The Hunt for Snow Read online

  Cyndi paled. “Seriously, Snow. You are the worst motivational speaker ever.”

  Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say. I tried another tactic. “If we’re late, Naomi wins. Think about that. Then move your ass.”

  She grimaced, took one leg off the balcony and began to descend. At a snail’s pace, and cursing the entire way down, but she was still moving. After an excruciating amount of time, Cyndi jumped off the rope, not quite as graceful as Belle, and stumbled to the ground like a drunk rhino. I covered my laugh with my hand.

  Once the rope stopped its wild dance, I grabbed ahold of it and descended down like a ninja. This was one of my best stunts. So much time spent in yoga and aikido gave me serious upper body strength and balance. I was like a cat in the trees. Now, running…that was a completely different story. When I was about five feet away, I took out my knife, cut the rope and allowed myself to fall to the ground. I landed on my feet and took stock of our surroundings. So far, it looked like no one had seen our crazy escape attempt.

  If no one looked out their windows for a while, no one would see the rope dangling down from our balcony either. Yes, it might have seemed a harebrained way to get out, but the more discreet we were, and the less notice we attracted would be best. None of us wanted to tip Naomi off to where we were going.

  We took off on foot and down the dim street. Robin had set us up with a taxi at the Italian restaurant we’d eaten at the other day. The plan was for the driver to drop us off at the local park a few miles away from the hotel, and we’d hike the rest of the way in. So far, so good.

  “I am so glad I’m wearing comfortable shoes,” huffed Cyndi as she struggled to keep up with our brisk pace.

  “It was a good thing you decided against wearing your stiletto boots,” I said dryly.

  “If anyone got too close to me while I was wearing those I could give them quite the surprise,” Cyndi said.

  “I’m sure the pepper spray will be just as effective,” I said. Belle kept up the pace, but stayed silent for the majority of the walk.

  As we got closer to the restaurant, I nudged her. “Everything all right?”

  “Perfect,” she said and gave me a genuine smile. “I’m just so excited about going home. Nervous, too.” She wrung her hands. “Very nervous.”

  I was terrified, but learned a long time ago not to show my fear openly. “It will be just like you remember it. I’m nervous, too, but for different reasons. If we make it back, that’s all good and well, but what am I going to do about Naomi once I get there?”

  I had a hundred different ideas, all sure to end in my fiery, violent death scene. There had to be a way to get my palace back without violence. Of course, I wasn’t opposed to violence, and I definitely wasn’t opposed to violence against Naomi, but my people had seen enough death and destruction in her reign. If I had to resort to bloodshed, I would, but I’d do my best to get it back without undue carnage.

  Thus lay my dilemma. Right now I was just worried about getting back to the Enchanted Forest and resetting that stupid clock because right now Naomi had me in an unbreakable choke hold. Who was I to break my father’s own law? Even though the circumstances were far beyond my control, I’d lose the respect of my people if I cheated to take the crown.

  The cab was waiting for us as we walked up to the restaurant, so I slid in first. Much to my surprise and especially Cyndi’s (given away by her loud gasp as she got in the cab), our creepy original cab driver was back in the saddle tonight and giving us all a leering smile as the door slammed shut behind Belle.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up. What were the odds we’d get the same cabbie twice, especially when someone else called to reserve it for us? We stared at each other through the rearview mirror. Something flashed in his gaze, but before I could decipher it, he looked away and accelerated the car. “What are you lovely ladies up to tonight?” he asked in that smoker’s drawl.

  “Scavenger hunt,” I said right away, not giving Belle or Cyndi the chance to respond.

  “What’s the prize?” he asked.

  Something seriously weird was up with this dude. “World peace,” I said shortly and took notice of his shoulders stiffening against the driver’s seat. I was going to give this guy about another minute before I stopped the cab and bailed us all out.

  “So what’s your story?” I was curious to know about this guy. A nagging sense of familiarity came to me, but I still couldn’t place him.

  “Not much of a story,” he said and fell silent.

  “Have we met before?” I pressed him.

  He cackled uncomfortably. “I’d never forget a face as pretty as yours.”

  Belle’s head popped up at that moment and a strange look came over her face. I watched her as she sent out a tendril of will through the back seat speakers by her feet. The magic scrambled through the speakers and went only God knows where, but Belle seemed satisfied so I relaxed as much as I could.

  I leaned over. “What did you do?” I whispered in her ear.

  “Scrambled signals to make sure we weren’t overheard by anyone. I don’t trust this guy,” she whispered back.

  I nodded and sat back, watching the scenery flash by the cab windows. There was a knot in my stomach, tight and uncomfortable. The sooner we got this over with, the better. The cab fell into an awkward silence, and after what seemed like an excruciating time period, he slowed down the cab in front of a copse of trees.

  “Weird place for a scavenger hunt,” he remarked in a friendly tone.

  I gave him a tight smile. “No one ever accused us of being normal.” I motioned for Belle to slide out and followed behind her. Cyndi, still silent, slid out and stood beside us. The cabbie rolled down the window, and I pushed a twenty at him. “Keep the change.”

  He reached over for the money, his fingers grasping mine tightly. He grinned, and I felt my heart stop. Red light, exactly like Max’s, flashed in his eyes as he pulled me closer to him. “Naomi will be extremely pleased to know where you are tonight.”

  He pushed me away from him, and as I stumbled in order to keep my balance, the cab squealed away into the night.

  “Screw me purple!” I shouted into the night and turned to Cyndi and Belle. “We need to run. Now.”

  We hauled ass through the man-made trail in the woods, both of my friends close behind me. “I knew something was up with that dude,” Belle said. “He won’t be able to contact Naomi through any of the devices in his vehicle.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief as I jumped over a log. “Thank the gods. At least we bought a little more time.”

  I figured we had close to twenty or thirty minutes before Naomi caught wind of where we were. Surely that was enough time to get us to Maleficent and open the portal. I was starting to feel pretty good about things when a lone figure stepped out ahead of us.

  “Fuck,” I snarled as all of us came to an abrupt halt. Max stood in front of us dressed in the traditional clothing of the Enchanted Forest. Long leather breeches encased his powerful legs. He wore soft leather boots laced up to the knee, and a sapphire blue supple shirt that flowed around him. He looked handsome as sin.

  And just as deadly.

  Belle touched my shoulder. I turned to her and whispered, “Go to Maleficent. I’ll be right behind you.” A brief nod and a meaningful glance at Cyndi, and both of them took off in opposite directions. Max’s gaze flicked to them briefly, but he made no move to follow.

  A glint of moonlight reflected off the arrow notched on the wooden bow he was pointing at me. I raised my hands up in the air, itching to draw the gun from my waistband, and studied him. “Max.” I nodded.

  He stepped closer to me, but not close enough for me to touch. Plenty close enough for him to fire off an arrow with incredible accuracy. “Snow. Fancy meeting you here.”

  “How’d you find me?” I took one hesitant step backward.

  “I’d be able to find you anywhere,” he said in all seriousness. “Especially now.�
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  I tensed. “Now?” I asked, a horrible thought forming in my mind.

  “You bear my mark,” Max said, his bow unwavering.

  “Mark?” Listen to me, so eloquent and wordy. I didn’t recall seeing anything on my skin after our night together. A sense of sick regret stole over me.

  “It’s underneath your skin, seen only to me, Snow. I will always know where you are.”

  So…Max had given me the equivalent of a magical STD. Awesome. I slowly lowered my hands and took a step closer to him, my mind spinning with thoughts. “Is this Naomi’s doing?”

  A look of regret flashed over his face, gone as quickly as it surfaced. “Aye,” he said, the one word hosting a world of sorrow. I closed my eyes, rebelling against the tears forming there. As long as Max was under the compulsion of Naomi, he’d be able to find me anywhere at any time. I’d just literally screwed myself by screwing Max. Of all the ways to lose my virginity. I couldn’t be normal and get a drunken fumble in the backseat of a car. I had to fall in love with a man being controlled by an evil sorceress. Way to go, Snow. Maybe I could put this in my scrapbook next to my Top Ten list of what not to do when searching for a boyfriend.

  I went for broke. “So how do I get the mark off?”

  Max grinned, slowly. “It will fade. Eventually. As long as we stay away from each other. But you and I both know we can’t do that.”

  The position of the moon told me we’d burned just a few moments chatting. I had very little time to make it to Maleficent and Robin. It was now or never.

  I was going to have to either shoot him or stab him.

  My mind ran through the inventory strapped onto my body. I had a gun strapped to my thigh and one on my shoulder. There was a knife in my boot and two canisters of pepper spray in my bra. Reaching into my bra would slow me down, and so would reaching into my boot. I could easily draw the weapon from my shoulder or thigh, but it depended on how much I wanted to hurt him. I stared at Max, calculating how fast he was going to move and the odds that I’d kill him once I fired off a shot.

  He stiffened. “Don’t do it, Snow. For the love of God, don’t.”

  My fingers itched and my muscles tensed to run. “Step out of my way, and I won’t. If you don’t get out my way, I will. Shooting someone is not how you say you care.”

  “I can’t let you open the portal.” His voice broke. “I can’t.”

  My posture relaxed. “Why are you so hell-bent on staying with Naomi? What is it that she has that makes you put up with this?”

  He shook his head, a stiff gesture. “I will not voice this. It is my secret alone to bear.” His hands quivered on the bow. “I beg of you, do not do this. I will be forced to kill you.”

  I snorted. “You obviously haven’t been keeping up with me. You’ve tried to kill me a few times now and haven’t succeeded.”

  Max lowered the bow. “And obviously you don’t know when someone is taking it easy on you.”

  I felt myself flush with anger and embarrassment. Then I let it go. I couldn’t do anything about our situation without either walking away or at least one of us getting killed or maimed. “It appears we are at an impasse. I’m going to the portal. There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

  “Of course there is.” He chuckled. “We are two of the most dysfunctional people I know. I don’t want to shoot you; you don’t want to shoot me. You’re angry at the world, and I’m under a magical enchantment to kill you. Could dating get any more complicated than this?”

  In answer, I pulled the gun from my shoulder holster and shot him in the kneecap. As I hauled ass around him, I felt a tug of remorse. “Call me when you get out of the hospital,” I shouted. “We can share a milkshake.”

  I ran as fast as I could away from him, and in my hurry to get away and the noise of my descent through the woods, I missed the sound of the arrow flying through the air. Excruciating pain ripped through my shoulder and sent me hurtling to the forest floor. I lay there for a few seconds, surprised, pissed off and hurting like I was in childbirth. “You sonofabitch! You shot me!” I screeched.

  The sound of pained masculine laughter carried to me. “You started it. By the way, I hate milkshakes, you feisty bitch.”

  I snorted with laughter and immediately regretted it. My shoulder was trashed. Thank God it was the left one and not my shooting arm. I took a few deep breaths, groaned in pain and slowly stood back up, my right hand pressed against the wound to staunch the bleeding. Ripping the arrow out would only worsen things, and right now, I had but a few precious minutes to get to the clearing. I cleared my mind of everything but the goal, tried to delegate the pain to the back of my mind, and slowly picked up my pace as I hurtled through the woods trying to beat Naomi to the portal.

  A flash of light jerked me out of my pained daze. I stumbled into the clearing just as the portal to the Enchanted Forest opened. Cyndi, Robin and Belle stared at me for a long second with their mouths wide open. The two dwarves standing next to Robin looked impassive. I’m sure they’d seen worse than a bedraggled princess in their lifetime.

  Robin came to his senses and ran over to help me stand up straight. He hissed in his breath as soon as he saw the arrow protruding from my shoulder.

  “Bloody hell, Snow. I gave you one simple task and you get shot?”

  I whimpered. “You should see the other guy,” I rasped.

  “Max,” he clipped out shortly. “Did that sonofabitch do this to you?”

  Belle and Cyndi rushed to my side. I offered a weak smile. “I shot him first.”

  “Good,” Robin said with fierce loyalty. “Did you kill him?”

  “Just maimed.” I held onto his arm and winced as I tweaked the wound.

  Maleficent stood next to the portal, a wonderful sight. Blue and purple light poured out into the night, the portal itself a maelstrom of color and pictures. This was my chance to win. To get back home and to take my kingdom back. Right now all I needed to do was step through and I would be halfway there. The clock would reset and Naomi would have to resort back to subterfuge and deceit to get to me. Now that she’d lost the support of the people completely, I wasn’t sure she’d be so sneaky anymore. This would be a war. And one that I hoped to win. I shook my arm free of Robin, gasping in pain, and began to shuffle over to the portal, motioning for my friends to join me. I was intent on just stepping in for a few minutes, staking my claim and stepping back out.

  A wicked voice rang out through the clearing. I wanted to scream in frustration. “Going somewhere?” Naomi asked from behind me.

  I kept doing the zombie shuffle, holding my hand against my shoulder, and ignored her. I had no time to engage in trite dialogue with a killer. It was now or never.

  Maleficent’s face darkened as she looked out over my shoulder. I shambled faster.

  I felt the heat of Naomi’s magic at my back. I wasn’t going to make it. I was injured, in excruciating pain and slow as a grandma telling a story for the hundredth time. I met Maleficent’s eyes and saw her mouth tighten in a grim line of concentration. She lifted her hand as I felt myself swept up into powerful arms. I screamed in pain.

  Robin lowered his head and muttered in my ear, “Christ. So sorry, Snow. Forgive me.”

  A shot of purple magic hit me in the shoulder as I felt myself flying through the air and into the portal.

  I landed ass over teakettle on the other side. Soft, wispy grass cushioned my landing. I lay there for a few moments, trying to catch my breath, and noticed I was no longer in teeth-numbing pain. I sat up, looked down, and with great relief saw that the arrow was gone. I pulled my shirt away from my collarbone and saw an angry red, puckered scar where the arrow had gone through. It still hurt, but I no longer felt like I was dying. I wouldn’t be wearing strapless anything for a while, but at least I was alive.

  The portal still burned behind me, but I couldn’t see anything through it. My heart twisted with worry about Belle and Cyndi. I knew they could take care of themselves, but I still
worried. Naomi wasn’t one to toy with. I stood up, dusted my leggings off and studied my surroundings. White-capped mountains stood out stark against the dark gray sky. To the left in the distance stood the castle I’d left so long ago. I felt a burning in my chest as I thought about all the years I’d lost.

  All I needed to do was reach the village at the bottom of it. Once I stepped inside of the borders, the magic of the land would recognize me and reset the clock. That was the convenient thing about magic and the laws of the Enchanted Forest. They were set into the very soul of the forest, so that if one person broke the law, the castle would be notified. It was sort of an all-in-one built-in lie detector and police force. Maybe the land already accepted me back because I was standing here, but I’d feel better if another living soul saw me back here to reclaim my crown.

  I began to run, enjoying the fresh crisp outside air. The village wasn’t that far, maybe half a mile. In a few minutes I’d be there. The sooner the better. I was ready to get back on Earth and make sure my friends were okay. We could work everything else out later, once we got back to the conference. We’d have to get back to the Enchanted Forest later on, but I knew I wasn’t leaving without the things I’d gathered. They were all at the house, and I’d make sure we returned for them. Plus I had several loose ends to tie up with as far as the job and PI agency.

  A few minutes later, I stopped at the edge of the village, out of breath and weak from blood loss. My shoulder ached, but I was thankful to Maleficent for at least patching me up a little bit. It took a powerful sorceress to divert her attention from one task to take care of another. The village looked much the same as it had before I left. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. I took a deep breath and stepped over the border.

  A loud chiming bell rang inside my head and a powerful burst of magic flew over my skin. I’d done it. The land recognized me. People began to pour out of their homes and shops, their mouths agape.

  “Princess Snow,” one said as they walked slowly up to me.