“It’s a refrigerator, Max. They’d melt anywhere else,” I said reasonably, then relaxed into the cool air, delicious after the heat of the forge, and waited for her to spin it all out.

“These hands shouldn’t be here,” she said indignantly. “They should be archived in a museum. A curator should have these.” Huh. So—Max thought it should all be shown, too. Of course she did. She was married to Charlie. I wondered if he’d told her about the film.

“Probably,” I replied, baiting her.

“Don’t you get it?” she said, her tongue a little thick. “The coin? Dracula? The hands?”

“No.” I leaned in.

“They’re not making work about Carey,” she said. “They’re stealing from her. They’re vampires.” Her eyes were wild, the fake lashes hanging heavy, and she gripped my wrist again, the edges of her diamonds threatening my thin skin, and for a moment—our breaths clouding the air between us—for a moment I believed her. “My house is supposed to be special. What if they make another one? They’re not supposed to do that,” she said sullenly.

Someone leaned against the door, and I saw the rubber gaskets smoosh in. We had to get out of here. “Nobody is going to replicate your house, Max,” I said sternly, putting my ear to the door. I couldn’t tell who it was, but they were laughing, the bass of it vibrating through the metal. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

“Yes,” I said, hard, like the strike of a gavel. “It is.” I pried her from my wrist.

“All I want is to be special,” she said, her tone very serious.

I laughed. “You’re plenty special, Max.” She curtsied, then blinked up at me, expecting another compliment. The weight came off the door, and the rubber gaskets narrowed again.

“Listen,” I told her sternly. “We can’t be caught in here. This is totally—” I searched for a word that Max would understand. “—RUDE.”

She nodded. “For sure.” She clicked off her phone.

I tested the door handle, pushing it inch by inch, quiet as a mouse, then peeked into the studio. Everyone was gathered around the forge, burning something, facing away from us.

“Let’s go.” I pulled her out in one quick motion and leaned against the door as it shut, covering its movement with my body, like we’d been standing here the entire time.

“Jes IS a vampire, though,” she said, and I looked over to see Jes resting her head on Tyler’s shoulder. “SHE DRINKS BLOOOOOOOD.”

Seeing them together made me feel like I was running a race I’d already lost. My whole body went slack, a loser, giving up. Max saw, and poked me, hard, with the edge of her orange fingernail.