My mouth dropped open in shock at the pleading look on his face. Stiles had always seemed like he was a daddy’s boy, following in his footsteps with a grin on his face and money in his pocket. “Why are you doing this? Why do you want out? I thought you were a part of this.”
Feminine laughter came from the room next to us, and he flinched at the sound. Grabbing my hand, he led me toward the other side of the bathroom. “Because this place is fucked up,” he said quietly. “Because what they’re doing is fucked up. Because I did my best to keep you away from all of this, but you still got sucked in anyway.”
“I’m surprised you even care. It’s not like we’ve had a normal sibling relationship, Stiles. You’ve made it clear I don’t belong.”
His face fell. “I know. I know, okay? But I need you to trust me. I need you to keep your head down until I can figure this out. And once we’re out of here, I’ll explain everything. I promise.”
I doubted his intentions, but there was no mistaking the genuine worry shining in his blue eyes. “Alright,” I said with a nod. “But I’m not doing it for you. They threatened Aunt Marie.”
Stiles grimaced. “I know how much she means to you.”
“She’s my family,” I said, probably with too much bite behind my words. But Stiles didn’t argue that he was my family too. He simply nodded.
“Be careful,” Stiles warned before giving me an awkward pat on the shoulder.
“You too,” I replied.
Stiles’s head turned toward the door as if he were listening. “Time’s up. Open the main door for me to flash through,” he said in a whisper.
Before I could answer him, he flashed to other side of the room, and then hid himself inside the small bathroom closet where more robes were hanging up. The second after he clicked the door shut, the bathroom door swung open and the twin vampires came in.
“Finally,” the twin on the left said to me. “You’ve taken ages. Come on, we need to get you primed and then try different looks on you.”
I followed the pair of them back into the main room, stealing one last glance to the closet before facing forward again. I walked straight over to the main door and yanked it open.
“What are you doing?”
The shifter with the long hair strode over to me immediately, a frown marring her pretty face. Before she reached the door, I felt a rush of air breeze past me, and Stiles’s blurred body raced past me and down the hall.
“Nothing,” I said innocently, turning toward her. “Just wanted some fresh air.”
The shifter’s eyes narrowed. “From the hallway?”
I shrugged, and she slammed the door shut and rolled her eyes. “Come on.”
With a tug on my arm, she brought me to a plush white ottoman and sat me down. From there, the four of them proceeded to shove different fabrics in my direction, holding them over my skin and hair in order to envision my “color palette.” Once they narrowed the clothing options down, I was given midnight blue lingerie that consisted of a strapless bustier and matching panties.
I looked at the three of them, clutching the skimpy lace in my hands and feeling more and more awkward by the second. “You want me to put this on right here?” I asked.
“Obviously,” the elemental drawled. “You can’t try on the dresses until you’ve got your knickers on.”
At my distress, the shifter rolled her eyes. “Please, we’ve dressed hundreds of women for President Belvini. You don’t have anything we haven’t already seen.”
Pursing my lips, I turned my back on them and de-robed, blushing at the fact that I had to get dressed with an audience. Honestly, I was surprised I had any modesty or embarrassment left, considering all the public feedings Spector was forcing me to do.
I tugged on the lingerie as quickly as possible, feeling incredibly stupid as I turned around. “Well?” I said, lifting my arms up before they landed against my sides again.
The twins came forward, and to my absolute horror, they reached inside my bustier and lifted up my boobs before tightening the lace straps at the sides. “There,” Twin One said. “I had to plump up the goods.”
My face was on fire. “Umm, thanks?”
After that, they forced dress after dress onto me, each one nitpicked and torn to verbal shreds for all the reasons it looked terrible on me. Until finally…
“This is the one!” the shifter beamed. The twins nodded, and the elemental gave a resigned shrug. From her, that was practically applause.
I looked down at the tight black cocktail dress I was now wearing. It had see-through lace on the arms and the back, ending just above my ass. The front had a sweetheart neckline that dipped down slightly and showed off the massive amounts of cleavage I was now sporting thanks to the bustier plumping the goods.
“Perfect. Now slip the robe back over it so nothing gets on it while we do your hair and makeup,” Twin Two said.
After I did as told, the twins led me over to a makeup table and plopped me down in front of the lighted mirror. I winced at my pale, tired, disheveled reflection.
“Mm-hmm. Our thoughts exactly,” Twin Two said.
“Gee, thanks,” I drawled.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you looking good in no time.”
While the twins started tackling the cosmetics, the shifter began to rub my legs down with lotions and then began to paint my nails. Meanwhile, the elemental got to work on my hair, first sucking all the water out of it using her powers, and then tackling my horrid tangles and using a curling iron to form long loose curls in my tresses.
I don’t know how long it took for my grooming. I was so thoroughly combed and tweezed and painted and primped that I lost track of time. I sort of just zoned out, not really seeing or feeling anything as
