I gave him a scathing glance and realized he was probably new to fatherhood. He looked like a kid fresh out of college who’d accidentally slipped into a vagina and made a baby. He quickly assessed our group and decided we weren’t kidnappers. Young men were quite dumb in that regard.
The man reached up. “Get down here. You’re in big trouble.”
The little girl whimpered, and when she wrapped her tiny arms around Claude’s head, his eyes narrowed.
“How did you lose her?” Claude asked, his voice tight.
“What?” The man’s face contorted as if he wasn’t sure whether to be pissed off or insulted.
Claude’s lips peeled back. “Yourchild. I was just wondering how it is you lost a whole child.”
“Put my kid down before I call security.”
“Do that,” Claude invited him. “I’m eager to inform them how neglectful a male you are.”
Christian put his arm around my shoulders and led me away. “Best we let those two sort it out. Security cameras and all.” He gave my back a quick pat and put distance between us again. “It’ll be freezing weather in a fortnight. Maybe you should buy a jacket while we’re here.”
“I have a coat,” I said, thinking about my black hoodie.
“Ah, yes. You mean the one that looks like rats nibbled on the collar?” He lifted a leather jacket from the rack and draped it over his shoulder. “You can’t go traipsing around in a cardigan when it’s snowing, especially since you’re not arealVampire. Spend your money on things that matter.”
I snatched the jacket from his arm. “Having new sheets under my nose that don’t smell like an old man’s ass is worth the expense. You also seem to forget I’m half Mage, which means when it’s cold, I can race to the nearest door. Earmuffs and jackets aren’t high on the priority list.”
Christian stopped midstep and paused in front of a mannequin wearing a lacy red-and-black bra with matching panties. He ran his finger over the little bow in the middle. “And how high is something likethison your priority list, Precious?”
“I don’t need underwear that looks like a hooker’s tablecloth.”
He arched his brow, his voice rising an octave. “I beg to disagree. I’ve been on laundry duty this week, and your lady garments are an insult to all things feminine. Did you know you have a hole in the green ones? And who the feck wears green underwear besides the Jolly Green Giant?”
I turned, startled by a loud noise that sounded like rapid gunfire coming from the kitchen appliances. Shepherd was standing with a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth, popping popcorn. His dark buzz cut and punishing gaze made him look more like a criminal than a casual shopper. Especially since he’d left his leather jacket in the van, drawing attention to the phoenix tattoo on his right arm along with the various scars. Shepherd didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass what people thought about him.
“Sir, you can’t do that in here.” A round woman anchored her fists on her hips and cast an irritated glare at him. “Unplug that immediately before I call security.”
“Something tells me they’re already on their way,” I murmured to Christian.
Shepherd shut off the machine and struggled with the lid. When it flipped off, popcorn exploded everywhere.
“You can’t smoke in here,” she added. “I need you to leave.”
He gave her an indignant look before he stamped out his cigarette on top of a cardboard box, grabbed a handful of popcorn, and walked away.
What if they call the cops?Ijustmet the Mageri, and the last thing I wanted to do was end up on their naughty list by getting arrested by the human police. And they’d be able to track that kind of thing easily now that I had an official alias. Once that information is entered into the system, it flags one of our insiders who monitor police databases to keep Breed out of them.
“Do you hear Niko anywhere?” I asked Christian.
He turned in a slow circle, and then a smile touched his lips. “I’ll just be off to fetch the poor bastard. Sounds like he’s lost in the dressing room.”
As Christian stalked off, I turned around and slammed into Wyatt.
He gripped my arms. “Do you see a short woman in a blue dress standing behind me?”
I peered around his shoulder. “No.”
His eyes fluttered up, and he cursed under his breath. “That’s what I thought. She doesn’t look like a freshy. The ones who stick around the longest aren’t always right in the head.”
“There’s no one there, Wyatt. Who would spend their afterlife in a department store?”
“Someone who shuffled off this mortal coil but still likes a good bargain?”
