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Wasn’t it part of a series too? The cast and crew could be working on this for years to come – Hannah and Caleb could too, if they wanted to. She glanced at Caleb, who was intensely watching Lucas for his physicality and movements while playing this character. The idea of doing this for years beside Caleb wasn’t as hard to imagine as she might have first thought. Would their fling have fizzled out after this film? Would it be a friendly pat on the shoulder when they met again? The unwanted image of Bianca’s stunt double flashed in her mind. It would feel like torture; to work alongside him for years knowing he’d grown bored of her – just like Patrick.

The AD called ‘cut’ as Lucas walked up the steps. He stood motionless while the continuity people put down marks. Bianca left to go back to her trailer, as her close-ups had been filmed earlier.

There was another twenty minutes while they set up a close-up shot for when Lucas realised the gift was a weapon. It required the ensemble dancing in the background, so everything had to be done right to ensure a smooth transition. The shot would probably be less than five seconds on screen, but it took nearly an hour to complete.

When Lucas was done filming, he turned and strode down as himself again, all smiles and swagger. ‘Over to you, I’m off to my trailer!’ he said to Caleb, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed by.

With a nod and full of focus, Caleb stepped forward, sweeping his jacket on as he did so, becoming the vampire prince. Hannah’s knees nearly did give way this time and she grabbed Zach’s arm.

Zach chuckled. ‘Easy tiger, you look like you’re about to go and jump his bones. Surely one explosion is enough for one day?’

Hannah didn’t even have the heart to deny it. She sighed wistfully. ‘You’re not wrong. You’re not wrong at all.’

Caleb was attached to the wire, and there was a long wait as everything was set up for the first take. The ensemble moved back into their start position; thankfully, the style of the dance meant it was quite easy to ensure everything was the same as when Lucas had been on the steps. But the proof would be in the rough-cut edits.

The pyrotechnics guy was chatting with Caleb and Jackson. A ridiculously bright green springboard was placed on the step in front of him. It would be edited out in post-production so everyone would think that Caleb had effortlessly done a backflip off a stone step. The wire would then jerk halfway through the leap, at the exact same time the pyrotechnics fired. Most of the rubble and dust would be added in post-production, but she knew from the risk assessment that it was still a serious enough explosion to warrant two medics.

A huge green safety mat was put into position behind the dancers. The floor was slightly sprung to allow the dancers to fall dramatically without hurting themselves. The whole stunt relied on the perfect timing of the explosion, dancers, wire work, and Caleb’s additional jump. Her stomach churned painfully.

‘I hope the pyro knows what he’s doing,’ said Hannah, peering at the man in his fifties who looked like some mad professor they’d dragged out of a burning lab. His clothes were scorched and tattered with marks all over them. What was his name again? Was he Tom or Jerry? She couldn’t remember.

Zach leaned forward and squinted. ‘I don’t know him well. Has he got all of his fingers?’

Hannah gulped. ‘What?’

Zach nodded sagely. ‘Awr yeah, it’s a good indicator of whether they’re any good or not.’

She desperately tried to think back to the production meetings she’d seen him in; he never said much, usually just grunting in agreement and nodding, his mad professor hair bobbing whenever they’d asked him if something was possible.

What if he was a maniac with every finger blown off?

The pyrotechnician shuffled away and she was sure he had a limp to his walk. What if he’d blown off a leg and walked with a prosthetic? She could be allowing Caleb to face an explosion that would blow him apart.

She hurried forward, ignoring Zach’s panicked, ‘What are you doing?’

She passed the AD, who glared at her above his clipboard. ‘I need to check something!’ she explained, and hurried around to face Caleb.

His face was almost stern with concentration, and it took him a moment for the focus to clear as he realised she was standing in front of him. Holding up production – a cardinal sin in filming. What the fuck was she doing?

‘Careful of your back, the wire will pull you with quite a lot of force, make sure—’

A muscle ticked in Caleb’s jaw. ‘I know what I’m doing.’

Hannah began to stammer. Feeling a room full of eyes boring through her, she leaned closer to his ear. ‘H… ha… has the pyrotechnic got all of his fingers?’

Caleb’s deep chuckle had her rearing back; at least he wasn’t annoyed with her anymore.

‘Zach said it’s a good indicator!’

Caleb’s hand squeezed her arm. ‘He’s got all of his fingers. I’ll be careful, I promise.’

She nodded and then swept away as quickly as possible, horribly aware that the AD and everyone else in the room was wondering what the hell she was doing. ‘All good!’ she declared, as if her behaviour was completely acceptable.

‘He’s got all of his fingers,’ whispered Hannah as she returned to Zach’s side.

‘Fucking hell, mate! I was only joking,’ muttered Zach.

She didn’t even mind that he’d been pulling her leg, she was relieved to have checked, as Caleb’s confidence had reassured her even more than the fact that the pyrotechnic had all of his digits.