The Last of the Monsters Read Online Free Page B

They’re monsters.
    Real monsters.
    Don’t believe me? Think I smoked some bad stuff? Here are the stills from the production.
    That’s right, you’re looking at a monster embracing, or killing, Akta. Some of you are going to say that it’s just really good effects, but remember this—no special effects house is working with them. ILM, Zoic…none of them are associated with this movie.
    Maybe it’s puppets?
    Nope, Jim Henson Studios has never heard of them. Handspring says no too.
    AND this is a shot from the production footage. Not the post footage.
    No CGI, no live action puppetry. How are they doing this?
    A source on the production confirms the actors are real monsters who can change into humans at will.
    MONSTERS ARE REAL.
    It’s not about the movie anymore, people. It’s about these monsters. Where’s the CIA? FBI? Those people from Roswell? We want to know the truth about this movie and who these actors are NOW.
     
    “Who did this?” Akta asked.
    “We don’t know,” Lena said, voice measured and low. Akta could read her friend and knew it wasn’t just anger she was holding back, but fear. They were all risking a lot with this movie, and if they couldn’t control the truth about the guys they were in for a lot of trouble.
    “It has to be one of the crew,” Margo said. “Those are production shots.”
    “None of them would…” Akta didn’t finish the sentence. It was stupid to insist that it wasn’t someone on the production crew when there was no one else it could be.
    Cali hissed out a breath. “Oren.”
    They’d checked out Oren before bringing him on. His past hadn’t made him their first choice, but he was the best they could get. Whatever his personal issues, he was a very good editor.
    “We need to know who this was, and we need to shut this down.” Lena picked up her phone. “We’ll question Oren. Margo, I need you to warn Runako and Luke and the others. Keep them from going after anyone.”
    Margo nodded and left the room.
    Lena called Oren, and Jane, looking sick, headed for the bathroom.
    As Akta stared down at the photos, a horrible suspicion rose within her. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t…
    Keeping her fears bottled up, Akta took a seat at the conference table in the Calypso Productions boardroom. She wasn’t going to say anything to her friends until she had a chance to talk to Henry herself.
     
     
    “Where are you going?”
    Away from you.
    Henry wisely didn’t say what he was thinking. “I’m going to get you some clothes.”
    Henry could count things he was scared of on one hand. The creature standing before him was one of them. She didn’t look scary—a bit insane by human standards, with her long, tangled dark hair barely covering her naked body. Maeve looked as human as he did at the moment, but unlike him she looked human all the time. Yet, she was probably the least human of them all.
    “Clothes…yes, I should have those.” She looked down at herself.
    “You can’t wander around naked.”
    Maeve pushed her hair back over her shoulders and ran her hands down her belly and hips. “I am very pleasing by human standards.”
    “Uh, yes, you are.” Henry shifted from foot to foot, wishing someone else were there to help him deal with her. His once-peaceful condo was turning into a halfway house for new-to-LA monsters. Maeve had arrived in LA tonight. As far as Henry was concerned, it was making an unstable situation more dangerous, rather than less so, but Maeve would help them find out who’d leaked the photos.
    Maeve reached for him and Henry jerked back. She cocked her head to one side. “I cannot See you, you know that.”
    Maeve was his Clan’s Seer. Incredibly powerful, probably insane and nosy as hell, it was best to steer clear of her when trying to keep a secret. She was connected to the world in a way he didn’t really understand and used magic to do incredible, impossible things. She was both a revered leader in their Clan and one of