The Hunt for Snow Page 13

I could see no reaction on our plates, so assumed it was safe to dig in. Cyndi dug around in her purse and pulled out the day’s agenda. “I think we should stick close together today. There’s a small business meeting down on the second floor today. Since we all have our own things going, I thought it would be good to sit through.”

  It was a good plan as I needed to get more into the business side of my PI practice. It was much more than just finding adulterers. The bookkeeping was enough for me to cry myself to sleep every night. Math and fairytale legends didn’t mesh well together. I had a whole lot of adjusting to do while on Earth, not all of it fun. Keeping the business going while I was away was imperative, just in case things didn’t work out like we were planning them to.

  “Good idea. Let’s all plan on going there and then to the taxes class afterward.” I pointed out the description on Cyndi’s agenda and ignored the groans of my friends. “Running a small business takes more than just intelligence about our service. You think Naomi is bad? Try having the IRS on your tail.”

  We finished up our breakfast, gathered our things, and headed over to the first class. I felt like a nervous cat, my glance flickering over everyone and everything, waiting for the moment something jumped out at me. So far nothing, which made me look like an overly paranoid old biddy. What could Naomi possibly do? The fact that she’d removed all of the hotel’s employees was enough to make everyone nervous, but we were in the middle of town on Earth, not in a place where citizens are used to seeing magic zinging over their heads. Any use of magic could attract the wrong kind of attention, and the last thing we needed was getting chased out of this realm by citizens wielding pitchforks.

  But I didn’t plan to underestimate her. She’d managed to run me out of my own castle with just the clothes on my back, and she’d turned the townspeople against me. Granted, it was magic, but it still had the same effect. We entered into the hotel conference room and found a seat at the back. Again with the paranoia, but it kept me alive, so I was willing to embrace it. The room was slowly filling up, and once the class started I would have to focus more on keeping myself awake than looking out for threats by Naomi.

  I felt like Barney on How I Met Your Mother. Remember the slap bet between Marshall and Barney? He could have chosen to get slapped all at once or five times at Marshall’s choosing. He chose the five slaps and walked around paranoid about it for years. I felt like him right now. I was constantly tiptoeing around events waiting for the inevitable slap. Peeking around corners, my fingers itching for my gun, never knowing when that slap would come, but knowing that it was just a matter of time before I was taken by surprise and ended in a world of hurt. Of course, it was funny with Barney because he richly deserved it and had made his own bed. Me? A bit of a different story. I didn’t sign up for a slap bet, but that bitch kept slapping me anyway.

  The room slowly filled to capacity, but the seats around us stayed empty until Red plopped down beside me. “I’m a little pissed you didn’t tell me what was going on. Seriously…climbing out of a hotel window to get away from us?” She made a disgusted sound. “Drama queen.”

  I sucked in a breath, offended. “We needed to make sure Naomi didn’t find out.”

  Red crossed her arms and glared at me. “You will be our queen, Snow. Not one of us would have sold you out.” Her gaze softened. “You have to give us your trust to earn ours. You’ve been gone for a decade. And for a decade your people have suffered.”

  I turned my gaze to the people sitting around us. The blacksmith in our old village who had yet to say hello to me. The woman who sold fish to me and my father when I was just a girl. All of these people I’d once loved. And I was as bad as them. We’d been tiptoeing around each other instead of working together. I was so afraid of being judged that I never gave them the opportunity to trust me. Or vice versa.

  “You’re right, Red.” I patted her on the knee. “No more.”

  She nodded with satisfaction and was about to say something when the instructor came in. Instead, she whispered, “Talk more soon. I know you ladies have a plan.”

  I nodded. “We sure do. Sort of,” I added dryly.

  Small business for the Enchanted Forest was much different than business on Earth, so I wasn’t sure how much I could use at home. Not that I should have been thinking about that so much, especially since I was going to be back in the castle soon. We left that class and slipped into an unoccupied room so we could talk to Red.

  “Is Rumpelstiltskin here?” I asked her.

  Her mouth dropped open. “Errr…what could you possibly want with that guy?”

  We told her our plan to curse Naomi. Red seemed to be on the same track as Cyndi and suggested we just kill her. Honestly, I was beginning to think it’d be easier. When I told her I didn’t want to start my reign off with violence, a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

  “You’re right,” she said after a moment of silence. “The villagers have seen their fair share of death under Naomi’s rule.” She shook her head. “Rumpel isn’t here, Snow. I’m sorry. He rarely ventures away from his hollow anymore. He is feared and reviled. Every deal he does winds up worse for the person who struck it than the target.”

  “That just means we have to be smarter than him,” Belle spoke up. “And…we make sure he doesn’t cheat.”

  Cyndi gave her a dubious look. “Rumpel always cheats. Kings and queens have been duped. What kind of chance do we have?”

  “A big one,” Belle said. She pointed to me. “Snow has been on the run for ten years. Successfully, I might add. I’m running a technology business, and you run a wish firm. We are intelligent, capable women. Everyone else has been too cocky. We aren’t cocky. We’re desperate.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what desperation had to do with winning, but Belle was going somewhere with this. I raised an eyebrow at her and gestured for her to go on.

  “When you’re desperate, you’re willing to give up more. We don’t have much. But we do have Naomi.”

  “Uh, but we don’t have Naomi. That’s the whole point,” I said.

  Red grinned then and slapped Belle on the shoulder. “Freaking genius!” she shouted.

  My hamster must have fallen off its wheel because I had no idea what she was talking about.

  Belle gave me a look of barely concealed irritation. “Listen. Naomi has been a scourge in the Enchanted Forest. She rules through tyranny and terror. Who else lives in the Enchanted Forest?”

  She gave me the look an encouraging preschool teacher would make to one of her pupils. “Um,” I said. “People?”

  “Good God, woman! Rumpel lives in the forest. She’s making his life a living hell, too. This could work out in our favor! If we can get her out of his hair he might be willing to make a deal.”

  “If that’s the case, then why hasn’t he already tried?” Naomi was powerful, but I didn’t doubt Rumpel either matched or exceeded her powers.

  “He’s tried many times.” The friendly voice intruded into our private conversation. I jerked and reached for my knife until I realized it was Giles.

  “How did you find us?” Hopefully Giles didn’t plant some freaky tracking device on us, too.

  “I’ve been around you since you were a lass in diapers, Snow. I know your habits more than all others.”

  Scary, I thought. “How do we know we can trust you?”

  He smiled, a soft sad smile. “Naomi does not have me bespelled, Snow. She knows I’d rather impale myself on my knife than allow her power over me.”

  “So why doesn’t she just kill you then?” I asked, and winced when I heard my harsh tone.

  “Because I am an asset. And I am the only one within her court who won’t openly try to kill her.” He spread his hands open and shrugged. “I am an old man. But I am not above subterfuge. Your plan is a good one. Rumpel will listen to you. He’s tried many times over the years to take Naomi out of power. Obviously, he’s never succeeded.”

  I felt my brow wrinkle. “Why not? He’s
as powerful as her, if not more so.”

  “That he is,” Giles said. “But he always approaches her from the front. He’s never tried to be deceptive or sneaky. When he tries it, she’s always aware. He’s an honorable killer, if you’d believe that. Plus, no one in the town trusts him so he can’t very well ask them for help.”

  Belle’s plan was beginning to make sense. We’d be doing something Rumpel wanted all along, but had never been able to do. What worried me is what he would want in return. Knocking her out of power wouldn’t be enough for him. There would always be a catch, always something to make the deal deadly.

  “So how do we get back to the Enchanted Forest? Maleficent needs recovery time before she can reopen the portal.” My mind spun with thoughts about the curse and what we could do to keep Naomi under control.

  Beside me Red stiffened and her nostrils flared out. “Did you feel that?”

  Belle and I stared at each other, both wary. “No,” I said. “Feel what?”

  “Revenge.” Naomi walked in, all legs and smiles, her arms raised at her sides and the deep blood-red of her magic pouring out. The hotel shook under our feet, knocking us all off balance.

  I looked over at Giles, where the telltale hint of Naomi’s magic shot through his deep blue pupils. My heart sank. One of my closest friends when I was a child, one of my closest allies, gone. Just like that. I closed my eyes briefly and when I opened them again, Giles had disappeared, leaving something in my back pocket. Cursing my stupidity, but not wanting to tip off Naomi, I tucked what felt like a Ziploc bag down further into the pocket of my leggings. I’d examine that later. I just hoped it wasn’t explosive.

  “If it’s me you want, just take me. You don’t have to kill everyone in this hotel.” The building still quaked beneath my feet, but years of yoga had given me pretty good balance. I stayed upright as best as I could, while my friends lay sprawled in various states on the ground.

  “Who said anything about killing?” Naomi’s magic poured forth from her hands, swirling through the room. I didn’t know what she was doing, but whatever it was didn’t bode well for anyone.

  “Then what are you doing?” I moved my fingers to my waistband.

  “Ah ah ah,” Naomi said and with one flick of her wrist, my arm was flung away and hung useless by my side. She’d dislocated my shoulder.

  I shrieked in pain, and cradled my arm against my stomach. Belle stepped up then, flashes of yellow crackling around her.

  “Whatever it is that you’re doing, Naomi, stop. Why can’t you just admit that you’ve lost?”

  Her tinkling laughter rang out through the room. “Lost? Whatever do you mean? I’ve won.” She leaned forward and bared her teeth at Belle. “Little bookworm, I suggest you drop those currents you’re tangling with, otherwise I’m going to add you to my enemy list.”

  “Too late,” Belle said and pretty much released the kraken on Naomi’s ass. All the lights blew out in the building, or at least as far as I could tell, because we were plunged into pitch-darkness. Naomi’s screams rang out through the room, but it was followed by her laughter.

  Debris rained down above us, and I hesitated to move because I couldn’t see a damned thing, except for Belle lighting up like a glowworm, her face concentrated and angry. The hotel shifted and lurched around us, and the screams of the hotel guests rang throughout my ears.

  “You’re too late, bookworm!” Naomi’s voice rasped out, her breathing heavy and labored. The building stopped moving, the lights flickered above us a couple of times and silence rang out all around us.

  Naomi’s mocking laughter faded away as she left us. I felt something soft beside me move and moan softly. I felt my way around, whispering, “So sorry. Pretend we’re dating.”

  The pained giggle let me know it was Cyndi. “Are you okay?” I asked, praying against the odds she was.

  “Yes, but someone is sitting on me.”

  “Shit,” Red muttered. “I thought that was too soft to be the floor.” The sounds of shifting and groans met our ears. Belle sat down beside me, her skin still sparking with the earlier magic exertion.

  “What the hell did you do to her?” I asked.

  “Not enough,” Belle said grimly. “Give me a minute and I’ll get the lights back on.”

  “Take your time,” I said. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see the damage. Or what Naomi had done. I felt my way over and gripped Belle’s hand with my good one. She squeezed it, her hand lean and strong. I knew Belle was powerful. I had no idea she could blow out the power in a fifty story hotel. Perhaps I should take more care when teasing her.

  “Don’t say a word,” she said.

  I snorted. “Wouldn’t dream of it, sparky.”

  I heard her then huff with laughter. We sat there for a few more minutes waiting for Belle to get some of her juice back. Even though I had a personal nightlight sitting right beside me, the darkness was still overwhelming. “I need you to put my shoulder back into the socket,” I said.

  “Oh, Snow, you always say the most romantic things.” Belle motioned for me to get in front of her. She stood behind me, and I gritted my teeth waiting for the inevitable pain. She’d had to do this more than once since she came to live with me. I’d come home black and blue after a training session, and instead of going to the hospital, I’d look at Belle who’d sigh, mutter some curse words, and eventually set me to rights again. This was now old hat to her, but I feared if I didn’t get my shoulder looked at soon I’d end up with arthritis in it before I was forty. With no warning, Belle forced my shoulder back into the socket, and I managed only a short scream of pain this time. Progress.

  After a few minutes, I was feeling more like myself again. I could barely make out Cyndi and Red huddled next to us just a few feet over. The air was fast becoming oppressive with the weight of fear and the heat of hundreds of bodies suddenly exposed to terror and no air conditioning.

  How many were dead? Dying? Maimed? All? Maybe none? So many questions I didn’t have an answer for, and Naomi had so many excuses for making us suffer. All for power. For royalty. She had major mommy issues.

  Belle stood beside me, took one long deep breath and sent out tendrils of bright yellow magic up through the ceiling. I watched in awe as the lights slowly started to spark back to life. They weren’t as bright as they normally were, but at least we could see enough to get by. After a moment, Belle released her magic and turned to us with a grim look on her face.

  “We are no longer on Earth.”

  11

  “Uhh, that was sort of creepy, Belle. Could you maybe say that during scary story time at camp instead of right now when we’re all scared shitless?” She didn’t crack a smile, and my stomach plummeted down to my toes. “How do you know?” I asked shortly.

  “The shortage of electricity. I’m pulling straight from the generator power. And it won’t last for long. Earth is full of electrical power. Power lines, underground cables, power plants, the place is full of areas rich in electricity. Wherever we are now is…different.” She paused. “The electricity running through the earth now is natural.”

  Cyndi’s voice chimed in for the first time. “Natural?” Her voice wobbled.

  Belle nodded.

  Red’s voice drifted over to us from one of the outside windows. She’d opened up the locked blinds. “That’s because we’re back in the Enchanted Forest.”

  “We’re…what?” I asked and hurried over to the window. I peeked out the window and saw that we were smack dab in the middle of the forest. Naomi had literally pulled our hotel up by the roots, somehow opened up a portal and dropped the damned thing back into fairytale land.

  “Honey, we’re home!” Grumpy’s voice came from the other side of the room. If he was here to fight, I swear I was going to shoot him in the face.

  I turned to him, allowing the blinds to draw shut behind me. “Well, you should be pleased.”

  He pulled the hat off his head in a sheepish gesture. “Snow, I didn’t mean to tr
eat you so bad when I saw you. It’s just I—” He stopped and hung his head. “Look, let’s avoid the mushy scene and figure out why the hell we’re back here and what we’re going to do about it, okay?”

  I’d like to know that myself. I nodded at Grumpy. “Deal. Let’s go see what the hell is going on.” We all walked silently out of the room, the lights flickering in and out and giving the hotel a creepy horror movie film vibe. Shell-shocked people lined the hallways, their business suits askew. One man was walking in the hallway straight for us.

  Robin.

  He looked way too happy for everything that had just happened over the last several minutes. “Lass!” he shouted as he began jogging over. “Did you see that? Bloody amazing!”

  I felt, rather than saw, Belle react. A crack of yellow magic rang out and hit Robin in the groin. He fell to his knees, cursing.

  “Oh shit.” I choked on laughter. “Belle, he’s going to kill you.”

  “Not if I kill him first,” she said. Looks like that short burst of admiration for him had evaporated like water on hot concrete.

  We stopped beside Robin who was now laid out flat on his back with his hands cupped over his family jewels. “You’re going to pay for that,” he rasped out.

  “Amazing?” she said in disdain. “You think this is amazing?” She gestured at the chaos around us. “You’re an idiot, Robin. And a fool!”

  “So maybe I chose the wrong word,” he admitted. “No reason to prevent a man from having children in the future!” After a moment or two he sat up, and I helped him stand. He leaned over, his hands on his knees, and stared at my friend. “Do that again and there will be no mercy for you, lass. I’ll flay the skin from your bones and make you watch me do it.”

  Something flashed in Belle’s eyes then. Something I was going to try and never ever remember because it looked suspiciously like she was turned on. I mean, Max and I were always trying to kill each other, but he was sort of a bad guy. Good girls like Belle weren’t supposed to like that kind of creepy talk.