Sadie chuckled and leaned over to me. “That’s us.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
Who was going to tell her?
After all the shifter’s clothes purchases were wrapped up in tissue paper, Xerxes sauntered forward and pressed his thumb to the screen to pay.
The screen lit up, and his net worth was displayed. There were eight zeros.
Show-off.
The worker got flustered when he saw how rich Xerxes was and gave him his business card and a free cologne. Xerxes graciously took the card and smiled at the man. Since he’d grown up in the upper crust of shifter society, he was used to people fawning over his wealth.
Finally, when my clothes were wrapped up, I leaned forward to place my thumb on the enchanted pad.
Flaming fingers grabbed my forearm and stopped me.
“I got this,” Malum said he pressed his down.
I rolled my eyes and blew out a cloud of smoke. “Whatever.” Scorpius and Orion stood next to me, smirking like they had a secret, and I made a point of ignoring them.
“S-S-Sir,” the worker stuttered, and Malum shifted to the side.
Thirteen zeros filled the screen, and more were listed, but they were cut off by the edge of the monitor.
The worker gaped up at Malum with wide eyes like he was in the presence of a god, and I scoffed as the kings smirked. Nothing upset me more than seeing a male filled with confidence.
As we walked out of the store, Malum’s rough voice whispered in my ear, “The House of Malum is ancient and illustrious. Are you sure you don’t want to be our mate? We can go back to the dressing room right now.”
I blew smoke into his face and rolled my eyes. “Your money means nothing to me. I have my own.”
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Malum who responded. Orion whispered in my other ear, “Whatever you need to tell yourself, sweetheart.” His tone turned seductive. “Just imagine how much shopping you could do.”
Scorpius took the bags from my hands and smirked.
I inhaled smoke angrily as the three pompous, apparently filthy-rich devil kings escorted me through the mall. They thought they’d proven something with their little display.
Too bad for them, I was not swayed by the hollowness of materialism. Okay, only a little. Fine, I had a shopping addiction.
Sue me, I liked cute clothes.
There were worse things in the world. For example, I could have a drug addiction. I stared down at the pipe in my hand. Never mind.
As we walked through the mall, I fantasized about all the cute new outfits I could wear.
It was going great, until I saw the wall.
My vision blurred.
I forgot how to breathe.
Chapter 29
Corvus Malum
PUBLIC DEVOTION
Acedia （noun）： apathy, boredom.
DAY 20, HOUR 16
She stood unnaturally still. Pale skin was flushed a sickly gray.
Mesmerizing navy eyes were wide with horror as she gaped at the enchanted billboard that listed the High Court news. The floor beneath her feet was shiny with black ice.
The temperature in the mall plummeted.
Shifters moved around her, unaware.
Women and men—arms overflowing with shopping bags—chatted and laughed as they stopped to read the billboard, then moved on to make more useless purchases.
Clad in all black, Arabella was an immovable force among sheep. She was different from them all.
Harder.
Colder.
Stronger.
She was so frustrating that I wanted to strangle her; she was also so beautiful that I wanted to burn the world for daring to hurt her, myself included.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d melted beneath the three of us in the dressing room. She’d played with my cock like it was hers. It was.
Sun god, I wanted to do depraved things to her.
Flushing with heat, I focused on thinking about Dick and Lothaire naked until my erection deflated.
My mind wondered to what Arabella had written in the truth journal. She thought our relationship was toxic, which meant my Revered hated being around me.
The aching hollowness in my chest expanded.
I could feel her slipping through my fingers.
She shared glances with my mates and seemed to open up to them, but with me, she was a blizzard.
Unrelentingly frozen.
My worst fears had come true. I’d found my Revered, and she hated me, and I had no one to blame but myself.
“Move,” I snapped at a male shifter who walked in front of me and blocked my view of Arabella.
The man stuttered with outrage, and I shoved him aside.
He glanced up at my face, and his scorned expression morphed into fear. He hurried away into the crowded mall, running like he was on fire.