Their moment of glory would have to be shortlived, though. It was time for the big surprise of the evening. Darcy motioned for Gregori to approach.
"Ready for all hell to break loose?" She passed him the flashlight containing a black light bulb.
"Yep. Just tell me which guy to do last."
Darcy told him, then he strode back in front of the camera.
"It's time to take a closer look at the five men you rejected this evening." Gregori aimed his flashlight at a portrait and switched it on. "With a total of five black orchids, Tadayoshi of Tokyo is eliminated from the competition."
Darcy turned off the track lighting. Gregori's black light illuminated some previously invisible paint on Tadayoshi's portrait. Suddenly, he acquired long, white fangs.
"Oh, those are nice," Cora Lee whispered. "But I was afraid he'd be one of those frightful ninja masters."
Darcy winced. That would be a good line to edit.
"With four orchids beneath his portrait, Derek of Philadelphia will also be eliminated from the competition." Gregori pointed the black light at Derek's picture. His long fangs glowed in the dark.
Vanda sighed. "What a shame we had to lose Blackula. He was so handsome."
Darcy agreed, though the other ladies looked doubtful.
"Also with four black orchids, Harsha of New Delhi will be eliminated from the competition." Harsha's white fangs appeared like magic when the black light hit his face.
"An interesting trick," Princess Joanna admitted, "but I do not see a purpose for it."
"With three black orchids, we'll be saying goodbye to Ferdinand of Salzburg." Gregori shone his light on Ferdinand's face, and the Austrian's fangs gleamed.
Lady Pamela sighed. "It is rather silly, isn't it? We already know the men are vampires."
Maria Consuela fiddled with her rosary. "And if you've seen one fang, you've seen them all."
"I'm not so sure about that," Vanda said with a grin.
"Come to think of it, I have seen a few with a ghastly yellowish tint." Lady Pamela shuddered. "There's simply nothing worse than a vampire with poor dental hygiene."
Princess Joanna frowned. "And some of them are crooked."
"But some are longer than others," Vanda said. "You know, size is important."
Cora Lee heaved a huge sigh. "My poor Beauregard, God rest his soul. He had the longest fangs I've ever seen."
Gregori frowned at them, clearly uncomfortable. "Ladies, if you don't mind, we still have one more contestant to eliminate. Seth from New Jersey received three black orchids." Gregori aimed his flashlight at Seth.
The ladies waited.
Vanda exchanged a look with Darcy.
"Where are his fangs?" Lady Pamela asked.
"I didn't like him," Cora Lee said. "His hairline is receding."
"His bloody fangs are receding," Princess Joanna grumbled.
"There must be something wrong with that painting." Maria Consuela squinted at it.
"No," Gregori said quietly. "There's nothing wrong with the painting."
The room fell silent. The ladies exchanged confused glances.
Vanda rolled her eyes, obviously impatient with how slowly the women were thinking. "Gee, I wonder why he doesn't have any fangs."
The four women gasped. Even Bart flinched and nearly dropped the camera.
Princess Joanna jumped to her feet. "Are you saying there was a mortal in the contest?"
Gregori shrugged. "Looks that way, doesn't it?"
Maria Consuela stood, clutching her rosary to her chest. "I demand a straight answer. Is that man a mortal?"
"Yes," Greg admitted. "He's one of several mortal men in the contest."
The women gasped again.
"Oh, my! This is horrid, simply horrid!" Lady Pamela fumbled in her reticule for her smelling salts.
"This is an outrage!" Princess Joanna turned to Darcy, her eyes seething in anger. "How dare you sully our contest with mortals?"
Vanda shrugged. "They might be cute."
Lady Pamela scoffed. "A mortal could never be the sexiest man on earth. The very notion is ludicrous." She unscrewed the top off her vial of Chocolood. "I'm quite up in the boughs over this."
Princess Joanna strode toward Darcy. "How could you! We trusted you, and you have betrayed us."
"Indeed." Lady Pamela sniffed at her vial. "First you put us in those dreadful servants' quarters."
"And now," Princess Joanna continued, "you insult us by forcing us to endure the company of mortals."
Cora Lee bounced to her feet. "We can't have a mortal master!"
"Then don't pick a mortal," Darcy told them. "Look, you're still in control here. You're the ones who decide which men are eliminated."
The women looked at each other.
"Then tell us which ones are mortal," the princess demanded.
Darcy shook her head. "I can't do that. You'll have to figure it out yourselves."
"We can do that." Maria Consuela clicked through her rosary. "We can smell them."
"Actually, you won't be able to do that." Darcy gave them all an apologetic look. "They'll be wearing a vampire repellent anklet that will make them impossible to detect by smell."
Princess Joanna huffed. "Then we will read their minds."
"No, you signed a contract stating you wouldn't."
"This is horrid, simply horrid." Lady Pamela drank her entire vial of Chocolood.
"Whatever will we do?" Cora Lee whimpered. "We can't have a mortal master."
"We won't." Princess Joanna lifted her chin. "Darcy thinks to play this evil game with us, but she will see. The mortal men will not compare to the vampire men. We will detect them as easily as a terrier seeks out vermin."
Maria Consuela nodded. "Si, it is true. The vampire men will be naturally superior."
"Of course!" Lady Pamela pressed a hand to her bosom. "The mortal men will fail miserably at each of our tests."
"Yes." Princess Joanna faced her co-judges with a fierce expression. "Hearken to me, ladies. We must be vigilant and eliminate this mortal threat."
The ladies huddled together, making their plans.
"Sweet Mary and Joseph." Maggie looked at Darcy. "I knew there was a reason for you to be here. Do you realize what you've done?"
"Yeah. I made them hate me more than ever."
"No. Look at them. I've never seen them so excited, so impassioned. You've given them a purpose for their existence."
A chill inched down Darcy's spine. Surely Maggie was exaggerating. She tended to be a bit overdramatic.
A buzzing sound came from Darcy's headphones and she slipped them on to listen.
"May I have your attention, please?" Darcy waited for Bart to focus his camera on her. "The gentlemen are arriving."
Chapter 11
Austin rode in the back of a Hummer limousine with six other men. Four of them were human for sure. He remembered George, Nicholas, and Seth from the auditions. And then, there was Garrett aka Garth. The humans had been instructed to come to the Rising Stars of Tomorrow Agency at nine P.M. with their luggage.
A man from Romatech Industries had been there, a short chemist by the name of Laszlo Veszto. He'd given each of them a plastic anklet to wear underneath their socks. It had to be in contact with their skin. And they had to wear it for the entire duration of the show. When the men questioned why, the chemist replied with a convoluted explanation of pheromones.
At nine-thirty, two Hummer limousines arrived at the agency with ten men. Austin figured they were the undead competition, but found it odd that the small chemist gave them anklets, too. The fifteen men climbed into the limousines for the short ride to Raleigh Place. Austin noted the vampires didn't react like they normally did around humans. No sniffing, no hungry glances.
Conversation was sparse on the short trip. No one wanted to reveal a weakness to another competitor. When they stopped in front of Raleigh Place, the vampire named Maggie greeted them and escorted them up to the penthouse. The huge foyer was empty. Maggie arranged the men in three rows on the staircase, the top row standing on the landing. She told them to wait, then headed down a hallway. The men exchanged nervous glances, though none of them spoke or acknowledged they were nervous.
Soon, a cameraman came rushing down the hallway. He ran up the stairs and shot close-ups of each man. Austin couldn't see Darcy anywhere. Then, he heard footsteps and feminine voices. The women were coming. Another cameraman was ahead of them, walking backwards. The male vampire, Gregori, was leading a group of five women. The judges, most likely. One of the ladies was the purple-haired Vanda, but the other four females were unknown. And strangely dressed. They had to be really old.