Chapter 21
Me
Hey, Thaddy! I was wondering if maybe you had time today after I get back from shopping to help me practice my magic.
Thaddy Smurf
Sorry, sunshine. My girlfriend and I have tickets to opening night at the opera tonight. It’ll be pretty late by the time we get back.
Me
No worries, Thaddy. Thanks anyway.
Music blaresloudly through the speakers, drowning out my disappointment as Marion weaves between cars on the road toward Main Street. The highway is packed with people being that it’s Sunday, and it seems they all had the same idea as us.
Shopping.
While I’ve never been a fan of spending money since I needed to save it for my future, now I can because my future has been rerouted in an entirely new direction. Not only do I still have the few grand I left the human sector with, but I also have an entire bank account full of so many zeros, I don’t know what I’ll do with it all.
It’s not like I’ll spend a lot of it, though. Maybe get a couple of things here and there and call it good. There isn’t exactly a lot of storage space in my dorm room. Plus, why get it all now and have to move it after I leave Stonewell.
That’s not something that I’ve really thought much about. Leaving Stonewell. Eventually, it’ll happen. I’ll be done with my schooling and need to move on. To what, I have no clue. There’s only so much I can do being hidden as I am.
The mansion Axel showed me yesterday comes to mind, but I can’t see myself living there all by myself. The place is too big to navigate alone. I know there are many others who would love to be in my position, owning such a grand estate, but things like that have just never been for me.
Marion whips into a massive parking structure, gliding into an empty spot before shutting off the car. The silence now that the music isn’t blaring is deafening. A squeal from the driver’s seat punctuates the quiet, and the car starts to rock as she bounces in her seat with excitement.
“I know I said we were going to go into town, but I thought the mall would be better. There are so many more stores here, and I wanted to get something special for…” she trails off before waving her own words away. “It doesn’t matter. Are you ready for a day of shopping?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I try to summon the same excitement that Marion has, but there’s no doubt that it falls flat. She, thankfully, chooses to ignore my lack of enthusiasm, snatching her bag from the back seat and hopping out. I follow suit to find her bouncing on her toes as she waits for me to orient myself with my surroundings.
Marion links her arm with mine and all but drags me toward the elevator, talking a mile a minute about who knows what. My eyes are too busy surveying my surroundings, and I reach up, clasping my necklace. Reminding myself that I’m hidden. That no one knows what I am. And as long as I have this around my neck, I’ll be safe.
Famous last words, right? That seems to be the theme of my life. Every time I think that, something bad happens. But it could just be my nerves, as this is the first time I’ve been out in the supernatural world without Axel—without anyone, really. I have to remember, though, that I’m not alone, and Marion wouldn’t leave me to navigate it by myself—or at least I hope she wouldn’t.
The elevator takes us to the bottom floor, and my jaw drops when the doors open, revealing what can only be described as a shopper’s paradise. Marion has to physically drag me from the metal box as my brain stops sending signals to my feet the second I set eyes on the many places where I could easily spend thousands of dollars.
Not that I’m going to, but the temptation is real.
“So, where should we go first?” Marion squeals, her eyes darting around the crowds coming in and out of the various stores to our left and right.
“Uhhh…”
“Oh, I know. Come on, Bailey.” I trip over my own feet as Marion latches onto my arm and darts between people, beelining straight for the… My eyes widen, and I choke on a breath. Lingerie store. If I’d known it was her main object to come to buy lingerie, I would have come up with some kind of excuse to stay back at the academy and dig into those books we brought back last night.
The moment we step into the store, my eyes are assaulted with lace, leather, and stringy-looking things that couldn’t be comfortable. Marion takes us directly to the lace, sifting through the racks and eyeing the mannequins with a keen eye.
“Oh my God. This would look amazing on you, Bailey!” Marion pulls out a pink lace babydoll, complete with frills and a string that I’m guessing would go up my ass and my cooch. “The color goes really well with your skin tone.” She holds the pale pink monstrosity up against my black-clad form, making my cheeks heat.
What is it with this freaking color that I can’t seem to get away from? Pink eyes. Pink magic. Pink. Pink. Fucking pink.
“I know! You should totally go try it on!” She thrusts it into my arms and tries turning me toward the changing rooms, but I dig my feet in, not letting her push me around.
“Thanks, Marion. But this really isn’t my style.” Slowly, so I won’t provoke her to attack, I hang the pink lace onto the rack and back away. She huffs and rolls her golden eyes before snatching it back up and putting it in the ever-growing pile on her arm.
“Fine.” She drags out the word as she heads to the section with all the leather. “Is this more your style?” She pulls a black leather catsuit off the wall and attempts to hold it up to me. I shake my head, lifting my hands to block her advances. “God, you’re no fun.”
Story of my life.
“So what is your style, then?” The lingerie falls from her arm as she lifts her hands to finger quote the word style. I huff a laugh, then bend down and begin helping her clean them up.
“I never really thought about it, to be honest. I’ve actually never had anyone…” my words trail off as I realize I just spilled one of my secrets out loud.
And now Marion knows it.
The pickings were slim in the human sector. It wasn’t like I could traverse to others to find someone to date. So, here I am. A twenty-one-year-old virgin.
Marion gapes at me as I shrug my shoulders. My way of telling her, no big deal. Because it’s not. It’s not like I’m saving it for someone special. Liar, my brain whispers, and I shush the bitch. I was ready to give it to Axel last night if we weren’t so rudely interrupted. And he isn’t someone special. Lies, my brain fires off again, and I mentally flip myself off this time.
Instead of commenting on my slip, Marion shifts everything in her arms and glances back over her shoulder. “I’m going to try these on. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“Have fun,” I call after her, watching her speak to a salesperson before slipping behind a heavy drape.
While she’s busy with that, I head to the more sensible things. The stuff without lace, frills, leather, and strings. A few things catch my eye, and a small pile starts to form in my own arms of things that I don’t need to try on or need another person to explain to me how the heck to put on my body.
As soon as the cashier hands me my shopping bag, Marion throws a pile of lingerie—in a multitude of different colors—onto the counter and flashes a black card at the cashier. They talk about all the new lines coming this spring while I stand back and survey the area.
A creeping dread roils through me, making me tremble on the spot, but as soon as I try to find the source of it, the feeling disappears.
Over the next hour and countless stores, the feeling haunted me, almost like it was following my every move. But since then, I’ve just shaken it off as paranoia of being in an unknown place without the one person I feel safe with.
It doesn’t help that everywhere I look, there is a different supernatural, with all their bits on display that make them distinct. Wings here. Fur there. Claws and fangs flashing as they troll the mall. I snicker as a troll trundles by, punctuating my thoughts. And there’s so many more here than there is at the academy. So, of course, I’d be feeling this way. Anyone would be in my position.
Marion struggles with the numerous bags hanging from her arms as we finally make it into the food court. She heads straight to the smoothie cart, and my mouth waters at the thought of some berry goodness.
The line is long as hell, everyone else sharing the same idea as us. As we take up the queue at the back of the line, my gaze snags on a sign for the bathroom not much further from where we are.
“Hey. I’m going to run and use the restroom real quick. If you reach the front before I’m back, can you order me a strawberry and banana freezer?”
“I gotcha, girl.”
“Thanks.”
By the time I’ve finished dodging groups of people, I’m close to bursting. The moment I step through the bathroom door, I breathe a sigh of relief and beeline straight for a stall. After finishing my business, I flush the toilet and head out, stopping to wash my hands in the sink. People who avoid this one step are freaking gross. It doesn’t matter whether they’re human or supernatural. There are people everywhere who don’t wash their hands after using a public restroom. Bleh.
The automatic water shuts off after I rinse the soap from my hands. An auto dryer hangs on the wall, and after countless times swiping my hands underneath it, I realize it doesn’t work. Back on the counter is a roll of towels, and I scowl, stomping back over there to grab one. How hard is it to post an out-of-order sign?
The crumpled towel rims the trashcan before falling in after I toss it away on my way out the door. It hasn’t been too long since I’ve been in here, so I suspect Marion will still be waiting in line for our smoothies. I shove the door open, and right as I go to walk through, the door is shoved even harder back at me, knocking me on my ass.
Unable to catch myself, the back of my head slams into the tiled flooring, making me release a pain-filled groan.
What. The. Fuck.
As I sit up, I grab my head, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Little pinpricks of pain assault me as I poke at the tender spot on my head, my fingers coming away covered in blood. Shit. Not good. My legs tremble as I attempt to get to my feet, and I’ve barely stood up when the bathroom door flies open, and that horrible, dreadful feeling washes over me again. Only one hundred times worse now as a big, ugly fucker slips inside, closing the door behind him.
“Finally,” the big man garbles out the word. “I never thought you’d leave the wolf’s side.” He advances on me as I scramble back, trying to keep some distance between us. But luck isn’t on my side when my back hits the wall of the bathroom. He gets all up in my space, breathing his nasty stench all over my face and making me gag.
My magic pushes to the forefront, wanting to come out and defend me, but I hold it back. I know I shouldn’t, and I’ll probably get yelled at for it later, but I don’t actually want to kill anyone. And without really knowing how to control it, I can almost guarantee that will happen.
Using what I can, I shove the few shopping bags I have between us, but he eliminates the block, ripping the bags clean off my arm and throwing them behind him. His meaty paws come to rest on my hips, and that’s when my better-late-than-never fight instincts kick in. Not the magical ones. Not yet. I’ll have to keep that as a last resort if I can’t get away.
My knee comes up, with the hopes of kicking him right in the dick, but faster than I can blink, he spins me around and slams me face-first into the wall.
His hot breath wafts over my ear as he uses his body weight for leverage, keeping me pinned. “You’ll make such a pretty little prize.” I stiffen at his words. They sound suspiciously a lot like what Axel told me. How people either want to own my kind or kill us.
Fuck. That. I refuse to be just another statistic.
With the close proximity of his face, since he’s leaning down to my height, I cross my fingers and hope this will work as I slam my head back, butting him right in the nose. An audible crack is heard in the otherwise silent restroom. His weight falls away momentarily, and I use that to spin around, hoping to dodge around him and get the hell out of the bathroom.
Two steps. That’s all I get before a meaty fist snags my hair, ripping me right back into his chest. A scream gets lodged in my throat as that same hand releases my hair and wraps around my neck.
“You broke my fucking nose, bitch.” His words come out slurred, muffled by his other hand shielding his damaged nose.
He cuts off my oxygen as I go to reply, squeezing to the point of pain and black spots dotting my vision. My chest stutters with the lack of air I need to breathe, and I feel myself slowly falling into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.
The door to the bathroom opens, and my eyes widen when I see Marion strutting in.
“Jeez, Bailey. That’s one hell of a shit you have to?—”
Tears trail down my cheeks when her eyes meet mine, horror flashing in golden depths. The smoothies slip from her hands and hit the floor, the contents splattering everywhere.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mouth to her, causing her brows to furrow as she tries to figure out what I’m apologizing for.
I finally let go, letting my magic take over like it wanted to in the beginning. Marion shrieks as I’m engulfed in pink flames, and the asshole behind me screams in pain as my fire starts to eat away at his clothing. His hold on me disappears as he drops to the floor behind me, and I take off like a rocket, straight for Marion.
In my head and my heart, I beg my magic not to hurt her. To keep her safe and keep my flames around us both until we can get somewhere else, far, far away from here. The second my arms wrap around her, my flames engulfing us both, a pink portal opens in the doorway, and I dive right through, praying to the gods that wherever we end up, Marion will come away unharmed.