Calore Dance Academy// Red Queen AU

Chapter 86

Hey, y'all! And now I present another chapter!

As always, my deepest apologies for my chaotic and unreliable updating schedule. I appreciate everybody who's sticking with me. I'll refrain from making any more promises about my next update. :)

Make sure to leave a star and some comments (speculations are always welcome)! They mean the world to me.

<><><> 

This is an absolute disaster.

I don't rat to Shade or the Scarlet Street Fighters.

The odds of them fixing all of this for me are much lower than the odds of it all blowing up in my face.

A clinical white ceiling meshes poorly with harsh clicking noises. Neither helps against my raging headache, but all I can do is close my eyes against the icky lighting.

Somehow, it feels like a punishment well deserved.

In my frazzled mind, I struggle to think over the jarring sound.

Yes. If Evangeline discovered I had been plotting against her—digging up my own dirt on her, destroying her evidence, gaslighting everybody into thinking she's crazy, taking Elaine hostage, and the like—she would ensure my demise.

Still, something doesn't add up.

If she just wanted to get rid of me, Evangeline would call up the FBI. There's no need to blackmail me, to give me an ultimatum, when she could just as easily turn me in. In a strange way, she's showing me mercy.

That girl is not a merciful woman. She has something to gain from this.

The clicking permeates my skin and rattles my bones.

Perhaps Evangeline is deathly afraid of the Scarlet Street Fighters. Crossing their whole organization by turning me into the cops would be bold. It would be cause for revenge on Shade's part. It could end catastrophically for Evangeline if the Street Fighters got their hands on Elaine or Ptolemus.

Singling me, a single actor, out of the equation makes sense. To a certain extent. If I leave the Academy of my own will, without the Street Fighters ever knowing why, no damage is done. Farley loses a spy, but she would never know that it was Evangeline's doing.

As long as I keep my mouth shut.

Which is a risky bet to make.

Her talk about Calore Industries, the Academy break-in, and the Plaza Hotel was all based on deductive reasoning. Smart girl. The only real proof she mentioned was of the evening I spent on the Upper West Side, and I imagine she has a collection of photos and videos to back that up. I know nothing more of what she knows.

My back presses into cheap and cold sheets. They remind me of my own bed back at home in the winter.

If Evangeline let her mouth run, the odds are that I would end up in Tiberias Calore's possession long before the FBI's. Tibe and his mob do run this city, after all. One tip to the NYPD is essentially a tip to Mister Calore himself.

Hmm.

She hates me. She's always felt threatened by me. I stole the spotlight from her the first time I met her. She wants me gone so badly that she hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on me.

My ten-year contract that I've avoided thinking about comes to mind. Tibe promoted me so quickly, not giving me a single season in the Corps. Whether or not Evangeline was as good as me at seventeen doesn't matter because she's not the Academy's young prodigy anymore.