“Shit!”
What the Baron of Hell is she doing at a time like this? Who is she speaking to?
Heat creeps up my neck and cheeks but in the mirror, I look as cool as a cucumber, due to the layers and layers of make-up. I check the time again. Twenty-one minutes now. I try her phone again.
“Fuck!”
I do a very angry hang up on the busy signal and go to the door, pull it open and step into the hallway, the pre-party soundtracks coming from behind doors as I look up and down. No sign of Roxy.
A handle clicks and I turn back as a head peeps into the hallway. Very sadly for me, it’s not Roxy but is, of course, my arch-nemesis. Whatever. I don’t have time for this crap.
“Have you seen Roxy?” I call, holding my door open.
Charlie Chamberlain leans out a little further, his hand on the doorframe.
“What?”
“I said, have you seen Roxy?”
“No,” he says, stepping into the hallway. “Have you lost her?”
“Yes,” I say, thinking why would I ask where she is if I hadn’t lost her, doofus, but I remain reasonably polite in case he’s holding her hostage in his room. “Has Sadie seen her?”
He shrugs, the light shoulder movement of someone withouta care, someone who has access to the most important person in the world at any time they want, not someone who’s about to enter a cosplay competition completely tattoo-less.
“She’s not here,” he replies.
“Where is she?” I ask, about to berate him for losing his little sister.
“Vivian’s room.”
That genetically modified moth feels like it’s getting ready for take-off. I shake my head and try Roxy again.
“Fuck’s sake,” I hiss into the phone, hanging up again.
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s not answering her phone and the cosplay’s starting soon,” I say, panic clawing at my chest.
“Can’t you just meet her there?”
“No, she has to help me get ready.”
Charlie Chamberlain looks me up and down, his eyes lingering on my boots.Boots, I said.
“You look ready already.” He clears his throat. “You’re already ready. I mean, you look like you’re done.”
“Well, I’m not.”
He frowns for a minute then nods a little.
“She hasn’t done your tattoo,” he says.
I shake my head, just as the lift doors at the end of the corridor open and Roxy steps out, deep in conversation on her phone. My heart swells with relief but instead of walking back to our room, she takes a left and hurries through the door to the internal staircase.
“Roxy!?” I shout, hurrying towards her without thinking.
Charlie Chamberlain looks down the hall where Roxy’s just disappeared, then turns back to me as there’s an ominous bang and my door slams shut, trapping my cape and me in the hallway.
