Undercover Royal by Kate Moseman

Author:Kate Moseman [Kate Moseman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fortunella Press
Published: 2023-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

17

If I thought it was forever to get the Mirror down and out, it was two forevers waiting for Poppy to ride down with Jessica.

At last, the elevator dinged. The doors slid open. Poppy and Jessica stood next to each other. Jessica’s all-black outfit looked stark next to Poppy’s bright green and yellow.

I’d forgotten we were all still wearing our costumes. Berron, in that dramatic greatcoat with capes, all white, edged with black. Me in my purple thief getup. Come to think of it, I was actually stealing something. Well, stealing it back, really.

“After you,” Poppy said to Jessica, politely, but with an I’ll-flame-you-if-I-must edge.

Berron and I lifted the Mirror and headed outside. The dark lobby gave way to the weather we’d left behind, hot and humid, but with the sunlight draining from the streets like the tide going out.

“Now what?” Berron said.

I hadn’t thought that far. But this was New York City, after all, and anything was possible.

Poppy was already on it, dragging Jessica along as she called to some workmen next to a nearby truck. “Pardon me—yes, you sir—may I hire your vehicle to transport this antique?”

The workman nudged his companion, not even needing to say, Get a load of this tall broad with the funny accent. He smiled. “Hire it? I ain’t never heard of no ‘hiring’ a vehicle.”

Poppy reached into a pocket, pulled out several hundreds, and waved them around. “Have you ever heard of dollars? Bucks? Greenbacks? How about dead presidents?”

He touched his cap. “Come to think of it, I may have heard of that, after all.” He hooked his thumbs into his overall straps. “Where you want that thing to go, miss?”

Poppy turned back to me. “Where do we want it to go?”

“Your place.” It was that or Victorine’s, and as much as I trusted her, I was done outsourcing the Mirror to anyone else. Poppy had told me she had some magical security in place, too. If it was anything like the spell on the dancing statue at the LWW, I’d sleep better with the Mirror under our roof.

“I can only take one of youse up front,” the workman added.

“I’ll go,” Jessica said.

Poppy elbowed her sharply. “Ha ha, what a card my dear friend is! Zelda, do you want to—”

“You go,” I said. “The three of us will ride in the back.” I didn’t like having to keep an eye on the Mirror and Jessica, but between Berron and I, we should be able to handle it. We carefully loaded the Mirror into the cargo area, padding it as best we could with the stolen tablecloth.

“One sec,” Berron said. He darted to a nearby planter, plunged his hand into the dirt, and came up holding an entire bush, roots and dirt and all.

“What the hell are you doing?” I said. “Daniel’s lost who knows where, we’re hauling a hot mirror, and you’re gardening?”

“Trust me,” he said. Then he turned to Jessica, gesturing gallantly with one arm while holding the plant in the other. “Ladies first.

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