Sexiest Vampire Alive(2)
“I like it long. It makes me look taller. And thinner.”
Good God, if she was any thinner, she’d be two-dimensional. “You look beautiful, Simone. But . . . I’m afraid your concentration is off just a tad. Perhaps if we—”
“It’s his fault!” She pointed a perfectly manicured pink nail at the male model who was busy taking off the shirt she’d ripped. “He’s too ugly to work with.”
Gregori glanced at the model. “He looks fine to me.”
“Why, thank you, handsome.” The male model winked.
Oh shit. “Simone, we can’t keep replacing the guy for you. This is the eighth one. The talent agency is running out of guys, and we’re running out of time, so do you think you could possibly bring yourself to work with this one?”
She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “He’s repulsive. I shudder when I have to touch him.”
The male model wagged a finger at her. “It’s not like I’m enjoying it either, girlfriend.”
“It’s called acting, Simone,” Gregori whispered. “You have to pretend to desire him. He could be as ugly as a turnip, but you make us believe he’s stunning.”
“But I am stunning.” The model flipped his long blond hair over his shoulders.
Gregori groaned inwardly. It was impossible to whisper around a bunch of Vamps. They could hear everything. He grasped Simone by her bony shoulders. “Let’s be honest about this, Toots. It’s not the shoes, or the gown, or the guy on the couch—”
“The name is Pennington,” the male model interrupted. “Pennington Langley, the Third. But please don’t call me Penny for short. I would hate to sound cheap.” He gave Gregori a flirtatious smile.
Suppressing a shudder, Gregori smiled back. Sheesh, the crap he put up with for his job. “Simone. I’ve seen you glide down a jillion runways as graceful as a swan. You can do this.”
She ducked her head as she pressed her hands against his chest. “All right, I’ll be honest. I-I’m afraid.”
“Afraid of what? Failure?” He winced when her steel-like nails dug into him.
“I never fail,” she hissed.
“Right. Right, I knew that.” He grabbed her hands to keep her pink claws from ripping through his best suit. “What are you afraid of, then?”
Her bottom lip trembled against her fangs. “The sun will rise soon. I’m afraid of dying.”
“Sweetcakes, we die at every sunrise.”
“I mean real death! La mort finale!” She clutched his lapels with her fists. “I heard Corky’s show tonight. Live with the Undead. She said we’re all in grave danger!”
“You’ll be fine, Simone. You’ll be staying at Roman’s townhouse where we have guards to keep us safe.”
“Then Corky is right?” Simone shrieked and gave him a hard shake. “The mortal world knows about us now?”
He pried her bony fingers loose from his lapels. “Corky ought to know. She’s the one who posted the damned video.”
Three nights earlier, Corky Courrant had filmed the battle at Mount Rushmore that had climaxed with the death of her lover, the Malcontent leader, Casimir. While Gregori could understand why a woman might be a little miffed over the decapitation of her lover, he still thought Corky had severely overreacted. She’d posted the video on YouTube, claiming it was proof that vampires were real. That was an unforgivable, traitorous act in their world, and yet Corky was still employed at the Digital Vampire Network. Apparently her infamy was good for ratings.
Simone’s eyes filled with tears. “She said the mortals will hunt us down and slaughter us in our sleep!”
“Oh my God!” Pennington sprang to his feet. “Is that true?”
The boom operator glowered at him. “Don’t you watch the Nightly News? Stone Cauffyn said the secret is out, and it won’t be long before the mortals decide to kill us off.”
With a soft moan, Simone sank onto the carpet. Her tears, tinted with blood, left pink streaks down her gaunt cheeks. “La mort finale.”
“It’s the end for us all,” the cameraman grumbled.
“We’re doomed.” The makeup artist sniffed and wiped tears from her face.
“The Vampire Apocalypse,” Gordon muttered, then took another swig of Blissky.
Good God, no wonder the director and crew had jumped on that case of Blardonnay. “Get a grip, guys,” Gregori told them. “Just because Corky posted a video that looks like vampires getting their heads cut off and turning to dust, that doesn’t mean any mortals will believe it.”