Smoke and Mirrors (43 page)

“It's an arm,” Tony said after a moment. “I don't think it's that smart.”

“It's an arm,” Zev repeated. “We shouldn't even be having this conversation.”

“Just stay inside the pattern. That's what's stopping it, not the door.”

“What if Lee's waiting in the dining room?”

Where Hartley killed Brenda.

“Then slam the door and Brianna can pee on someone's foot.”

Hanging between Zev and Amy, Brianna looked intrigued.

Door open.

No arm.

No Lee.

“If Lee goes after them, do you think they can stop him?” Tina asked as footsteps started up the stairs.

“Zev and Adam can handle him,” Peter told her leaning against the counter. “He's an actor, for crying out loud.”

“He's a costar,” Mason muttered.

“What happened to lying quietly and listening to the vampire hunters' plans?”

“Right.”

Tina tightened her grip on Ashley. “I can't believe you're allowing that child to look at a burning baby.”

“It's not a real baby,” Tony offered. “It's a ghost baby.”

“She'll be traumatized.”

“Perhaps,” Peter allowed. “But better a supervised visit than have her go charging off on her own again. I think CB'd rather get her back traumatized than not at all.”

“The Cheese doesn't have nightmares, if that's what you're worried about. Mom says she's like Dad; sensitivity of a post.” Ashley pulled out of Tina's arms and stuffed her hands in the pockets of Mason's tuxedo jacket. “Me, I'm like Mom. I'll have screaming nightmares about that arm coming right at me for years. And years. It'll probably stunt my growth.” She shot Mason a challenging look through her lashes. “I'm very sensitive.”

Mason nodded. “So am I. But then, I'm a star. I thought we were going dancing; why am I tied up?”

“Captured by vampire hunters,” Peter sighed, fondling the napkin.

“Right.”

Tony shifted position to give a different set of bruises a chance to ache and saw that Mouse, who'd been lying quietly under the weight of three men, was staring up at him, his eyelashes clumped into damp triangles. “You okay?”

“You've been avoiding me.”

So not the time to go into this. “No, I haven't.”

“Yeah.”

“I'm right here.”

The big man sighed. “Not now, before.”

“I haven't.” He looked up to see he was once again the center of attention. “Really. I haven't.”

“Ever since I kissed you.”

“He's not himself.”

Peter leaned back, folded his arms and crossed one ankle over the other. “Sounds like he's having a lucid moment to me.”

“He's not.”

“Did I hurt you?” Mouse's lower lip trembled.

“No,” Tony reassured him hurriedly. “No, you didn't hurt me.” And just to reassure everyone else. “He didn't kiss me either.”

“Kissed you in the bus shelter.”

Sorge snickered. “Bus shelter? That one of those gay euphemisms?”

“Kissed you when the Shadowlord controlled me.”

“Okay, he's definitely delusional,” Tony sighed. And given the condition Mouse had been in for most of the evening—the irrational terror, the weeping—it would have been believable except . . .

“Oh, sure, acting like you're the only one to remember the Shadowlord! You're just a cameraman. He liked me best.”

Mason's current condition made him less than reliable as backup except . . .

“The Shadowlord?” Kate spat out the last of shred of damp napkin. “I remember that son of a bitch!”

And Tina—who spent fourteen-hour days keeping track of dialogue changes and shot numbers and continuity while half a dozen people clambored for her attention and a dozen more built and brought to life Raymond Dark's world around her—put the pieces together. “I wonder,” she said softly, “if Hartley and Lee would remember this Shadowlord. What else aren't you telling us, Tony?”

“What else?” Best defense—good offense. “What do you mean what else?”

“You didn't tell us you were a wizard.”

“I told you!”

“Somewhat after the fact. And since this is apparently a new thing,” she added, folding her arms, “I find myself wondering about the circumstances of your discovery and just where these particular people and the Shadowlord fit in.”

“The Shadowlord made me kiss Tony,” Mouse sniffed.

Saleen finally looked interested. “Kinky.”

“If the Shadowlord wanted to kiss someone, he should have kissed me,” Mason muttered indignantly.

“The Shadowlord can kiss my ass!” Kate barked.

“Tony?”

“I'm sure both Mason and Kate are very kissable.” Great. Humor; not working. Tina was clearly not going to let it go. “Look, it happened way back in the spring. It's not important now.” He waved his still not entirely usable left hand around the room—both a gesture and a reminder. “We've got other stuff to worry about.”

Right on cue, a door slammed in the distance and multiple pairs of feet pounded down the stairs. Adam yelled for Amy. Then they were in the dining room. Then the pantry door opened. The three adults charged in, Brianna riding Zev's hip.

“We didn't see Lee,” Adam began, setting the lantern on the counter. “Although this one . . .” He jerked his head at Amy. “. . . went for a bit of a wander.”

“I went to the front door,” Amy snorted. “I checked on Everett. And the good news is he's still breathing. We skipped across the hall to Lee's dressing room
together
.” She threw the emphasis at Adam. “He's not there.” Suddenly realizing her audience wasn't paying full attention, she frowned. “What's wrong?”

“Seems that Tony only came partway out of the wizard closet.”

Amy glanced over at him and he shrugged, hoping he looked like the rational one in the room.

“Does the term
Shadowlord
mean anything to you?” Tina asked her.

“Not to me.” She glanced over at her companions. Adam and Zev shook their heads. Brianna yawned.

“Mason, Mouse, and Kate all remember a Shadowlord.”

“Yeah, and they're loopy.”

Go, Amy. Point out the obvious.

Tina shook her head, denying that was the end of the matter. “Tony as much as admitted there was something to it.”

He had? Why the hell had he done that?

“It happened last spring,” Sorge put in.

“Last spring?” Amy rolled her eyes. “Please, a lot of strange shit happened last spring. Just before Arra left, everyone was having those weird memory lapses.”

“Not everyone,” Tina said slowly, thoughtfully. “Lee lost about eight hours. Kate lost nearly forty-eight. Mouse got into that fight that broke his jaw but doesn't remember it. Hartley fell off the wagon. And Tony had that little fit in the soundstage.”

“Tony?”

And that little fit gave him the perfect excuse. He just had to convince them that he'd lost his memory, too. Unfortunately, the lights came up and Lucy Lewis pushed a nameless fellow servant down the back stairs before he could begin.

Tony didn't know why Saleen thought the electrical tape wouldn't hold Mouse; it seemed to be holding him just fine. A quick glance to the right showed that Mouse was weeping again, Saleen and Pavin were looking bruised, and Mason had a rising goose egg on his forehead. He thought about apologizing, but since he had no idea if he'd been responsible, he decided to let it go.

“The boy in the bathroom didn't even notice the thing you drew. He's hiding 'cause he's scared of his daddy.” Crouched by his head, Brianna fingered her apron as she murmured into his left ear. “Karl's mommy didn't like it. 'Cept she couldn't see it because she had sticks in her eyes. The baby was way gross. I saw a movie just like it once.”

“This isn't a movie.”

“I know. If it was, there'd be popcorn and I wouldn't be . . .” She yawned. “. . . bored.”

“So you're back.” Peter took Brianna by the shoulder and pulled her away.

Since he'd obviously been talking, there didn't seem to be much point in denying it. “What's with the tape?”

“Just don't want any surprises.”

“Surprises? What kind of surprises?”

“You tell us, Tony. Last spring, two people died.”

“I had nothing to do with that!” How could they possibly connect that to him? “Amy? Zev?”

“A man who cheats on his wife will cheat on his mistress,” Amy muttered unhappily.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you lied to us,” Zev told him, looking betrayed. “And if you can lie about one thing . . .”

“You mean about being a wizard?” Neck aching, he let his head bounce back on the floor. “I didn't exactly lie. I mean, you never asked if I was a wizard.”

“I asked how you got a hunk of beer bottle embedded in your arm. You said you were just goofing around.”

“I was.”

“With a spell?”

“Yeah, but I didn't exactly
lie
.”

Before Zev could respond—although his opinion of Tony's answer was pretty clear from his expression, Peter stepped between them. “We want the truth about what happened last spring, Tony.”

“Because nothing says trust us like electrical tape,” Tony muttered, struggled a moment, and glared up at them. “What about Lee? Lee's still out there!”

“Before we go after Lee, we want the whole story.”

“Why? The shit that went down last spring has nothing to do with the shit that's happening tonight.”

“If the Shadowlord was here, he'd take me dancing,” Mason muttered.

Tony winced. “Okay, some people are more . . . uh,
open
to the house because of it, but that's all.”

“You don't think it might have been helpful to know that?”

“No.” Maybe. “Lee . . .”

“You want to go after him? Talk fast.”

Seemed like he didn't have an option.

“You messed with our memories!” Tina clutched at the front of her blouse with one hand and balled the other up into a fist. Appalled or angry—it looked like it could go either way. Tony knew what he was voting for.

“I didn't. Arra did.”

Amy snorted. “Oh, that's so much better.”

“Your memory didn't even get messed with,” he reminded her. “You and Zev had already left the studio.”

“Yeah, and that's another thing; how come I got left out!”

“You weren't left out. You'd just gone home.”

She tossed her head. “Oh, sure, you say that now.”

“How do we know he's not still lying?” Peter asked Sorge as Tony tried to figure out Amy's damage. “Gates to another world, invading armies of shadows . . . this is the kind of crap our writers keep coming up with.”

“No, it's crappier.”

“Not as clichéd as that story about the gas leak, though. I can think of half a dozen shows that've used it to explain away stuff with no explanation.”

“True.”

Tina leaned between them. “He messed with our memories!”

And he left out the part about Tina providing snack-ies for the bastard son of Henry VIII, too. In fact, he'd left Henry out entirely. He and Arra and CB had saved the world all on their own.

Backhanding both Peter's and Sorge's chests to ensure she had their attention, Tina added, “What's to say he won't mess with our memories again?”