Page 94 of Charmless
Tapping her on the shoulder, I announced, “Delphine, I’m here.”
She ought to have been expecting me, but she still squawked in alarm. If she had been in her cat form, I think she would have leaped straight into the air, all four paws off the ground. Whirling about, she held up the lantern and groped the air in front of her, her fingers brushing against my shirt.
“Ella?”
I slipped out of the shoes, grinning as I reappeared.
Delphine swore. “Blast you, woman. You nearly scared me out of all my nine lives.”
“You actually have nine lives?” I asked in astonishment.
“No. That’s just a little feline joke. I only have one life so I would appreciate not being frightened to death.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, even though I wasn’t. Delphine had alarmed me so many times, I enjoyed getting a bit of my own back. I suppose the witch and I were not unlike in that we both had a capacity for delighting in revenge.
“You’re late,” she snapped. “What took you so long?”
“Sorry,” I repeated as I bent down to retrieve the shoes. “It’s these awkward glass slippers. I could have got here much faster if you had enchanted something sensible like a nice pair of kid boots.”
“You are such a complainer.” The witch rolled her eyes as she mimicked my voice. “Oh, Delphine, this is such a nice Fear Blade you loaned me, but couldn’t you have made it a sword? And these magical slippers are pretty, but I would have preferred something in leather.”
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” I began.
“Well, you are!” Delphine huffed with exasperation. “You seem to have forgotten I originally designed those shoes for you to wear to the royal ball. You’d have looked rather foolish if I had given you a pair of hobnail boots. Besides, I have experimented with leather. For some reason, it won’t hold the enchantment.”
She scowled at the shoes I clutched in my hands. “You realize you don’t need to take the shoes off to become visible? Just reverse the instructions.”
“It is easier just to take them off.”
“Suit yourself. But be careful! Those dancing slippers are made of a special kind of crystal. Sturdier than glass, but stillbreakable and I would be quite vexed if you ended up ruining those shoes the way you did my Fear Blade.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said meekly, hugging the shoes to my chest.
“Now, come on. We have no more time to waste.”
Still carrying the shoes, I followed Delphine as she set off. I had no intention of putting those slippers back on until necessary. My feet welcomed the respite, the feel of the grass cool and soothing.
I came to an abrupt halt when I realized where the witch was leading me. “Delphine, we are heading toward the river.”
“Where else do you expect to find a boat?”
“A boat? That is how we are going to travel to the Dismal Dungeons?”
She paused to throw me an impatient look. “How did you think we were going to get there? In a coach and four with a footman blowing a trumpet to announce our arrival?”
“Of course not.” In truth I had not given the manner of our transportation much consideration, leaving all those preparations to Delphine.
“Using Mal’s boat will be our swiftest and stealthiest way of getting to the prison,” she insisted.
“But I don’t have the least notion of how to steer or row a boat. Unless you have some way of enchanting theElla Marie.”
“This doesn’t require magic. Just a pair of strong arms and a broad back. Happily, I was able to recruit such help.”
“You trusted someone else with our plans for tonight?” I exclaimed in dismay. “Who?”
The question died on my lips as a hulking figure lumbered out of the shadows near Mal’s dock. Moonlight skimmed over familiar features, a bristling gray beard and an eye patch.
“Evening, Miss Upton,” he grinned.
