Melina

Malik ran his tongue over his fangs and smiled seductively at Cat. She stepped back, but then seemed to remember she was also a predator. She bared her teeth, letting out a growl that was both scary and seductive, something Cat excelled at.

Both were fantastic on camera tonight, and I knew this was going to be one of those rare evenings when we got almost every scene in one take. There were no rules that said I needed to be on set, but I figured that since Cat and Malik were both annoyed about the direction the show was taking with their relationship, it would be smart to be here in case either decided to have a meltdown. My threat about killing off their characters had worked once, so it might work again. There was also the fact that both were amazing to watch.

“You aren’t so hot, Dante!” Cat huffed as she got right in his face. “Just because you’ve dated half the girls in this school doesn’t mean I’m dumb enough to fall for you.”

A look of shock crossed his face, but it quickly morphed into a cocky smirk, which had me thinking that Trevor had the cocky smirk down better than Malik did.

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Maxi.” Malik turned away from Cat and started to walk down the hall. Then he turned back one final time. “You really are a bitch some days, and I know that should make me want to stay far away from you, but I can’t.”

Cat snorted. “Can’t or won’t?”

Malik looked away from Cat, staring down the empty hallway. “Does it matter?”

“Cut!” shouted Claude, the director, and I groaned, certain my positive thinking had jinxed this perfect scene.

“I want to see more heat between the two of you,” Claude insisted. “I want you to melt this camera with the chemistry between Dante and Maxi.”

“More heat?” Malik shouted, in one of his trademark tantrums. At first, his childish fits of temper had gotten on my last nerve. Now, I was tempted to take bets on which direction he’d head with a tantrum. One never knew where his screaming rants would lead, and I often found myself agreeing with him, even if I didn’t like the way he expressed himself. “This is a show for teens, not soft porn. Were you suggesting I dry hump her leg for the kids watching? No, that might not be enough. Maybe we should both strip naked and go at it in front of the cameras. That would set such a good example for the kids.”

“Protecting the young viewers,” I mused, which resulted in several snickers around me. I wasn’t the only one who watched these drama-filled moments with eager anticipation. Two other writers and several crew members had gathered around me to enjoy the show. This was one of those instances where I whole-heartedly agreed with Malik.

“I’m not asking you to screw the werewolf,” Claude snapped. On a good day, Claude was an asshole. On a bad day, he was insensitive and obnoxious to the point where I was surprised none of the actors had tried to tear his throat out. Then again, the actors probably weren’t that stupid. Claude was nearly seven feet tall and a wall of muscle. When most people use that term, they are referring to someone half Claude’s width. Half-demon and half-Fae, he’d inherited the worst from both sides, and even I didn’t argue with Claude if I could avoid it. There were times when I had no choice but to confront Claude, mostly because I was the least intimidated by him. I was almost positive Claude wouldn’t kill me, which was more than most people working on the show could say.

Most people might wonder why we kept the scary pain in the ass. Claude was a fantastic director who knew how to get the most out of the actors, even if he did piss them off. While the actors might be somewhat terrified of him, I’d never heard him threaten any of them with physical violence. Then again, Claude’s mere presence was threat enough.

Malik was still ranting and stomping around the set, but everyone else had gone silent, waiting to see what would happen next. In general, I agreed with Claude on most of his decisions, but not today.

“I think Malik has a good point this time,” I interjected, annoyed when Malik smirked at Claude. The idiot was going to create even more drama if he started acting cocky.

“Are you saying I’m wrong?” Claude asked in a calm voice, which generally meant he was about to have a tantrum more monumental than Malik could ever hope to achieve.

I was getting ready to soothe Claude’s ego when Malik chimed in again.

“Mel says I’m right!” Malik taunted. “She’s the head writer, and this is her vision.”

“Actually, this scene was written by a different writer,” I told Malik, ready to smack him for opening his mouth.

“So, you have nothing to do with this scene.” Claude gave me a dismissive wave and turned his back on me.

I glared at Malik, who stood beside me as if we were making a united stand against Claude. “If you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to leave you here to deal with Claude on your own.”

“I’m trying to help,” Malik argued with a pout. His arms were crossed in front of his slight chest. There were times, like now, when it was hard to remember Malik was well over a hundred years older than me. I’d say he acted like the teen he played on the show, but his character showed a lot more maturity.

“No,” I said through my teeth. “You are trying to make the whole situation worse because you are in one of those moods where you want to argue. While I may agree with what you’ve said, I certainly don’t like how you’re approaching this with Claude.” When he opened his mouth, I held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t even think about arguing with me. We both know you’re only going to make this worse. You are acting childish and disrespectful.”

Malik nodded, but he still looked pouty. As for Claude, his shoulders had relaxed some, probably because he was happy about me chastising Malik.

I approached Claude like I would any highly volatile creature capable of ripping my head off. “Listen, Claude,” I began, waiting until he turned to face me. “The show is geared toward teens, so we need to keep this in the PG-13 range.”

“According to our demographics, we have many adult viewers,” he argued calmly. “I know you don’t think I consider anything beyond my artistic vision, and I will admit that it is always foremost in my mind, but that’s not all I’m thinking about. I want this show to be great, and I think we need to cater to our adult viewers. The show should be edgier, and there should definitely be more sexual tension.”

“I see your point,” I agreed, impressed that he’d thought this through so thoroughly. “Do you think it’s possible the adult viewers are watching this show because they want something more innocent than the adult programming is currently providing?” That was what our adult focus group had said, but I didn’t want to make it sound like I was dismissing Claude’s thoughts or implying he hadn’t considered all the facts. It was entirely possible he hadn’t been told about the adult focus group.

He opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it, a thoughtful look replacing his irritation. “I hadn’t considered that. Perhaps, you should have someone look into this more before we make any drastic changes regarding the sexual content on the show.”

I nodded. “Have I mentioned that you’re the best director in the business lately?”

He snorted. “You don’t have to tell me I’m good. I know how good I am.”

“Should I stop telling you how good you are?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Of course, not,” he said with an impish grin. “It’s a good way to remind yourself of my greatness. I would hate to have you forget how lucky everyone on this show is to have me here. Some people seem to need more reminders than others.” His eyes narrowed as he glared at Malik.

“You know Malik is a major drama queen,” I told him loud enough for the temperamental vampire to hear me.

Claude nodded and turned away to bark orders at Cat and Malik. Thankfully, it appeared he wasn’t going to have them shoot the entire scene again.

My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans, and I stepped away from the set as I pulled it from my pocket.

“Hello,” I answered without looking at the Caller ID.

“Ms. Blackwood?” a somewhat familiar male voice inquired.

“That’s me,” I confirmed, heading out of the filming area to make it easier to hear.

“This is Detective Giovanni,” he explained.

“Please tell me Leo didn’t suggest you call me for help with the case again,” I grumbled.

Detective Giovanni chuckled, apparently in a much better mood than the last time we’d spoken. “It’s nothing like that. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve made an arrest, and the murder had nothing to do with the show. I’ve already contacted the network executives, but I figured you’d want to know, as well.”

“That’s a relief,” I told him. “And, yes, I do appreciate you calling me. Is it okay to let the cast and crew know about Amber’s death now?” I asked, even though it seemed that, thanks to the rumor mill, everyone already knew.

“The executives said they’d be making an announcement tomorrow,” he began. “It will probably be all over the news within the hour, so you can do whatever you need to.”

I’d have to think about that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the one to make the announcement and field the questions. “Thank you for letting me know, Detective.”

“No problem. Have a good evening, Ms. Blackwood.” He ended the call, and I tucked my phone into my back pocket, unsure if I should make an announcement or let the executives handle it.

“What’s wrong, Mel?” asked Lindsey, one of the witch actresses who played a ditsy cheerleader. Her blonde hair was cascading down her back in beautiful waves, and she was dressed in her cheerleading outfit since we were filming a scene involving the cheerleaders tonight.

Like most of the witch actresses, Lindsey kissed my ass until she believed I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Then she would insult my weight, my hair, my attitude, and anything else she could think of. If I was the sensitive type, my feelings might be hurt.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I assured her, but she didn’t leave. “Did you need something?”

“I heard you were dating Trevor Dupree,” she chirped loudly, and the background noise stopped almost immediately.

Damn nosy people! Of course, I’d known people would be talking about Trevor coming by with dinner last night. I’d even kissed him goodbye in front of several people.

“I can see by the look on your face that the rumors are false,” Lindsey added with a condescending look. “I told everyone you weren’t exactly his type.”

I matched her condescending look. “I’m not sure how this is any of your business, Lindsey. To the best of my knowledge, you have a scene to film tonight. Shouldn’t you be worrying about that?”

She huffed. “This isn’t exactly a difficult question, Mel. Why not just answer it so I can tell the others that they’re insane for thinking Trevor would date you?”