Dance of Shadows Read Online Free

leading role in
Giselle
, Alexander Garrel as the sinewy Rat King from
The Nutcracker
, and Juliana Faraday as an ethereal Princess Aurora from
Sleeping Beauty
.
    “Those are the ones who made it out,” Blaine said. “What about the ones who didn’t?”
    Vanessa grew rigid. “What do you mean?”
    Elly cut in. “I heard a girl broke her leg last year during a rehearsal. One of the guys dropped her mid-jump. An upper-classman told me he could hear her bone snap.”
    Vanessa cringed.
    “Twenty are called,” TJ intoned, “but few survive long enough to graduate.”
    “I’m
serious
,” Blaine said. “There are all these students who get hurt.”
    “Not to mention the broken toes,” Steffie chimed in. “I almost broke one of mine last year,” she added, a thin silver anklet jingling as she rolled her foot.
    “Or the broken hearts,” Elly added, giving Blaine a coy look. He threw a pillow at her.
    “Or the girls sent home because of weight problems or drugs,” Vanessa added.
    “When you guys dance, do you ever feel different?” Steffie said suddenly. “Like you’re—”
    “Delirious?” Vanessa said, startling herself.
    “Um—no, I was actually going to say weightless,” Steffie said.
    “Delirious?” TJ said with an amused smile. “Like dizzy? Maybe you’re not spotting right.”
    Vanessa laughed sheepishly. “Just kidding,” she said, embarrassed.
    It only happened once in a while—the strange, delirious feeling. When Vanessa danced so perfectly the music was like a part of her heartbeat, the world around her spun into oblivion, and she felt like she was losing herself. But maybe it was just dehydration. That’s what her mother told her every time she tried to raise the subject. When Vanessa looked up, she realized Steffie was studying her. She felt herself blush, but Steffie only gave her an understanding smile, as if to say,
Whatever your secret is, it’s safe with me
.
    “Orientation!” Elly said suddenly. Outside, the hall was strangely quiet. She glanced at her watch. “Crap. We’re already late!”

Chapter Two
    It couldn’t be.
    The rest of the group ran ahead, toward Juilliard, where the orientation was being held. But Vanessa stood frozen in place on the curb, arrested by the sight of a frail girl with long chestnut hair.
    She was waiting on the corner by a bus stop, her shoulders bare above a cotton sundress, reading a magazine. Her arms were dotted with dark, familiar freckles.
    Vanessa’s heart seemed to stop. Could it be?
    Slowly, Vanessa approached, pushing through the people on the sidewalk until she was just inches away from the girl. She took a step closer, gazing at her sister’s delicate skin.
    “Margaret?”
    Exhaust from the passing cars made the air thick. Vanessa’s long red hair blew about her face.
    The girl glanced over her shoulder, her face foreign and strange.
    Vanessa went rigid. “Oh, I—I’m sorry,” she said, and backed away. She felt a hand on her arm and, startled, she jumped.
    “Are you okay?” Steffie asked.
    Vanessa nodded.
    “What were you doing?”
    “I thought I saw someone I knew,” Vanessa said, her gaze lingering on the girl’s back. “But it’s stupid, right? I mean, New York has millions of people. What are the chances of finding one person out of all of them?”
    “I don’t think it’s stupid,” Steffie said softly.
    Vanessa stared at the flood of people on the sidewalk and the crowded mess of storefronts and brownstones and skyscrapers that framed them. The windows that dotted the sides of the buildings looked minuscule from the ground, and it suddenly made Vanessa dizzy to think that a person lived behind each little square of glass, thousands of them just in this three-block radius. Her sister was here somewhere.
    And that was why she had come to New York: she wanted to find Margaret.
    “Come on,” Steffie said. “We’re late.”

    When they caught up with the others, they were standing in front of a wooden door,