Chapter 4
She was mortal.
Thank God! Austin slowly became aware that he was standing there with a dopey grin on his face. But why not? He'd found the mystery woman, and she was mortal. She had to be. He'd entered her mind so easily, and once there, her thoughts had burst forth like rays of sunshine. She was thinking about warm sand, beach volleyball, and her sister's laughter. No vampire would have thoughts like that.
And the other two women? The short one with dark hair was definitely a vampire. He recognized her from the parking lot at DVN. And he would bet the purple-haired one was undead, too. She had that flashy look and hungry gleam in her eye. His gaze barely flickered to the other two women, before returning to the lovely-woman in blue. He kept his power carefully focused on her alone, so the other women wouldn't detect him.
She finally spoke, her voice a hushed whisper. "Apollo."
Huh? He cocked his head, trying to decipher her meaning. The images in her mind were still focused on the beach. She dreamed of the sun's warmth caressing her skin. Her face was flushed, her breasts rising with each rushed breath. He realized with a jolt that she'd look the same way if he were making love to her. A surge of blood careened toward his groin, and for a second, he visualized himself pulling her on top of the table and kissing her 'til her lips were swollen and red. And then he'd - what? He couldn't do anything with one, maybe two vampires in the room.
Why was she here with these two undead women? Was she a prisoner? Were they blackmailing her or threatening a member of her family in order to force her cooperation? The two women kept whispering and nudging her. Was she under their control? But Ms. Stein had told him Miss Darcy was the one in charge.
He needed more information. He needed to gain her trust. And staring at her with a big bulge in his pants was not the way to do it. He placed his photo on the table in front of her. Her smoky blue eyes glanced down, then back at his face.
"May I?" He pulled a black, leather-upholstered chair away from the table and sat, facing her.
Her thoughts flitted into his head. He doesn't want to stand there and stare down at us like the other men. No, he's bringing himself down to my eye level. How kind and considerate.
Kind and considerate? Sheesh, he was just hiding his erection. "How do you do, ladies? I'm... Adam Olaf Cartwright."
The purple-headed one wrinkled her nose. "Olaf?"
"Yes." Austin knew the most successful lies included as much of the truth as possible. "I was named after my grandfather, Papa Olaf. Best fisherman in Minnesota. My favorite memories are going fishing with him." He caught some thoughts coming from the beautiful Miss Darcy. He loves his family. And the outdoors. And the simple pleasures in life.
The short one yawned. "You like killing fish?"
"I enjoy the process of fishing, the anticipation of what could happen. If I don't need the fish for food, I put them back in the water." He heard more thoughts, coming from Miss Darcy. He's patient and compassionate. And so gorgeous. Holy moley, she really liked him.
The purple-headed one leaned toward her and whispered, "He's boring."
Austin knew Miss Darcy wasn't bored. He also realized the other women were simply calling her Darcy. "May I know your names?"
"I guess so," the short one answered. "I'm Margaret Mary O'Brian, the assistant director. Everyone calls me Maggie."
"Vanda Barkowski." The purple-headed one raised a hand, displaying long purple fingernails.
He shifted his gaze back to the woman in blue. "And you?"
She curled her fingers around her writing pen. "Darcy."
"First name or last?"
"Last," she whispered, while the other two said, "First." Her eye twitched, and her hands clenched the pen more tightly.
"Which is it?" he asked softly. The poor girl was a nervous wreck. Why? Was it because she was forced to keep company with vampires?
She took a deep breath and set the pen down carefully on the table. "Do you have any acting experience?"
He started to recite the list of lies he'd prepared, but changed his mind. "No, no experience at all."
He's an honest man. And intelligent. Her thoughts sifted into his head, followed by a flood of guilt from his own conscience. Honest? He wasn't even telling her his real name. And how intelligent could he be if he was auditioning for a reality show? Besides, these women didn't look or act like vicious killers. He'd questioned the other applicants as they'd left the conference room, and none of them reported being harmed in any way. Could it be true what Shanna had said? That there were actually two kinds of vampires - harmless ones and violent ones?
No, he wasn't ready to accept that yet. Even so, this seemed like a waste of time. Emma had the right idea. His abilities would be better spent in Central Park, hunting the vampires who attacked people and fed off them. And when he caught one of the creatures, he could interrogate it about Shanna.
"I'm afraid my audition was a mistake. I'm sorry I wasted your time." He gave Miss Darcy one last look as he stood. Poor beautiful sweetheart. Whoever she was, he wasn't giving up on her. She might be in danger and need his help. He'd start investigating her right away. He strode toward the door.
"Wait!"
He turned. She'd risen to her feet.
"You... you don't really need any experience. Or even any talent. This is a reality show."
He couldn't help but smile. And when she smiled shyly back, he knew he was lost. So what if it was a waste of time? Sean had ordered him to do the show.
She gave him a pleading look. "I'd like you to be on the show."
I'd like to kiss you senseless. "I can do that." She heaved a sigh of relief and grinned. "Good." Oh, it would be good. His gaze swept down to her hips, then back to her face. "More like excellent." Her eyes widened. "I - we'll be in touch."
"I'm sure we will." He let out a long breath as he left the room. He had every intention of touching her.
And very soon.
Darcy took a deep breath and willed her racing heart to calm down. Adam Olaf Cartwright - just the thought of him made her heart thump ridiculously fast. She reached for his photo with trembling fingers. Good God, you could see his dimples in the picture. And the beautiful turquoise blue of his eyes.
"Are you all right?" Maggie asked. "You could hardly speak."
"I - I had an itch in my throat."
"Really?" Vanda watched her with an amused expression. "I could have sworn that itch was further south."
Maggie huffed. "Sweet Mary! There's no need to be crude."
"No need to be in denial, either." Vanda stood and stretched. "Admit it, Darcy, you have the hots for that guy."
Darcy shook her head. "I'm just tired. We've been interviewing the dregs of manhood for over four hours."
"Dregs is right," Maggie yawned. "But you are flushed."
Darcy fanned herself with his photo. "It's hot in here."
"I'm not hot." Vanda looked at Maggie. "Are you hot?"
"No. Actually, I thought it was a little chilly in here."
"Enough, you two." Darcy spread all the photos on the table. "We need to pick the five best guys."
"Number one has to be Garth Manly." Maggie located his photo and handed it to Darcy.
"I agree. And number two should be" - Vanda reached for a photo. "Here he is - Apollo, the sun god."
Maggie snickered.
"His name is Adam." Darcy snatched the photo from Vanda. Adam as in the primeval man. A vision flitted through her head - Adam Olaf Cartwright, cavorting around the Garden of Eden wearing nothing but a loincloth. No, make that a fig leaf. A very large fig leaf. One that would blow away with the slightest breeze.
Sheesh! Was she so ridiculously shallow that she could be floored by a gorgeous body, handsome face with dimples, and pair of dazzling blue eyes? She glanced at his photo. Well, apparently, yes.
With a silent groan, she admitted this was more than instant lust. Adam Olaf Cartwright possessed more than a great exterior. She'd sensed his intelligence, kindness, honesty, and strength.
"You're blushing again," Maggie warned her gently.
Darcy sat down with a sigh. "It's an impossible situation. You know that."
"Maybe not." Vanda lounged back in her chair. "I've heard stories about ladies who keep a male mortal as a sex toy."
Darcy winced. "I could never do that."
"And that sort of relationship never lasts," Maggie added. "I'm sorry, Darcy. We'll stop teasing you about it."
"Good." She set the photos of Garth and Adam to the side, then rummaged through the remaining pictures. "What did you think about George Martinez and Nicholas Poulos?" She pulled out their pictures.
"They were okay." Maggie selected one more. "And this one was good, too. Seth Howard."
"Great. Then, we're done." Darcy dug in her portfolio for the cell phone. "I'll call Gregori, so he can pick us up." She reached him in his car, and he estimated he'd be there in fifteen minutes.
Vanda stood. "I'd better teleport home. I'm hungry, and Garth Manly is looking kinda yummy."
"Go." Darcy quickly handed her the phone. "Oh, and try to convince the other ladies to be on the show with you."
"I'll try." Vanda shrugged. "But if they've been fighting all this time, they're not going to be in a mood to listen."
"One more thing," Darcy continued. "Swear you won't tell them what we were doing tonight. It's supposed to be a surprise that there'll be mortals on the show."
Vanda wrinkled her nose. "How can it be a surprise? We can smell them a block away."
"I've got it covered." Darcy gathered the photos of all the rejected applicants into a neat stack. "When I was working at Romatech, they had this situation where a couple of vampires lost control and bit some of the mortal employees."
"Oh, I remember that," Maggie said. "Roman was furious."
Darcy nodded. "It totally blew his mission of making the world safe for mortals and vampires alike. And the fact that it was happening at his own business was very upsetting."
"What did he do?" Vanda asked.
"First, he offered free synthetic blood to all the vampire employees. It worked for a while, but then, the biting started again. Roman was afraid the mortals would sue and it would end up drawing attention to the vampire world. So, he developed a plastic anklet coated with some kind of chemical that completely masks a mortal's scent. It works like a vampire repellent. When the Vamps can no longer smell the mortals, they're no longer tempted to bite."
"You're going to use the anklets on the show?" Maggie asked.
"Yes. The mortals will be safe. And impossible to detect."
Vanda cocked her head as she considered. "Vamps can still detect a mortal by reading their minds."
"There will be no mind reading or mind control allowed on the show," Darcy announced. "It'll be included in the Vamp contracts. Otherwise, we could never run a fair contest."
"That makes sense." Vanda dialed Gregori's house. "I've gotta go. The smell of those men down the hall is making me ravenous." She paused, then spoke into the phone. "Lady Pamela, is mat you? Keep talking, will you?"
Darcy held the phone until Vanda had completely vanished, then she stashed it in her portfolio,. ?
There was a knock on the door, and Ms. Stein peeked in. She scanned the room. "Where - " She glanced back at the empty hallway. "I thought there were three of you."
"Yes." With a smile, Darcy quickly changed the subject. "We've made our decision. These are the five men we want." She held out the five autographed photos.
"Good." Ms. Stein inched forward to take the pictures.
"I have some instructions here and the contracts for them to sign." Darcy removed the papers from her portfolio.
Ms. Stein took them. "I'll give these to the poor - er, lucky men."
"Thank you. They'll need to return the signed contracts within five days so we can keep on schedule. If you don't mind, it would be easier for us if they returned them here. Maggie will come on the evening of the fifth day to collect them."
"Very well." Ms. Stein bustled out the door.
Darcy rounded the table. "We need an artist who can paint the portraits of all the male contestants. Do you think you can find a vampire artist for me?"
"I guess so. I'll look in the Black Pages."
"Good. Let me know when you find one. I have some special instructions for him."
Maggie's eyes widened. "Is this another surprise?"
Darcy smiled. "Could be."
The crowd in the waiting room had dwindled to about twenty anxious men. Austin figured those who left early had been openly rejected by Miss Darcy and her... friends... The 'Situation grated on him. Why would an intelligent, beautiful woman like her hang out with vampires?
He edged toward the coffee pot and motioned with his head for Garrett to join him there. He poured some coffee into a Styrofoam cup, then fiddled with the pink and blue sugar packets while he waited.
Garrett stopped beside him and poured a cup of coffee.
"I think I'm in," Austin whispered. "How about you?"
"I think so." Garrett glanced back as a short, rotund guy who resembled a mountain troll walked by. "Lucky for us, the competition was pretty easy."
"You think?" Austin gritted his teeth. Didn't Garrett realize that Ms. Stein had manipulated the auditions to make them look good? "What did you think of the three... women?"
"They're definitely... you know."
All three of them? "No, the one in blue is normal." Stupendous was more like it, but she was definitely alive.
Garrett stirred some powdered creamer into his coffee. "I have to disagree."
Austin's nerves tensed. He lowered his voice. "I got into her mind. She was thinking about sunshine and beaches and family."
"Really? I couldn't get into any of their heads."
"You're not as strong as me. No offense."
"None taken. But even so, I could have sworn - " Garrett broke off when the mountain troll moved in for some coffee.
Austin raised his voice. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Adam Cartwright."
"Garth Manly," Garrett shook his hand.
"I'm Fabio Funicello," the mountain troll grunted as he emptied five sugar packets into his coffee.
"Nice to meet you." Austin sidled over to an empty corner of the room with Garrett close behind. "You were saying?"
Garrett looked around to make sure they couldn't be overheard. "When I was in the conference room, I could see my reflection in the windows overlooking the street."
"So?" A heavy stone settled in Austin's gut.
Garrett lowered his voice to a hushed whisper. "The ladies were not reflected. None of them were."
A chill skittered down Austin's back. Holy shit. "It... it's not positive proof. It could be a matter of the lighting, and where you were standing, and a bunch of other factors."
Garrett shrugged. "Maybe so, but I'm betting all three of them are... up the creek without a coffin."
Austin's stomach twinged. The coffee left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he set the cup down on a nearby table. It couldn't be true. "No, wait. Sean said a lady called this agency in the afternoon. During daylight. That had to be Darcy." She had to be alive.
"May I have your attention, please?" Ms. Stein's voice rang out, and the room grew silent. "Five men have been selected for The Sexiest Man on Earth reality show. If you've been chosen, please remain here so I can give you your contracts."
While she paused, the atmosphere in the room sizzled with tension. Men loosened their ties. Fists clenched with anticipation. Fabio climbed up on a chair so he could see.
"Garth Manly," Ms. Stein announced with a satisfied smile aimed at Garrett. Her smile faded as she hurried down the rest of the list. "Adam Cartwright, Nicholas Poulos, George Martinez, and Seth Howard. Congratulations."
While the room buzzed with shouts of excitement and groans of defeat, Austin leaned toward Garrett and whispered, "Call Sean. Tell him we're in."
Garrett nodded and pulled out his cell phone. Fabio hopped down from his chair with an angry grunt and waddled out the door. More disappointed men trudged out while the other three who were selected gathered around Ms. Stein. She gave them their paperwork, then strode toward Austin and Garrett.
Garrett completed his call to Sean and pocketed his phone.
"I suppose congratulations are in order." Ms. Stein regarded them sadly. "Here are your contracts."
"Thank you." Austin took his and glanced over it. "Ms. Stein, did you notice anything unusual about tonight?"
She made a sour face. "The whole evening was ridiculous. My character actors are very talented, but not at all suited for a contest called The Sexiest Man on Earth."
"What can you tell me about Miss Darcy?" Austin asked. "Is that her last name?"
"I really don't know." Ms. Stein stepped closer. "Is this DVN a legitimate network? I've never heard of them."
"They're legit. Been in business for over five years."
"Hmm." Ms. Stein frowned as she handed Garrett a contract. "They seemed a little odd to me."
"Yeah," Garrett agreed. "That purple hair was a bit much."
She waved a hand in dismissal. "I work with creative people all the time. I'm used to that. No, it was the way they kept..."
"What?" Austin pressed.
"Well." Ms Stein looked around, then lowered her voice. "At first, there were just two of them. But then, there were three. And when I peeked in just a moment ago, there were only two again. I never saw that purple-headed one come or go, did you?"
Austin exchanged a glance with Garrett. Obviously, the purple-haired Vanda Barkowski was teleporting, which meant she was definitely a vampire. "Don't worry about it, Ms. Stein. I'm sure there's a simple explanation."
She huffed. "I'm not stupid, Mr... Cartwright."
Garrett touched her shoulder. "Try not to let this upset you, ma'am. We have everything under control."
She smiled at Garrett. "Thank God our nation's security is in capable hands like yours."
But not mine? "I'll be going now." Austin nodded at Ms. Stein and Garrett. "Good night."
While Austin waited for an elevator, he punched in the number for information on his cell phone. "Digital Video Network in Brooklyn." He removed a notepad from his jacket pocket and jotted down the number. "Thank you."
He waited 'til he was out of the building and walking down the busy sidewalk before he made the next call.
"This is DVN," a receptionist answered with a nasal voice. "If you're not digital, you can't be seen."
Well, that made sense... if you were undead. "That's a catchy phrase."
"It's lame, but I have to say it whenever I answer the phone. So, what do you want?"
"My name is... Damien, and I have a message here to call, let me see... shit, I can't make out this handwriting. Darcy something. She's the new director of that reality show."
"Oh, you mean Darcy Newhart?"
Bingo. "Yeah, that's it. Is she in?"
"Not at the moment." The receptionist paused. "She'll be here tomorrow night for sure. Are you going to audition?"
"Yeah, I thought I would."
"Well, open call is tomorrow night and Friday night, starting at ten o'clock. You'd better get here early. We're expecting a huge turnout."
"I'll do that. Thanks." Austin pocketed his phone. Darcy Newhart. He was making progress. He climbed into his car and drove to the office. Emma was there, going over police reports while DVN played on her computer screen.
He went straight to his desk and did a search on Darcy Newhart. A list of newspaper reports came up. He stared at the headlines, stunned. "Local Reporter Missing,"
"Where's Darcy?"
"Reporter feared Murdered."
Austin's fingers felt numb as he clicked on the first report. Date: October 31, 2001. Four years ago on Halloween. He'd been stationed in Prague during that time. Place: Fangs of Fortune Vampire Club in Greenwich Village. A joint where kids pretended they were vampires. Some of the kids remembered seeing Darcy and her cameraman leave through the back exit. Darcy was never seen again.
This was bad. Austin clicked on the next report. Three days later, and Darcy was still missing. The cameraman had shown up, hiding at Battery Park and suffering from exposure. He'd been admitted to Shady Harbor Mental Hospital, babbling that Darcy had been abducted by vampires.
This was really bad. Austin's grip on the mouse tightened as he clicked on the last report. A picture of Darcy appeared on the screen. She looked the same as she did now, but then, as young as she was, four years might not make much of a difference. Two weeks had passed since she'd disappeared. Her body had never been found, but a bloody knife had been discovered outside the club, along with a pool of her blood. Authorities had decided she was most likely dead.
Dead? But that would mean she was now a vampire.