Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson

Author:Delilah S. Dawson [Dawson, Delilah S]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2012-03-27T07:00:00+00:00

18

Once I heard the details of his plan, I liked it even less. I maintained an irritable silence as we departed the inn, leaving the counter girl with another coin pulled from her ear. Criminy had a spring in his step, sure that we were on the right track. But I was determined to think of an alternative that didn’t scare the crap out of me.

Heads down, we sped toward the gates on the opposite side of the city from those we had entered through the day before. On the way, he bought me a wrappy brimming with buttery eggs and white cheese and lavender mushrooms. We stopped at a strange store called Apollinaire’s Everything Shoppe, which did indeed seem to have everything. It was like a five-and-dime crossed with my grandmother’s attic and a magic store. I marveled at the peculiar array of goods that Criminy stuffed into his pack. His leather satchel banged against his back on the way out with a metallic clang.

As we neared the gate, Criminy yanked me into a dark alley and blew powder into my face, muttering a spell. I didn’t feel a thing, so I shrugged. He stood back and laughed, saying, “This one won’t hold up long, thank heavens. Let’s hurry.”

The guards at the back gate were just as unfriendly as the ones at the front gate. As the guard looked at me, then down at my even newer set of fake papers, he sneered in disgust and, oddly, pity. But he waved us through, and the giant gate squealed open just enough for us to pass through.

Once we were out of earshot, I reached to my face and asked, “What did you do to me?”

Criminy pulled a small brass mirror from his waistcoat, saying, “It’s just a glamour, not something you can feel with your hands. I was trying to make you as different as possible from what you really are. It’s already fading.”

In the mirror, I saw the most hideous woman I’d ever seen. Warts, chin whiskers, a vein-covered nose shaped like a squash.

“Wow, it’s like being thirteen all over again,” I said. I had to laugh, too. It was awful, but it was a lot better than getting caught.

Criminy took out his spyglass and scanned the moors. With an annoyed hmph, he pulled out a different compass, one I hadn’t seen before. Instead of having four arrows, this one had tiny pictures all around the outside of the circle. Criminy turned the dial and fiddled with the mechanism, then sighted along the arrow and started walking. I followed, nervous.

We walked through the empty moors for some time before he put a hand out to stop me, right on the edge of an abandoned orchard. We were in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t seen a living thing other than bludbunnies since the city gate shut behind us.

“It’s probably just over that hill. Now, unlace your gloves and neck, and stand right here, very still. You’re going to have to trust me.

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