Page 20 of She Who Was Once the Sea

She led me to a set of curtained-off rooms at the back of the store. My mouth went dry as I stepped into the one she held open for me; I was suddenly much further from the front of the store, with more distance to cover in my escape. I smiled at her as she pulled the curtain closed; she did not return the expression.

Once I was ensconced in the private room, I peeled off the clothes left to me by the Witch, letting them fall to the floor unceremoniously. Unfortunately, there was little to be done about my shoes; I hadn’t seen any in the shop, and even if I had, I couldn’t risk adding more to my hands at this point.

I pulled on the dress slowly, reveling in the way the soft fabric felt against my skin. Even when we’d woken up in decent clothes, they’d never been this fine. Once it was on, I turned to look at myself in the small mirror affixed to the wall. It was the first time in a long time I’d seen my reflection in the light of day. I was paler than I remembered, with the slight echo of dark circles painted beneath my green eyes.

The dress was a little tighter than I would have preferred, leaving little of the contours of my body to the imagination. I should have grabbed a larger size, but there was no way I could risk going back to the row of dresses now.

After what I assumed was an acceptable amount of time, I pulled my clothes on over the dress. The thin straps of the shirt did little (or nothing) to hide the straps of the red dress, but once my backpack was on, I was able to hide it well enough to escape.

Hopefully.

When I was once again dressed, I stuck my head out from behind the curtain to glance around. Both shop attendants were now helping other people, and they looked to be relatively distracted.

Slowly, I stepped out of the small room and walked towards the front door. I didn’t run, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. With any luck, they’d assume I’d simply left the dress behind. My heartbeat slammed against every inch of my body with every step I took towards the door.

When I reached for the handle, a voice stopped me dead in my tracks, again making me jump in surprise.

"Grazie," she said, and I felt myself slowly deflate. Thank you. Once again, I nodded, but didn’t speak, and let myself step outside into the busy street, where I could blend into anonymity among the crowd.

With every step I took away from the shop, I felt my nerves growing more and more at ease. As I moved to turn a corner onto a different street, I was almost convinced that I’d gotten away with the heist.

But then, there was a shout from behind me, and before I could start running, a firm hand clamped down upon my upper arm.

Shit.

Chapter 9 - Garrett

Apparently, not even being beaten half to death was enough to convince Lucas to allow me to have the day off, and by mid-afternoon, he had me fully dressed in my Fratelli robes wandering with him through the streets surrounding the piazza.

"Exercise is good for healing," he’d insisted as he ushered me out the door. I kept having to ask him to slow down as we moved through the crowds, feeling the ache of the men’s kicks all over my body.

But I knew as well as he that we wouldn’t run into the creatures in broad daylight.

"Why am I here?" I asked again as we turned down a side street lined with shops and tourists. "Surely you can handle the day shift on your own."

"You know who we’re looking for now," he answered without looking at me. "You have the best inkling we’ve ever possessed of where to search for them during the day."

"I told you, I don’t think—"

"And I think you’re wrong." He shot me a sidelong glance that suggested he actually thought I was lying but didn’t say as much. "I think the woman you saw was one of them. And I think you’ll remember her when we find her."

I shook my head, feeling my mouth go dry.

Thankfully, I was saved from having to respond by the sound of shouts. Down a street to our right, there were two policemen standing outside a shop with three women. Two of them were shouting at the third, who was trapped between the cops, their hands tightly gripping her upper arms.

"God, you’re bad luck," Lucas muttered under his breath. "I never run into anything when I’m working alone. But with you, it’s constant."

"Maybe you should have let me stay home," I snapped back. "It looks like shoplifting. Should we even get involved?"

Lucas shook his head and turned to continue down our original path, and I almost followed him.

Unfortunately, I glanced towards the commotion again, staring for just a second too long at the woman in the middle of the chaos.

She had short, dark hair and bright green eyes that I could make out even from this distance.

It was her.

I stopped walking. For half a moment, I weighed the decision to intervene or continue on the path behind Lucas. Something niggling in the back of my mind whispered that my life would never be the same if I were to walk towards the woman. That, despite the unique nature of my job with the Fratelli, I could continue on a relatively predictable, if not quite normal, trajectory.