Lupi 04 - Night Season

can’t wear those teeny little fitted jackets.”
    â€œYou can wear clothes that fit, though. As for how you’re built…” Lily snorted. “You don’t like looking like Xena, Warrior Princess? You’re tired of wiping the drool off men’s faces?”
    â€œWell, but—”
    â€œYou’ve got a goddess’s body, Cynna. Not the Maiden, but the Mother or some fertility deity.”
    Cynna gave her a dark look. She did not care for fertility deity references.
    â€œAdd in the butch haircut and tattoos, and I’m thinking we need to go for simple but dramatic. Whatever we get will probably have to be tailored, but—”
    â€œTailored?” Cynna squeaked.
    â€œMost likely. We’ll start with two jackets, like I said, and four pairs of slacks to mix and match. You could add a skirt, but I’ve never seen you wear one, so I thought we’d stay in your comfort zone and go with slacks.”
    â€œYou’ve got a weird notion of my comfort zone.”
    â€œAnd of course you’ll need things to wear under the jackets. Tees, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater or—”
    â€œThere’s a Wal-Mart about a mile from here.”
    â€œYou didn’t buy those jeans at Wal-Mart. They’re killer.”
    â€œThanks. But jeans aren’t like suits. They have to fit exactly right, and most of them aren’t long enough, so…quit looking at me that way.”
    â€œUh-huh. How much did you pay for the jeans?”
    Too much. “Sales. There are bound to be sales.”

TWO
    T HE Fashion Center turned out to be a three-story temple to consumerism. It was midweek and the middle of the day—somehow Lily had persuaded her to take a day off for this insanity—so the teens and tweens were missing. But everywhere Cynna looked, a mom had stuffed a baby in one of those enormous touring devices they called strollers.
    There was a muffled little lump of infant in one not ten feet away when Cynna emerged from the dressing room. It was staring at her with enormous, wary eyes.
    It gave her the willies. She scowled at Lily. “They don’t make clothes for people with breasts. Have you ever noticed that?” She tried tugging the jacket across her chest. The ends wouldn’t meet. “See that? If you’re more than a B-cup, forget it.”
    â€œShut up, Cynna, and try this instead.”
    Maybe she’d been tactless. Lily was kind of small on top. Cynna slipped off the too-tight jacket and eyed the leather duster Lily was holding out. It was a dark, rich brown like baking chocolate, but…“It’s not black.”
    â€œBlack is so not your color.”
    She loved black. She’d always worn black. “You keep saying that, but black goes with my tattoos.” They weren’t precisely tattoos, but Cynna generally used the word other people recognized, not the Swahili that truly named the patterns overlaying her skin like heavy lace. The spells were kilingo ; the core patterns she used to Find things were kielezo . Neither had been applied with ink and needles.
    â€œBlack makes people just see the tattoos, not the skin. Try on the duster.”
    Dubious, Cynna shrugged on the long duster. “Can you wear something like this to Headquarters?”
    â€œI couldn’t. I’d look ridiculous, like I was dressing up in my big sister’s clothes. But on you, with those slacks…” Lily shook her head and sighed. “Check out the mirror.”
    Cynna turned. And stared. After a moment she felt a smile stretching her cheeks. The dangerous-looking woman in the mirror smirked right back at her. “Hey, is that me? I look hot.”
    â€œYou do, except for the bag.”
    The brown slacks Cynna had been complaining about looked wicked cool now. So did the copper sweater, but her old denim bag was all wrong. Even she could see that. “I guess I could get a new one. Purses don’t hold enough, so I usually get a tote or something, but…hey.” While she spoke she’d tried buttoning the duster. Lo and behold, button met buttonhole. “It fits! How’d you find one that fits?”
    â€œI asked one of those snooty clerks to help me. Ah…it didn’t come from the sale rack.”
    Cynna gulped. Leather. Not on sale. And in this store…She grabbed her courage in both hands and looked at the price.
    â€œSteady.” Lily put a hand on her