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His blue eyes scanned the crowd, and I thought he was just taking it in until his gaze found me. His shoulders loosened. The smile went up and crinkled his eyes.

It was like a knife to the gut.

Knowing what we’d done.

Knowing what I was about to do.

But I forced my lips to curve up and ignored the sick sensation sloshing around in my stomach.

“And, of course, Silas isn’t just here alone today,” the warlock announced. “This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Madison, are you with us?”

The TV flickered dramatically, then slowly drifted into focus.

And there I was.

Madison.

In the flesh.

And, wow, yeah, a lot of flesh it was.

I mean, really, what were they thinking?

The Madison stand-in was sitting at a desk in a pair of yellow booty shorts and a purple tank top so tight I wasn’t sure how she was able to breathe. The top was pulled down enough for her breasts to nearly spill out, putting all those bodice-ripper covers I loved so much to shame with their heaving bosoms.

As for her face, well, this Madison was maintaining her anonymity behind a black balaclava, leaving just her ice-blue eyes on display, along with her blonde hair in space buns poking out of holes she’d cut in the hat portion.

I was blonde and blue-eyed, apparently. And had really, really great boobs.

Cheers erupted, with a few groans and even a couple of boos. Whether that was because it wasn’t a full reveal or because “Madison” wasn’t who people pictured in their minds, I had no idea.

My gaze slid from the woman toward Silas. He was looking at the screen, his brows pinched.

I wanted to stand and watch him.

Instead, I turned and walked away before he could see me.

Once I was out of sight of the stage, I ran upstairs and ducked into the small rectangular charging room that was full of plugs.

But with no seating, I had to drop down to the floor and sit cross-legged.

I took a few breaths, hoping to slow the way my heart was punching against my ribcage.

It wasn’t the call.

Okay, fine. It was partially the call. Now that I knew what body my voice would be coming out of and just how many people would be watching and listening.

But more than that, it was what came after.

I tamped those thoughts down, trying to force myself to focus on one thing at a time.

And right now, I had to be able to think clearly enough to make a halfway engaging argument against Silas’s very polished words.

Even just thinking his name had my heart lurching.

I reached for my other phone, bringing up the feed from the con and watching Silas as he finally moved behind the desk, slipping on his vintage-style headphones and rolling his neck.

He kept casting confused glances at “Madison,” and I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he didn’t know she was a stand-in, if Mr. Lane and the con planners had kept that little detail from him.