Perilous Waters (20 page)

“We wouldn’t look into your thoughts. We would just use the Comprehend spell.”

“Use it on someone else,” Kaitlyn said. “It doesn’t have to be me.”

Julia couldn’t hold back her exasperated sigh. Why was she so freaking touchy about their connection?

Angie’s head tilted thoughtfully at Kaitlyn. “That’s a good point. I preferred not to breach innocent minds, but I respect your boundaries.”

Kaitlyn didn’t move, but the trace of tension between her eyes melted away. “Thanks.”

Angie gave Kaitlyn one of her sweeter, more adorable smiles. Julia could almost see little pink hearts float up around her cheeks.

Kaitlyn looked away, her eyes resting on the road. “There’s a house that way. It’s probably where that fancy carriage was heading.”

“It looks like there’s a hacienda. A wealthy family probably lives there.”

“The big house with the high walls?” Julia asked.

She nodded. “Though, it might be easier if we pretended to be commoners, and not dress like the richest people in town.”

“Or, we could use magic to convince people of who we are,” Kaitlyn said. “I mean, seriously. Commoners? Maybe Julia can pass for it—”

“Hey,” Julia called out.

Kaitlyn ignored her, holding up a lock of Angie’s hair. “But you are freaking pale. Blond hair, blue eyes? Look around you. What do these commoners look like to you?”

She waved a hand at the short, dark-haired women. A few of the maids were lighter skinned, but their shining black hair and eyes stood in contrast to Angie’s snowflake prettiness.

Kaitlyn dropped Angie’s hair and crossed her arms in front of her, walking ahead. “A blonde maid in this Spanish town will stand out way more. Think up a new plan.”

“Do we need a plan?” Julia asked, catching up with her as they crossed the main road and headed across more low brush. “I mean, last time there was a Queen to protect, and the French Revolution was an organized takeover. This time there won’t be royal guards or anything like that to worry about. It seems like the Sorceress is going for wholesale destruction now, pirate-style. What if we just blend in?”

“There isn’t a centralized historical event,” Angie murmured, “but there must be some reason why the Sorceress chose this particular thread of time.”

“Um… because pirates?” Julia shrugged. “What better cover for killing people?”

Angie toyed with the end of her hair. She had a blank expression on her face as she walked.

Kaitlyn snapped her fingers. “Angie. Get with it.”

“Hm?” She looked up, her eyes a confused skyscape of pale blue. “Sorry. I was just thinking… I don’t know if the Sorceress is looking for a particular figure this time. I know that the more influence a person has in the world, the more power the Sorceress gains from his or her death. One death could affect timelines and cause ripples throughout the world, but considering what the threads of time have shown us so far, the Sorceress is trying a different tactic. Killing en masse is effective, too. Especially the way pirates kill.”

“Sadistic killing is the most powerful kind,” Kaitlyn said.

Angie glanced up at her. “That’s true. It’s also the most corrupting kind.”

Julia watched Kaitlyn, a small chill skittering like a spider down her back. “How do you know about sadistic killing?”

Kaitlyn’s mouth curved up. “Isn’t it obvious? Causing pain and fear makes a death more meaningful.”

They slowed as they reached the hacienda’s gated entryway. “Did Indira tell you that?”

Kaitlyn paled beneath her perfectly tanned complexion. “Why do you always bring her up?”

Angie placed a soft hand on Julia’s shoulder before she could reply. “If the commoner idea isn’t going to work, we’ll need a cover for being here,” she paused, peering through the rod iron gates into the enormous home. “And we need to figure out where ‘here’ is.”

Julia wondered at the size of the place. It made her think of something haunted.

Angie moistened her lips and sent a small spark of magic at the lock. Julia held her breath as Angie’s fingers curled around the dark metal, pushing at the gate until it moved inward with a high-pitched creak.

~ Chapter 15 ~

Kaitlyn

They
checked room after room throughout the hacienda, but despite the size of the place, Kaitlyn wasn’t impressed. This was no Parisian palace. The crude, wrought iron window frameworks looked peasant-made, and not at all like the fine artistry at Tuileries. Cracks and chips marred the walls in every hallway. The place wasn’t lined with guards and servants. She tossed her hair, pushing at another wooden doorway. This hacienda was bigger than even the richest homes in Santa Monica, but it wasn’t built for royalty. It wouldn’t take long to go through the entire home and find the kind of clothes they needed.

“Bingo,” Julia said as she looked into a doorway.

Kaitlyn abandoned the room she had just begun to enter—it only had a desk and some high-backed leather chairs—and followed Julia.

‘Bingo’ was right. A bed. A vanity. Loads and loads of lace. “It’s dress up time,” she murmured, brushing past Julia and going straight for the wardrobe.

Clothes.
Kaitlyn felt her scar pull as a smile crept up her cheeks. She ran her hands down the smooth, soft fabric of a long gown.

Satin….

Silk…

The detail didn’t compare with the gowns they had worn in Paris. Maybe if she hadn’t seen the decadent beadwork and attention to detail of the Parisian gowns, she would be able to appreciate these heaps of shapeless fabric, but as it was? The dresses looked more like they belonged staked to the ground with sleeping bags inside of them.

For a moment she envisioned the top part of the gown in different material, the black lace stretched across dark purple or hot pink, the skirt slit up the side… or cut short with ruffled layers that revealed creamy thighs with each step. She imagined the way the soft fabric would settle in a teasing heap when the girl wearing it sat down.

“Can you help me with this lock?” Julia asked.

“Sure,” Angie said.

Kaitlyn released the gown and let go of the fashion-related thoughts drifting through her mind. Her gaze slid to the girls, who both sat on their knees in their pajamas, tugging at the lid of a chest.

Should she help out? A part of her wanted to kneel beside them and join their little pajama-jam. They looked almost adorable there. Like two little kids at a slumber party. Sometimes, she found herself liking their little duo. The two of them were different, but they didn’t seem to care as long as they had each other.

Kaitlyn nearly laughed at herself. Since when was she so sappy?

Angie held out her hand and zapped the lock on the trunk, which opened to reveal underwear and night clothes.

Kaitlyn returned to rummaging through the wardrobe. Every dress in the massive piece of furniture needed an overhaul. More trim and shaping on the skirts, better necklines, less fabric on the sleeves. She yanked out a dark blue dress overloaded with black lace. “This thing is hideous.”

“I think it’s pretty,” Angie said, stepping forward to touch the lace.

“The lace is bad ass,” Kaitlyn agreed, “but not when it’s just hanging off the dress like this. This should be cinched in,” she tugged at the area where a waist should have been, “right here, see? Maybe with the skirt gathered up on one side with a bow.”

Angie smiled. “Wow. That would be cuter.”

Kaitlyn let go of the skirt. “It doesn’t matter one way or the other, as long as we fit in.” She tossed the dress on the bed and looked for another. “You wear it. Anyway, blue suits you.”

Angie took the dress, a smile on her lips as she spun around. Kaitlyn watched her slim form swish the dress back and forth in front of her before setting it carefully back down on the bed. Kaitlyn pulled out a black dress. There was little to redeem the nightmare of shapeless fabric, but maybe if she used the lace shawl as a ribbon around her waist, and if she pushed the sleeves down off her shoulders…

“By the looks of these combs, this is Colonial Spain,” Angie said, sifting through headwear and hair pins on a vanity table.

The combs Angie held up looked almost lethal. Kaitlyn abandoned the wardrobe for a moment and examined them. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have something hidden in her hair that could jab a pirate’s eye out.

Julia paused from digging through the chest of stockings and underclothes. “Do you think one of the jewels is in here?”

“It’s possible,” Angie said, settling on the bed. “Let’s concentrate a moment and see if we sense anything.”

Kaitlyn shut her eyes. In their first mission, when she had found the Jewel of Power, she had felt an aching as she came near it. It had led her to the table in Tuileries palace.

“I don’t feel anything,” Angie said, her voice slow and thoughtful.

“Me neither,” Julia said, glancing around the room like a little kid on Easter who hadn’t found any eggs.

Kaitlyn handed Julia a deep red gown with white lace, the color reminding her of something she might find in her parent’s wine cellar.

“I hope this girl doesn’t miss all of her clothes,” Angie said as she wriggled out of her pajamas.

“Oh, she will.” Kaitlyn laughed a little. “She’ll probably think a servant stole them.”

“I really don’t want anyone to get in trouble,” Angie said.

Whatever. The servant probably stole plenty of times already, and deserved whatever punishment she got.

“How are we going to hide your paleness?” Julia asked, coming up to Angie and lifting a lock of her white-blond strands.

“What if I hide my hair under veils,” Angie asked, holding up a flounce of black lace.

Kaitlyn pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side, taking in the effect. “It could work. Maybe wear two of them so it’s really hard to see through.”

“Good idea,” Angie said, using a comb to hold both veils in place.

The lace hid her light coloring well. And she was so little, if she ducked between them, she might easily be overlooked.

“Ugh. So goth, and not in a good way” Kaitlyn said, stepping into the huge, black tarp of a dress she had chosen. “Didn’t they like ribbons and bows, at least? It’s like they created these things to make girls as un-sexy as possible.”

“Lace is very feminine,” Angie said.

“If it’s done right,” Kaitlyn muttered. “Otherwise it belongs on a grandmother’s sofa.”

The corners of Angie’s lips turned up as she watched Kaitlyn. “How about I help you with your corset?”

Even without as many underthings to worry about as they had in Paris, it took forever to get dressed without maids helping. Angie was the only one who really knew what to do. When her gown was finally on, Kaitlyn pulled down the fabric from her shoulders to wear it like she had seen the girls in pirate movies do.

“You chose a ball gown, Kaitlyn,” Angie said in a tone that was almost scolding.

“It was the least horrible one.”

“But shoulders couldn’t be shown except at evening balls, and even then girls would have worn something to cover up when not dancing.”

“I’m not changing,” Kaitlyn insisted.

“Then those sleeves need to go back up, and you’ll need to wear something around your shoulders that will hide your neck, too,” Angie said. “This culture is way stricter about what kinds of things women can and can’t do. You aren’t allowed to show skin other than your face, and even that was often covered by a veil.”

Kaitlyn looked at Julia and Angie’s dresses, buttoned up along the back all the way to their necks, with layers of lace covering their shoulders like old lady shawls, hiding what little shape their bodies had. Their dark dresses were enormous, with no waistlines, making them seem completely hidden and figureless. “What about all those movies with girls in off-the-shoulder gowns hiding behind lace fans.” She looked around the room. “I want a fan.”

“We’ve taken enough,” Angie began, but Julia cut her off.

“Found one!” Julia held up an object that appeared to be a long, thin rectangle, but when her fingers stretched across it, it opened up to reveal red silk with white lace trim.

Kaitlyn searched the table and found another one done in black silk. The goth look was starting to grow on her.

“This isn’t okay,” Angie said, her brow a crumple of worry.

“But we want to look like we really belong here,” Julia said.

“You worry too much,” she said to Angie, flouncing the black lace that trailed from her monstrous headdress down past her ankles like a deathly bridal veil.

Julia paused in her fanning, looking Kaitlyn up and down. “It’s hard to believe anyone can make these dresses look decent.”

She nearly laughed at that. “I won’t be caught dead in pale goth makeup,” she said, bringing the veil up to hide all but her eyes, “but I could rock the black lace look.”

“It’s pretty cool on you,” Julia said, straining to grasp her own veil. She twisted and writhed, reaching back and falling over in the process to land in a heap of black lace on the floor. “Me? Not so much.”

“You’re an idiot,” Kaitlyn muttered, helping her up, and not surprised to see her completely tangled in her own clothes.

A hint of red trim peeked out from between the folds of Julia’s dress. “This thing sucks,” she muttered, shoving the mountain of lace behind her. “How the heck are you making it look so easy to walk around in?”

Kaitlyn gave her a one-shouldered shrug. She may as well ask how she made it look so easy to have a head attached to her neck. Once she decided on an outfit, no matter how elaborate, the clothes became like a part of her body.

“Ready?” Angie asked.

Julia managed to stand with a sputtering breath. “I guess.”

Kaitlyn glanced at the high, iron-barred window. The portal was already opened, and the Sorceress was sending monsters through the past. Finally, she would be free to let the full force of her magic roll through her as she shot out at her enemies.

“Ready,” she said, the word tasting like power on her lips.

~ Chapter 16 ~

Julia

“Don’t
forget, we’re supposed to be demure,” Angie said once Julia had unfrozen time. “Spanish colonial young ladies were modest and—”