Page 49 of Shattered Illusion

“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 themdistinct. 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.

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