Chapter 9

9

" R emind me to never drink again." I groaned as I sat next to Rory in the makeup tent the next morning. Bradley snickered, wisely keeping his mouth shut as he added a little extra under-eye concealer.

"Only if you do the same for me." Rory looked even worse than I felt. Since he was barely a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet, I wasn't surprised.

Alistair swept into the tent in full costume. He was required to be in several hours before the rest of us. He naturally—because karma hated me—looked like he'd had the best night of sleep in his very long life. He all but glowed with health, which was weird to say about a vampire yet also true.

"I think I hate you," I called to him.

He grinned, showing extra fang. "Oh, sweetness, are you not feeling so well?"

Since I'd met him, my middle finger was getting such a workout.

He swept over to Rory's chair and leaned over his shoulder. "Good morning, little laird."

Did he place a kiss on Rory's neck? When Rory's face went up in flames, I was pretty sure that answer was "yes." Damn, he was one cheeky vampire.

Rory cleared his throat. "You, ah, see Poppy yet this morning?"

Ali grinned. "Last I saw, they were suctioning her into her catsuit. She looks even more miserable than you two. I can't imagine her costume is comfortable. Then again, at least she gets to wear clothes."

"Fuck off," I grumbled.

Rory and Alistair chuckled.

And then it was as if a dark cloud descended. Oh, wait, that was just Hyde and his entourage entering the tent. Already dressed in full costume, once he saw us, he scowled.

"Are you almost done?" He glared at Bradley. "I would think whore makeup would be easy. You don't really even have to do anything."

Hyde's sycophants sniggered. Assholes. What was this? High school?

Bradley's brush paused from swiping over my cheekbone, his face going dark. I squeezed his wrist. The last thing he needed was to get into a fight with Hyde. No doubt the asshole would relish getting Bradley fired.

"Fuck—" I began, as Rory finished with "you."

"What exactly is your problem, Hatcher?" Alistair had moved in the blink of an eye to stand nose-to-nose with Hyde. "Jealous? Because the way you go at Teremie, I'd say you have an inferiority complex."

Hyde took a step backward before catching himself. "What's it to you? Or are you one of his many conquests?"

"Ah, so you are jealous."

He sputtered. "He's—"

"A sweetheart," Poppy said, entering the tent with Kade at her side.

I could have kissed her. It had been a long time since anyone but Rory had stood up for me, and now both she and Ali had done so.

"A cheater and gold digger, you mean." Hyde's lip curled, emboldened by having his toadies at his back.

Poppy blew a raspberry. "Why do you care?"

Kade came to stand next to me and crossed his arms. "They're right. You're acting incredibly unprofessional. He's done nothing to provoke you."

"Really?" Hyde gaped. "I showed you the video. Are you going to tell me he's a good guy? You saw what he did to poor Matthew."

Ugh. That stupid video. The bane of my existence.

I opened my mouth to retort when his words really sank in. "Wait. Do you know Matt?"

He glared at me. Like I'd be dead on the floor if he had his way.

"And what if I do? Afraid I'll tell the whole story and make you look even worse?"

Worse? Not possible. I laughed. I was the only one. Rory had turned so red it looked like he had a full body blush. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about," he shouted. "Matt's the snake, not Teremie."

"Uh, have you watched the video?" Hyde snorted. "The truth is there for everyone to see."

His entourage murmured their agreement.

"What the video conveniently doesn't show is that Matt stole all Teremie's money, all his hard work, took all his credit for their show. And he was the cheater, not Teremie. You have zero idea what you're talking about. I was there . You're just hanging around now that he's popular. We"—he waved between us —"knew him since he was thirteen. Check your facts before you come at Teremie, you fucking asshole."

Rory, for being so tiny, did an amazing job staring Hyde down. Looked like an angry kitten, but he was my angry kitten. Alistair and Poppy both stepped closer to me, and Kade actually glared like he might punch Hyde. And suddenly I didn't care what Hyde had to say. For the last year, I'd felt like I was drowning and had clawed against the undertow, and here I had not one, but four people—five if I counted Bradley, whose lip had curled in disgust at Hyde—defending me and offering me a hand into a life raft.

Hyde stabbed his finger in Rory's direction. "I'll have you fired by the end of the day. You don't get to speak to me that way."

"That decision isn't up to you, Hatcher," Alistair said, his fangs glinting as he stepped between Hyde and Rory.

Hyde laughed. "You think Jabril won't fire a nobody when his star is unhappy? You're forgetting I'm the real draw here."

"I think you overestimate your importance." Kade's voice came out amused. "Jiz won't fire Rory because that would entail recasting and we're already behind schedule and over budget. He'd have to justify his choice to the producers. Ellen, Stan, and Marco wouldn't be pleased. Oh, and neither would I. Did I mention that I'm one of the producers?" He gave Hyde a meaningful look. "Though we could save a lot of money if we offloaded some unnecessary expenses."

You could have heard a pin drop.

"Kade, you might be my new favorite person." Alistair slowly held up his middle finger and waved it at Hyde. "Be a good boy, Hatcher, and fuck off."

Hyde's surprised Pikachu face was priceless. Wish I could have taken a photo. Fortunately, I didn't need to, because Poppy did it for me.

"Publicity photo." She winked.

And I lost it. Starting laughing so hard, I had to grab my sides. I felt bad because I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks. Bradley would have to fix my face, but I couldn't stop. I'd always tried to rise above the taunts and jeers, and I'd held a lot of emotions inside. The dam just burst. So, I laughed. And cried. Rory and Poppy's arms came around me, and I continued to guffaw until I finally wound down. At some point Hyde and his crew had left. Hadn't even noticed.

"Sorry, Bradley—" I wiped at my eyes.

"Are you kidding me? That was sooo worth it."

Yeah, yeah, it was.

For the next two weeks, we worked our asses off. Trying to make up for lost time meant long hours on set. Everyone was exhausted—cast and crew alike. Everyone except Jabril. He seemed to have a well of boundless energy, insisting on take after take to get exactly what he wanted. I might hate him a little, even if I respected his work ethic.

I shouldn't complain. With my limited lines, I had it easy. A quip here and there, a sexy walk, a wink. Nothing that pushed my endurance, though I had to be on call a lot.

I still hadn't met the actor playing—or heard who'd they'd cast—as Cozhul, the big baddie. It was like a state secret, and when I'd asked Jabril who it was, he tapped the side of his nose and said, "Oh, don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." Even Kade wouldn't give up the goods, though he said we would all be impressed.

Today, we'd set up in an old miner's camp located next to the resort that was now a ghost town. It made for a cool, but eerie backdrop.

"Cut!" Jabril yelled, before stomping up to Hyde. "Dammit, Hatcher. Your accent is all over the place and your timing sucks."

"My pronunciation is spot on! It's that fucking loser who can't do a proper accent."

Naturally, he pointed to me. Since I didn't have any lines in this scene and was sitting on the sidelines, he had zero reason to drag me into his mess. That was Hyde in a nutshell. Passing the blame. I didn't bother reacting.

He and Jabril's daily shouting matches were getting old. A camera operator looked like she was about to storm off set and the clapper hung his head, muttering a curse under his breath. Yeah, me, too, bruh .

Though Jabril wasn't wrong. Hyde was, to be tactful, awful. No timing, and either wooden or overacting. Plus, his accent really wasn't getting any better, even with the help of a dialect coach. If we had to do one more take because he screwed up his delivery, I was going to scream. Fucking diva. I just wanted to get in my few lines in the next scene and call it a day. We should have done it an hour ago, but Hyde couldn't pull it together.

"I hope Jabril replaces him," a grip said to another in a voice meant for the two of them.

I shamelessly eavesdropped.

"You think that's likely?" The other one asked.

"Heard Jiz talking to one of the other producers. He wants to."

Ooh, wouldn't that be a dream come true.

Two hours later, Jabril was yelling again, this time at some extras.

"Knock it off, Jiz!" Kade's growl cut through the noise on set as we prepared for our next scene.

"We have a schedule—"

"They're children . You don't raise your voice to kids because you want to keep to your damn schedule. You know how I feel about the treatment of child actors." Kade bared his fangs, his voice taking on a timber that was both frightening and sexy as he squared off with our director.

Everyone fell silent, and all motion ceased. Kade hadn't raised his voice once before now. The kids he referred to were a handful of extras who would help populate the town, and one even had a couple of lines.

Jabril didn't cower, but his jaw worked and nothing came out. Kade likely surprised him as much as the rest of us. Finally, he nodded. "Let's take ten. You need to make sure they're ready to go."

"Fine." And Kade stalked back to where the kids stood with their parents or guardians. He crouched and said something that had the children nodding eagerly. One moment he was a man, the next a breathtaking wolf. His fur was the same rich sable with copper highlights as his hair, and his wolf form was enormous. Like almost my height. No way to mistake him for a regular wolf.

He did that play stance where dogs pound their front paws on the ground, stick their butt in the air, and wag their tail. The children squealed. Kade took off, the kids giving chase. I couldn't help but watch as he darted just out of their reach, though never so fast to discourage them. Shrieks and laughter followed, and even some teens joined in. When a younger kid grabbed his tail as he passed, Kade pretended to howl and fell over onto his side. He flipped to his back and kicked his legs in the air, his tongue lolling.

The kids tackled him. One giant pile-on. They wrestled around, Kade being so careful not to hurt any of them that my heart melted into a big puddle of goo. How could such a huge guy be so good with kids? I'd always liked children and used to babysit for my neighbors. Matt hated kids, so I'd accepted I'd never be a dad. Watching Kade play with them reminded me again why Matt and I weren't the perfect couple I'd made us out to be in my head.

"Makes you think, doesn't it?" Rory sidled up next to me.

"Have you always been able to read my mind?"

He gave me a squeeze. "Your expression gives it away. You'd be a great dad."

I elbowed him. "Shut up."

But his comment left me with a smile I hid for the rest of the day. Maybe my life wasn't what I originally imagined, though maybe, just maybe, it would turn out even better.