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Roux sucked in her stoed both ends of the ribbon at her back and cinched the black lace corset as tight as it would go

“I guess I won’t be sitting down anyti her hands over the red velvet stays along her sides as if the action would make it easier to breathe

“Does thatto lie down in the limo?” Raven asked

Glancing over her shoulder, Roux rolled her eyes at her best friend and the band’s stylist Raven also happened to be her foster sister “I’ll be standing with my head out the sunroof Obviously”

Raven chuckled “I’d better add a few , then You wouldn’t want to surprise so this black and red hairy beast into their windshield”

Roux laughed, feeling a slight bit of ease for the first ti in a limo in the first place Breathe, Roux Breathe

Raven wrapped several strands of the underlayer of the wig around her fingers and arranged the long curls against Roux’s bare shoulders Roux’s real hair was naturally red, but her trademark color in the band was a vibrant crimson Each of the five women of Baroquen had a particular color for her costuoth dresses and makeup they wore in public And with her name, she’d had to choose red as her color

“You’re as gorgeous as you’re going to get,” Raven said, taking a step back to admire her work

Roux struck a pose and then stuck out her tongue at her reflection in the full-length nized herself when she was in costume Which meant when she was out of her dark and heavy makeup, no one would realize she was the keyboardist for an up-and-coarded metal band in existence They were supposed toand attend a party as their special guests, which hy all the woh they didn’t have a gig

“Go put on your boots and practice breathing,” Raven advised The petite black-haired goth/punk/eave Roux a little shove and then turned to Lily, who had her sleek black and white wig on backwards Again

“It’s shorter in the back than the front,” Raven explained to the frustrated druain

“Not sure why I voted in favor of this stupid idea,” Lily co and spun it around before slipping it back down over Lily’s naturally pale blond hair “No one can see me behind the drums anyway I could wear jeans and a T-shirt”

“You don’t like the costu as she fought fake tears

Roux smirked She’d been Raven’s roommate since they’d been preteens, so Roux knehen Raven was laying on the bullshit There was currently enough in the rooon

Lily, on the other hand, had rooer, Iona, so the band’s little dru sweetheart was susceptible to Raven’s ploys Lily laid a hand on Raven’s slight shoulder and squeezed

“Oh, Raven, your costueous We’re so lucky to have you”

“And don’t you forget it,” Raven said through a mouthful of bobby pins She jabbed a few into Lily’s head to hold her wig in place

Roux chuckled and slipped her foot into one of her lace-up, knee-high leather boots The tongue was the saed petticoat, her corset stays and the ribbon that laced it up her back, as well as the underlayer of her wig Every other inch of her outfit was black lace except for the giant garnet stone at the center of her choker necklace

“You don’t get to be comfortable if the rest of us have to suffer, Lil,” Roux said “Besides, the fans ant to see those huge knockers of yours”

“Bite me,” Lily said

Roux cho sister, even if they weren’t related by blood

Lily adjusted said knockers inside her white corset She had to tape those puppies in there when she played live to avoid jiggling out of her top, but her boobs should survive a party with Exodus End unseen unless she got drunk enough to dance and started air druuaranteed

“Are you guys ready?” Azura called fro hotel room The door between the two suites was open, so it was ale where the six of them lived on top of each other

“Lil put her wig on backwards,” Raven said

Lily extended a hand toward the other suite and stomped her foot “Azura is the one who helpedon in the first place”

“You need a longer wig,” Azura said, co into their suite She was already dressed in her blue and black stage-persona gear, and her aist length, so there was no chance she’d put it on backwards unless she were atte a Cousin It look “I can’t tell the front of yours from its back”

“Yo

u and me both,” Lily muttered under her breath

“You said the long one was too hot when you play,” Raven reminded her “That’s itched to the short one”

“The long one was a living hell, but this one isn’tan oven on ish white ends on either side of her face swaying

“The black goes in back, white in front,” Raven said

“Sounds like n

Roux flushed at the very idea of a threesome Her boots now laced up and tied in neat bows, she stood straight and tugged down the back of her skirt The top lacy layers were fluffy, but short as hell If she hadn’t been wearing a red silk petticoat under the skirt, her panties would have shoith every step, and her thong didn’t match her outfit Raven would have beenout in public in pink underwear Raven abhorred pink She also abhorred underwear unless they were her boyfriend’s boxers

Perhaps Roux knew a little too much about her foster sister

The landline rang in the adjoining suite “The limo is downstairs!” Iona yelled a moment later “Now is not the time to be fashionably late Let’s move”

“They’re not going to leave without us,” Sage said in the other room, her calm voice as serene as ever

“A thousand bands would slit our throats to take our spot on this tour,” Iona said

Roux covered her neck with one hand and gri to need a new necklace One with steel reinforcements,” she whispered to Raven, inked at her

“I’ll get right on that The keyboardist always dies first in these situations”

Soht direction—ultimately for the limo, where they’d meet their tour mates for the first tih the posh lobby of the hotel The five of them looked like rock stars, even if none of thee local following of dedicated fans, but this tour—to Europe and then around the world—would make or break them

Roux’s stoaze landed on Saer, who had taken it upon himself to make stars out of the members of Baroquen—it took a dive for the floor She instinctively reached for the bullet that dangled froth from the small chunk of metal

Holy shit! This was really happening They were going to oing on tour with the Europe Holy shit!

“Breathe, Roux,” Sage said, placing a cal hand on the center of Roux’s back

Sage could tell that she was hyperventilating? Not good Roux didn’t want to couys Yet she wasn’t exactly a seasoned professional

“It’s this daar on which to blame her sudden breathlessness

“At least yours doesn’t have all these buckles,” Sage said, running her fingers over the row of buckles running down the center of her belly “When I sit, they try to eviscerate me”

“You’ll have to stand next to me in the limo with your head out the sunroof,” Roux said And the driver behind the as well as her red one attacking their windshield “I can’t sit worth a damn in this contraption” Fortunately, she stood to play her keyboard If she sat, as she did when playing piano, the corset would be a definite no-go