Page 99 of Lust

“You’re supposed to wear the skirt with that,” I snap at Juliette, taking all my frustration with Felix out on the one person I know I have no doubts about. I hold out her matching pink skirt and give her a smile to soften my tone. “It has twelve layers of tulle and took me forever to sew together.”

She pulls a face. “I don’t remember Christina Aguilera wearing a skirt like this,” she says with a pout, holding it up to her.

I let out a frustrated sigh. “The ball is themed on the actual Moulin Rouge circa Noémi’s time, not some movie. That’s a can can skirt.”

“Can can I not wear it?” she quips. “I wanna show off my legs, and this corset top is amazing. I honestly don’t think I need the skirt.”

“It has pockets!” I gripe.

“Pockets!” Quinn inhales, grabbing her green skirt from where I’ve laid it out on the bed. “Great! I need somewhere to hide this.” She holds up a long sharp dagger, a determined expression on her face.

“Do you really think you’ll be able to find him?” I ask, taking the dagger by the tip of my fingers and laying it out of harm’s way away from the clothes. My mind is filled with some scumbag when Quinn is planning on doing something so outrageous, I can only look at her I awe. I’m fretting about one or two dances and she’s going to be putting her entire existence at risk for her man.

“I have to.” She bites her lip and I know she’s not as confidant as she’s trying to make herself out to be. “I’m not leaving this circle without him and if Noémi was telling us the truth about this being the final trial, I have approximately…” She picks up her portal and looks at it, “six hours to find Dade.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing. babe,” Juliette says, swishing her skirt around. The layers of tulle float like a pale pink cloud beneath the dark crimson of the outer skirt.

“Not in the slightest,” Quinn admits.

I sigh as I pull on my own skirt. “That makes two of us.”

“Maybe you won’t have to dance with Felix for long tonight,” Juliette says, sitting next to me. “Come on. Get dressed and I’ll do your make-up. I’m going to make us all look amazing tonight. With your dresses and my make-up skills, no one will be able to keep their eyes off us.”

“I wish Twila was here,” I say as Juliette squints at me, a full palette of make-up in her hand. “She knew how to do make-up.”

Juliette scrunches her nose. “If you want to look like an extra from Night of the Living Dead.”

“She did those amazing eye flicks!” I say, miming flicking up eye liner.

“I can do flicks. She’s not the only one who knows how to make herself gorgeous. Has anyone heard from her, anyway? She’s not answered a single message I’ve sent her.”

“Something’s going on,” Quinn says ominously. “I’ve tried calling her. I’ve messaged her. She’s not even seeing her messages.” She’s quiet for a second and then, “Do you think Anthura has something to do with her disappearance?”

Juliette snorts as she applies what feels like the third coat of make-up to my skin. “I get that you think she’s going to murder Rowena in a fit of jealousy at the ball tonight, but I can’t see her getting one over on Twila. She’d have to go through Hades, and have you seen the size of that demon?”

From my periphery, I see Quinn lay back on the bed, her hands underneath her head. “But what if she did? I know you both think I’m crazy, but I did find those letters in her room. She was obviously planning to send them to Rowena like she sent them to me.”

“But she didn’t.” Juliette points out. “We’ve been here a while now and she’s only managed to send one of them. If she had a great stack, why only post one?”

Quinn sighs. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s too busy fucking Felix and forgot?”

“Damn Ro!” Juliette complains. “You just jumped. You’ve now got a line of black eyeliner right down your face. I’ll have to start again.”

“Sorry.”

She starts wiping the layers of make-up from my face as I try to breathe. I shouldn’t be affected by the thoughts of Anthura and Felix together. It’s not like they’ve not been together since we got here. The other night was a one-time only event. A mistake with an asshole that I really thought I was too sensible to make. One that I have no intention of repeating.

Hours later, after two meals delivered to the room and multiple attempts at make-up, the three of us take one last look at ourselves in the mirror.

Juliette and Quinn look amazing, but it’s my own face I can’t keep my eyes from. I’m beautiful. Thanks to Juliette’s ministrations, I’ve never looked so utterly stunning and yet I feel like I’m wearing a mask. Beneath our skirts, we’re all wearing fishnet stockings and our hair holds a couple of peacock feathers each.

“We are three hot af babes!” Juliette exclaims.

I flick my eyes at her reflection. She does look striking with her bright green eyes and thick black eyelashes. Next to her, Quinn looks beautiful with her red hair flowing over her shoulders, but her expression is one of steely determination, with an undercurrent of nervous sickness.

“Come on,” I say with a hint of resignation. “Let’s get this over with.”

Even before we step onto the pink carpet, the screams start. The pink carpet carves a route amidst the cacophony of shrieking fans separated from us by glistening gold barricades. Our images tower above us on moving banners, and the fans have made their own. Amidst the home made banners for Juliette, I spot one or two with my name on. Walking along the pink carpet, I feel like a rock star and all the nervous energy I’ve been feeling falls away. I can do this.

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