Joan the Made (Throwbacks Series, Book 1)

Chapter 44

Three days of frantic planning blur together. I hole myself up in the Chrysalis, rehearsing every part of Crew's plan exhaustively. I work, eat, and even sleep there, only leaving twice, both times to secretly meet up with Justus so he knows what's happening.

The level of coordination that goes into prepping for Circe Night astounds me. There isn't a Throwback in the building who isn't dedicated to some part of the plan.

Dennis is making me practice hacking an encrypted video feed for the umpteenth time when Elizabeth joins us.

"It's time to get you into costume. The car from Strand will be here to pick you up in two hours," she announces.

"I can get myself ready in thirty minutes."

She grabs my arm and yanks me out of my chair. "Yes, you've proven that you can turn yourself into a whore for sale in no time. But tonight, you need to appear classy, so Crew wants me to oversee your costuming."

I let Elizabeth pull me along because I promised Crew I'd follow orders and I intend to keep my word. Mostly.

Elizabeth takes me up several floors to costuming. A team of four is waiting to get me ready. One is cloned from Madonna, but the others aren't immediately identifiable.

They take me in hand and begin discussing my "look" for the evening as if I'm not there. Apparently, I'm not worth consulting. I close my eyes and let them work.

I'm scrubbed, plucked, painted, brushed, and dressed. Elizabeth is constantly correcting the team, ordering them to use less blush or insisting on a more sophisticated hairstyle. I tune it all out and go through the plan in my mind step by step.

"You've done her justice," a deep voice says.

I open my eyes and find Crew staring at me, his head cocked to the side and his mouth turned down in a bitter frown.

"I remind you of Jo like this?" I guess, and he nods. "Then I must look pretty good."

"Understatement," the Madonna clone, whose real name is Lillian, says proudly.

Elizabeth turns my chair so I face the mirror. I thought I'd transformed myself before, but that was like a girl playing with makeup compared to how I'm done up tonight. Elizabeth has made me appear commanding, almost regal. The girl in the reflection dominates a room.

"Thank you."

"Make it count," she replies.

"I will."

Crew is distracted by a message on his phone, and Elizabeth leans closer to me. "You're going to make the headmaster pay tonight for all he's done."

"Yes."

Elizabeth swallows once, then twice. "If you need more proof against him . . . I could testify. It was only once, but he made me give myself to a client of his. If I refused, he would have exposed sensitive information about my family to the public. I could not allow that."

I know how it feels to think of yourself as strong and to have life prove that you're as vulnerable as everyone else. Elizabeth's forehead wrinkles as she recounts her pain, and my heart aches for her.

As if sensing my sympathy, her usual cold reserve returns. "Don't mistake me—I'm no one's victim. Nonetheless, it would give me great pleasure to see him humiliated and removed from a position that allows him to abuse his power."

"Or drawn and quartered. That would give me great pleasure," I say, and am rewarded when Elizabeth's mouth quirks in a half smile. "Thank you for stepping forward, but you can keep your family's secrets safe. We have all the proof we need. He's about to have the worst night of his life."