I eyed myself in the mirror, this dress would make people think I was a lady, opening up new things to me. Nobody would dare kick me out of an establishment, nobody would even say no to me in most cases. I looked like a woman who had money…

            Thoughts were already forming, plans that seemed to assemble out of thin air. Schemes and ideas, some impossibly far fetched, some that actually might work. After this little game of Kiran’s I would be free to keep the dress, because what could he possibly want it for? This dress might be the key to more cunning plans.

            They must have settled on a price, because Kiran was bidding the shop girl goodbye, and then there was the jingle of the register, and he was suddenly there grabbing my arm, escorting me out of the shop. I turned around and waved to the girl before Kiran swept me out the door.

            When we rounded the corner I tugged my arm out of his grip. “Why the rush?”

            “You tell me,” Kiran said, staring at me intently. “You were suddenly smiling like a cat with a dish of cream. I wasn’t sure what you were about to do.”

            I snorted. “I wasn’t going to do anything, I was just thinking over a few things I could do with this costume.”

            “It’s not a costume, it’s a dress.” Kiran stared down at the dress for a second, and then abruptly snapped his eyes away from me. “Let’s go to the hat shop, she says it has some shoes you can wear instead of those horrible boots.”

            I couldn’t help smiling. “Did she actually say ‘horrible boots’?”

            “Her words exactly.”

            “She’s terribly dramatic, but I liked her.”

            Kiran looked surprised, but he said nothing. The bell jangled as he pushed his way into the hat shop, already turning on the charming smile for the next girl. I sighed.

            Five minutes later we were out the door, Kiran wearing a huge smile over the deal he’d got, and me wearing a pair of lace-up black boots with ivory buttons.

            “They pinch my toes,” I complained.

            Kiran glanced over and sighed, catching my arm.

            I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “What are you doing?” I tried to pull my arm out of his grip, but he held on tight.

            “You’re waddling like an overfed turkey,” Kiran said, obviously fighting back a grin. “I was merely escorting you so you don’t look quite so tipsy. You look as if you might fall over at any minute.”

            “If I can fight off a grown man with only a rusted dagger and a rock, I can walk in a pair of sissy shoes,” I snapped at him.

            He shrugged and let go of my arm, and I stumbled along behind him for a few minutes. I was beginning to regret jerking my arm away.

            “Why do they have to have heels on them?” I growled at him. “Why couldn’t we have picked a flat pair?”

            “There was no flat pair that was dressy enough, didn’t you hear the shop girl?”

            “Damn the shop girl.”

            “I thought you liked shop girls.” Kiran chuckled.

            “Not that one.”

            The entire time we’d been walking from the shop to the hackney cab waiting on the corner, he’d been swiveling his head from left to right, gaze darting from one face to the next. He was clearly keeping an eye on everyone that went past us. It made me feel slightly jumpy.

            “What are you doing?”

            Kiran opened the door to the cab when we reached it, holding out his hand to help me up. I was tempted to ignore it, the same way he was ignoring my question, but I didn’t trust myself in these new shoes. Grabbing his hand, I used it to haul myself in without thanking him.

            Once he climbed aboard and settled himself on the seat opposite me, I raised my brows at him. “Well?”

            “I don’t believe for a minute that Boxcar has given up on you, do you?”

            My gaze was immediately drawn to the window, even though there was a heavy velvet curtain drawn over it. I resisted the urge to draw it back and peer outside suspiciously. He was right, of course. I’d pissed Boxcar off thoroughly, and so had Kiran. I didn’t know much about the gambling man, but I knew he was a sore loser.

            “What makes you think he’ll be able to find us again?”

            Kiran shifted in the seat, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head as if he were perfectly at ease. “Because someone has been following us for three blocks now.”

            I sat up so fast I nearly overbalanced as the hackney cab flew over a particularly jarring bump in the road. “It’s Boxcar?”

            “Well I doubt it’s Spring Heeled Jack.”

            “Cute.” I glared at him. “Real nice. Now is a great time for joking. Why didn’t you say something before now?”

            “Because I knew you’d act like this and attract attention to yourself while we were on the street.”

            I glared at him. “What’s the plan?”

            Kiran shrugged. “We shake him. We’re going rather faster than he’s able to on foot.”

            “What if he gets into a carriage then? Thought of that, genius?”

            “No time.” Kiran let one arm drop to the back of the leather seat, using one finger to flick the curtain aside, revealing the busy street behind us. Oxford street was always crammed with carriages anyways, so it was nearly impossible to tell if we were being followed.

            “I imagine we blend right in with everyone else,” he said smoothly, “which is why I always instruct the driver to take this road before going anywhere else.”

            Grudgingly, I fell silent. It was a good idea, but I wasn’t about to admit that to him. The carriage lurched to a halt, nearly throwing me forward again. This time I caught myself, fingers digging into the leather seat to keep me from being pitched into Kiran’s lap again.

            I thought he would lean over and push the door open, but for a second, he just sat there staring at me. I could feel my cheeks and forehead prickle.

            “What?”

            He gave me one of those maddening smiles. “You look very fetching...”

            I shifted, uncomfortable, about to stammer something back, when he finished, “…so try not to muck this up by acting all aggressive, right? Let’s have some charm to match the looks.”

            I sat there flabbergasted while he turned to the door, swinging it open and nodding to his driver, who was standing on the sidewalk looking bored. Kiran turned and offered me a hand, and I shot out of the carriage without a second glance at him, face flushed red, muttering angrily to myself under my breath.

            “Charm, Ms. Cassandra,” Kiran muttered under his breath. “If that is in your nature even the slightest bit, attempt to dig it up now.” He smiled again, and I could see a muscle ticking in his jaw. He was either extremely nervous, or extremely irritated with me.

            Likely both.

            At least there was a chink in his perfect armor. I flashed him my best smile and took the arm he was offering me, resolving I would do my best to win as much gold as I could, and then I was out of here.

            We both turned around to survey the gambling house we were about to enter. This one was a much finer establishment. The windows were all clean, and fully intact. Not a crack in sight. Inside the house I could see a number of bronze machines with pump handles on the sides. There were a few men standing in front of these machines, pushing on the handles and watching the cards behind the glass flash past. Each time the cards stopped, the machine would let out a great puff of steam. The man at the machine I was watching slammed his fist against the side of it in an apparent fit of anger at his cards. Two cherries and a pair of dice.

            “Gambling machines.” I took a step forward, about to press my fingers to the glass, like a hungry child in front of a candy shop. Kiran, who still had his arm hooked through mine, yanked me back a step.

            “Oh no you don’t, miss. Those aren’t our goal. There may be some money to be won with that, but…” He stopped abruptly, jaw falling slack as some idea seemed to light up his eyes.

            “But it’s too much invested in luck?” Now it was my turn to give him a wide smile. “Would you rather win one big bunch of coin in a minute, or sit there half the night? Because I have no problem with playing cards all night, I quite enjoy it actually. I was just warming up to the game…”

            “Alright.” Kiran held up one hand to stop me. “Hush, listen to me. You may be onto something. But we cannot simply march in, pull the blasted lever and run away with all the money. That will look highly suspicious. You must let me have a few turns at it before you get your sparkly little fingers all over it. Understand?”

            I nodded, impatient to get inside and wrap my hands around the lever. I was already hearing bells, and the high pitched whistle of steam and the clatter of the cards flipping past. This wasn’t like cards, this was all on luck.

            And my luck is always good.