever did before.
Sethos is staring at me, waiting for an answer. I babble something about having my lawyer read over the contract. In reality, I haven’t got a lawyer and he probably knows it, but he smiles and thanks me and lets me go dashing off to my dressing room to hide and collect my thoughts.
When I get there though, there’s another surprise. A large bunch of roses sits in a pretty vase in the middle of my dressing table. I step out of the room and check the number on the door, but this is definitely my room. The one Sethos just told me was mine.
Frowning, I fumble with the flowers and search for a card. Probably someone left them here by mistake. What I see makes my guts churn.
A rose by any other name smells as sweet,
But a slut smells like a slut no matter how you dress her up.
I stuff the note into the trash and stagger from the dressing room with icy fingers and a roiling stomach. The cold wind on the east tower bites against my overheated cheeks as soon as I step out of the door.
William is on his perch looking down over the center stage. Perhaps it’s my imagination, but tonight his shoulders look hunched and his features have an odd wistful look not normally there when I see him in daylight.
I wonder if he dreams while he sleeps, or if it’s different under the curse. Coming close, I stretch up and brush a hand over his furrowed brow. Of course, it does nothing to smooth the worry lines etched there in stone. I can’t even really hug him. His girth and the wings make it impossible for me to get my arms around him properly.
I sink to the ground and wrap my jacket more tightly around my body, huddling at his clawed feet. His marble beneath my thighs is cold, seeping through my sweats and chilling me the longer I sit. I don’t move, though. I’m not ready to leave.
Neither do I open my mouth to tell him about Sethos’s offer or the flowers and card in my dressing room. If I tell him now, he might remember, and knowing will only worry him. It’s probably nothing. Just some creepy weirdo who’ll get over it in a week or two. Surely, I can’t be that fascinating to anyone that he can’t find a new obsession to fixate on once the excitement of opening night dies down.
I tell myself this as the sun tips beyond its midday peak and gradually sinks toward the horizon. After a few hours, I reluctantly stretch and shake out my stiff, cold legs. I finally succumb to my growling stomach and descend from the tower to find something to eat. Then the busy rehearsals and preparations before the night’s performance begin and I don’t have to concentrate any longer on forgetting about it. I’m caught up in the whirlwind of excitement and I can finally switch off for a blissful few hours. When the show is over, William will be awake to protect me.
So I feel absolutely fine when I step into my dressing room and close the door behind me so I can begin putting on my costume.
TWENTY THREE
William
Something doesn’t feel right tonight.
Jessie’s performance is perfect. It’s not that. For the second night in a row, the audience get to their feet to applaud her as her solo ends. For the second night in a row I gaze through the glass dome in awe at the way she gracefully accepts the accolades, then returns their attention to the performance, and seamlessly folds herself back into the scene.
She was born for this—to command attention and devotion. No wonder she literally woke me from stone.
