Page 81 of Fighting Furry

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Where is Lila?” the production assistant asked for the third time. And, for the third time, I told her I had no clue. My agent had busted her butt to get me an interview on a late-night show on a major network. It had been twenty-four hours since Axel had left me and I'd spent the last twelve hours blowing up social media to get as many people as possible to watch the show. I needed it to happen that night, or it would be too late for Axel, too late for both of us.

“Damn it,” the production assistant muttered, pacing in front of me like a caged tiger. “You're on in two. I'm going to have to send you on alone, unless she shows up in the next thirty seconds.”

My hands fisted and I looked around for someone to punch, someone I could force to fix this. Shelly and Desiree were standing just a few feet away, chatting like old friends. I was so grateful to have them there, but-

“I'm here,” Lila said, popping up next to me. She looked drop-dead gorgeous in a slinky, gray dress that hugged her curves. “I needed the full beauty treatment for this, and it took forever.”

I want it acknowledged that I didn't kill her. I think I should get a medal for that. Never mind the fact that the production assistant shouted it was go time and waved us toward the stage. I should still get a medal.

The late show host, Jackson Morris, was a good-looking guy with just enough scruff and just enough of a beer gut to look like an everyman and not just another Hollywood beauty. He shook our hands and gestured for us to sit.

“Welcome, welcome,” he said. “I understand the two of you are here to talk about this video of Julie Jacobs going wolf and ripping a woman's head off?”

“Yes,” I said. “That's exactly—”

Jackson held up a finger. “Just a minute. We're showing the video.”

I pinched my lips shut and he grinned at me. “Unbelievable. Is this for real?”

“Actually,” I said. “It is real. I was bitten a few weeks ago and I am a werewolf.”

Jackson's eyes widened and he looked over his shoulder at his crew. I didn't know if he was looking for help or approval, but it didn't matter. I couldn't stop. I stood and dropped my dress. Something moved off to my left and I saw two security guards heading my way, their expressions intense. I dropped to all fours and shifted to wolf before they could get to me. They took a few steps back when I growled at them. It was a friendly growl, but I guess they weren't willing to take any chances. In the audience someone screamed. I looked over and saw several people fleeing the studio, while the rest of the audience just stared, stunned. I shifted back to human, pulled my dress back on, and sat down with a wide smile to let everyone know everything was okay.

Jackson grinned like a two-year-old at a birthday party with extra cake. Security was still standing close. I'd told him and his crew what I wanted to do, but I guess there's no preparing for that. They'd probably thought I was insane and were looking forward to outing me as a loony and a fake. Jackson smoothed down his jacket, took a few deep breaths, and pasted on a serious expression. Damn, he was good.

“Let me tell you, Julie Jacobs, I've always wanted to see you naked, but I'd never expected it would happen like that.”

“Neither did I,” I said. “But it feels like the most natural thing in the world to me, now.”

“You aren't going to rip my head off, are you?”

“No,” I said, ignoring Lila's snort. “I only attacked that woman because she wanted to hurt me and my friends. She was a vampire who'd gone…I'd guess you'd say she'd gone crazy. She was kidnapping me and my friends. We did what we had to do to protect ourselves.”

“Vampires, werewolves,” Jackson said. “I've got to say, this all sounds insane.”

“It's not as crazy as it sounds,” Lila said. “If you can zoom in on my mouth, I'll prove that I'm a vampire.” She waited until she got a thumbs up from the camera man, opened her mouth and popped out her sharp, pointy vampire teeth. They made a sickening crunch as they popped out, and my stomach roiled. She retracted her fangs and smiled at our host, while someone else screamed and more people fled. “What Julie says is true. Those vampires she killed were bad people. They were going to hurt her and she put them down. She did the right thing.”

“That's an amazing story,” Jackson said. “And the most unbelievable part…” He gestured between us, eyes wide with mock surprise, “Are you two actually friends now?”

Lila and I shared a blank look, possibly the only moment we'd ever felt the same thing at the same time. Lila recovered first. “Friends is taking it a bit far, Jackson. I'm helping Julie because—”

“Please,” Jackson said, his grin wide. “Tell me you two are still arch enemies, because I would pay good money to see a rematch. I mean, can you imagine?” he asked the audience. “A UFC fight between a werewolf and a vampire?”

The crowd cheered and hooted and hollered. I waited for them to settle down. “I'd love a rematch,” I said. “But I'm actually here to—”

“Did you hear that?” Jackson shouted. “You heard it here first folks, a rematch between Lioness and Julie Jacobs is on.”

“Actually, —” I tried to speak over the crowd's cheers, but no one was listening. The camera man yelled something and Jackson stood. He shook our hands and sent us away while the crowd cheered and the show cut to commercial. I tried to talk to Jackson, to ask for more time, but a security guard grabbed me and pushed me off. I could have taken the guy, but that kind of behavior wouldn't have gone far in cleaning up my reputation.

I rushed over to my agent. “You have to get me back on,” I said. “I didn't even get to talk about Axel.”

She sighed. “I had to offer them my first-born to get you on in the first place. And Lotty Reynolds is up next, there's no way they're going to let you cut into her time.”

“Calm down, Jules,” Shelly said. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and Desiree pressed close on the other side. “You still have an enormous social media platform. Use it.”

“And use it fast,” Desiree said. “Unless that stunt you just pulled derails them, the council has ordered Axel's execution to happen at noon tomorrow.”

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