Page 26 of Dreadful

My face blanks even as panic slams into my chest.

Che stupida!I was so stupid. So, so stupid.

Years of planning and my cocky ass almost screwed it all up by using the show’s costume. I thought it’d be easier, less time consuming and expensive than making another piece. If I’m honest with myself, though, I mostly liked the poetry of it all.

Fifteen years ago, I defied the odds, and in spite of everything, I even survived long enough to get a job in a career I love. It felt like karmic retribution to be able to wear part of my life’s success story as I murdered the man who almost kept me from living at all. But poetic or not, it was stupid and careless. If I’m going to finish my list, I have to be smarter.

“I’ll send it out to the cleaners tomorrow,” I mutter, uncertainty swirling in my mind. Questions that have plagued me since I left yesterday come back with a vengeance.

If I missed this, what else did I miss? Was I careless anywhere else? What if I lead Vincelli and his men straight to my door—

“Tallie,” Percy snaps.

“It’s Talia,” I hiss back just harshly.

Percy’s blue eyes flare at my attitude, and I don’t blame him. When the world isn’t watching, I’m the heroine in my story and the villain in everyone else’s. With eyes on me, though, I have to play the supporting role, the side character to everyone else’s lead. The longer I can remain in the background, the quicker I can get away with my list.

That’s one of the reasons my encounter with Sev was so jarring. I’m usually passed over, the way I like it, but his attention was so intense it felt like he saw right through me. Which isterrifying.

Percy watches me with suspicion before a cocky smile curls his lips.

“Talia, huh? Deciding to show your teeth in one of the last shows of the season? Well, I think I like it when you fight back.”

He tugs at the collar of his white linen shirt, and his gaze heats. My own eyes widen as he works to take off his shirt.

“Wh-what are you doing? At least let me leave first.”

I wouldn’t care with other actors. Costume designers give everyone privacy when we can, but sometimes during a quick set change there’s an inevitable rogue butt cheek here and a nip-slip there. Percy doesn’t need me to help him, though. He’s just trying to make me uncomfortable, and I hate that it’s working.

I back away, but he steps forward, centering himself between me and my only exit. His smirk and the dwindling space between us makes the dinner in my stomach turn into lead. We don’t have much room in here, and before I know it, the back of my thighs hit the small sewing table. Percy doesn’t stop, though. He’s leaner than I am but taller and well-muscled. The closer he gets, the more I can smell the alcohol on his breath. My air catches in my lungs as he pulls one of my curls around his finger.

“What’s wrong, Tallie? Can’t handle a man undressing in front of you? Getting thiscloseto you?”

“N-nothing’s wrong. You just don’t need me.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s true.” He pushes his erection into my hips.

Flares of panic prick sweat on my brow. My hand blindly searches behind me as my breaths come in quick spurts. The scent of alcohol is stronger by the word, and I know my memories have begun to leak into the present, taking over my body and my sense of smell, making everything worse.

I take a risk and glance at the door. It’s ajar, so it’s unlikely that anyone will come in unless I cry out. I beg my legs to move, my arms to punch him, my mouth to scream. Fight back, move, flee,anything.But I’m paralyzed.

Just like back then.

I was drugged every time up until the night I escaped. All my training, my hate, my planning, I thought I would be able to kick ass if a moment like this came again. But here I am, a victim all over again.

No.

Fuck. That.

“Leave me alone, Percy,” I hiss.

Pushing all my courage to the forefront of my mind, I will my trembling fingers to search around for whatever object I can grab behind my back.

He ignores me and tugs my hair again. I swat his hand, but he yanks me closer by my curls. “Ah, come on, now, Tallie. Don’t play hard-to-get.”

I grip his wrist and press the tender spot one of my self-defense trainers taught me. He releases my hair with a curse, and I finally convince my body to move. I shift to the side toward the door, prepared to run if needed.

“It’s not playing hard-to-get if I’m just not interested, Percy. I’ve told you a hundred times. Let me do my job, and just leave me alone.”