“That’s not going to be enough time to complete this mission.” Jen said.
“We can flash anywhere we need to go in the mall, genius,” said Peri. “No wasting time on walking. High fae as a bestie, remember?”
Jen gave her a thumbs-up. “Affirmative!” She was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I’ve got my eye on the prize. All I could see was us power walking from store to store laden down with bags.”
“All right, let’s do this,” Zara said.
Laughter bubbled out of Sally as every single one of them clapped their hands like a sports team in a huddle.
Jacque grinned. “We’ve obviously rubbed off on them.” She motioned to everyone as the others chuckled.
Sally walked beside Peri, Zara was on her other side, and Crina next to her. They stopped at the large sign just before the entrance into the mall. There was a map that listed where the various stores were located. Jacque’s group stood next to them as they examined the map as well.
“Why didn’t we use online shopping for everything?” Crina asked, already sounding weary from simply looking at the map.
“Because then we wouldn’t get the experience of shopping a couple of days before Christmas Eve,” Jen offered. “It’s almost as dangerous as shopping on Black Friday.”
“Dangerous?” Crina, Peri, and Elle said at the same time.
“Humans be crazy when it comes to buying the most popular toy every year. They will take you out just to get to the last one on the shelf.” Jen ran her finger across the map, looking for something.
Sally watched as her blonde BFF stopped at a store that had the word toy in the title, but Jen’s finger was obscuring the other words.
“We’ll start here,” Jen said.
“Sweet.” Zara grinned. “Our group can start here.”
Sally stepped closer to see what the she-wolf was pointing at. “A lingerie store?” Her brow rose.
Zara didn’t even blush as she said. “I saw a commercial for it. They’ve got what I need to keep my man interested.”
“You do understand that he won’t ever even look at another female, even if you look like a toothless hag, right?”
“I can be a toothless hag in pretty underwear.”
“See.” Jen pointed at Zara. “That’s why she’s my new favorite.”
“That’s also why you’re not in her group,” Jacque said.
Peri held out her arms. “We’re concealed,” the high fae said. “Hop on and let’s go buy sexy stuff.”
Sally placed a hand on her arm. “Am I the only one who’s a little disturbed by the fact that we’re going to know what kind of lingerie each of us will be wearing for our mates?”
“Peri could just magic us this stuff,” Crina pointed out.
“Crina, I love you,” Jacque said, “but you’re not getting out of this. We’re having a girls’ day shopping trip, and only Bethany is getting out of it because she is knocked up, the size of a house, with a hovering mate.”
Peri flashed them before Crina could respond. When they reappeared, they were standing in the middle of a store decorated almost entirely in pink. Matching bras and panties covered every available surface. Sally watched as Crina’s eyes widened.
“And to answer your question,” Peri told Crina, “I’m not about to be magicking crotchless panties for you. That’s a hard no for me.”
Sally laughed as Zara grabbed her hand and started pulling her through the store. “Don’t forget to shut down a little bit of the bond so your mate doesn’t get a glimpse of this,” Sally told her.
“Already on it,” Zara replied.
They reached a huge, spinning, double-tiered, circular bin filled with tiny scraps of fabric. Zara picked one up and used both hands to spread out the material. Her forehead scrunched together as she stared at it. “I realize that at my age I should know what this is, but they didn’t really offer fashion choices when I was with the bloodsuckers,” Zara whispered.
“It’s a thong,” Sally said.
Zara’s frown deepened. “I was taken as a little kid. I don’t really…”
“See that string at the back?”
Zara nodded.
“That’s like floss between your teeth, only it goes between your cheeks, and I don’t mean the cheeks on your face.”
The she-wolf’s face pinched as she continued to stare at the thong. “That seems incredibly uncomfortable. Wouldn’t you be constantly trying to pull it out?”
Sally shrugged. “Some chicks like the perpetual wedgie feel, and guys supposedly think it’s sexy.”
“Costin?” Zara asked.
“He prefers naked.”
“But Wadim would like these?”
“He’s a dude. He’s going to love it. And to be fair, they probably won’t be on you long enough to be that uncomfortable.”
Zara’s pursed lips turned up in a mischievous grin. Suddenly, she grabbed a handful of the thongs.
“Okay, wow. That’s a lot of—”
“Some are for you.” Zara started walking in another direction.
“I’m sorry, what?” Sally hurried after the girl. “You don’t even know what sizes they are.”
“Peri can fix them if they don’t fit.” Zara took an offered bag with the store logo on it from one of the employees. She dumped the thongs into it and began flipping through the lingerie on a rack next to them. She pulled out a hanger that held a red see-through, knee-length nightie. Her grin spread even wider. “We should get these in every color.”
“Wow.” Peri walked up beside them, Crina beside her. “Z is really getting into this.”
“I’ve got nipples!” Zara practically yelled.
Sally ducked her head. “Holy troll babies. Can you be a little louder? I don’t think they heard you in the food court.”
“Yeah, ya do!” Peri gave her a huge smile. “Thanks to yours truly. Might as well show off my handiwork.”
“See why I like to do online shopping?” Crina met Sally’s eyes.
“Totally.” Sally started grabbing different colors of the nightgown, shoving them into Peri’s hands. “Let’s just get these and get nipple-girl out of here before she starts yelling about her other body parts.”
*****
“Jen, the pups can’t even read yet, let alone hold pencils to trace their alphabet.” Jacque looked at the shopping cart that held a stack of preschool workbooks for Thia and Slate. “Besides, who gets their kids workbooks for Christmas?”
“People who want their kids to be smarter than other kids. But these are for Titus. If he’s doing these, he won’t have time to prowl around the mansion trying to stalk me.”
“Ah, I see.”
Jen headed down another aisle of the bookstore. It was a much quieter atmosphere than the toy store where they’d spent almost two hours. Elle had flashed to their hotel room three times already to drop off bags of purchases. Jacque texted Sally earlier to let her know that Titus was good to go on gifts, and that Santa Jen might have gotten carried away.