Rachel patted Jen on the back. “You do you, Jen. You do you.”
Sally frowned at the other healer. “I’ve never understood that little saying,and no offense, but how on earth do you evenknowthat saying? You’re kind of…well … you’re umm…”
“Old as dirt,” offered Jen helpfully.
Jacque cleared her throat and shot a glare at Jen. “What our sweet, little Sally is trying to say is that you’re wise, experienced, and perhaps a little out of touch with the human slang of the day.”
“Well put, alpha.” Zara gave a small smile.
“We’ve got a crap ton of shopping to do and a fancy hotel with a spa waiting for us.There’sno time to be tactful,” said Jen.
“You’re never tactful, regardless of what is waiting on you,” said Sally.
“What’s usually waiting on me is Decebel … in bed … naked. Would you be tactful?”
“Can’t argue with that,” said Zara.
“I like to read,” said Rachel, bringing them all back to the mall and out of Jen’s bedroom. “Believe it or not, I like to read the current, popular young adult books. They’re fun and not too heavy.”
“Not too heavy is good,” Crina agreed. “I hate it when I’m reading an intense book and the butthole author kills off one of my favorite characters. I mean, really? Couldn’t you just have them lose a leg or something?”
“Right?” Rachel nodded her head fervently. “We’ve got enough death going on in real life. I don’t need it in my books, too.”
“I love that you guys are bonding right now,” Jacque interrupted. “But I’d love it more if you bondedandmoved your butts. Peri, Sally, Zara, and Crina, y’all are Delta Squad, and me, Rachel, Elle, and Jen are Alpha Squad.”
“Yes!” Jen threw a fist into the air.
“Why are you encouraging her?” Sally rolled her eyes.
“You know why. It’s just easier. Besides, this is a big mall. This is one time Jen’s military tactics might come in handy. I don’t want you girls to get lost.” Jacque pulled her phone out of her back pocket and looked at the screen. “Oh, good. It updated to the correct time zone. Okay, so we meet back here”—Jacque pointed to the spot where she stood—“in four hours.”
“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.”
