Page 57 of Bright Dark Curses

“There’s been issues from the start. First the production company gave the author right of refusal for director, and it was a pain to get her to accept Parker. Then they discovered the casting agent was getting paid under the table to cast actors from this one agency, so we had to switch casting directors and start the search all over again. Then the guy who was supposed to play Jack Larson backed out last minute and our second choice had already accepted another gig, so we had to get a new actor. Then they wanted to film in another city but the cost was too high, so the whole thing almost got shut down until they agreed to film here.”

Ethan took one last sip of his iced tea before continuing. “Then once we got here, everything got worse. Someone messed up the requests for equipment, so we had to delay by a week, which meant a whole other thing with the hotels. Then Lydia Lee pitched a fit over her wardrobe because it made her look old or something, so we had to fix that, and she refused to stay in the hotel so they had to find her another place to stay. And don’t get me started on the actor who plays the bad guy. On social media all day, interrupting set up trying to make videos every hour. Oh, and one of the trailers we use on the other set lost the plumbing and now Alice Conway is sharing a trailer with Lee and another secondary and they all hate each other and Parker and Curtis keep having to step in.”

Good Mother Earth, maybe the movie really was cursed, Ethan and witches aside. “That’s…a lot of problems.”

“Things were getting better once we started filming stuff, but now… I don’t know. It’s all getting out of control.”

“Do you think Parker, Curtis, or Lee would want the production to stop?” I asked.

“I don’t see why. Especially now. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we all get paid.”

“Maybe to amp up ticket sales?” Key offered.

“Eh. This is going straight to streaming.”

“Ticket sales, views, same thing,” I said. “Could it be done to try to make the movie go viral?”

“Jason Scott, one of the main actors, already went viral trying to prank one of the techs,” Ethan said with a grimace of disgust. “There was a petition to get him fired, but we can’t afford to replace him at this point.”

“Lovely,” Dru muttered.

“What can you tell me about the potions you used?” I asked. “Or about the witch who sold them to you?”

Key sat up straight. “You think the witch who sold him the potions has something to do with this?”

I studied Ethan. “If he’s right and nobody saw him use the potions, and we’re right and someone’s using him as a scapegoat, then there was only one person who knew magic was being used to harm the filming.”

“Could it be someone else sensed the magic?” Shane asked. “Like you did?”

“Someone would have to intentionally search for magic, and even if you’re a paranormal, the incidents he described don’t exactly scream spells.” I turned to Ethan. “What happened to the coffee mug you spelled?”

“I took it and trashed it,” he said. “I was scared someone might look into it.”

“No opportunity for anyone to see if magic was used?”

“They could’ve dug it out of the trash,” Shane pointed out, reminding me of Ian. Poking holes into theories was Ian’s favorite sport.

I did miss the man something fierce.

Ethan shook his head. “I trashed it at the hotel, not the set.”

“Still possible,” I said, “if unlikely.” Unfortunately, “unlikely” was kind of my brand. “How long between the mug incident and the lights equipment problems?”

Ethan scrunched his forehead in thought. “Two days?”

“How did you find the witch shop?” Shane asked.

“Oh, I posted a request on one of those forum things.”

Another thing I had some experience with. “What did you ask?”

“I don’t remember exactly.” His eyes shifted sideways.

I reached around Fluffy and tapped the table. “Oh, I think you know. Out with it.”

Ethan mumbled something.

I put my hand behind my ear. “What was that?”

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