"Oh, Jesus, what are you going to do to me?" Christine stared at Sloane's makeup counter with wide eyes. Everything on it could be construed as a torture implement. Mirrors and strange contraptions that looked like they were made for ripping out fingernails, extremely fluffy brushes that could definitely be used for the worst of all - tickling.
Sloane gave her a look. "I'm going to turn you into a woman instead of a girl in men's clothes."
Chrissy sighed and sat down. But... There was something she was still curious about, something the boys had warned her about earlier. She picked up and analyzed some of the various implements on the vanity.
"Sloane?" She asked.
Sloane was rummaging around in the closet, trying to find something suitable for seducing a demon. "Yup?"
Chrissy picked up the device she thought could be used for ripping out fingernails. "So, I'm not really good at this whole men deal, and originally I asked if you could go, but I was warned against it." She heard the scraping of coat-hangers against the rod slow momentarily.
"Well, it's no secret." She responded. "Like many others, I was abducted by demons a long time ago. But that particular sect has been extinct well over fifty years now. Mostly with the help of the demons you're trying to recruit."
Christine nodded, but didn't know what else to say.
"What do you think about this, Chrissy?" Christine turned to see Sloane holding up a slinky, red velvet dress with a slit up the front.
"Uh, looks like a dress." Christine replied.
Sloane hung it on the back of the door. "Perfect. Every demon's favorite color is red, so it should get their attention. They'll have plenty of women already fawning over them."
Christine cocked her head. "How do you mean?"
Sloane laughed a little. "Uh, well, they're nothing less than magnetic, shall we say." She walked over and started fussing with Chrissy's hair a little.
Christine started playing with a particularly large and fluffy brush. "So, how does one seduce men?"
Sloane started sectioning Chris's hair. "A lot of men love your rough and tumble attitude, I'm sure. It's cliché, but for demons just act like yourself. They eat that shit up. For fae you'd want to act mysterious, beautiful, and aloof, but demons are boisterous and fun-loving."
"Sinners..." Christine murmured.
Sloane nodded, picked up a curling wand and a brush from the table. "Precisely. They love breaking the rules."
Chrissy stared at her as Sloane began winding a section of her hair around the stick. "What are you doing that for? My hair is already curly."
Sloane simply smiled. "You'll see. They'll look more 'pretty woman' instead of a badass mane. Can I take this out?" Sloane pointed to a small braid on the side of Chrissy's head, the one Tristan had done after she busted her head on the chair. It was no longer pretty and flawless, but raggled and slept in.
She stared at it through the mirror while her brain screamed 'yes'. Chrissy touched it gingerly. Her head wasn't all that sore anymore.
"I'll redo some of it. Just pretty it up a bit." Sloane suggested.
Christine nodded. She had thought about taking it out before, but couldn't for some reason.
"Did Tristan give you his medallion?"
Chrissy looked down at her hand, which had the little silver circle between her fingers. She was rubbing it over her lips, like she did with her diamond charm. Did she switch them? When did she start fidgeting with the medallion?
After a beat Christine responded, "yeah. He did, just before he showed me his change."
Sloane shrugged. "Probably a good thing. Getting that medallion is part one to becoming king of the lykans. I couldn't imagine what would happen if the head of the turned got it. They were probably devastated when they found that Tristan didn't have it."
Then why did he entrust me with it? I hate him.
Come to think of it, while she was looking for him and working toward it, she hadn't felt ill at all. Gingerly, she tucked the necklace back into her shirt.
*
The boys were absolutely speechless.
She flushed hot. "What?" She demanded. Her three brothers were still staring at her like she was a goddamn real live unicorn. She huffed, checked the time on her phone. "It's almost eight. Where is this merc bar?"
Alex finally spoke up. "You... Look female."
She rolled her eyes, shook her hands in sarcastic excitement. "Oh my god, I have two X chromosomes. Who knew?"
Micah was next. "Are you wearing heels?"
"No, I just spontaneously gained two inches. Can we go? Stop the gawking? Y'know, king to save. All that."
None of them got up.
"Hey!" She snapped her fingers a couple times. "Let's go!" Christine managed to grab Micah by the arm and pull him out of his seat.
Finally they all started getting up and ready to leave. She walked past a decorative mirror and stopped for a moment to stare at her reflection. Strangely enough, she still looked like herself. The lipstick color was close to her own, her eyes had a dark eyeshadow. Her hair was curled and looked like happy, sleeping snakes on her shoulders. To quote Sloane, she had 'cleavage the gods would be envious of' in a deep red, velvet dress. Black block heels topped it off.
Surprisingly enough, Chrissy actually knew how to walk in heels. She had a pair of chunky ankle boots for a while that she adored.
Christine shook away her thoughts and was finally able to shoo all the boys into the car.
The drive was long, but apparently the bar was still in the armpit of the U.S. - Louisiana. The tires popped on the gravel as they pulled up to a dive bar in some shady city that she had heard the name of before, and knew nothing good about.
"The pack has enough emergency cash to hire them, but it's all of our emergency cash, so see if you can try to bring them down a bit." Micah told her, holding a briefcase.
Luke got out of the car and came beside them. "We've got your back, Chris. If they do anything, we'll be there in seconds. The main guy you're looking for is Talin. He runs a lot of the ops."
She nodded. "Talin. Got it."
With all of that settled, the boys went in first. Chrissy waited by the car for a few minutes, smoking a cigarette to calm her nerves. She was doing this for the pack and the kingdom. They took care of her brothers when no one else did. She wasn't doing it for Tristan.
Finally, she walked into the dive, and with her best saunter, walked up to the counter. She rapped her knuckles on the counter and leaned over it to get the bartender's attention. "A shot of vodka and whiskey on the rocks."
She suddenly noticed that through the man's dark, curly hair, he had a pair of horns. Jesus, this world was going to take some getting used to.
He nodded. "No problem, lass. Any preference?"
She shrugged. "You choose. I'm not picky."
He chuckled and pulled out a bottle from under the bar. "Good, 'cause there's not much to choose from."
She surveyed the bar from her spot at the counter. Her brothers were sitting near the exit, taking furtive glances at her. There were a couple patrons scattered around, and a large group near the back.
Chrissy took the shot and picked up her drink, "know where I can find a Talin?" She asked.
He looked up from the glass he had begun to wipe clean and nodded to a space just above her right shoulder.
Chrissy turned to see a man hitting a good six and a half feet, with a fade haircut and a lot of tattoos on his dark, smooth skin. He grinned. "Lookin' for me?"
Dear god, she was informed they were sexual, not sexy. Taking a brief glance at the table he sat at, she realized they all were. This wouldn't be as hard as she thought.
"Maybe." She replied, taking a sip off her drink.
He nodded to her glass. "You know how to order a drink."
Chrissy studied the glass. "You gonna pay for it?"
He laughed. "I like you. You're funny. Ford," he called to the bartender, "put the pretty girl's drinks on my tab, would you?"
"Now while I do have some business to discuss with you, I think I'd like to get to know you a bit first."
His black eyes glimmered with mischievousness. "Careful there, girlie. That sentence has led more than a few under the table."
She sipped her drink. "And what has possibly given you the impression I can't hold my liquor?"
He chuckled. "I guess we'll see then, won't we?"
She walked over to his table, where she met Diesel, Xan, and Atlas. Tall and devastating, just like Talin, and all with various colors and shapes of horns.
There were tricks to getting your companions drunk without actually drinking much at all. - lots of ice, act like a klutz and spill a lot, and getting another round before your glass is truly empty. So, after an hour, she had a nice buzz, and the rest of them were stumbling, cackling, and howling with laughter.
They regaled her with stories of taking out evil warlocks, hunting down abdicating princes, and saving distressed maidens. She kept up with them and their not-so-covert advances, hitting them upside the head when needed. She had a story or two of her own - outrunning small town police, kicking the ass of teenage boys that looked at her wrong. They truly did eat that shit up.
"Alright, missy. You've successfully kept up with us. I'm impressed." Talin said with a smirk. "What do you need me for?"
"I have a problem with some rogue lykans." She said, stirring her drink. "See, they have this very unfortunate soul that I have to keep up with, but I can't go fetch him myself without starting a war."
He laughed. "Not willing to go to war over this guy?"
She fussed with her hair a bit. "He's my mate, but I don't like him all that much."
He looked surprised. "Mate? And he let all of this out of his sight? For shame."
She grinned. "Careful there. Boys who love me tend to end up with broken noses. I'd hate to do that to such a handsome face."
He chuckled. "Who is this poor soul that doesn't appreciate all you have to offer?"
She tread carefully with her next couple of sentences. "Well, he's made me a queen. I suppose I can't complain much."
"You must forgive me then, your grace. I had no idea." He said with sincerity.
She waved him off. "I don't bother with niceties. Just a regular small town girl from nowhere. His name is Tristan."
The laughter and activity stopped in an instant.
"Soileau?" Talin asked.
Christine gave him the softest, most innocent face she could conjure up. "I hope that doesn't color your opinion of me."
He shook his head and his brows furrowed. "Course not."
She continued, "I know our kind and yours haven't had the best of run-ins, but you'd be in favor with their queen if you did. I was thinking of a more symbiotic relationship."
He laughed softly. "You're not bad, my grace. We'll do it for you, just need some details."
Chrissy refrained from throwing up her hands in victory. "And we can pay you very handsomely for your troubles."
He grinned. "Wouldn't expect it anyway else."