Ink left us at the makeup area backstage. We were used to doing the whole makeup, blocking, hurry-up-and-wait routine that was part of the show taping.
The hair and makeup guys finished with us, and we took one last good look in the mirror.
Jetman looked as if he'd had no makeup done at all. He was a kinda plain-looking guy, but they'd made his skin perfect, as if a blemish had never been allowed to mar his face. And Tiffani . . . well, she was as beautiful as ever. It was a pity she was so short. Had she been taller, she would have made a great model. I took a quick glance at myself. My eyes did look great, and they did bring out the best in my skin—as much as they could, given how crappy my black hair made it look.
Ink finally came back. "Okay, guys," she said. "We'll be taping a short segment with Peregrine."
When we arrived back onstage, the Hearts were sitting in a row of director's chairs. Three empty chairs faced them. Hearts had won the most challenges; there were five of them, and only three of us.
We sat in our chairs. Mine gave a loud groan. I heard a Heart laugh, blushed, and hung my head.
"Asshole," I heard Jetman say softly.
Peregrine swept onto the stage. When I'd been younger, I'd really admired her. Not only was she a great model, but she still went out and did things with her wild card ability. I guessed she must be in her fifties now, but you'd never know it. She usually wore very revealing couture gowns, but today she had on long palazzo pants, a gold-sequined halter top, and four-inch-high sandals. Her wings fluttered behind her, making her look like a disco angel. "Are we ready to shoot this?" she asked.
"We're rolling," said the director. "Start anytime."
"Welcome to American Hero," Peregrin said, looking into camera one. "We're halfway through the competition, and we've lost quite a few of our heroes. But some of the teams have fared better than others." She turned to camera three and her wings fluttered. "I know that some of the players here think we might be reshuffling the teams tonight."
There were groans from the Hearts.
"But we've decided to keep the suits separated for now."
The Hearts gave a small cheer. "However," Peregrine continued, "our Diamonds team has not done well, and they are at a distinct disadvantage. So we've decided to let them draw one member from Hearts to even the teams up."
There was stunned silence from the Hearts, and then an angry murmur bubbled up. "You've got to be kidding!" shouted Drummer Boy, jumping to his feet. "We're being penalized because they suck?"
Curveball placed a hand on one of Drummer Boy's lower arms. "Calm down. It's just part of the game."
"It's bullshit," he said.
I glanced at Tiff to see how she was reacting. There was a Mona Lisa smile on her face. "Do we have to choose now?" Tiffani asked.
"No, you have twenty-four hours to decide. We'll be bringing you back tomorrow night for the pick."
"And cut," came the director's voice.
Peregrine cupped her hands over her eyes and squinted up at the lights. "Did you put the filter on that spotlight?" she asked.
"So, who do you want to bring over from the Hearts team?" I asked when we were back in the limo.
"Drummer Boy," Tiffani said at once. "He makes the most sense. He's the most powerful player on their team."
Jetman opened the fridge in the limo bar and took out a beer. "You think he's more powerful than Hardhat or Earth Witch?" he asked.
"Well, how handy is making steel thingamabobbies?" Tiffani asked. "Are we really going to need a trench anytime soon? And Wild Fox? Don't even get me started on how crappy his power is."
"We could take Curveball," I suggested.
Tiff made a face. "Michelle, you and she have almost the same power. Why would we duplicate that? We've got to get someone who'll work well with our team." She leaned forward and touched my leg. "Taking DB will demoralize Hearts. It'll break up their alliances. And if he's got any show-mances going, it'll stop them, too."
"Showmances?" Jetman asked.
"You know, when two people on a reality show become romantically involved for the duration of the show. Sometimes they stick—like Boston Rob and that joker chick from Survivor, what was her name?"
"Amber," Jetman replied. "She looked like she was a big chunk of amber. She even had bugs stuck in her skin. It was pretty gross, but I guess you never know what's going to float someone's boat."
Tiff gave Jetman a big smile. "They won the money because they had this amazing alliance. I heard one of the PAs say that Drummer Boy's been making time with every willing girl on the show. Ever since Curveball dumped him, that is. And they may be getting back together after that little scene when we were taping."
Aside from Curveball calming him down at the studio, I didn't really see much going on. But, honestly, I'm bad about picking up on that who's-doing-whom stuff.
"I just don't get all this intrigue," Jetman said. "I think Drummer Boy's a conceited jerk."
"He's a big guy, though," Tiff said. "He could probably be handy in a brawl. Besides, if we lose again, we can get rid of him instead of one of us."
I had to admit, Tiffani's plan sounded good, especially the last part. I hated the idea of one of the last three Diamonds going home.
Jetman was fixing breakfast in the kitchen the next morning. He'd started doing that after we lost our first challenge. His cooking was a bit uneven—and he couldn't seem to make breakfast without dirtying every dish in the house.
He was just scooping eggs onto a serving bowl when I came in. "Morning, Bubbles," he said, passing the eggs to me. "You want pancakes or waffles this morning?"
I looked at the table. A stack of bacon and about twelve sausages were piled on one plate. A large bowl of fresh fruit salad sat next to it. There was a basket overflowing with pastries—croissants, cinnamon buns, kolaches, and muffins.
"Uhm, I think I can find plenty of stuff to eat. You really don't need to make anything else."
"Oh," he said. I turned toward him and saw a hangdog expression on his face.
Crap.
"But you know I can't resist your pancakes," I said. Actually, his pancakes were really bad. But he brightened and pulled another bowl out of the cabinet.
I sat down, put the bowl of eggs on the table, and loaded my plate with pastries, bacon, eggs, and fruit.
"Remember, you've got pancakes coming," he said.
"Herummm," I replied around a mouthful of food. My wild card power made me fat, but otherwise, I could eat anything I wanted and stay skinny.
Tiffani straggled in a few minutes later. Her face was sleep-swollen. I thought she looked adorable. With her kimono-style robe wrapped around her, she appeared tiny and delicate.
"Pancakes, Tiff?" Jetman asked.
"Gah, no," she said. "Just coffee until I can get my heart going."
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"And caffeine is my drug of choice. Don't get between me and my fix."
I poured her a cup from the carafe on the table, put three sugars and a dollop of cream in it, and then passed it to her. She took a long pull and smiled at me. I felt my stomach flip-flop.
"I'm glad you're all up," said Ink as she sauntered in with one of the mobile crews. "The producers think all the heroes need a break from the competition."
Tiff took another hit off her coffee. "How about three days and four nights in Jamaica?" she said.
"No can do," Ink replied. "We're shooting 'Diamonds Pick a Heart' tonight."
"So, what's the 'break'?" I asked, using my ironic air quotes.
"You have a choice," Ink replied. "You can have a thousand-dollar shopping spree, a trip to Disneyland, or a spa day."
"I'm guessing this isn't an off-camera event," I said.
"Nope. It's going to make for some great footage. But you do get out of the house for the whole day. And, even better, no press obligations and no workouts."
Jetman and Tiff both looked chipper at that. Neither of them liked working out.