“You don’t need an exit,” I shouted as I leaped three steps at a time.
We blew through the lingerie department, and I spotted the glorious sign: Women’s Restroom.
“In.” I held the door open and then locked it behind Cosette. A lady washing her hands froze.
“This, I can handle,” Cosette said as she moved toward her. “Forget you ever saw us.”
The lady nodded once and continued washing. I pulled Cosette into the wheelchair access stall. “Call Van.”
Cosette nodded. “Van.”
I didn’t feel any fey magic happening, but suddenly Van was there, standing on top of the toilet. His navy pants and tunic were belted with his scabbard hanging empty. He had his sword out, ready to take the head off any enemies. “Who’s attacking?”
“We’re at the mall,” Cosette said. “There’s a crowd outside with their phones out…”
Van let out a series of curses, before turning to me. His long, white hair was out of its standard low ponytail, the only clue that he’d been in the middle of something. “Do you need me to get you out, too?”
I considered it for a second, but it wouldn’t work. If we both disappeared, the fallout would be worse. Going back out might at least distract the human mob from the fact that Cosette had left from a bathroom with no exits. “Nah. I’ll be fine.”
Van nodded, but Cosette raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. No worries. My brothers are on their way.” Sure, they were going to murder me, but there was nothing Cosette could do to stop that.
A pounding came on the door followed by Max’s voice. “Open up, Mere!”
“That would be them. I’ll catch you later.”
Van lifted his chin a bit and then grabbed Cosette’s hand. Suddenly I was alone in the stall.
What the hell is going on? Donovan yelled through the bond.
I jumped at the sound of his voice. My mate clearly wasn’t happy with me, but I could still fix this. I’m just at the mall, and—
With Cosette? With a fey? When things are strained, and I’ve been here for days working my arse off trying to make nice with the queens? You took the youngest Lunar court princess to the mall? Undisguised? The same princess who started the mess with them? I—
I banged my head on the stall door. Did he just say that Cosette was a Lunar court princess? What the… Maybe it wasn’t the best plan, but I honestly didn’t think anyone would recognize us.
The pounding on the door got louder and my phone vibrated. I answered the call.
“You need to come out,” Max said. “The police are here. They’re going to escort us to the car.”
“Great.”
I hung up. I’ve got to talk to the police. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause more problems. Donovan’s anger and frustration came through our bond, and they hurt. A lot.
The police? I’m in the middle of trying to stop a war and you’re getting in trouble at a mall with Cosette? He was yelling so loud that I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. Which wasn’t going to work. I needed to put on my game face or else this was going to get a whole lot worse. So, I did the only thing that would give me a chance to think clearly. I shut down our bond.
I slid down the stall door as I fought a wave of heartbreak and the tears that welled up. Inside it felt like Donovan had died. He was gone. The emptiness I felt without access to our bond took my breath away. I focused on the fact that I knew he was at his meeting, probably cursing me out about now. What I was feeling wasn’t real. He was fine. Pissed off at me for sure, but fine. Once he cooled down, he’d get over this whole mess. We’d get our bond back in place and everything would be okay.
For now, I had to focus on the shitstorm waiting outside the doors. The people. The police. My brothers.
This was going to be epically unfun. Next time I wanted to shop, I’d pull out my laptop and do it on the internet. No pair of shoes was worth this massive pain in the ass. Not even Louboutins.
Chapter Four
The police were polite enough, but with pictures of Cosette and me going viral on social media, the mob scene had kept growing. A lot. Max, Micah, and I had ended up waiting in the Nordstrom office for a couple hours while the police contained everyone and then cleared out the store.
I was officially calling this outing a massive fail.