The Last of the Monsters

by Lila Dubois

  Henry turned and slipped out of the trailer, glad to leave. He heard Akta’s and Cali’s footsteps behind him. Akta was tiny, nearly a foot shorter than him, even when he was human, and her small, delicate steps were easy for Henry to pick out.

  “Let’s go over here,” she said. Henry turned, saw where she was pointing and fell in step behind her. She was leading them to an area between the talent trailers, where they were a protected from the bustle of the set.

  “Cali!”

  Henry turned to see Seling walking quickly toward Cali. Seling was one of his Clansmen and had joined the project only after Runako and Margo had rescued him from a group of militant humans called Blackwolf.

  Thinking about that led to thinking about their “rescue” of Margo, and the party that had followed when they’d returned to LA.

  Henry gritted his teeth as he thought about The Kiss.

  Cali stopped to talk to Seling, leaving Henry alone with Akta. For one cowardly moment Henry considered veering off to his own trailer—a converted refrigerated big rig that he fit in even when he was in his real body.

  But Henry knew hiding would only prolong the problem. He stepped behind a rolling box of equipment and changed back into his monster form.

  He only hoped that, no matter what was said in the next few minutes, his secret would be safe.

  Akta heard him coming and took some deep breaths. They needed to have a very serious conversation about what was going on between them, and what had happened a year ago. They’d managed to stay friendly, neither one of them bringing it up, until they’d started filming.

  Composed, with her feelings bottled up tight inside her, Akta turned to face Henry. He had his wings folded around himself, which made it look like he was wearing a long, leathery blue cloak.

  They stared at each other in silence.

  “We have a problem.” Akta took the bull by the horns and just said it. There was no point in talking around it.

  “I agree.”

  “What do you want to do about it?”

  Henry’s wings rustled and he looked to the side as if considering. “We should put aside our feelings and act as professionals.”

  “You’re right, but I’m assuming you’ve already tried that. I have.”

  He nodded slowly. “It’s complicated.”

  Complicated? She actually thought it was pretty simple.

  “So what do we do?” she asked.

  He said nothing.

  “Henry, will you at least look at me?” It tore at Akta that he wouldn’t look at her when the script didn’t call for it. How wrong she’d been a year ago when she thought those long looks were desire. Henry barely tolerated her—at least, that was how it seemed, and yet there were times when Akta got the impression that there was still something there. His mixed signals were making her crazy.

  He looked at her. “I’m sorry.”

  “Is this because of what happened a year ago?”

  “What happened a year ago?”

  Anger burned in her belly. “It’s one thing if you want to lie to Cali and say you never kissed a human before, but we did kiss.”

  For a brief moment his gaze met hers and there was fire in his eyes. “I remember.”

  “So you just want to lie about it?”

  “That’s not what I…” He trailed off, and though she waited, he didn’t finish the sentence.

  Silence fell between them again.

  “Oh, I know why you don’t want to admit to it. I’ve heard what you say. You don’t think humans and monsters should be together.”

  He nodded, but hesitantly. “I do not think monsters and humans should mate.”

  “So what was that? Why did you kiss me?”

  “You kissed me.”

  “No.” Akta shook her head, her hair thumping against her back. “I’ve thought about it, and you initiated that kiss. You started it.”

  “Maybe. It was a mistake.”

  “Thanks, just what every girl wants to hear.”

  “My reasons are my own.”

  “And that excuses you? You’re entitled to your opinion, but you have no right to make me feel like there’s something wrong with me.”

  As she said it, Akta realized it was not just anger and confusion that she harbored. She felt guilty about the way she’d reacted when he changed in front of her, and felt that she’d done something wrong by kissing him when he didn’t believe in human-monster relationships. She hadn’t known that at the time of the kiss. Henry hadn’t said it until months later. He should have been up front with her.

  “So what is it? Do you only pretend to like humans and secretly you hate us? Or is it that you think humans are nice, but not good enough to be with?”

  “That’s what you think I feel?”

  “Am I wrong?”

  Henry’s jaw clenched.

  “So what is it? And why did you kiss me if you didn’t want me?”

  She waited, hoping she would finally have the answers she needed. She wanted to understand what had happened, wanted to finally hate him enough to kill the feelings she still had for him.

  But Henry didn’t respond. Akta felt tears pricking the back of her eyes. She didn’t want him to see her cry. Spinning on a heel, she turned and ran. She didn’t want him to see her like this. Tears filled her eyes, one finally spilling down her cheek.

  She passed Cali on her way to the makeup trailer. She’d have the girls fix her makeup before anyone noticed she was crying.

  Chapter Two

  Henry paced the set, wondering how he’d managed to fuck everything up so royally. He knew—well, he figured—that Akta had been upset after he freaked out and left midkiss all those months ago. He couldn’t believe it had been a year. But in all the times they’d hung out together since then, she’d been nothing but kind. He assumed that she was no longer angry…and secretly hoped that she still wanted him.

  There were nights when he’d catch her looking at him, or she’d take a seat next to him when she could have sat anywhere else in the room.

  The thought that she wanted him, that she might want to kiss him again, thrilled and terrified him.

  Henry scrubbed his claws through his short hair. A girl ran up to him, lips pursed.

  “Mr. Henry, please don’t do that.”

  “Sorry.” He bent down so the wardrobe girl could fix his hair, checking it against a picture she had of him in the last shot.

  “Causing trouble?” Tokaki, paint cans in each hand, stopped to look at Henry.

  “Apparently,” Henry said, closing his eyes as his head was coated in hairspray. “What are you doing?”

  “The set looks too clean.”

  “Too clean?” Henry smiled.

  “Don’t touch it.” The makeup artist gave him the evil eye before leaving.

  “Can’t even touch my damned head,” Henry muttered.

  “Want to help me?” Tokaki raised the cans.

  “You enjoying that? It’s not exactly fighting.”

  Tokaki was arguably the greatest living fighter among the monsters. Unlike the rest of them, he wasn’t part of the Great Clan that lived in the Rocky Mountains. His Clan was still in their native China. Henry had gone to them requesting Tokaki’s help in translating the monsters’ fighting style into something that would work in film. No one had expected that Tokaki would fall for Joanna, their production designer, who’d been recruited to the project about the same time. Now that the battle scenes had been choreographed, Tokaki had nothing to do on set unless they were filming one of the fights.

  “I enjoy watching Joanna.” Tokaki nodded once and then ambled off. Henry shook his head. There was no way that anyone who hadn’t seen it happen would believe it if he told them the tall Asian man turned into a twenty-foot-long white tiger.

  Akta and Cali walked over, Cali talking to Akta in low tones. He could tell by the focused look on Akta’s face that Cali was helping her get into character, trying to get her to the right emotional place. Henry
knew what his character wanted, what he needed. But those were so very different from Henry’s own wants that he couldn’t get himself to give in to Ebon.

  The set came alive around him as Cali called the shot. He got into position and watched Akta prepare.

  Akta, as always, was beautiful. Her wardrobe was simple, jeans and a hooded jacket, both of which hugged her trim figure. Her hair was in a braid that hung over her shoulder. Henry tried not to look at her hair. He’d had far too many fantasies about that hair.

  They stepped up to their marks, waiting as the cameras were rolled to their starting positions.

  “Henry,” Cali said, drawing his attention, “what’s something that makes you angry?”

  There were plenty of things that made him angry. He focused on Blackwolf, his people’s nemesis, and let the anger take him. He felt it flow over him, coating him in a layer of emotion that was both powerful and rancid.

  With Henry, anger didn’t show just in his eyes or the tone of his voice. His anger was right on the surface—his skin color.

  While he was normally blue, when angry his skin turned black, his wings and eyes red. It was a secret he’d kept from the humans until a few months ago, when a new woman, Joanna, joined the team. She was in charge of how the movie looked, and Henry had realized that sooner or later he’d have to show one of them. Intellectually he knew that in a visual medium like a movie his ability would be an asset.

  In the movie, they were carefully not associating his changing color with emotions, but instead using it to signify when he was dangerous.

  “Henry, I want you to hold on to that feeling,” Cali said as she backed up out of their way.

  Akta stood at the mouth of a wide alley, arms up, palms in front of her in a defensive, frightened pose. He waited in the alley, hidden in the shadows cast by the buildings. There were two cameras covering the scene, one on a track behind Akta that would circle around her when he lifted her for the kiss.

  “Action.”

  Akta recoiled a half step.

  “Padma,” Henry said, trying, and failing, to see her as her character and not Akta.

  “You’re here.” Her voice trembled, her eyes were wide and beautiful.

  “I said I would be.”

  “Let me see you.” Need was thick in her voice and Henry had to focus on his anger to keep his skin black.

  He stepped out of the darkness, moving slowly. Little by little he came into the light, letting it reveal him. As he did, he released his anger, focusing instead on a complex math problem. It was a way to keep himself focused, to keep from feeling anything powerful as skin faded from black to its default blue.

  Akta—no, Padma—looked him up and down, her hands falling to her sides.

  “Ebon.” There was relief and joy in her voice. “I’ve missed you.”

  She took a step, arms open, ready to be swept up in the kiss. Henry reached for her and saw that Akta was not as immersed in her character as he’d thought.

  Anger burned in her eyes. Anger at him, anger at what she thought he felt and believed.

  If only she knew the truth.

  But the truth wasn’t something he was willing for her, or anybody, to know.

  He couldn’t tell her, but maybe he could show her just how much he wanted her. And if he did it here, in front of the cameras and crew, it would be Ebon, not Henry. Only he would know what his real motivations were.

  Henry dragged Akta to him. Lifting her with a hand under her ass, he brought his wing around to cradle her back and to hold her in place. She let out a little gasp, a soft, needy sound that made him want to do outrageous things to her.

  Their gazes met, and sparks jumped between them. Henry could see her surprise a moment before he brought his lips to hers. The kiss was not the soft celebration the script called for, but a fierce claiming. Akta clung to his shoulders as Henry used his free hand to cup her head. Her skull felt small and delicate in his hand, her whole body did, and yet she kissed him back fearlessly.

  It was Akta who pulled back, gasping for breath. Her lips were shiny, eyes wide and surprised.

  Desire sparked to life in his belly.

  Shit.

  Henry shifted his gaze to her shoulder, hoping it wasn’t obvious on camera, and started a long division problem in his head. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, lose control.

  “Cut. That was perfect.”

  Henry lowered Akta to the ground. A grinning Cali ambled over.

  “That was really great, both of you. Let’s do it one more time.”

  Henry retreated into the shadows. He’d almost lost control there. He had to be more careful.

  Over the next few days they shot scenes that included running, hiding and talking about what their characters had been through while they were apart. Though the backstory scenes, most of which would be overlaid with flashback footage, were emotional, they didn’t test Henry’s control the way the kissing scene had, and it was a welcome break.

  The worry that he wouldn’t be able to keep his feelings for Akta hidden gnawed at Henry, but it was the worry that once he admitted those feelings his secret would be exposed that kept him from sleeping.

  The reprieve ended today. They’d come to a new location where they’d stay for a week or two. It was a construction site, complete with a ten-story building that was nothing more than steel and concrete. The floors were there, but there were no walls yet, making it look like a massive backless bookcase.

  The climactic scene that propelled the movie from the first to second act would be filmed here. It was also one of the most emotional scenes. Ebon must rescue Padma, who’d been kidnapped by Seling’s character and held as bait by Runako. In the battle, Seling is killed before he could reveal that he’d had a change of heart about humans. The battle ends with Henry and Runako fighting their way up the outside of a building, where Ebon is caught on video by news helicopters. Having killed one of his own people and exposed himself to humans, Ebon forfeits any chance of ever returning to his home.

  There was one particularly emotional scene in this shooting sequence, and they were working on it tonight. It was the one in which Ebon first tracks down Padma after Seling has kidnapped her. Emotionally, Henry’s character started out angry and afraid, then, when he saw Padma, was relived that she’s alive and realized exactly how much he loved her. It was the moment that the audience had to identify with his character and root for him, despite the bad things he would do in the course of the movie. They had to feel for him so they would mourn the loss of the life he’d forfeited for love in the next act.

  Henry and Akta found a small area out of the way of the crew to rehearse. They’d done the lines in readings, but this was the first time they were working out the physicality of the scene, and the first time Henry would really have to embody the emotions.

  Cali was at his shoulder, talking quietly. She’d gone into what Henry liked to call her director mode. The normally rude and abrasive woman was a brilliant director, which he hadn’t expected. He did his best to focus on her, listen to her as she helped him get to the emotional place he needed to be.

  “The person you love has been missing for hours,” Cali said. “You’ve been looking for her, searching for her, sure that every minute that passes means she must be dead. Then you find her. You know it’s a trap, but you don’t care, because you can see her. She’s there, alive, waiting for you.”

  Henry gave himself over to the character, becoming Ebon. Fear and anger rose within him. The need to find her, save her, clawed at him. He felt his color change, shifting from blue to black. He opened his eyes.

  Padma was sitting on the ground a few feet away. She was terrified, confused.

  He snarled, eyes sweeping the area around her to assess for danger. When his gaze returned to her, he jerked forward. Throwing himself to the ground in front of her, he curled his wings around them, completely sheltering her as he looked over his shoulder, scanning for her kidnapper.

  “Pull one wing back.” He
vaguely heard Cali’s suggestion and responded without slipping out of character.

  He folded one wing back but kept Padma inside the protective curl of his body and the other wing.

  She made a small sound and he looked down at her. She’d tipped her face up to his. Tears glittered on her lashes. “You found me.”

  “I will always…” He paused, raising one hand to touch her face.

  He froze. He could see fire in her eyes—passion and anger. He was no longer Ebon wanting to touch and comfort Padma, he was Henry, fighting a losing battle with his desire for Akta. The anger dissipated, and his hand, which hovered a breath from her face, faded to blue.

  “Henry…” Cali’s voice was low, urgent. “Stay in the moment, you’ve found her, but there’s still a threat, the people who did this will pay.”

  Henry tried to pull himself back, tried to touch the core of anger inside himself, but he couldn’t. His control was as thin and fragile as a worn rope. She was too close to him—he could feel her breath, smell her hair.

  His emotions shifted, desire crashing through him, and Henry jumped to his feet. “I can’t.”

  Before either of them could stop him, Henry bolted, cursing himself the whole way.

  Chapter Three

  Akta stared over Lena’s shoulder at the computer screen and felt the world crumbling away around her.

  One of the Hollywood gossip blogs was featuring a story about their movie. A story claiming that the actors were real monsters. Most damning of all, there were pictures. Pictures of Akta and Henry kissing, with Henry in his monster body.

  Hollywood Heartbeat

  Monsters Are Real!

  We were planning on showing you exclusive stills from Calypso Productions’ untitled film, but it’s not about the film anymore. It’s about the actors.

  Check this: The actors aren’t human. That’s right, those hotties who’ve been showing up all over the red carpet along with the lovely Akta Patel aren’t human. They’re monsters.

  Real monsters.

  Don’t believe me? Think I smoked some bad stuff? Here are the stills from the production.