Page 13 of Dragon Exposed

IZOBELLE

Spending the day with Levi had felt like a fairy tale.

Of course, if anyone so much as suggested it, I would’ve punched them in the gut, but by the time I got back to my apartment, over-caffeinated and too late to get any quality work done for the day, I admit, I was feeling very much like a fairy tale princess.

The six voicemails waiting for me brought me back down to earth real fast though.

All of them from Hal, all in an increasing level of panic.

Cursing under my breath, I set my to-go cup on the edge of my desk and opened my laptop as I hit the call button.

“Denison, where the hell have you been? I told you, I need you on the top of your game, and all day you’ve been missing in fucking action. I should fire your ass right now. There are a thousand girls waiting in the wings, who would do your job better.”

I bit back the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m sorry, Hal. I was talking to someone who was at Epsilon, just before the killing started. I thought getting an insider perspective on it would be useful, and I didn’t want to be disrespectful, so I’d turned the sound off on my phone.” Okay, all of that was lies, but I was talking to someone who had been there, even if it hadn’t been about what the vampire did.

“You get thirty seconds in the ‘C’ block, and it’s got to be upbeat. We don’t have time for interviews and sobbing family members. You get in, get it done, and you get out. This is daytime. You want to play intrepid reporter, try another station.” I could hear the irritation in his voice. “I expect copy in my inbox by the time I get to the office in the morning, so you have time to do a rewrite.”

He hung up before I could say anything more, which was just as well because if I had, I might’ve said something to really cost me my job. And there was no way I could afford rent in New York without my salary.

With a grumble, I settled in front of my keyboard, intent on getting to work.

Instead, I found myself social media stalking. Or, at least trying to. As far as all the big social media accounts were concerned, Levi Wystan didn’t exist, and neither did any of the siblings he mentioned.

Not even his sister, who I was sure, if any of them would have pages, it would’ve been her.

It wasn’t even like they were private pages where I couldn’t see anything unless I friended them. They just weren’t online. At all.

Even searching for their names anywhere online came up empty.

Who was Levi, and why did he only seem to exist in person?

* * *

I barely madeit through Monday. All the coffee in the world didn’t do much to ease the exhaustion pulling at my eyes, and Hal’s constant screaming for better copy, more of this, more of that, just irritated me to the point where I almost was tempted to find Viktor and beg him to finish me off, just to end the torture.

Unfortunately, no matter how tired I was, sleep insisted on remaining illusive, and so by the time Tuesday morning rolled around, I wanted nothing more than to drink the coffee set up near the makeshift soundstage right from the dispenser.

The audience gathering looked much more alert, much more excited, which was what really mattered. The assistant producer could look nearly dead on her feet, no problem, as long as when the cameras scrolled over the audience, they lit up like there was no tomorrow.

Hal, at least, looked just as drained as I was, and when he grabbed a cup from the coffee dispenser, even though it was meant for the audience, to keep their energy levels up, I didn’t even wait a beat before grabbing a cup of my own.

“I know I was hard on you the last couple of days, but you really pulled it out, Denison. You were just what I need in this role, and you worked almost as tirelessly as I did.” He didn’t look over at me, would never have made eye contact while offering a compliment, but it warmed me just the same. “The network pulls this shit on us all the time, so I need you to be ready, on your A game, every time. You do that, and you could see yourself in my chair one day.”

“Thank you, Hal.” I sipped my coffee slowly, letting the hot, black, bitter liquid warm me as I watched the crowd get settled.

It was still early, barely after sunrise, and already the city felt like it was bustling around us, probably irritated by the set taking up prime real estate for traffic. I couldn’t wait until I’d taken Viktor down, so that I could go back to living somewhere that didn’t move at such a constant breakneck pace.

If I could just get the vengeance that I craved for closure, I had hope that I could have a real life. Maybe settle down, start a new family, one not tainted by the dark memories of vampires.

A man I didn’t recognize stepped out onto the set, a microphone in his hand. Not exactly the tech we usually used, but I assumed he was just there to hype up the crowd, get them ready for the show.

“Welcome.” His voice boomed through the area. “Thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to be here today. I have a very special task for you all, and I know that you’re going to do it brilliantly.” He smiled, a broad, warm grin that should’ve made me feel relaxed, comfortable with him, but the way everyone was hanging onto his every word, looking at him like he was the second coming or something, sent a shiver down my spine. “Fifteen minutes into the show, we’re going to have a very special surprise guest dropping in from above. Look up. Be afraid. Scream. Panic. Let the terror fill you. He’s a monster of the worst kind. He would kidnap women, burn entire cities to the ground.”

The audience was nodding along like this wasn’t the strangest thing they’d ever heard.

Even Hal was going along with it.

Who the hell was this guy?

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