Lights, Camera…Monsters Read online

“Uh, what?”

  “Sorry, instinct. What’s wrong, Luke?”

  “I told Henry and Michael that I would return tonight.”

  “Oh.” Lena’s chest felt a little hollow. Why would he have told them that, did he not want to spend time with her?

  “I’m sorry, it’s just hard for them. I don’t have a way to talk to them when I am here, and they don’t know what’s happening unless I come back.” The genuine regret in his voice soothed her ego at the same time it made her feel like the clingiest, neediest woman on earth. Poor man, his friends needed to know what was happening, needed his help and she was pouting because she wanted his undivided attention.

  Lena whipped out her cell phone and, with one eye on the road, composed and sent a mass text message. She then handed her phone to Luke with a smile.

  “Tomorrow I’m going shopping for you, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this today. All three of you need phones. Until then, take mine.”

  “But you need it.”

  “Not as much as you do right now. Do you know how to work one of these things?”

  “No.”

  “That’s okay, I’ll show you.” She zipped onto the freeway and headed southwest towards the port.

  They got stuck in traffic, giving Lena time to explain how to place a call, making Luke memorize the speed dial contacts and then her apartment number. By the time she pulled up next to a long stretch of chain link fence, he was cell phone literate enough to survive.

  Luke hesitated, one hand on the door. “When will I see you again?”

  “Well, it will be a few days, maybe a week before we have any definite plans that we can present to you all.”

  “Oh, so, you do not want to see me again until we plan the movie?” His hurt and disappointment was painfully obvious. Lena, who was trying to play it cool, felt like a bitch.

  “Luke, if it were up to me I would have kept you tonight and all day tomorrow, I don’t want you to leave, but I didn’t want to assume…”

  “You know I do not know the rules of human companionship. I’ve read in the magazine there are ‘rules’ and ‘games’ but I do not know how to play them yet. If you don’t mind, would you just tell me what you want? I do not want to guess wrong.”

  Lena grabbed him for a kiss, pushing all her passion into the meeting of lips.

  “I can do that,” she promised him, dazzled by the prospect of not having to guard her heart with half-truths and flirtatious lying. “I want to see you, to be with you”—always—“tomorrow.”

  He smiled in relief. “That would be nice.”

  “Hopefully Cali will have a place for you to stay in the next few days.”

  “Then I will go to live there?” There was the slightest of hesitations in his voice, which turned the statement into a question.

  “Or you could come stay with me.” The words popped out of her mouth, surprising them both. “Just you, I mean. I don’t have room for the other two, but you can totally go see them every day.” Stop rambling, stop rambling! “You don’t have to, I mean, no pressure, but if you want—”

  “Yes, I want to stay with you.”

  They stared at each other, his perfect face lit by a smile. Lena smiled in reply, though it was rather sickly, considering inside she was screaming: You just invited a virtual stranger to come live with you! What are you thinking?

  “I will see you tomorrow then?” he asked again, opening the door.

  “Yup, tomorrow,” she replied, absently, already planning the CT-scan she was going to get to check for the brain aneurism that was making her behave this way.

  Luke leaned close to her, then hesitated. Lena shook herself and met him halfway for another kiss. His tongue touched hers, lips firm and warm against her mouth, and she thought: Oh yeah, this is why you want him living with you.

  They broke the kiss, easing away from one another. With her phone clenched in one hand Luke got out of the car and closed the door. He pressed his hand to the glass, and in the early evening dark he looked like a ghost, shadow and smoke, nothing more. Then he tilted his head slightly, eyes flashing like those of a cat, hinting at what hid within him, and it was nothing so pale as a ghost that stood outside her car, but the stuff of nightmares made flesh and stripped of terror by his beauty of spirit.

  Luke stepped back, ducking through a hole in the fence. He stayed there, watching as Lena flipped a U-turn and drove away. She watched him in her mirror until his body dissolved into the shadow.

  Shaking herself, Lena reached for her cell phone to call Jane. Cursing when she remembered she didn’t have it, she raced for home.

  “The sex shook your brain loose,” Jane concluded, after listening to Lena’s long, convoluted tale of sex, feelings and brief out-of-body experience during which she invited Luke to come live with her.

  “I think you might be right, it’s the spanking that did it.”

  “I can’t believe you let him do that.”

  “Let him? I literally begged for it. Quit being such a prude.”

  “I’m not a prude, but some things should just remain fantasy.”

  “With most guys, I’d say you’re right, but not with Luke. I trust him.”

  “I can’t believe he would spank you, he seems so…quiet, shy. I’d even say wimpy, if it weren’t for those killer muscles.”

  “I thought so, too, but it’s just because he doesn’t know how to act and he doesn’t want to do anything wrong. He’s really sweet and funny and good in bed, and kind, and good in bed—”

  “You said that.”

  “It needed to be said twice. But my point is—”

  “You’re falling for him.”

  “No, I think he’s a really great guy, but I know there’s nothing more there than that. The move is just temporary.”

  “How is it just temporary? We’re talking about taking them on as our exclusive project, making a movie with them and a TV show if you have your way. That’s years worth of work.”

  “OhmyGodyou’reright. I think I’m going to pass out.”

  “Don’t pass out, just sit down.”

  Lena plopped down onto the couch. She was wearing her robe, which now carried the mingled scent of her perfume and Luke’s body. She imagined him here with her, imagined him touching her, both sensually, lips and tongue pressing against sensitive places, and platonically, letting her rest her body against his, lying together, just breathing.

  “Oh crap, Jane. I might be falling for him.”

  “Told you so.”

  “How is that helping?”

  “Sorry, but I did tell you so.”

  Too restless to stay still, Lena moved out onto the balcony. “This is completely insane, I mean, he’s literally a monster. How could—”

  A dark shape darted between Lena and the moon’s light. She looked up as a great winged shape circled around, headed for her balcony.

  “Lena?” Jane’s voice was a mechanical chirp in her ear as Lena stared at the shape. As it grew closer she made out a pair of great dark wings, arms and two legs.

  “Luke?” she asked tentatively, thinking the fission of fear that iced down her spine was a reaction to his monster form. She wanted to run, but held her ground. If it was Luke she didn’t want to further injure his feelings by running.

  She should have trusted her instincts.

  As the creature passed by it raised one hand. Cold wrapped over Lena’s thigh. She looked down, puzzled by the sensation, to see a cluster of long spiked barbs protruding from her thigh.

  Just as she identified what they were, the pain hit. Lena screamed, falling to the balcony as pain darted up her side and down to her toes. Distantly she head Jane shouting her name.

  Lena pressed her hands along the side of the barbs. There were five of them, clustered in a six-inch circle of skin, which was already swelling. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes as agony beyond anything she’d ever experienced rushed through her. The pain was so severe that she couldn’t think, couldn’t
breathe.

  As the poison on the barbs zipped through her veins Lena’s airway began to swell shut. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a pair of wings silhouetted against the sky.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Luke ducked into the warehouse, careful not to snag his clothes on the jagged metal of the walls. Michael and Henry both pushed to their feet, meeting him halfway across the cavernous space.

  “What happened?”

  “Did you sleep with her again? Was it good?”

  “Nothing happened, I spent the day with her. Yes, and it was amazing. Guess what? Human women know, and like, some of the same sex adventures as the succubae.”

  “Really? Which ones?”

  Luke smiled at his friends and started stripping out of his clothes. “I’m not going to tell you. One of those articles you gave me said gentlemen never kiss and tell.”

  “So just don’t tell us about the kissing,” Michael said in exasperation.

  Luke finished pulling off his pants. Now fully naked, Luke bent his head and drew the tattoo down into his skin. A few moments later he shook himself, stretching up to his full height of seven-feet. He spread his wings and beat them in the air. He’d grown to love his human form, from the softness of the skin overlaying hard bones to the compact design, but this was his true form. Changing back into a monster felt like coming home.

  Henry and Michael, both in their human bodies, were still looking at him expectantly. They were trying to spend as much time as possible being human, to get used to the physical reality of those bodies, but could not maintain them at all times. Because he’d been spending so much time with Lena, Luke had been holding his human form longer than was strictly comfortable.

  “Well?” Michael prompted.

  “Spanking,” Luke told them as he began pacing around the warehouse to stretch out his legs. “Light physical punishment, with manual bondage.”

  “What do you do?”

  “Hold them down and slap their butt until it turns red.”

  “And the human women like that?”

  “Mine does.”

  “Oh, so she’s yours now?” Henry asked archly.

  Luke paused. Lena wasn’t his. He knew that, knew he could not claim her and take her as he would if she were a female monster, but that’s what he wanted to do.

  “She is mine,” he said under his breath.

  Michael, less interested in Lena’s position in Luke’s life, wanted to know more about the sex. “So, they know something of bondage and pain games. Anything else?”

  “Fulfillment is called orgasm,” Luke said, proud to impart that bit of human vernacular. “Lena seemed impressed that I gave her more than one. From the way she reacted, I think human men are bad at sex.”

  “I don’t know why they would be, these bodies are much easier to maneuver for sex.” Michael shook his head at the stupidity of the human men, who didn’t know how good they had it.

  “So why did you leave?” Henry asked.

  “I wanted to come back to be sure you two were fine.”

  Henry nodded his thanks. The first time Luke was gone, for two full days, Henry had nearly gone mad with frustration. The inactivity was hard on him. Michael, however, had a different opinion regarding Luke’s decision.

  “You dumb fuck,” he told Luke. “You wanted to come back here rather than stay there and play with her? What’s wrong with you? I’m going to make you a list of sexual variations to try next time. I want to know exactly what the human women are capable of handling.”

  “What’s a ‘dumb fuck’?” Luke asked Henry. “Have you been watching Spike Lee movies again?” Henry shrugged and rolled his eyes as Michael grabbed a pad of paper and started making a list. He was mumbling things like: “tight bondage”, “sensory depravation” and “ice”.

  Luke bent forward, stretching his wings, and Henry grabbed them at the apex, stretching them forward.

  “Luke,” Henry said under his breath, “you cannot keep her.”

  “I know that,” Luke assured his friend.

  “Do you? I know how you long for a human woman.”

  “I said I know.” Luke pulled his wings from his friend’s grip and with a few powerful flaps pushed himself into the air. He circled the ceiling of the warehouse, darting side-to-side, going as fast as possible in the limited space, but no matter what he did he could not out-fly Henry’s words.

  Out of the three of them, Luke was the one who most loved humanity. He’d seen the loneliness of the male monsters, the fear and pain of the children too often left to raise themselves. In humanity he saw people who ached to form lifelong partnerships, who formed family units and friend units that stuck together for lifetimes.

  An odd chirping sound distracted him, and Luke dove down and landed with a concrete rattling thud.

  “What’s that noise?” he asked the others.

  Henry was looking around, shoulders tense. The noise stopped, then started again. This time Luke recognized it.

  “The phone.” He snatched the cell phone from the floor where he’d left it. His claws were too long to allow him to open it. Michael snatched it out of this hand and flipped it open with the one handed action Luke hadn’t been able to manage in the car. He held the microphone to his ear, the speaker to his mouth, and said “Hello?”

  Luke frantically motioned for his to flip it around, and when he did, Michael repeated the greeting.

  The person on the other end of the phone was speaking so loud Luke could hear, though he was standing two feet from Michael.

  “Luke, something happened to Lena. She’s hurt, there are these things sticking out of her leg. Right before she passed out she said your name—”

  There was a brief tussle and a second voice came on.

  “Hey, el zorrero! If you did this to her, I will stick your cojones in a fucking blender—”

  There was a second scuffle and the calmer voice came back. “We don’t know what’s wrong with her, what are these barb things? Can we take her to the hospital?”

  Michael broke into the litany of questions. “We know what they are, we’re coming. No human medicine can help her. Keep her breathing.”

  He flipped the phone shut and started ripping off his clothes. Henry was doing the same.

  Luke stood, hands curled into fists, body shaking.

  Lena was hurt, wounded by one of their own.

  Poisonous barbs were weapons used by many of their kind. Another monster was in L.A., and had hurt Lena.

  He threw his head back and roared. Three great beats of his wings lifted him into the air. He pumped harder and faster, headed for the steel roof. He turned his head away and hit the metal with this shoulder, tearing through it. The peeled back edges scraped his wings and he pushed through into the night sky. A moment later Michael and Henry rose through the hole he’d made, their wings beating the night as they chased after him.

  Luke didn’t know exactly how to get to her, but as he rose into the sky, going just high enough to find the cover of lowlying clouds and the light pollution, he realized he didn’t have to know. He could smell her, feel her, as if she were a part of him.

  He raced inland, the great black Pacific stretched out behind him.

  He would find whoever had hurt her, and he would kill him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  They dropped out of the sky and landed on the balcony, three massive, winged bodies crowded into the tiny space. Atmosphere rippled around them as all three changed.

  Michael drew three pairs of pants out of the bag he’d carried, and tossed a pair to each of them. Luke ignored them and shoved open the balcony door. He took one step in and halted when Margo jumped to her feet and pointed a gun at his head.

  “You, pinche cabrón. She can’t breathe, she’s barely alive and we can’t take her to the hospital because you did something to her. I want you dead. I want you suffering.” Margo was shaking, the gun wavering as tears of terror slipped down her cheeks.

  All
Luke heard was that Lena was suffering, maybe dying. He pushed Margo aside, ignoring her gun and dropped to one knee beside the body on the floor.

  Jane knelt on the other side of Lena, her cheeks streaked with tears.

  “I knew the wound wasn’t something human, that’s why I didn’t take her to the hospital right away. Was that wrong? Should I have taken her? She couldn’t breathe, I used my Eppie pen, that seemed to help, but I didn’t know what else to do…”

  Luke ignored everything around him, from Henry coaxing Margo to lay down the gun to Jane’s tumbling, frantic words.

  He stroked Lena’s pale face with one hand, placing the other on her massively swollen thigh. Her robe was pulled back to expose the entire length of her leg. The barbs were confined to a small circle of skin on her thigh near the hip.

  There was no doubt she’d been attacked by a monster. Luke held his hand over the swollen flesh, which was mottled a sickly green and black. There was a very specific kind of poison that would do that to human flesh.

  “Michael,” he murmured, and Michael dropped down beside him. His friend’s lips pressed together as he examined the swollen, discolored thigh.

  “First remove them, then extract the poison, then we will need to heat-seal the wounds.” Michael said, and Luke nodded.

  Michael eased Jane out of the way, and took her place on the opposite side of Lena’s body. He braced a hand on either side of the barbs and held her leg down. Luke pressed two fingers flat on either side of one of the entry points, grabbing the barb with his other hand.

  He ripped it out in one smooth motion.

  Lena twitched and moaned, her eyelids fluttering, though she did not wake. The dart had ripped some flesh coming out, as the pointed tip was surrounded by backwards facing barbs. Blood welled from the torn flesh.

  Luke worked quickly, ripping free the rest of the barbs in under a minute. He piled the flesh-speckled barbs on Lena’s stomach as Michael used the edge of her robe to sop up the blood.

  Once the final barb was out, he nodded at his friend and they both bent their heads to her thigh. Luke sealed his lips over two of the puncture wounds and sucked. Michael’s head was pressed next to his and he felt his friend do the same to another of the wounds.