The Runaways: Book 1 of the The White Goddess Series

34. Santa's Village

...Three, two, one.

Serafina burst out of the bathroom just as Ian finished his countdown. The woman he was speaking to startled, then pouted as he pushed away from the wall.

Finally!  "Finally!" Ian repeated out loud with a glance at the woman beside him. They were trying to get in of the habit of communicating aloud in public. They'd noticed their prolonged silences and wordless conversations seemed to attract more, not less attention. 

Serafina included the woman in her apologetic smile. "Sorry!" She snatched her hoodie out of Ian's left hand and thrust the little green purse into his right. "Hold this for a sec."

She caught a look on confusion on the woman's face as she yanked the heavy fleece hoodie over her head. It was gone when Serafina's head popped back out.  

"What is it?" Ian turned it over in his hand.

"Nothing." Red-faced, Serafina snatched the purse back from him and shoved it into the pocket of her hoodie. She grabbed his hand. "Let's go."

"Huh?" Ian was surprised enough to let her pull him down the corridor. What happened? "What happened?" he repeated.

Serafina grunted. It was hard work getting Ian to move without his full cooperation. "I'll tell you after. Come on."

"You'll tell me after? Why?" Ian's face darkened. "What's the big rush?" He glanced back at the bathroom door. "Was someone in there?"

Serafina forced a laugh. "There were a lot of people in there."

"You know what I mean." Ian stopped abruptly in the archway to the main part of the mall. "What happened in there?"

Serafina glanced nervously at the women's bathroom door. Rowena could step out any second. I couldn't help noticing your sister's hair is a rat's nest and her bra is too small. I saw it when she took off her shirt to wash up in the sink in front of everyone, Serafina imagined the rich woman saying. She mentioned you came here from Shreveport?

 Oh yeah. Ian would be pissed. "Do-gooder," Serafina blurted.

Ian narrowed his eyes. Explain. He didn't bother repeating it out loud this time.

There was a lady in there. "She was nice but started asking questions. If I lived here, who I was here with." She could tell by my clothes, Serafina babbled in a panicked hybrid of regular speech and mindlinking.

She could tell what by your clothes? Stiffening, Ian's gaze flickered to the bathroom door. "Is that her?"

Ian frowned at the panic that raced up Serafina's spine. She knew he could feel it. Peeking around his large form, she relaxed to see a stranger walking out. The woman Ian had been talking to looked hopeful, then deflated as his gaze passed right over her. 

"No." Serafina tugged on Ian's hand. "Can we please go before she comes out?"

Ian's frown deepened but he was just as anxious to avoid nosy strangers as she was. Of course, he didn't know that this particular nosy stranger had seen her hair, and her tattoo, now that Serafina thought about it. 

She grimaced to herself. All she'd been thinking about at the time was how bad she smelled after a week on the road without a proper shower. Quick wash-ups like today didn't count. Her hair was bad enough, but Ian would lose it if he knew people had seen her with her shirt off. There weren't a lot of things more memorable than a girl her age with a back tattoo.