Tormenting Lee had obviously been nothing more than a way to yank Tony’s chain. How long would the Shadowlord just hang around if Arra stayed hidden? How long before he started killing people to bring Arra out of hiding? And would Arra come if he did?

What would he do if she didn’t?

Flush her out with destruction?

According to Arra, it took time to learn the energy of a new world. The longer they had to wait for the other shoe to drop, the more the Shadowlord learned, the more powerful he became. Although it seemed as though shadows were shadows—that power he had now.

Bottom line, he had to be stopped sooner rather than later.

Yeah, and now we’ve come to that amazing decision, we’re no farther ahead than we were. There’s a big fucking evil thing hanging around being a fanboy—I’m the only one who knows it and I can’t do a thing about it. I can’t even take out his minion.

Mason was settling into character although he kept shooting “look at me” glances toward his master.

“Tony?”

Heart in his throat, he spun around so quickly he almost fell over.

Lee backed up a step, both hands in the air. “Are you okay?”

“Me?”

“Your nose is bleeding.”

Still? He touched his upper lip and stared down at sticky fingertips. “It’s nothing.”

Arms wrapped around his torso, Lee nodded. “Sure.”

“Are you . . .” A wave back toward the damp spot on the concrete. “. . . okay?”

“Good question.” The green eyes stared past Tony’s shoulder. “There’s some weird shit going on around here ever since Nikki Waugh died. The doctor thinks my little memory lapse was something they call Transient Global Amnesia. Except, according to the cops, I’m not the only one forgetting things and your nose was bleeding yesterday, too—same bat-time, same bat-channel. And if I didn’t know Mason was straight, I’d say he was one short step from bending over for that friend of his.”

Tony didn’t bother turning to look. “You might want to stay away from Mason. And his friend.”

“Lee.” Adam leaned between them. “We’re ready for you.”

“I’ll be right there.”

The 1AD nodded and headed for the monitors.

“I’m about to shoot a scene with Mason.” He almost seemed to be asking if he’d be safe.

“That’s not Mason, though.” Tony nodded toward the set. “That’s Raymond Dark.”

Lee looked confused for a moment then he smiled. “Right. I wonder if he’s going to take his friend to his interview.”

“Interview?”

“Yeah, he’s on Live at Five tonight. Again.”

“They’re live . . .”

“That would explain the title of the show, yeah. They seem to think Mason’s the only actor on the West Coast.”

“Lee!”