Chapter Two
Two things happened on the way to the mall. One totally expected. The other a complete yet welcome surprise.
My brothers annoyed the hell out of me.
Cosette texted me back.
When I’d messaged her last night, I hadn’t expected to hear back. Max and Micah would shit themselves if they found out I was planning to meet up with Cosette—especially after what Dad said—but Cosette was my friend, and I needed some girl time. Desperately. And if she was texting me back, something was up.
I had to ditch my brothers. As soon as we got to the mall, I headed to the one place that was guaranteed brother repellant. Victoria’s Secret.
Micah’s nose scrunched at scent of all the perfumes as soon as I stopped in front of the store. “You’ve gotta be kidding me, Meredith. No. Just no.”
I gave them my most innocent grin. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t need any of that—” Max waved his hand at one of the displays. “Stuff. In there.” He grabbed my arm, trying to drag me away.
I jerked free. “It’s just Victoria’s Secret. It’s underwear. And Donovan is coming back soon, so I thought I’d get something a little—”
“Stop.” Max covered his ears. “That’s disgusting.”
I raised my eyebrows. “My sex life is disgusting?” They didn’t have to know that I wasn’t actually having sex yet. I almost felt bad about the twinge of glee I got from the horror on Micah’s face. Almost being the operative word.
Micah shoved Max. “Make her stop.”
“I’m going in,” I said. “Why don’t you guys grab some food, and I’ll be down to the food court in a bit? Just text me if you want to know where I am.” The two of them stared at each other before coming to an unspoken agreement.
“Share your location with me, and you’ve got a deal,” Max said.
“No problem.” I whipped out my phone, turned on location sharing with Max, and smiled. “All good here? Can I shop now?”
“Feel free,” Max said. They both scampered away, nearly tripping over their own feet.
Seriously? The idea of me buying underwear had them running? Maturity at its finest.
I moved to the back of the store, pulling out my phone to text Cosette. Got rid of my brothers. So glad you could make it! Although I’m shocked. I haven’t heard from you in weeks.
Your timing was perfect. I’m ten out. Meet me in the Dave & Busters?
No good. My brothers might go there. I pretended to look at some bras while I watched the little animated dots.
My cousin runs a jewelry and mystic shop on the fourth floor. Reeks of nag champa. You can’t miss it. We’ll figure out where to go from there.
Heading there now.
Good. We need to talk.
That sounded a little ominous.
Patience was never my thing. I started typing back as I walked through the mall, head down, as I wondered what she needed to talk about. I’d planned to stay out of the fey stuff, but if Cosette was in trouble, then I had to do something.
I was about to hit send when someone bumped me. I would’ve thought it was an accident, but the girl’s hand was out. She’d purposefully stopped me?
She was about my age, blonde, average height and whatnot. I would’ve breezed past her with an “excuse me,” but the look on her face stopped me. Her mouth opened so far that her chewed-up, slimy piece of gum dropped to the floor with a wet plop.
“It’s you.”
Oh shit. This was so not good. Being on the news—twice—wasn’t good for my anonymity. Not at all. This girl was going to get me caught. If this mall trip turned into a thing, my brothers were going to kick my ass, and Dad had barely let me out of the house in the first place.
Damn it. Maybe my mother was right. I should’ve gone blonde again. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hey, Ashley! Hurry up! That werewolf—”
Shit. I wasn’t waiting for Ashley or anyone else to show up. I started walking again. If I caused a scene, not only would my brothers—and possibly the rest of the pack—kill me, but Donovan wouldn’t be happy, either. If it escalated in any way beyond this girl and her friend recognizing me, it could be a huge problem. Inciting a mob incident while Donovan was trying to smooth things over with the supernatural community and the humans would be an epic disaster.
I sneaked one quick glance back at the girl. She was walking off with her friend as she gestured toward me. I let out a breath. Even though the girl had recognized me, she wasn’t making a big deal about it. She was leaving.
Crisis averted.
I kept moving through the mall until I smelled the incense. Cosette wasn’t kidding. Her cousin was mad for nag champa. The closer I got, the stronger the scent got until the herby smoke was all I could smell. From three stores down, it wiped out every other scent in the mall. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible.
The store’s big glass doors were open, welcoming people, but I didn’t particularly feel welcome. A ding sounded as I stepped through the threshold. There was no one inside, but I assumed Cosette’s cousin was in the back. A big square of display cases filled the center of the store. Shelves piled haphazardly with smaller items lined the walls. Little baggies of herbs, smudging sticks, candles, crystals, packages of tarot cards, and Lord only knew what else filled the shelves until everything was nearly spilling over the edges. Not even the central display had space between the amulets, knives, coins, and other glittering things. It was like the owner had just dumped everything in there.
Between the clutter and the scent, it was no wonder I was the only customer in the place. And if I were fey and wanted to limit who was coming in… Cosette’s cousin was either a genius or crap at business.
I moved to the right wall. It held spell books and amulets that could be worth checking out. If a fey owned the shop, the books might actually be full of useful information instead of the usual BS that humans tried to sell. I was reaching for a book about protection spells when someone tapped my shoulder.
Whirling, I nearly knocked into the shopkeeper standing behind me. No one ever got that close without me noticing. The damned nag champa was blinding my nose.
“Yes?” The word came out a little ruder than I wanted. The taken-off-guard thing made me snippy. I tried to smile to ease the sting of it.
“You think you should be here—in my store—with the way things are right now?”
The burning incense might have been messing with my nose, but I could see well enough to know I was looking at Cosette’s cousin. She was over six feet tall and rail thin. Her fingers were a little too long, and so was her neck. Her appearance was just off enough that I wondered how much magic she was using to hide what she actually looked like.
“I’m meeting someone here,” I said.
The woman snorted. “Not likely.”
I took a step back, hoping to gain a little distance. If me being here was a problem, I should probably go. “Your cousin Cosette said to meet her here, but I’ll leave. I don’t want to make a scene.” Getting into a fight would cause epic problems. I tried to leave, but she blocked my exit. “I can’t leave if you don’t get out of the way.”
“You’re the one. You exposed us.” Her eyes narrowed, and her fists clenched.
She made it sound like I’d been the only one on the news—like outing the supernaturals was my fault. But others had been involved. And it wasn’t like the fey were the only ones going through shit right now. Things were just as messed up for the Weres. “None of us did it on purpose.”
“Doesn’t matter when we’re all paying the consequences.” Her face scrunched up. “I’m losing everything, and it’s your fault.”
Nothing I could say would make it better. The fey had seven courts—Lunar, Solar, Midnight, Leaves, Flames, Waves, and Gales. And if all their queens were demanding something be done, there was absolutely nothing I could do to help. So I said the only thing I could. “I’m s—”
“Lania. Cousin.” Cosette strode through the door. She gave me the tiniest shake of her head, warning me to stay silent. “Stop. She’s a friend.”
“Yes. Remind me of our relation as you bring one of them to my shop.” Lania spat at the floor. “I’ll have you know I’m mad at you, too.”
Cosette grasped Lania’s hand. “Nothing can be done to fix it now.”
Lania pulled away from her. “Did you ask your mother?”
Cosette sighed, her shoulders slouching a little. I’d never been aware she could slouch. “It’s out of her control. We all must do as we’re bidden. Believe me, she dislikes it as much as you do.”
Lania crossed her arms over her stomach as she spun away. I hated that I was part of the reason the supernatural world was being uprooted. It seriously stunk.
“Do you have what I asked for?” Cosette said.
Lania turned back to us, sneering at Cosette. “You’re giving one of our possessions to that?” She motioned to me.
Perfect. I was a that now.
“I know what it means to give something of ours to a Were, but it’s with good reason. I trust Meredith with my life, and our friendship was forged in battle.” Cosette held out her hand. “I’ll have her protected if I can.”
Little bits of electricity flashed along the carpeting as Lania stormed to the counter. New singe marks showed her path, covering up older ones. I motioned to Cosette, and she gave me a small shrug.
This fey was nearly out of control if her magic was seeping out enough to burn the carpet, but I wasn’t about to say anything. I had a feeling that would go over like shit on rice.
Lania pulled a green velvet pouch from beside the register. “I will not speak of this to anyone.” Whiffs of smoke came up from the carpet with each step she took toward us. “I trust you both will keep your silence. It would do me no favors if someone were to find out I was involved in handing this over.”
I nodded. “Of course.” I had no idea what Cosette was doing, but I was totally okay with keeping my mouth shut.
Cosette nodded. “Until we next meet.”
“Until we next meet,” Lania responded, but the words sounded hollow.
“Come on,” Cosette said as she strode back into the mall.
She didn’t tell me what was in the bag.
A part of me wasn’t sure if I wanted my questions answered, but the rest needed to know why Cosette was risking trouble with her queen. Because whatever the reason was, it had to be big.