“Aw, don’t be like that, I was just joking!” The spotty one tilted his head at me. “Besides, we’re on a mission tonight.”

“A drag-Jemma-Bliss-to-Hell-type mission.”

“Lucky you read those books, Jemma Bliss, because what you’re gonna see tonight … well, at least you might be a little bit prepared for it.”

I swallowed. What was I getting myself into?

And why had SJ decided that this … sex-ball … was a good venue for my third task?

“What’s he planning?” I whispered suspiciously, clutching Luci tighter to me.

“Planning? Boss ain’t planning nothing!”

“Yeah, promise! He has no plans. Zero. Zip. Nada.”

“Why do I not believe you?”

They both turned to me, standing on their hind legs, eyes wide. The ferret version of puppy-dog eyes.

“Are they talking back?”

I snapped upright, staggering once—damn these bloody stilettos! Jules and Esther were watching me with looks of interest on their faces. Ezra, behind them, was shaking his head at me like I was an idiot.

“Oh … sorry, I just, I always chat to them. They’re like my babies, so …” I really, really hoped they hadn’t heard me making strange accusations to a pair of ferrets.

But Jules’s face softened immediately, and Esther guffawed, clapping her partner on the back. “Juju here’s just the same! I’ve walked in on her reading bedtime stories to Falcor before!”

I tittered, then cleared my throat. “Um, anyway, I was wondering, do you mind if I borrow the costume for the night?” Hopefully just the night … who knew how long a ball-turned-bacchanalian-bumping-uglies-fest could last … “It’s just that my … my boyfriend’s having a fancy-dress party tonight—angels and demons themed, if you can believe it—and I figured, two birds, one stone?”

Esther’s face split into a grin so wide it almost disappeared into her ears. “That sounds fantastic! Of course you can wear it! And you’ll take some of our business cards, to hand out to everyone who compliments you—because everyone is going to be complimenting you, jeez, you look like … well, I think we nailed the slutty demoness brief, let’s just leave it at that!”

My laugh this time felt forced as Esther bustled away to grab some cards, and Jules started turning off all the photography lighting.

“You okay, Jem?” Ezra sidled up beside me. He reached out to squeeze my arm, then thought better of touching the red paint, instead giving me an awkward pat on the head between the horns. “We’ll have to take those off before you go … remember what the message said?”