Page 74 of Lure

Cosmetics held up and so did the extensions with their streaks. It was funny, I’d never thought about putting blue, purple, and fuchsia streaks in my hair, but I kind of liked it.

I added a faux nose ring. It had taken a little time to get used to, but it was also fun. Beyond the hair, the jewelry, and the cosmetics, I’d gone for a little more of a brash look.

The black sleeveless tank coupled with a padded bra gave me a bigger boob profile. The black lace leggings looked painted on with the purple plaid skirt just this side of being too short. The knee high Doc Martens with their platforms also gave me an extra couple of inches of height.

It was all about the packaging.

Bones had given me a long hard look when I walked out wearing it before we all split up and I shrugged. “No one is looking at my face.”

I swore his lips twitched. The stone face of his might have cracked if he’d given in to the desire. He definitely looked like he almost smiled. “You have a point.”

Splitting up would draw less attention to us. Initially, I thought that meant we’d just be flying separately on the same flight, but the guys had their own flights and travel plans.

The coffee was strong, dark, and tasted a bit like nirvana. A bubble of excitement shivered through me the closer we got to Paris. With my new ID listing me as Canadian, I was traveling as Monet Morel. Monet for Amorette and Morel because Noir would have been too on the nose.

Voodoo had me calling him Harry for the flight and when I’d teased him about it being Houdini, he’d just grinned. Before too long, they cleared away the dishes and we were getting ready for landing. The excitement threading through me seemedinappropriateand, yet, we were on the move.

We were doingsomething. Thatsomethingwas important. It was another step on the path to finding Amorette.

My stomach bounced a little as the plane wheels touched down. The taxiing didn’t take all that long and then we were deplaning. Voodoo grabbed my carryon bag from the overhead and gave me a gentle nudge. I had a purse strung crosswise over my torso and a hoodie that I’d tied around my waist.

“Mare See Bow Coop.” ThehorrendousFrench from Voodoo had my eyes bugging a little and I gaped at him. He nodded cheerfully to the attendants who were welcoming us to Paris and thanking us for flying with them.

Fortunately, amusement filled their faces as I offered up a swift apology for his “joke.” “Merci pour le vol et ignorez son accent, ce n’était pas en mal.”

They waved us on our way and then Voodoo’s hand clasped mine once we were through the jet bridge.

“They appreciated my humor just fine, Firecracker,” he teased and I snorted even as we linked fingers. He also shortened his stride. Even with extra height afforded by the Doc Martens, my legs were still nowhere near as long as his.

“Maybe,” I said, shaking my head. “But it just sounded sobad.”

“Well, not all of us have your very talented tongue.” The playful wiggle of his brows had me snapping my mouth closed with a click, even as a snort of laughter escaped me.

“You’re terrible.”

“Yes, I am,” he said with a grin before raising my hand to kiss the knuckles. “And you’re laughing. So it’s all good.”

Passport control was ahead and they had e-gates which was always nice. We followed the others in the queue but had to split up because Voodoo traveled on a U.S. passport and I had Canadian.

“See you on the other side,” he said, then winked. His confidence helped. He held onto my carry-on, which was fine.There were more Canadians in the line than Americans. We flew out of Toronto, so that made sense.

Still, I waited patiently for my turn and focused onnotfreaking out. Everything would be fine. I had my passport out at the gate and then set it down and looked up at the camera.

For what seemed like an eternity that couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds, I stared at myself on the screen circled by the red light. The moment it flashed green, I blew out a breath and collected my passport. Voodoo waited for me not even a dozen steps away.

“Relax,” he murmured as he draped an arm over my shoulders. “Told you it would be fine.”

A laugh bubbled up out of me. “This shouldn’t be fun.”

“Who says? Hmm?”

“I—” Well, I didn’t have an answer for that. Not really. “This is serious.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun, Firecracker. You liked the flight right?”

“Yeah. It was comfortable.”

“Slept well?” He pressed as we continued on our way to baggage claim.

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