After reading Elementia, I felt like I did know my grandmother a little, and when I thought back on our one time together, it no longer felt like a walk in the park between two strangers. She had been trying to shove a lifetime of knowing me into one afternoon.
I pressed my leather elf boot against the vivid grass and thought about earthquakes. Plate tectonics and fault lines—Mae Ellen Thorne and her son, Michael Edward. What the hell happened between the two of them after Samantha died? My dad hadn’t responded to my messages. Had I gone too far? Probably. Did I regret it? No.
This was my family too.
Cate called action, and I held my brother’s hand while we all stared forlornly at Shoshanna as she climbed the pathway through the castle, encountering a host of extras who moaned and wept without seeing her. The camera moved along the track beside her, sweeping by us with a slight pause.
When they’d cut and were resetting, I turned to my brother. “Ryder?” He was pretending to fire his bow while we waited for the next action call. “Do you remember when I said we should find lessons for you that make Dad and you happy?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s bull crap. Let’s get you cooking lessons. You can become a real chef.”
He actually dropped his bow. “You mean it?”
“I do. Dad won’t be happy, but he’s never happy unless he’s in control. This is your life, Ry. I’ll help you make it happen.”
“And I’ll help you with your music!” His grin was big. I didn’t have the heart to ask how he would do that, but he continued, “I’ll get him out of the house so you can practice more.”
“Thanks, Ry.” I hugged him. “But you know it’ll be hard, and he won’t be nice.”
“If you can do it, I can too.”
I was struck by what I’d realized two years ago after the cosmos dropped Felix Moss in our lives. My brother was resilient. He had to be; he hadn’t had a single break his whole short, overactive life. Well, except for being invited onto this movie set. “You know how I know Dad’s not so bad?” I asked. “He made sure I brought you here. And he didn’t come with us like a giant wet blanket. He could have said no way, and he wanted to, but he gave us this trip.”
“That’s a weird way to think of it, Eyeball. We all tricked him. I even got my therapist to push him into it.”
“That was you?” I asked. He grinned. “Nicely played, Brother.”
Ryder bounced on his toes and peered down the hill. “Cate’s about to call action again. Assume the position.”
THE TRUTH ABOUT SCAPEGIRLS, I MEAN, SCAPEGOATS
They called wrap for the day.
Henrik dismissed the extras, asking Shoshanna, Eamon, Ryder, and me to meet him by the old cross, where we’d been sitting and joking only a few hours ago. I could tell something was wrong by the way the assistant director’s hat was tugged low, and my brain started rifling through lists of what it could be.
Eamon met me at the cross, all mischief. “Is it wrong to think you’re a mighty attractive elf?”
“Yes, I think it most definitely is,” I said pulling at my ears. “I feel like I’m late to some Shannara Chronicles fan party.”
“You make fun of that show a little too often to not have seen it, methinks.”
“I got the flu. There was a marathon on MTV. There was nothing else to watch, I swear.”
“So you get sick and secretly watch fantasy TV shows. Tell me more about the classified files of Iris Thorne.” He pulled me in for a kiss. Granted it wasn’t a thing for me to make out dressed as elves, but being in costume did mean that Eamon was practically naked, and I was, uh, rather fond of getting my hands on so much of his chest and hip lines.
Ryder made gagging sounds, and we broke apart. My joy died as Shoshanna approached in her Sevyn getup, her shoulders drooping and her hair falling in her face. I could tell she wasn’t duped by Henrik’s call for a meeting either. She gave me a look that was no small part impending misery.
“Do you know why Henrik wants to talk?” Eamon asked, still entirely too buoyant.
“I have an idea. I just hope I’m wrong,” I said.
Henrik appeared as Eamon started to catch on to my tone. His face fell, and Shoshanna snapped, “Where’s Cate?”
“In her trailer. She’s taking the news hard, although she admits she’s being a coward.”
“Cowards don’t admit to being cowards,” I said quietly. Everyone looked at me, and I said it: “They’ve canceled the filming. Those assholes shook all of our hands and left smiling, and then they axed the movie.”
Ryder yelled, “No!” He punched me in the arm. Hard.
Henrik took off his hat and rubbed his head. “Of course they’re not saying that exactly. Their official position is that they’re canceling the rest of this location and the next one. We’re to make do with the shots we have, although we don’t have the end.”
“So they’ll shrug and say, ‘Too bad,’” I snapped. “Is that it?”
Ryder looked like he was going to hit me again, and I grabbed his hand. “Are you going to have a tantrum?” I’d never flat-out asked him before. The question seemed to shock him, and he shook his head. “Go see Mr. Donato. I’ll come talk to you when I have answers.”
He ran off, and when I looked back, Henrik’s expression was so taut I could have smashed it with a tack hammer. “Flights are being arranged. We’ll all be out of here by tomorrow. The studio believes it would be better to shut the filming
