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The bodice is strapless, with two sharp points pushing my breasts up. It fits tightly against my skin and cups my waist, with a hole on the right side. A bright red jewel and gold chains drape from there across the rest of the dress. The fabric is tight over my hips, then the left side flows down my leg to the floor and out, looking like flames as I move and turn. My entire right leg is exposed, draped in more gold chains.

Chains also cover my chest, connecting spikes of flames on each shoulder, their points black, while the colours closest to my skin are bright orange and red, looking so real I can almost smell the ash. Hanging from those spikes is a cape of flames, flowing out in partitions like butterfly wings, but when they move, they ripple like fire.

I look like an inferno, just like I wanted.

I hate that my mother was right. I can hear her voice. Dressing to impress can make you feel powerful because I do right now. When I open the door and step out, every single one of the guys freezes, their wide eyes locked on me.

“Well, we feel underdressed,” Raiden remarks in amusement, but his voice is choked and low.

“You look beautiful, little beastie,” Bram whispers.

“Powerful,” Kitt corrects, and I swallow.

“Like a queen,” Torrin says.

“She looks good in everything,” Emrys adds. “Do we need to change?” He glances down at his tattered clothes and winces.

“Here.” I toss the remaining vials to them. “I’ll show you how to use them.”

I start with Raiden, since he’s the closest. His eyes continually rove over me before I snap my fingers, making him grin. “Uncork the bottle,” I instruct, which he does, wincing at the smell of magic. “Dab it on yourself, here and here.” I gesture. “Then close your eyes and imagine what you wish to wear.”

“Anything?” He wiggles his eyebrows.

“Anything your mind can create, but remember we are going into battle. Before the night is through, we will probably be dead.”

“Right, so we have to look good.” He nods before doing as instructed. When I step back, I watch the magic slowly move across his body. It’s strange to watch it in action. It gathers material from the air and fashions it across his skin.

When it’s done, I can barely breathe. I’m used to seeing him rough and worn, not like this. His face glows from within, brighter than ever.

I have seen Raiden’s mask once or twice, but it only adds to his outfit now. It covers his left eye and cheek, done in grey and blue that reflects the light and glows against his skin with filigree swirls. His hair falls around him, mixing with a crown perched atop his head, with blue lightning-stricken jewels inlaid in the silver.

The collar of his jacket is sharp, spiked, and tipped with glowing blue, like flower petals surrounding his neck. It cuts down across his chest in the same light grey blue with lightning filigree, showcasing his expansive and beautiful chest. The sleeves are covered with fur hanging from the shoulders, the same colour as his fox, and when he twirls to show me, I see his double fox tail proudly displayed behind him. At his side, however, is a sword made of lightning and ice, glowing from within.

He looks like a prince.

Beautiful.

“I figured why not outdo her?” He smirks. “Do you like it?” He advances on me, but I turn to Bram next and help him do the same, watching as he transforms just like Raiden did.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely isn’t what he chooses. The outfit is skintight and black. It looks more like armour than clothes, stiff and hard. The chest plate is decorated with twisted bones to create a rib cage. The gold bone frame matches the gold draped across me, and I know he did it on purpose. Bram is nothing if not a gentle giant. There are black spikes tipped with gold running along his hips and down his legs. His arms are concealed in a mesh-like fabric, with shoulder plates and spikes. The snug fit makes him look huge and daunting. It’s his face, though, I can’t look away from. His soft, almost friendly appearance is completely transformed. His eyes look brighter and deadly, and his skin shines under the mask he’s donned. It almost meets in the middle of his face, but there’s a gap between his eyes and nose. Each side flares out in deadly, gold-tipped spikes. The rest looks like armour, his jaw and cheek bones sharp underneath it.

I can’t look away.

“I am not dressing up like that,” Emrys grumbles, and I hand him the vial. He rolls his eyes but gets to work.

Unlike the others, he sticks with his usual—leather trousers and gold guns—but his hat transforms to a deep black that bleeds to red, with a phoenix feather sticking out of it. His vest is leather and buttoned but sleeveless.

The outfit exposes the scars across his skin, ones he used to hide, and it steals the air from my lungs.

He looks like my Emrys, but better than ever, and when he lifts his head, showing me those glowing eyes, I almost fall into them. His lips quirk like he sees my reaction and enjoys it.

A throat clears, and when I turn, I find Kitt and Torrin side by side, having already completed the spells. “I hate dressing up,” Torrin mutters, but I can’t speak, not with them together like that.

He might hate dressing up, but Torrin looks incredible. He went the armour route like Bram, no doubt expecting trouble. The chest plate covers his pecs but leaves his wide abs on display, and gold glitters across his skin like jewels trapped within. The armour itself is black with gold accents and reaches the top of his arms. The same is slung around his waist in a giant buckle with gold decoration, which covers his legs to golden boots, concealing most of them, and black leather material drapes down almost like a skirt.

His horns have gold plates and chains draped between them like my dress. There is more gold in his ears and nose. He looks like a king and every bit a monster.

Finally, my eyes find Kitt and widen, unable to blink.