Free Immortal Essence Box Set: Aligned, Exiled, Beguiled by Rashelle Workman Page B

“Sometimes it isn’t good to party so hard. I tried to tell her.” He winked at the girl and let out a laugh.
    The beautiful clerk shook her head. Giggled. “Serious?” Dark hair and icy blue eyes danced as she laughed. When she came around the counter, Venus noticed they were the same height, though she had more on top.
    “Nice boots.”
    “Thank you.” Venus slugged Zaren in the arm and shrugged. “Trust me; I won’t party that hard again.” 
    The girl looked like a model for the store, with a tight red t-shirt, the number 94 painted in white across the front, high-heeled, black shoes and dark jeans. They were similar to the jeans on the rack. All sorts of sparkling jewels covered the pockets.
    “Of course not. What size are you? You look,” she paused to give Venus a thorough once over before continuing, “petite.”
    Venus only ever had her clothing made by those at the palace. The seamstresses would measure her. Then make her clothes. Sometimes they used magic or special thread, but never told her a specific size. Would this seem inhuman? A glance in Zaren’s direction revealed he was checking out clothes in the men’s section. “I’m not sure,” Venus finally admitted.
    “No problem. I’ll get a couple of different sizes in the same jean and we’ll go from there. Okay?” Before waiting for Venus to reply, the girl pulled two jewel-encrusted pants off a rack. In another section of the store, she removed a long-sleeved white t-shirt. After that, she went to the jackets, grabbed one in black leather, with buckles and more jewels and studded things all over it.
    What type of person does she take me for?
    Venus moved toward a disorganized rack and began rearranging the pants so they were in order by size, the smallest in the front and the largest in the back. No way will I be leaving the store with that jacket or those jeans. I’ll try them on, at least, to figure out my size . She stepped to the next section and worked.
    “ Wanna job?” the clerk asked with a light giggle.
    “No, sorry. I have a thing for organization.” Venus ran a hand through her muddy hair and pulled it to one side.
    “All righty then. Well, follow me.” She moved past Venus and made her way to the back of the store. Venus couldn’t help a sigh. When they reached one of a line of maple-colored doors, the girl unlocked it with a key attached to a bracelet packed full of keys. Venus had to wonder how she could tell which one to choose. The door swung open with a squeak.
    “Cheese, that sound is awful.” The girl stepped inside the little room and hung the clothes on a hook. “Try these on and let me know what you think. I’m Cheverly, by the way.” Cheverly moved past Venus and directed her in with the wave of a hand.
    “Venus,” she returned. Apprehensively, she glanced at the threshold and sucked in.
    Here we go. She shut the door .  
    “A goddess of love.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Great name.”
    “That’s debatable, but thanks.” Venus leaned back and shut her eyes. The time had come to see what she looked like. What if I look worse than I did before? It isn’t vanity, she told herself. I want . . .
    “Oh, open your eyes fraidy cat,” Venus whispered. Three. Two. One. She popped them open.
    The first thing she noticed was the tangled grubby mess in the ends of her hair. Though it still looked better than all white, she decided to get it out of the way. One thing she’d had been taught as a small kelni, even before she could walk, was how to wrap her hair in a bun and make it stay. Bending over, she pulled all her hair together and twisted it tight. Then she continued to twirl the dirty strands until it’d formed its own bun. Venus tucked the ends under. Standing, she checked her reflection. “Better.”
    With her hair out of the way, she easily noticed her eyes. Different. Pretty. She tried to think of a human word to describe the shade of blue. The word cyan came to mind. Brown lashes surrounded