Page 135 of Hellbound

“Do you want everyone to think you’re a lesbian? Put that back where you found it and go wait in the car.”

It always ends like this when Marian tries to choose. She never—

Marian flinched as Paul slapped her in the boob with a bigger pair of Pikachu shorts.

“Tween boys don’t have hips like you do. Go try on an extra-large. What are you, anyway? Five foot eight? Nine?”

Marian blinked. “I don’t know.”

“Cool. Go try on your damn shorts, you giant child. And you better think long and hard about who your favorite Pokémon is while you’re in there, because if you come back out and say ‘Pikachu,’ I will be extremely disappointed.”

Paul wasn’t wrong; she’d needed an extra-large. She shimmied into the shorts easily and decided with a smile on her face that yes, she liked them very much. She was about to change out of them when the jeans she discarded in the corner of the changing room began to buzz intermittently.

Tori.

Marian was oddly excited to tell her about the purchase she was about to make. She hadn’t heard from Tori in a minute, but Paul had made contact with her the night before and assured Marian all was well. Should she get Tori a pair of Pikachu shorts, too?

But it wasn’t Tori’s name lighting up her screen.

Verinne.

Her blood chilled as she answered the call.

“What’s up, Verinne?” Marian grumbled into the receiver.

“Hey girliepop,” Verinne replied so saccharine sweet that it put Marian on edge immediately. “I need to reschedule our lunch sesh to today.”

Marian froze. “Today? That’s, uh, not going to work for me.”

“Oh really? That’s such a bummer, because I have a guest here with me who really wants to see you before I kill her.”

It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over Marian’s head. “What are you talking about?”

“I think you know,” Verinne replied. “And she’ll technically only be dead for a teeny bit while the Remnant gets comfy inside her. But if you really need a hint … Brock, if you’d be so kind.”

Commotion in the background. A gruff male voice. Then a voice that nearly brought Marian to her knees.

“Marian, don’t listen to her!” Tori screamed. “Don’t come here! She—”

The ambient noise of shoppers was suddenly deafening. Marian clutched the phone to her face with both shaking hands as she listened desperately for what had happened to Tori.

“You leave her the hell alone,” Marian snarled into the receiver.

“Here’s the deal. I know you’re in league with Vale, and I know Tori’s involved. I also know you two had a hand in Roman’s demise, and that Stellan is no longer on this plane. You’re going to come to my house and give me what I’ve been asking for so nicely all this time, or I will turn Tori here into something more useful to me.”

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

Marian couldn’t breathe.

“I’ll text you my address. You have two hours, which should give you plenty of time to deal with traffic. The 101 is so backed up, it’s gross. You’ll come alone and if you don’t, no one’s going to have a chill time. ’Kay? Bye!”

Verinne hung up. The phone buzzed once. A text came through from Verinne’s number with an address in Santa Monica.

Her whole body shook. She looked down at her arm. Tiny plumes of smoke seeped through the thin blue fabric hiding her mark, then ceased. A single exhale of shadow.

Marian threw the changing room door open, leaving her old jeans behind as she searched frantically for Paul. She found him in the book section flipping through paperbacks. He turned to her with a smirk that quickly flipped upside down.

“Yo, you look bad. What happened?”