Page 84 of Locked
"Rapunzel?" she called, her voice changed. It was deeper. She knew.
She knew something was up.
Damn.
Well, Kinden had been right about that one. She wasn't stupid. Few ancient beings were.
In order to get to be so ancient, they had to have some smarts locked away in those big heads of theirs somewhere.
I pressed myself further back against the wall, willing a chameleon charm to overtake my body and blend me in to the wallpaper.
I closed my eyes, keeping them only open as slits so I could see movement in the doorway.
When it arrived, I knew my heartbeat increased.
And it looked like she could hear it. She sniffed around the kitchen, looking this way and that.
"I know you're here, elf…" she murmured under her breath. "Elven magic stinks to the clouds and back…"
I could have said the same of her magic, but I wasn't about to be lured out of hiding so easily.
All I had to do was lure her into that closet, lock and barricade the door, and then use Zelle's hair, running out and leaving her there.
And hopefully, her sense of self-preservation was too high to follow me and destroy the tower..
So I crept along the wall, keeping my disguise on the entire time. I watched as she and my double conversed.
I blended into the wall, moving back towards Zelle's room. If I got her as far back as Zelle's closet, I could possibly lock her inside while making a break for it.
I moved quietly, careful not to make any sounds that I didn't want to make as I moved back towards the bedroom. What I needed was a reason for her to enter Zelle's room.
I knew of a squeaky floorboard that would give my double's location away. But I wasn't sure I could put enough weight in its step from here.
I closed my eyes to concentrate, pressing down on my own foot to better transfer the motion to my double.
It took some finagling, but I stepped on the board and waited for her to follow.
She did, hobbling into the room and turning on the lights.
"There you are," she sneered. "You're not even trying to hide, are you?"
"Didn't think it would do any good," I puppeted through my double.
She couldn't see the real me. And she couldn't hex what she couldn't see.
I was pressed into a corner behind a bookshelf when she made her way towards the closet. My double backed up into the closet ahead of her.
At first, she just poked her head inside, but she eventually stepped in to follow my double, once she was sure it wasn't booby trapped.
I cast a cloaking charm on the door, dragging it closed and willing the ancient hinges not to squeak.
The didn't, and I was finally able to close the door and lock it with a hushed spell.
It looked like the door wasn't closed. And it would likely buy me precious seconds I'd need as I dashed up to the front foyer.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out Zelle's hair. I crept back towards the front room, careful to keep my disguise going the entire time in case she found her way out of the closet before I anticipated her to.
I wound the strands around my finger, prepared to drop them all into the flame instead of leaving any possibility in that apartment of Mother escaping.
The strands almost slid from my finger, but I dropped them into the fire quickly. Just as I heard a loud bump from the other room. An unearthly screech. I reached the door, pulling it open and depositing myself on the other side. I kept my disguise up, and that was good because I likely wouldn't have been able to see what I saw when I looked back if I hadn't been invisible.
I was pulling the door closed behind me when she rounded the corner. Sharp teeth and crazy eyed, she snarled at me and I knew exactly what she was. Her hair was wild, sticking out in all directions as her grey and pallid skin stretched over her teeth.
I now knew exactly what she was. Basil had been right. And we had to get out of here right now.
