The Last of the Monsters (17 page)

“I’m not entirely human.”

“Not human? That’s quite a thing to say.”

“But it’s true.”

“If you’re not human, what are you?”

Henry shrugged.

The video shifted back to Akta. “The story we’re telling in
Truth in Darkness
is fictional, but the actors are being very truthful—they’re showing themselves. Showing who they really are.”

“Henry, would you be willing to show us that?”

“Of course, Lillian.”

In the video Henry got up and walked out of the room. It cut to a shot of him walking back toward the chair in his true form—an eight-foot-tall monster wearing knee-length pants.

“Oh my,” Lillian said. “May I?”

Henry cocked his elbow, almost as if he was offering her his arm. The video cut as Lillian put her fingers on his forearm.

“Tune in Monday at seven, six Central, to see the full interview. And now over to Mark with the weather.”

The video feed cut and everyone in the party erupted into cheers.

Akta’s heart was pounding in her chest. This was it—there was no going back now. Henry had exposed the truth on national television. At the end of the interview, Akta could tell that the reporter Lillian hadn’t really believed them. Henry had changed out of sight, since the process was fairly gross, and without actually seeing the transition there was a possibility that Henry was just wearing a costume—though it would have been the most amazing movie-makeup magic ever.

Still, they’d done it—maintained their composure and made sure to craft the message they wanted. A rep from the PR firm had been there, standing behind Lillian and helping to guide them through the interview.

“Akta, Henry.” Lena held up her glass in a toast. One by one, the others raised their glasses.

“Cheers,” Henry said clinking his glass to theirs.

When they pulled back, he tapped his glass to Akta’s. “And cheers to us.”

Akta smiled and settled back against him. She was happy—truly happy. Her life would be almost perfect, if not for the ball of worry in her stomach.

Akta pressed her lips together and tried not to giggle as Henry’s hand slid down her back to her ass.

“You know I can see you, right?” The disgruntled sound editor’s voice piped through their headphones.

“Sorry,” Henry said, sounding anything but.

They were in a recording studio doing the dubbing. They’d had trouble with the sound during much of the filming, mostly due to noises made by the guys’ wings. As they were nearing the end of postproduction, and with the release date now less than a month away, Akta and Henry had been called in to fix places where the dialogue quality was low.

“Okay, let’s go again,” the editor said.

Akta checked the script on the music stand in front of her, then watched as the soundless video played.

“Ebon, go, just go. You can get away if you leave me here.” Akta did her best to match the emotion on-screen with her voice.

“No, Padma, I’m not going to leave you. I’d never leave you.” Henry had lowered his voice to match what it would be if he were in his monster form.

For four hours they went through scenes that needed to be dubbed, doing each one multiple times so the sound editor would have options.

“That’s it, we’re done. Thanks, guys.”

Akta pulled off her headset and rubbed her ears. Henry pulled her against his side and kissed her forehead.

Akta couldn’t stop her smile. Outside the circle of people who were contracted to keep their mouths shut, he was still hands-off, but in front of the crew, he didn’t hide their connection.

“Do you want to go get some lunch?” she asked Henry.

“Go out?” There was hesitation in Henry’s tone.

Akta suppressed a sigh. “We could get takeout.”

“We can go out if you want,” he said reluctantly.

“No, better safe than sorry.”

Together they walked out to her car. Henry paused with the keys in his hand. “Akta, I don’t want you to feel like we have to hide.”

“It’s okay.”

“Hold on.” Henry turned her to face him. “You know how much you mean to me. I want you to be happy.”

Akta smiled tightly. The past month had been wonderful. After the good reception to the interview, everyone had relaxed. She tried not to take it personally that Henry didn’t want to be seen in public with her. She tried to remind herself that he was cautious, not that he didn’t respect her or was ashamed of her.

“I am happy.” She lifted onto her toes to kiss him. “Why don’t we pick something up on the way home?”

Henry touched her cheek. “Thank you.”

Henry drove while Akta called ahead to Urth Caffe. He double-parked while Akta ran in. She ignored the way people started whispering as they recognized her. It wasn’t her first time there, and as unfair as it may be, she knew they’d let her cut in line. She slid up to the counter and held out her credit card. One of the staff saw her, smiled and grabbed her order.

Bag in hand, she started out of the restaurant.

“Is it true—are they really monsters?”

Akta stopped short as a man jumped out of his chair. He’d been sitting alone at a table by the window. He looked a bit unkempt, with unwashed hair and dirty clothes. Urth Caffe was a casual place with a coffeehouse vibe. Akta liked it precisely because it wasn’t a snotty place catering to celebrities.

She smiled. “I can’t say. I guess you’ll just have to see the movie.”

“They’re monsters. I’ve seen them. They’re going to kill us!” He picked up a tattered book off his table and threw it at her. Akta jumped back as people leapt from their chairs. She heard someone on the phone reporting what was happening.

“They’ll kill us all!”

The man ran at Akta. She dropped the bag and scrambled back, holding her hands up. Akta threw her hands in the air to ward him off as the man grabbed her. Dirty fingers dug into her arms. He was screaming nonsense words, shaking her. Akta tried to pull away, but he clung to her with an almost unholy strength. Bystanders had jumped to her aid, trying to pry the man’s hands from her arms.

A growl rumbled through the room. The man’s fingers released as he cried out in pain. Henry was there, gripping the attacker’s wrists so tightly that his fingers were turning white.

Henry forced the man to his knees. “Do. Not. Touch. Her.”

Silence, punctuated by the man’s whimpers, settled over the cafe.

Akta looked up, saw the cell phones that were out and pointed at them. “Henry,” she breathed, “let him go. We need to leave.”

Without stopping to see if he was following her directions, she turned to the counter. Fumbling in her bag, she pulled out a business card with her manager’s number and passed it to one of the stunned staff people. “I’m going, call this number if you need anything.”

With that, she turned to Henry, who was standing over the whimpering man. “Go,” she whispered, and together they headed out the door.

Five hours later, she repeated her thanks and closed the door behind the detectives from LAPD-Hollywood Division. The cops had arrived at the café moments after she and Henry booked it out of there. By the time two detectives showed up at her door—having called her agent, who called Akta, who called the PR team, who then called the detectives and okayed the visit—the footage of the attack was up on the Internet and the gossip shows were starting to pick up on it.

Luckily, no one had been filming when the man first confronted her, so the only audio on the video was random ranting, with no mention of monsters. So far, no one had directly connected the attack to their hints about monsters being real—it was being framed, with help from the PR people, as an attack by a crazed fan, and a heroic rescue by the hunky Henry. Akta didn’t know whether to be disgusted or proud that people were more focused on Henry’s sexiness than the fact that she’d been attacked.

The people left in her living room knew the truth, knew that things like this would only be more common as people started to take the claims seriously.

“What if he’d been armed?” Henry’s words were low. Akta could tell that he was barely holding on to his anger. Luckily, the cell phone video hadn’t captured the rage that had emanated from him.

“We’ll hire drivers,” Margo said. “From now on, all principals and anyone else who has been interviewed or spoken publicly will have a driver.”

“She had a driver today. Me. If I hadn’t felt that she was scared, I wouldn’t have known to go in and help her.”

Luke’s brows rose. “You felt that she was scared?”

“Yes.”

“And you knew right where she was?” Michael added.

“Of course.”

Michael and Luke exchanged a look. Margo’s eyes widened and then she smiled.

“Why are you all making that face?” Akta asked, looking around the room.

“No reason,” Jane said. Akta could tell she was lying.

“I know you’re lying. Spill it.”

“We’re getting off the point,” Henry snapped. “She was hurt, and it could have been worse.”

“Henry, I’m fine.” Akta tugged down the sleeves of her sweater to hide the bruises on her arms.

“No. I won’t see you put in danger.” He cupped her elbows.

“They’re just so perfect together,” Jane said. “I’m so happy they finally stopped being stupid.”

Akta ignored her friend and touched Henry’s face. “I chose this. We knew—I knew—it would be dangerous, and I still chose it.”

Henry swallowed. “I don’t think I’d survive if something happened to you.”

Static electricity crackled in the air and a moment later an oval door of shimmering light appeared in the middle of Akta’s living room. Maeve stepped through it.

The Seer wore leggings and a Navajo-print tunic, looking for all the world like a young, hip starlet. The portal closed behind her. She looked at each person in the room, ending with Henry.

“Don’t worry,” she told him. “If she’s dead, then you are too.”

Henry stiffened. “You saw that in our future? Death.”

“There is death in everyone’s future.” As a banshee, Maeve could see a person’s past and future when she touched them.

“I thought you couldn’t see our futures because you’re too close to us,” Luke said.

“You, yes, but them…” she pointed to the women, “…when I first met them, I could see.”

A cold ball settled in Akta’s belly. “I die? Henry dies?”

“In some futures, yes. But don’t be sad. Either you both die or you both live.”

Maeve wandered to the kitchen, leaving Akta and Henry to deal with that bombshell.

When she came back, she had a glass of wine. She settled herself on the floor. Normally, Maeve was not included in meetings like this, because even the monsters found her intimidating. For the humans, it was easy to forget how powerful she was because she came across as a bit mad, but not really threatening—until she said something truly scary, like announcing when people would die.

“Akta was attacked,” Maeve prompted.

“Uh, yes.” Luke cleared his throat. “We were wondering what to do.”

“You need protection.” She looked around the room.

Lena cleared her throat. “We were talking about hiring drivers for everyone—”

“How would a driver have helped today?” Henry pulled Akta against his side.

“I agree it’s not a perfect plan, but—”

“No, Henry is right,” Maeve said.

“I’m never going to finish a sentence again,” Lena muttered.

“Bodyguards,” Michael interjected. “We should get bodyguards for the principals.”

“A good idea,” Maeve agreed, grinning.

“I do not need a bodyguard,” Henry said.

“If I get one, then you’re getting one,” Akta said. Henry may be better equipped than she was to deal with a man like the one today, but he wasn’t bulletproof.

“Akta, you’re the one—”

“I have bodyguards.” Maeve’s announcement had heads swiveling towards her.

“You…have bodyguards?” Henry asked. “What do you mean?”

“I saved them for this moment. I thought we might need them, and I was right.” Maeve looked incredibly pleased with herself. “I’ll go get them.”

Maeve drained her wine, stood and walked out into the backyard.

Cali mouthed, “
What the hell?”
, but they followed the Seer.

Maeve was standing on the lip of the pool. Reaching forward, she opened another of those shiny silver doorways. With a little jump, she leapt into it.

“Does anyone know what she’s doing?” Henry asked.

Runako grunted. “I do. They’re good men. They’ll be the perfect bodyguards, assuming their time in ice didn’t make them mad.”

All heads swiveled to Runako.

“Am I the only one who feels like they’re missing something?” Cali asked.

Something appeared in the doorway. It was huge—taller than a man and as wide as the portal itself. It toppled into the pool.