The Last of the Monsters Read Online Free PDF Page B

being an ass. Let me take Maeve something to wear and then we’ll go someplace and talk.”
    Akta just stared at him.
    Henry jumped out of the car and ran to one of the souvenir shops wedged between a stripper shoe store and a pizza parlor. He grabbed a little cotton dress with sparkly writing on it, paid and dove back in the car.
    Akta was silent until he’d pulled into the condo’s parking garage.
    When he stopped, she opened the door and got out. Henry fumbled with his seat belt, planning to chase her and beg her for a chance to explain. She leaned back in the passenger door before he could get out.
    “I’ll see you at my place.”
    With that, she closed the door and walked away, the sharp tap-tap of her shoes the only sound as Henry sat in his car wondering how he’d managed to create such a disaster.

Chapter Four
    Akta looked around her living room, hoping for something to do. Picking up clutter would have kept her hands occupied as she waited, but her housekeeper had been by yesterday and the room was spotless.
    There was no food to speak of in her house, so Akta settled for opening a bottle of wine. She decanted the red and set her wine timer. She lasted thirty seconds before she gave in and poured herself a glass. Right now she didn’t care that it hadn’t had time to breathe. She wanted alcohol. Now.
    Glass in hand, she paced, trying—and failing—to imagine what was really going on with Henry.
    She hadn’t really thought he’d done it, or at least she hadn’t wanted to.
    His reaction in the car made it clear that he hadn’t—either that or he was the best actor in the world. There was no doubt he was good, and she enjoyed working with him…until they got to the physically intimate scenes. He could handle emotional dialogue, but as soon as he had to touch her, he froze. It had gotten to the point that she felt terribly self-conscious, which affected her performance too.
    It might have been okay if Akta wasn’t still nursing a crush. She’d assumed it would fade away, but before it did they’d started filming. No matter how good an actor someone was, the onscreen feelings could spill over. That was why so many marriages ended midway through productions as actors fell for their costars.
    And maybe if she really thought he had no feelings for her in return Akta would have been able to put all of this aside.
    On the surface it was pretty clear that he wasn’t into her, didn’t like humans and was disgusted by touching her.
    And yet…
    Sometimes she’d catch him looking at her as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world. There were days when she was sure that he didn’t think it was wrong for humans and monsters to be together, because he’d look at her as if he wanted nothing more in the world than to touch her.
    Henry had been giving off mixed signals for a year, and after their conversation in the car it was pretty clear that he wasn’t telling the truth about his feelings. One way or another, she planned to find out what was really going on tonight.
    The doorbell rang.
    Akta stared down at her empty wineglass. Taking her time, she went to the kitchen and left it on the counter. She checked her reflection in the mirror by the door, rubbing her lips together to redistribute her lip gloss.
    When she was ready, Akta opened the door.
    Henry waited on the other side, hands shoved deep in his jean pockets.
    “Hi.”
    “Hi. Come in.”
    Henry, and almost everyone else associated with the movie, had been coming and going from her house as needed, most of the time just letting themselves in. That was how Akta liked it—she wanted people to feel welcome and at home.
    But this was different. It felt different.
    Henry slipped past her and Akta closed the door.
    “Can I get you a glass of wine?”
    “Uh, yeah, that would be good.”
    Henry wandered past the kitchen into the living room, stopping at the patio door. He looked up at the night sky. Akta’s home was a beautiful adobe-style house