Chapter 9

"Is there, like any type of mall here?" I looked over to Noor.

"There are shops in the city, yes." I lit up at this!

"I want to go." Noor shook her head no, and my smile dropped.

"Why not? Please." She sighed and looked up at me from her paperwork.

"Because there is strife within the city limits. There have been rumors of dark fae and demons working together. You would be a high-value target." I threw my hands up in the air.

"No one really knows what I look like. Just send me with guards who look undercover as my friends." She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples.

"Fine, but do not leave your guards." I smiled and jumped onto her, kissing all over your face. With every kiss, I said thank you.

"I want you back home in two hours, okay." I nodded happily. I briefly kissed her on the lips then made my way out of her office.

"They are going to meet you downstairs in front of the main staircase." She called out as I walked out of her office. Now I just need to change.

Once I was changed, and made my way downstairs. Once I hit the stairs, I looked down and saw three individuals, two huge guys, and a chick who looked hella badass.

"Hey, everyone! Are you my friends for the shopping trip?" The girl looked at the two guys and looked back at me. They said nothing just started walking towards the door. Okay…

We got into a regular vehicle. I got put in the back with one of the guys while the chick drove, and the other dude occupied the passenger seat. It was total awkward silence, and one thing I don't do well with is silence.

"Okay… You all are supposed to act like you're my friends when we are shopping. You aren't doing an outstanding acting job of this." I saw the girl make eye contact with me through the rearview mirror.

"I'm Taro, and first and foremost, I'm nonbinary." I nodded okay—no gender-specific pronouns.

"Noted. What about you two?" The other guy looked back at me and smiled widely.

"My name is Kelvin! It's so good to meet you!" He reached out and shook my hand. I was happy about this exchange and smiled back. I looked at the guy next to me, expectantly.

"My name is Romero. It's nice to meet you, my queen." He said it gruffly; he had a very deep and hoarse voice.

"You can just call me Lareina. It's nice to meet you all." I smiled at everyone. The only one to smile back was Kelvin; I can already tell that this guy and I will be the best of friends.

This shopping mall was, to say the least huge.

"Wow…" Kelvin bumped my shoulder with his.

"Come one, let's go shopping!" His excitement got me excited.

I've gotta tell you I really never thought there would be a mall here, let alone one this massive. When she said they had a few shops in the city, I thought she meant Ma and Pop shops. Entering this place was sensory overload. There were so many people, sounds, smells; it was a madhouse. There were moving platforms that people could get on, kind of like what you would see at the airport in the human world. Once you enter, this weird wristband appears on you, and it's basically like a GPS for within the mall.

"Where do you wanna start?" Taro asked.

"Fuck if I know." I brought the wristband up to me and just spoke to it like Siri.

"Hey, take me to a random clothing store." All of a sudden, I was scanned from head to toe.

"Follow the directions to the store that matches your style by 98.7%" I'm pretty sure my mouth just hit the floor.

"What the fuck is this?" Kelvin hooked our arms together and tugged me along.

"Let's go!" He hollered back to the other two lingering behind.

This wristband was spot on. All my favorite styles were in one store. It's like a lesbian's paradise. Dresses to oversized hoodies; heels to Timbs. My fashion style always switched between femme and stem, and this store exceeding my expectations when it comes to satisfying these styles.

"Hi, there! I'm Hannah. Can I help you with anything?" I looked over to find a gorgeous woman. She had violet eyes that seemed to sparkle, and her dark skin was flawless and looked very smooth.

"Hi! I'm Lareina. I'm just looking right now; this wristband thing brought me here. It's so cool." She had an amused grin on her face.

"You're human." I just nervously smiled. I don't know why I was nervous, maybe because many people don't like humans.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" She hooked our arms together and brought me to another section of the store that was considered more femme, in my opinion.

"The amount of them I see and get ecstatic over that wristband is a lot. You all stick out like a sore thumb, looking like sweet fanatics in a candy shop." She brought us to a stop and unhooked our arms to grab some clothes off the shelves and racks.

"Here, go try these on." I grabbed the clothes and went to the changing room.

The clothes fit perfectly. I don't know how this woman knew my size so well, but she must. I walked out and saw her inspecting me.

"How did you know what size I was? It's like…"

"Like magic?" She finished my sentence. I just nodded my head, completely caught off guard.

"Well, I am what you would consider a witch." I giggled.

"I'm sorry. I'm totally fangirling right now." She laughed at me.

"Happens a lot. Anyways the outfits are perfect for you. I know you're going to get them, so let's ring you up." I grabbed the clothes and followed her to the register. That's when Kelvin finally inserted himself.

"Hi, I'm Kelvin. This is her form of payment." She looked down, and her eyes grew wide.

"Don't say anything. You will pay severe consequences." She looked at me and fucking bowed.

"Stop that shit!" I smacked her shoulder. She looked back up at me like I'm crazy.

"But, My…" I shushed her.

"Yeah, I know what I am. Just treat me normally. When do you get off work?" She looked at me, not even blinking.

"Hey, come back to me." I waved my hand in front of her face.

"I think you broke her." I looked over to Kelvin and agreed with him.

"I get off in thirty minutes." I smiled at this.

"Perfect. Let's hangout. You seem like a very genuine person, and I would love to have friends." Kelvin gasped beside me.

"What about me?" He had a pout on my face.

"You are definitely my friend too. We should expand our circle, though." I bumped my shoulder against him as we both smiled at each other. I turned back to Hannah to find her looking at me incredulously.

"What?" She started to jump up and down and giggle.

"You want to hang out with me? You want me to be your friend?" At least I'm not the only person who has fangirled today.

"Yes. Why don't you come over for dinner? We can leave once you're off." She squealed in excitement. Kelvin and I covered our ears.

"Sorry. Okay, I am so down. Thank you for this opportunity." She finished ringing me up, and I paid, well Noor paid. I need to thank her.

Soon Hannah was off, and we started heading out of the store to be met by Taro and Romero.

"We need to get you out of here now!" All of a sudden, we heard a loud explosion. Taro jerked me by the arm towards the exit.

"Here, let me." Hannah grabbed all of us, and the next moment we were all outside.

"Whoa… Did we just teleport?" She just nodded.

"You can freak out about how you teleported later. We need to leave; I feel people approaching." Soon two shadow figures were heading toward us.

"Get in the vehicle now!" Romero yelled out. Kelvin opened the door and roughly pushed me in.

"Ow!" I yelped; he just apologized then got in the driver's seat.

"Come on, let's go!" They all started to get in, and right before Hannah was in, some type of ball of energy came flying towards us.

"Watch out!" She turned around, and her eyes started to glow white, and a forcefield formed around us absorbed the ball of energy. She started muttering words with her eyes closed when she opened them back up; her eyes were no longer white but pitch black. She threw her arms out and sent the ball of energy and shock waves towards the shadow people. The waves of energy ripped through them, and they disintegrated into thin air.

"Let's go!" She got in beside me on my right while Taro took my left. Romero took the passenger seat and was barking out orders to someone over the phone he had.

"You're a demon?" I looked over at Taro and was confused as to who she is asking that.