CREATURE

・chapter 8・

Cocaine.

He was using cocaine.

The star of the Russain ballet was finding himself unchallenged and overworked, and turned to drugs to heighten the rush of performing and keep him on top of his game. It had been going on for years before the story broke.

Cocaine wasn't exactly unknown to the ballet scene. Over the last few decades several big names had admitted to using the drug's energy boosting and heightened alertness effects to aid their demanding artform, knowing their companies would turn a blind eye so long as they kept delivering.

It was also an appetite suppressant, and in an industry that worships skeletons, many felt that a few lines of powder was a small price to pay for success.

Zharnov wasn't the only one implicated in the Bolshoi scandal, a few other prominent names had been mentioned as well, but he was by far the youngest. Twenty-four, he was twenty-four.

The other dancers named in the story were all established performers near retirement and even so, most of their careers felt the impact of the scandal. Cancelled international tours, some sidelined from roles within the company, disgraced in the public eye and others pushed into an early leave from the stage. But from what she could gather, Zharnov escaped without so much as a scratch.

The Bolshoi didn't lay a finger on him, and it seemed that his association with drugs only fed his infamous bad-boy appeal. The media had a new narrative to sell their readers: the outstandingly talented teenager who had been given too many major roles too quickly, got catapulted through the Bolshoi's ranks, and by twenty-four, he'd burnt out.

She opened a few more articles, trying to put together a timeline of events, or any cohesive factual basis to the story. But it was all a hot mess, the tabloids often contradicted one another and it seemed that with a dancer as secretive as Zharnov, everyone was grasping at straws when it came to creating their version of events.

She was able to determine that he'd officially resigned from the Bolshoi around six months ago, and had cited 'personal reasons' as his basis for doing so. At the time it was unclear where he was going, or what exactly inspired his exit, only that he'd resigned and would be taking a break from the stage.

And somehow, in the wake of a drug scandal, a surprise resignation and an alleged back injury, he ended up in London. Turning heads at the Opera House, starting fresh rumours in the media with his mere presence, and looking for a partner. Which was how he found her.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

A drug addict, he was a drug addict. The walking definition of bad news, no one in their right mind would touch him with a ten-foot pole. Certainly not after opening the media-equivalent of a Pandora's Box of demons swirling around the bad boy of ballet. Getting involved with someone like him could ruin her in so many ways she was scared to try and count them all.

For starters, the ballet wouldn't care whether it was him or her involved with the wrong stuff. Even a whiff of her fooling around with a cocaine addict and her reputation would be damaged beyond repair, she was simply too young to withstand a scandal of that magnitude. And secondly, irrespective of whether he was still using, he'd be a nightmare to work with. Unreliable, temperamental and totally unpredictable, as the addicts often were.

She barely had a reputation to protect, but she truly couldn't afford to be dragged into a drug scandal this early in her career, especially now that she had a realistic shot at landing some leads. Tantrums and an attitude had been one thing, but drugs? It was professional suicide. For her, at least. Bastian had to understand that she simply wasn't going to risk-