Page 17 of Snow’s Charming (Hope Runs Deep #7)

The Queen has Fallen

J ackie let out a cackle.

“Four down, four to go.” She grinned and then gazed at Sylus. “Not sure who you are, sweetheart, but once this is done, you and I can grab a drink because you are so delicious.” Her gaze then fell on Raine. “As for you, I’m just going to vanquish you. I don’t need you in my magic mirror.”

“I’d like to see you try.” He gave her a smirk, followed by a wink.

“Stop with the foreplay, Raine. I’m already excited to kill you,” Jackie said as she launched an energy ball in Raine’s direction.

Raine stepped to the side of the energy ball, but it still grazed his shoulder. The force of the blast shoved him against the back wall of the bedroom. His head hit the crown molding with a sickening crack, and his limp body hit the floor .

“Now, where was I? Oh yes! To the mirror with the rest of you!”

She sent out a series of rapid-fire green sparks of energy in Doc, Thick, and Bear’s direction.

The first one hit the wall and missed Doc completely.

However, once he regained his footing to dodge the next round, he tripped over one of Jackie’s shoes and the ball of light hit him.

He instantly disappeared from the room and wound up in the mirror moments later.

After a few more rounds, Jackie imprisoned Thick. Now only Bear, Sylus, and I remained in the fight. Raine’s body was still lifeless where he fell.

“Sesi, be a dear and stand still. Make things easy on your stepmother for once—would you?”

Jackie raised her palm, and an enormous amount of green sparkling light rushed through the witches’ protective barrier and headed straight for me.

“No!” said Bear as he stepped in front of it. He, too, disappeared from the room and appeared in the mirror.

“And then there was one!” Jackie said with a cackle. She quickly sent a succession of green, sparkly lights in my direction.

“You’ve got your numbers crossed, bitch! Sesi has me!”

Sylus reached for my shoulder once more to pull me away from the ball of energy headed in my direction.

I raised my hands to deflect the light, but this time, Sylus finally contacted me and shielded me from the menacing magical blows with his bare arms and back. The light surrounded us momentarily and then redirected toward Jackie and her coven.

“Impossible! Only the rarest pure black Alpha and pure silver-white Luna werewolves can deflect my magic! They are the Moon Goddess’s Yin and Yang Fated Mates!”

Jackie’s eyes widened for a moment before she dodged the blasts with ease.

“You can’t be a werewolf, Sesi. I would have sensed it!”

“If I hadn’t put a protection spell on her and Sylus at birth—you would have, bitch.” Said Raine before he smashed the chair into the mirror.

The entire brigade and my father materialized back into the room. Raine then raised his palm and destroyed the protective bubble around the three witches. With his other hand, he waved each witch into a piece of the shattered mirror.

“They won’t be bothering anyone anytime soon, Sesi.”

“Thanks, Raine,” I said, rushing into my father’s arms. I had to hold him to believe he was here in the flesh.

“You’re alive! But how?”

“When I placed Jackie into the mirror, I reversed her spells. She’s the one that made your father sick, so now that he isn’t under her spell, he’s free to live a long and happy life with you all. ”

“Okay, that explains part of it. But what is this about putting a protection spell on me and Sesi?”

Raine gave Sylus a smug smile.

“Keme may be the first wolf made, and of course, he had a say in the prophecy of you two. However, if the Moon Goddess catered only to Keme’s wishes, Jackie and her coven may have started the next Civil Were War.

When you were both young, the Moon Goddess came to me and asked me to keep your powers hidden from the evil witch.

You were easier, Sylus, but I had to bind your powers, Sesi.

That’s why you didn’t know your wolf until you turned 21.

The Moon Goddess told me it was the only way to keep you safe, but sometimes?

Well, you know as well as I do that the gods and goddesses enjoy keeping us on our toes for entertainment. ” Raine said with a wink.

“Isn’t that the truth?” Said Sylus.

I ran to Sylus and jumped up into his arms. He hooked his arms around my upper thighs. I cupped his cheeks.

“It’s over! It’s finally over! Now we can live the life we were meant to!” I said as I gave him a quick kiss.

“Let’s go home, princess!” He said with a grin from ear to ear.

My eyes immediately darted towards my father’s. Would he want to stay? And should I be here with him?

I wanted to be with Sylus. Home for him was the inn, which, if I was being honest with myself, felt more like it than the estate. Probably because Jackie had tainted my memories of this place.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I know you want to be at the inn. I’m heading there, too, because I can’t be here. It’s time to surround ourselves with the people who love us. We deserve this.”

“It’ll be great to have you back at the packhouse, Baseline,” Chary said as he clapped a hand on Baseline’s shoulder.

“What should we do about Jackie and her coven?” I asked.

“I’ll take everything back to the packhouse and text Zhang. If anyone knows what to do with these, it’s that old sorcerer.” Said Raine as he collected the pieces of shattered glass.

We all headed back to the inn. After cooking in the kitchen together, we sat down for a feast of three whole roasted chickens, roasted butternut squash, and garlic mashed potatoes.

My heart squeezed as I listened to each side conversation, memory, laugh, and giggle ringing through the massive dining room between forkfuls of food in the penthouse.

“Your dad was the ringleader for all the shenanigans when we had R&R. He’d put Maverick in Top Pilot to shame,” Chary said with a chuckle and raised his glass. “I’m so glad to have you back with us, my man!”

“I’m glad to be back.” Her dad said as he raised his glass in return. “But it’s getting late, and I’m still run down from being held prisoner in a soul-sucking mirror. Mind if I snag the first bedroom I find? Or are some occupied?”

Of course, my dad would ask if we were using the primary bedroom—why wouldn’t he?

He was looking at me now, and my cheeks heated.

It was one thing for my dad to talk about Sylus as my mate, but something entirely different to voice his opinions on what kind of connection we have. Truth be told, I still wasn’t sure.

So how on Earth would I explain my feelings about Sylus to my father when I didn’t know if I was in lust or love with the guy?

I’m sure my dad wanted to know how intimate our connection was, and that weirded me out.

Heat spread to my ears and neck as I continued to figure out what I was going to say to him.

“Sesi’s been staying in the room across the hall from mine,” said Sylus matter-of-factly.

For once, I was grateful for his taking charge and answering for me.

The alpha protector thing with him was a little hard to get used to.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to speak for me all the time.

But this time? I was pretty thankful! I just didn’t want him to make a habit of it.

Sylus gazed at me. His eyes softened with concern.

“Princess, you look tired. Perhaps we should turn in, too?”

I smiled at him but said nothing. I was tired. Too tired to talk and too tired to argue. I got up from my chair and my knees buckled, causing me to fall into Sylus’s arms.

“Come on, princess, let me take you to your bedroom. I’ll draw you a bath, and when you are done, I’ll tuck you in.”

He scooped me into his arms bridal-style, and to my surprise, my father didn’t protest. I really thought he’d give me one of his fatherly speeches about waiting for the right one.

Or possibly in this case—waiting for my wedding day, but said nothing.

I was 21 now, and maybe that had something to do with it.

That I was betrothed to Sylus might have also had something to do with it, too.

Still, the thought of my dad knowing all of this still made me feel weird.

Mates mating. Ugh! My dad and mother mated, too.

I desperately wanted to cover my ears and scream lalalala so I wouldn’t hear a thing.

But since all of this was in my head, I couldn’t very well escape the thoughts now burning a hole in my permanent memory.

My parents had sex and probably a lot of it—because, duh—they had me.

I swallowed hard to bite back the bile forming in my throat.

Why was I thinking about all of this now?

Was I trying to sabotage my alone time with Sylus? Truth? Maybe I was.

His kiss, the one that snapped me out of the spell with the apple, was electric. No, if I were being honest with myself, it was magical.

And despite what happened to me with the jerks I’d been with, I really, really wanted to believe in romance. The kind where you get butterflies in your stomach. You get lost in your Prince Charming’s eyes. And most definitely the kind where you get that happily ever after .

Sylus’s touch, smile, gaze, and obsessive need to care for me were totally leading me down the romance rabbit hole.

It felt good to be with him—even if all of this might fizzle the minute I realized he and I were only in lust with each other.

But as I gazed into his dark pools that were undressing my soul yet again, I wasn’t sure I wanted to escape back to reality just yet.

Of course, it was fitting I was thinking of Alice and Wonderland.

I’d lived with a queen who broke hearts and shuddered at the thought of her wanting to chop my head off—or rather, cut my heart out.

Thank goodness we trapped her in the mirror, and hopefully, that’s where she will stay for an eternity.

Still, something in the back of my mind made me wonder if someone could let her out.