"What happened to Gregori?" Maggie looked over the crowd, her eyes wide with worry. Her short stature made it easy for her to lose people.

Darcy spotted him with a group of women, each with hair dyed an unnatural color. They arched around him like a rainbow. When he smiled and spoke to them, they tittered with laughter.

"He's fine." Maybe those women thought green, blue, and pink hair was wild and wicked, but Darcy thought they looked more like a cuddly clan of Care Bears. Hi! My name is TenderHeart Vamp. Do you need a hug? She suppressed the image with a shudder. Good God, she'd been cooped up for way too long.

The receptionist was painting her fingernails a glossy blood red to match the highlights in her hair.

"If you're here for the auditions, sign in and wait your turn." She pointed a wet nail at a clipboard. Maggie studied the clipboard, her eyes growing wider. "Sweet Mary, I'll be number sixty-two."

"Yeah, it's like this every night." The receptionist blew on her fingernails. "But you won't have to wait very long."

"Okay." Maggie added her name on the bottom of the list.

"What about you?" The receptionist wrinkled her nose at Darcy's conservative business suit.

"I have an appointment with Sylvester Bacchus."

"Yeah, right. If you're here for an acting job, you'll have to wait your turn." The receptionist pointed at the clipboard.

Darcy pasted a smile on her face. "I'm a professional journalist, and Mr. Bacchus is expecting me. My name is Darcy Newhart."

The receptionist snorted to convey how underwhelmed she was, then checked a paper on her desk.

Her mouth fell open. "No freakin' way."

"Excuse me?" Darcy asked.

"You're on the list, but…" The receptionist narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're Darcy Newhart?"

"Yes." Who else would she be? Darcy's smile withered away.