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“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Hailey says, her lips turning down. “In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think it could be him.”
“Why?”
A shudder ripples through her. “He was so angry when he found out…”
“Found out what?” Vanessa is on the edge of her seat, as though watching a gripping movie unfolding before her eyes.
Hailey narrows her eyes at me. “I’m only showing you this because you’re a shifter. You’re loud and proud about it, everything I’ve always wanted to be and never could. I’m meant to shine bright, yet I’ve spent years hiding myself.”
“Hiding yourself?” Vanessa is taken aback. “But you’re one of the most prolific actors in the business. You’re everywhere. Your Wiki bio says you’ve been in thirty-seven films and you’re only thirty-one years old.”
“Not all of me is out and about,” she says enigmatically, stepping away from the table.
I hold my hand up. “The grand reveal isn’t necessary; I’m starting to get what everyone’s hiding.”
My excitable mate claps her hands. “Oooh! A grand reveal!”
“Oh, it’s necessary.” Hailey’s eyes gleam with purpose and I lean back in my chair with a sigh. I had no idea shifters could be so dramatic. Or maybe it’s just the ones who work in Hollywood.
POOF!
I glance at the pool deck as a brightly coloured parrot steps delicately from the pile of clothes at her feet, extending her wings in a ’ta-da’ move.
“It’s not a reveal if the audience has figured it out,” I grumble.
“I had no idea!” Vanessa bends to the parrot sticking her arm out.
Hailey steps onto the extended limb and climbs to Vanessa’s shoulder, tugging affectionately at her hair.
“Aren’t you gorgeous!” Vanessa exclaims, running her fingers down Hailey’s orange, green and yellow plumage. “I can’t believe no one guessed.”
My mate has completely hijacked my interrogation. “I need you to shift back to human,” I tell Hailey.
She dips her head and flies from Vanessa’s arm to the pool deck, shifting to human.
As she pulls her clothes back on, she says, “I haven’t been able to do that in front of other people in a very long time. It’s part of the reason I would never harm anyone on Wesselman’s movie set.” She returns to her chair, her hair askew and an unpracticed grin stretching her lips. “Wesselman films are safe havens for shifters and we all know it. None of us would ruin that, especially not me. I know how hard it is to find a place where you can truly feel at home, and I did when I was on set.”
“Then why did you leave?” I ask, frowning. “I don’t understand.”
She shrugs. “Creative differences.”
“But that can mean anything,” Vanessa says.
“I know,” Hailey admits. “It’s like putting ‘irreconcilable differences’ as a reason for divorcing, which I did, incidentally. Twice. But in this case, it really was creative differences. As you know, a Wesselman film is a highly sought after project. When I first agreed to look over the script there were three alternate endings to the film. I agreed to do the film, gambling on my favourite ending, the one where my character gets to live. Wesselman wanted the one that ended in my death. I hated the idea and left the project.”
“Any regrets?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No, my relationship with Stelios came to an end around the same time I found out which ending Wesselman was going to use. Honestly, it was a relief to leave the set.”
“But you sound like you loved it,” Vanessa sounds truly sad that Hailey left. “You got to be among other shifters.”
Hailey smiles. “And I will again. Rachel is great at putting together teams of shifters on movie sets.”
“Right under the director’s nose,” I add shrewdly.
“Now you get it,” she says with a grin.
“Why did your relationship with Stelios end?” I ask. Vanessa kicks me under the table. I read her thoughts and gruffly add, “If it’s not too difficult to talk about.”
