The Last of the Monsters (13 page)

She kept her back to the door as it opened.

“Akta.”

“No.” She didn’t know what she was denying.

“Akta, look at me.”

She shook her head.

Henry grabbed her, his massive claw-tipped fingers long enough to circle her waist, forcing her to turn around. Akta planted her hands on his chest, the skin rubbery under her fingers, and shoved. Henry didn’t move.

He held her by the waist, his wings folding in around them until they were cocooned in blue membrane that was rapidly darkening to black.

“Don’t you understand? Do you know what’s going to happen?”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is all we’re ever going to get—this time together. We all want this to work, but it’s not going to.”

Cold settled in her gut. “Henry…”

“We came here, came into your life, and we doomed you. If I could, I would go back and make sure that we never met.” He touched her cheek with one long, razor-sharp talon. “I would protect you from what’s going to happen. I would protect you from me.”

“I don’t need to be protected. Everything is going to be fine.”

“No. It won’t. My Clan and I will be captured or murdered outright by humans who fear us. You and Margo and Lena…you will all be crucified by your fellow humans, shunned and tried for endangering them by bringing us out among you. Why do you think Michael doesn’t change, that he hasn’t let many know he too is a monster? Jane’s pregnant and the most at risk. It will be a miracle if they can keep the baby a secret long enough for the child to survive. I—”

“OH MY GOD, JANE’S PREGNANT?”

“Uh…”

“I can’t believe she didn’t tell me! Hold on, I have to call her.”

“Now that I think about it, that might have been a secret.”

“I mean, I suspected, of course. I haven’t seen her with a glass of wine or a cup of coffee in weeks, but you never know, she might have been doing a cleanse or something.”

“We’re both speaking English, and yet I have no idea what you just said.”

“Where’s my phone?” Akta pushed his wing aside.

“Akta?”

“Have you seen it?”

“Your phone? No, but Akta, listen.”

“I can’t believe she’s having a baby. That’s just so real, you know?”

“Woman, please stop talking.”

“Found it!” Akta picked her phone up off the coffee table.

Henry snatched it out of her hand and held it above her head.

“Give me that.”

Henry caught her by the waist with his free hand and curled his wings around her once more. “Listen to me, Akta.” His tone was dark and serious once more.

“Okay, sorry, I’m listening.” Part of her wanted to run away, didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She was good, very good, at pretending everything would be okay, even when all indicators said otherwise.

“We thought we understood what we were doing. Michael and I each thought Luke’s plan was good. We were ignorant, and desperate. We shouldn’t have come to you.”

“Calypso Productions made a business decision, and one I stand by.”

“It’s not Calypso Productions that will suffer for what we’re doing. It’s you.” He released her waist but his wings tightened, drawing her forward another half step. I can’t go back, I can’t undo this. But I will do what I can to protect you now—and that includes never letting anyone know about us.”

Akta couldn’t breathe. His words cut through her, made her both afraid and angry. She wanted to deny every word he’d said. They were doing everything they could to make sure that this didn’t end in slaughter.

But she couldn’t, because some part of her was afraid this wouldn’t work. She’d avoided thinking what would happen to her friends and family if this all went south. Akta gritted her teeth, but she couldn’t stop the tears that fell.

“I didn’t want to make you cry.”

She closed her eyes as he kissed her cheeks.

“Akta, I’m sorry. Don’t cry.”

His gentle words only made her cry harder. She reached up to hug him, but he was too tall. Henry bent so she could wrap her arms around his thick neck, then lifted her, cradling her as he whispered softly.

Akta woke hours later in bed beside Henry. He was still in his monster body, which explained why she was so hot—he radiated heat like a furnace.

Sliding carefully out from under his wing, which was draped over her blanket-style, she went to the bathroom. Standing under the light, she looked at herself.

Her hair was a mess, having come out of the long braid to tangle around her face—the remnants of her makeup was smeared under her eyes, but worst of all was the haunted look on her face.

Stepping under the shower, she turned it on as hot as she could stand. Water beat down on her head and shoulders.

“May I join you?”

She’d heard the door open, so she wasn’t surprised by Henry’s voice. She nodded.

The next moment his arms were around her, his human hands sliding over her wet flesh.

“I don’t want to be scared,” she whispered.

“I didn’t want that. Don’t want to scare you.”

“But you’re right, everything you say is right—we’re doomed.”

“Then let’s not think about tomorrow. Let’s focus on tonight, on right now.”

His lips met hers in a desperate kiss. She clung to him as the water sluiced around them.

She didn’t want foreplay, didn’t want to talk. All she wanted was Henry inside her, fucking her until she couldn’t think anymore.

“Now, Henry, now.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

She wrapped one leg around his hips and he cupped her ass, pressing her back against the glass tiles. Akta braced her hands on the wall and tilted her hips. The next moment Henry’s cock was there, sliding between the lips of her sex, rubbing over her clit before finding the entrance to her body.

He thrust in and Akta gasped. He was big, stretching her—it had been just long enough that her body had forgotten his size, and she felt the invasion as if it were the first time.

“Akta.” He said her name like a prayer as he rested his head in the crook of her shoulder. Holding her lower body up, he started to thrust.

It was hard and fast, Akta finding completion first, Henry right behind her.

They stayed in the shower, washing each other slowly. When they were out, Henry sat behind her on the bed and combed out her hair, which felt as intimate as sex.

As dawn broke the eastern horizon they lay together on her bed, not saying anything.

“Finally.”

“I know. They were getting to be ridiculous.”

“Uh, maybe we should leave them alone.”

Someone laughed and Akta frowned in her sleep. She was having a very strange dream. She could hear Lena, Margo and Luke’s voices. Snuggling closer to Henry, she tried to ignore the dream voices.

“Up and at ’em, princess.”

Someone smacked her ass and Akta sat bolt upright. There was a growl and in the next second Henry was up, arm shooting out to grab the person who’d slapped her. Luke got there first, holding his arm up to block Henry from touching Lena.

The five of them stared at each other. Akta was sleepy but waking up rapidly. A few things struck her. One: Margo, Lena and Luke were all in her bedroom. Two: She and Henry were naked, in bed together.

“Get. Out,” Henry growled. Ignoring the fact that he was naked, he climbed over Akta and stood, protecting her.

“How about…no.” Margo crossed her arms. “We’ve been looking for the two of you.”

Henry’s words were still fresh in Akta’s mind, so she said, “This isn’t what it seems.”

Everyone looked at her. She pulled her hair over her shoulder to hide herself.

“Seriously?” Lena asked. “That’s what you’re going with? ‘This isn’t what it seems’?”

Luke snorted out a laugh.

Henry strode to Akta’s vanity and picked up her robe, bringing it back to her.

“You know that we’ve all seen both of you naked a bunch of times.” Margo had pulled her phone out of her pocket and was checking her email.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Akta put on the robe Henry handed her and slid off the bed. She laced her fingers with his. “Henry and I…”

“Save it.” Cali marched into the room, a half-eaten banana in one hand. “I knew the instant you started fucking. I’m just glad you two finally got around to it.”

“How did you…” Henry shook his head in disgust.

“You two were painfully obvious. It was getting to the point I was thinking of roofying both of you and locking you in a trailer together.”

Akta crossed her arms. “How did you know?”

“You two stopped acting like lovesick teenagers. If we had more time, I might actually go back and reshoot some scenes—your acting is much better now. Luckily, I think Oren can edit around you.”

It was one thing to accuse her of being lovesick, it was quite another to insult her work. “Excuse me?”

“They all knew…the whole time?” Henry sat on the side of the bed and put his head in his hands. “Fuck.”

“It’s okay, tough guy.” Margo reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “It was mostly Akta. You were pretty good about hiding it.”

He just groaned.

Akta flapped her hands in the air. “Why are you all here?”

“We’ve been calling you,” Lena said. Luke stayed at her side, staring pointedly at the ceiling. Cali and Margo wandered out of her bedroom. Maybe it was time to change the locks and the alarm code.

“It’s my day off.”

“From acting, sure. You don’t get a day off from being an owner in the production company.”

“Pants,” Henry said. “I need pants.”

“Is something going on?” Akta asked Lena.

“Sort of. Come out to the living room and we’ll explain.”

“All of them are monsters?” Jack Vice pointed at the men.

Hesitantly, Lena answered, “Yes.”

Early that morning, Luke and Runako had finally managed to meet with the marketing firm they’d hired for the movie. When they changed from men to monsters, the marketing team had finally understood that saying that the men were monsters wasn’t a gimmick, but the truth.

They’d brought in the president of the company, who happened to be in LA. Rather than be put off or dropping them as clients, the president had told them that they needed more than a marketing plan for the movie—they needed a full-on PR team. When Lena said the marketing fees were already eating up a huge chunk of the budget, the president agreed to take them on as clients
pro bono
, calling them “the ultimate PR client”.

Now they were sitting in a massive conference room that made the Calypso Productions offices look like a hovel. On one side of the table were sharp-eyed, well-dressed PR consultants and marketing managers. On the other sat the owners of Calypso Productions and the monsters, including Tokaki and Maeve.

“And you?” he asked Maeve.

The gorgeous woman smiled, and it was a thing of terrible beauty. “I am not human.”

“We’ll come back to you, we don’t want to complicate the issue. Okay, let’s see it.”

Henry looked at Akta. She seemed both worried and hopeful. Henry didn’t exactly understand why they needed these PR people, and he was surprised to see Akta and her friends, who seemed scared of nothing and no one, so hesitant.

“Fine,” Luke said, rising from his chair and taking off his clothes. There was no reaction from the people on the other side of the table as Luke, Runako, Tokaki, Henry and Seling stripped. Lena had thought ahead and brought them each a pair of shorts made to fit them as monsters. They pulled them on as humans, holding up the baggy garments.

Michael and Maeve got up and moved to the end of the table to give them space.

“What about you?” Jack Vice, the company president, asked Michael.

“I’m not like them.”

“So what are you?”

He crossed his arms. “Something that will freak out the humans.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Michael looked at Jane, then joined the others and stripped. One by one they changed, the sounds of cracking bone and splitting skin loud in the sudden hush. Henry focused on Akta as he changed, and strangely it didn’t seem to hurt as much.

There was a moment of silence as the humans looked at them. Henry kept his wings folded tightly to his back. Big as the room was, it wasn’t big enough for four monsters and a white tiger as long as a freight car. Michael was still in his human form, watching and waiting to see the PR team’s reactions.

Jack paced back and forth on the other side, examining each of them closely.

“This,” he said, motioning to the monsters, “is the holy grail of PR. They’re nightmares, creatures of myth and legend. Can we make them a part of modern society? Can we spin this?”