Delilah stepped inside and sucked in her breath. The interior was dark and cool with a heady mixture of scents she couldn’t quite identify. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until they’d been in the shop for what felt like five minutes. She stared at all the strange and wonderful things inside, lining narrow shelves along every wall. The space was small and cramped and completely filled with all manner of items, including tin lanterns hanging from the low ceiling, beads, candles, and wooden tables filled with rows and rows of perfume bottles and vials.
The dimness was illuminated by the flickering light of candles. Delilah turned in a wide circle to take in everything and accidentally knocked into a table full of perfume bottles. The bottles teetered. Danielle caught two of them before they fell on their sides.
“Sorry,” Delilah whispered, wincing. She scrambled to right the rest of the bottles.
“This way,” came the old woman’s voice again, and Delilah turned to see a tiny old lady sitting behind a table piled high with candles and vials of perfume. She wasdressed in colorful robes and wore at least a dozen golden chains of varying lengths around her neck. Golden bracelets jangled on her wrists. Her curly gray-and-black hair was piled high atop her head and secured by a colorful scarf.
Danielle took Delilah’s hand and led her over to where the woman sat. “Good afternoon, Madame Rosa. This is my cousin, Delilah.”
“Come closer, girl,” the woman said, squinting at her.
Delilah swallowed and took a step closer.
“Sit,” Madame Rosa ordered, and Delilah dropped into one of the two rickety wooden chairs that faced the woman’s table.
“Let me see your bare hand,” Madame Rosa said.
Tentatively, Delilah pulled her white kid glove from her slightly shaking fingers and held out her hand, palm up.
Madame Rosa slid open a drawer to her right and pulled out a looking glass. She grasped Delilah’s wrist and pulled her hand closer. When she bent over it, the heat of her breath warmed Delilah’s palm. “Hmm,” she murmured. “Quite interesting. But ye didn’t come here for a palm reading, did ye, lass?”
“Palm reading?” Delilah glanced uncertainly at her cousin. Danielle shook her head almost imperceptibly.
“I read palms,” Madame Rosa explained. “I can see the future in the lines of yer skin.”
Delilah simultaneously wanted to snatch her hand away and push it closer to the woman’s craggy nose. “What do you see in mine?” she asked, curiosity clawing at her insides.
“Want a palm reading, eh, lass?” The old woman laughed.
Delilah pulled her hand back into her lap. She swallowed. “I only wondered…”
“I’ll tell ye one thing for free, lass,” Madame Rosa said.
Delilah leaned forward so far she nearly toppled off the edge of her chair. She searched the old woman’s face. “What?” she breathed.
“True love is in your future,” Madame Rosa said, nodding sagely.
Delilah sighed and closed her eyes. She clenched her palm and rubbed her knuckles with the thumb of her other hand, nearly overcome with relief. “I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear that, Madame. In fact, it’s why I’ve come. Well, not for the palm reading, but for…” She glanced tentatively at Danielle again. “The special perfume.”
A frown descended over the old woman’s face. “Special perfume?”
Danielle cleared her throat. “The elixir you told me about, Madame. Last time I was here.”
Delilah nodded eagerly.Elixirsounded so much more official—and admittedly more insane—than perfume. “Yes. Yes. That.”
Madame Rosa’s eyes widened. They were extraordinary eyes, jade green with black rings around them. Eyes that had seen a great many things. “Ah, yes, the Elixir of Cupid.”
Delilah caught her breath. Of course it was called the Elixir of Cupid. What else could it possibly be called? She bit her lip to keep from smiling. She did not want this fascinating woman to think she didn’t take her work seriously. But she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Does it… really work?” As soon as the words left hermouth, she regretted them. No doubt it was rude to show skepticism for the woman’s product.
“It works,” Madame Rosa said simply, nodding. “It works.”
That was enough of an endorsement for Delilah. “I’d like to purchase a bottle of it, please.” She grasped her reticule, ready to hand over the money and take off with the elixir.
“Patience.” Madame Rosa leaned back in her chair and smiled. Her grin revealed a set of uneven, darkened teeth, some of which were missing. “I cannot sell it to ye without ensuring ye understand the rules first.”
A skitter of apprehension traced its way along Delilah’s spine, as if a cool breeze had blown through the shop. Danielle must have felt it too because she rubbed her arms up and down.
“The rules?” Delilah asked, her voice cracking and uneven. She didn’t want to listen to rules. She wanted to pay for the perfume and leave. Immediately.
