Page 23 of Snow’s Charming (Hope Runs Deep #7)

Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here

T hanks to Zhang and his cloaking spell, Accius didn’t meet up with us at our next rest stop. He didn’t show at the hotel we stayed at either. We were in the home stretch of our trip, just hopping off the exit to New York City, when I got a text from Sylus.

We are being followed. It’s a black SUV two cars behind us.

How do you know this?

My heart was pounding against my chest in rapid succession. It felt as if it would burst through my rib cage.

We’ve been tracking the same SUV since we left the hotel. Zhang said his cloak would only last for so long and that Accius would catch up to us.

But is it Accius? I mean, it’s NYC.

Call it a gut feeling, princess.

I voiced Sylus’s concerns with Zhang and my father. My father gazed into the rearview mirror and locked onto the SUV with a familiar plate. It most definitely followed us through the past couple of states we drove through to get to NYC.

“Princess, tell Sylus we are shaking this tail. Zhang, text Raven and let her know what’s up. We need to meet her somewhere other than her home.”

“Okay. We can meet her in Central Park.” Said Zhang.

“Good idea. It’s crowded enough where we can hide in plain sight.”

A few minutes passed as we both drove through the streets of the city, trying to ditch Accius.

Thankfully, we both passed through a light before it turned red.

Accius had no choice but to wait. He was behind a police car.

We drove down three blocks and came up to a garage before Accius caught up with us. We drove in and parked.

“What now?” I asked, getting out of the car while walking toward Sylus and the others .

“We head to Central Park. Pull up your hoodies so it’s harder for Accius to recognize you.” Zhang said as he removed his robe and shoved it under the seat. He stood clad in a gray hoodie and dark blue jeans and was almost unrecognizable.

“Wow! You look like a regular person without that robe, but that beard is a dead giveaway.”

“Yeah, well, I kinda saw this coming. That’s why I prepared, Sesi.” He said as he fisted his long beard. It transformed into a 5 o’clock shadow before my eyes.

“I did not doubt that you wouldn’t have seen this coming, being a sorcerer and all, however? I didn’t expect you to pull off a glamor spell. Impressive!” I said with widened eyes.

We all covered our heads with our hoodies, which wasn’t much of a stretch for late October in New York.

The weather had been warm. It’d been hovering around 45 degrees during the day and not dropping below 40 for late-night temperatures.

We walked down 5th a little until we got to 64th and entered the park.

Accius had walked past us twice in the sizable crowds on the streets. The first time, he was on the opposite side of the street, and the second time he jogged right past us on the same side.

I was glad he didn’t notice us, but the closer we got to meeting Raven, the more worried I became. I feared he’d discover us before she could break the curse.

Sylus must have seen the nervousness on my face, because he reached for my hand and brought it to his lips to kiss my knuckles. The sensation of his warmth lulled me into comfort. Before I knew it, we were in front of Raven, who stood up from the park bench she’d been sitting on.

“Come, it’s not safe here. Let’s head for Grounds,” Raven said as she motioned for us to follow her.

We headed to the back and huddled by a couple of tables and chairs in the patio area.

“What do you want, baby?”

“Just a lemonade. I’m coffeed out.”

He smiled and went with Joker and Chary to grab everyone’s drinks. Once he reached the counter, I turned to Raven, Zhang, and my father. Raven placed a hand over mine and gave me a bright smile.

“I promise we will fix this, Sesi. Everyone deserves to be with their soulmate.”

Her smile wasn’t reaching her eyes this time. I figured it had something to do with her love life, but I didn’t want to press the issue since I’d just met her. “This is fixable. Especially if you’ve created a bond already.”

I frowned.

“We were told not to because of the curse.”

“I wasn’t talking about physically marking each other. I was talking about the mental connection you have with one another. The Moon Goddess added a precaution in the fable to help you and your pack.”

My brows furrowed. This was all news to me, but if anything, it sounded promising.

Sylus came over with my drink, and I couldn’t help but pat his forearm as a thank you.

Silvery-white sparks emitted from our physical contact the minute I touched him.

It was the same color we’d seen before when we fended off Jackie and Accius.

“Not again!”

I muttered under my breath as my eyes darted around the coffee shop. “Accius must be close.”

“That?” Raven said as she gestured at the sparkle of light between us.

“No. That has nothing to do with Accius. That’s the emotional connection I’m talking about! You’ve already marked each other on a plane that has nothing to do with physical attraction. Well, according to the Moon Goddess, anyway.”

My brows furrowed again.

“I’m not following. Maybe it’s because this whole shifter thing is new to me, but I thought only a bite mark makes us bound to each other as fated mates.”

“For all shifters that are not the Yin and Yang Fated Mates, yes, you’d need the mark to be bound to each other.

But the Moon Goddess has deemed you to have a special bond.

The quatrain speaks of your connecting on a mental level first. No bond is everlasting if you aren’t—shall we say—on the same page?

From the electric heat that any magical being can see between you, it’s clear you both have marked each other!

This connection is like a physical bite in the sense that you can hear each other telepathically now.

You don’t need the physical bite to do so.

And then after I lift the curse, you can mate physically with a bite mark and you, along with your pack, will be safe! ”

My heart squeezed. But I wasn’t sure if I should be happy.

We had a long way to go before this nightmare was over.

First, there was the looming factor of Accius finding us.

There was a strong possibility he’d walk into this very coffee shop any minute and vanquish us on the spot.

Second, the spell Raven was going to do to break the bond had to work.

My hope was fading with each problem we’d encountered on this trip to the City that Never Sleeps.

I only hoped that Accius wouldn’t try to kill because he couldn’t do magic in front of humans. Of course, he had tried to kill us before in public, so I didn’t want to hold my breath. And now it was getting dark, and we would have to walk through Central Park to get to our cars.

I brought my lemonade to my lips, and as I gazed out onto the sidewalk; I saw Accius. His eyes didn’t meet mine, thankfully, but it was clear by his darting head that he was still looking for us.

“Zhang!” I said, letting out a gasp. “What do we do?”

“We will wait for him to leave, and then we’ll make a run for it to the parking garage for the cars.”

“Why do that, Zhang? Armand and I have rooms at our place for all of you. He plans to pick me up here in five minutes in the stretched limo. We can get in and out unnoticed and retrieve the cars later.”

“You don’t think the limo will attract attention?” I asked .

“It’s New York. Limos and celebrities are plentiful. We’d be hiding in plain sight.”

“I don’t want to impose. Plus? You shouldn’t get any more involved than you already are.” Zhang said as he patted Raven’s hand.

“Zhang, that was a past life. It is not this one. Accius, by magical law, cannot punish me for past-life crimes with Kate. Besides—I’m thinking I’m not much like my past self, anyway.”

Her eyes seemed to darken again as she smiled at Zhang. Yeah, I needed to talk to her. I felt that pull you always do when meeting a potential girlfriend.

“You cannot house us all. Not when Accius is after us!”

I almost blurted it out without really thinking. Sure, we needed a haven, but I didn’t want a potential friend to be in harm’s way for us.

Her eyes darted to mine, and they squinted.

“I most certainly will house you all! Armand is a billionaire. Being a centuries-old vampire makes you rich by default—can you imagine his 401K?”

Raven chuckled.

“His penthouse is in the financial district. It’s far enough away from here. And magically protected. Accius can’t find you—I promise. You all need my help and a safe place to stay. Whether you want to admit it to yourselves—that’s another story.”

“I understand and agree,” said Sylus as he reached for my hand. “I’ll do anything to keep my princess safe.”

“Then it’s settled. You are all getting in the limo with me. Let’s head out now. The limo is here, and Accius just walked up the next block. Chances are good that he won’t turn around soon.”

We all filed out. My father ushered me into the car first, followed by Raven, Zhang, Joker, and Chary. Before Sylus could get in next, a gust of wind blew his hood off just as he was about to get into the car. He tugged it back over his head just as Accius’s voice rang through the air.

“Sylus! Thought you were around here.”

Before Sylus dashed into the car, Accius had his hand on Sylus’s shoulder. A red light emitted from Accius’s palm, instantly weakening Sylus.

“If you want to keep your boyfriend alive, you’ll get out of the car, Sesi.”

“Don’t listen to him, princess!”

“Oh, but she will because the mate bond won’t allow her to do anything but protect you from harm.”

“It’s Landon Barker! Look!”

A blonde teenage girl near the limo yelled out at us.

“OH MY GOD! I love you and want to marry you!” She said while reaching for Sylus’s hand.

A crowd began forming around the limo, Sylus, and Accius.

The crowd, mostly young girls, began touching any part of Sylus they could, knocking Accius’s hold on Sylus’s shoulder.

Armand stepped out of the limo and casually walked over to Sylus, placing a protective hand over him and guiding him into the limo .

“Ladies, Mr. Landon Parker loves you all, but he has an engagement to attend to.”

“We know! He’s playing at Madison Square Garden with MYK! And he’s got an interview today with Saturday Night Live! We can’t wait!”

The young teens swarmed Sylus again, separating him from Accius’s grasp even further. Armand smiled at the growing crowd of teens with a killer thousand-watt smile.

“Yes, he does, and he’ll run late if you don’t allow him the time to get there. New York traffic is crazy—even if we aren’t traveling far.”

After a few groans from the fangirls, Armand could finally get Sylus into the car and told his driver to drive as soon as it was safe.

“Sylus, give me your hands,” Armand said with outstretched hands.

Sylus grasped his hands, and a silvery, bluish light emitted from their palms within seconds.

“Accius’s power over you is gone. I’ve placed a protection spell over your chi. He can’t drain you anymore. Sesi, let me do the same for you.” He said as he outstretched his hands towards me.

I placed my hands in his, and an instant hum vibrated between our contact. I instinctively understood what Armand was doing.

“Do you feel better, princess?” Sylus asked.

“I think so. All of this is still too new for me to make any comparisons, though.”

“Your witch powers allow you to experience the magic flowing through you.” Said Armand. “At least that’s how it is supposed to be. I’m a vampire and a witch.”

“I didn’t realize. Is there anything else I should know about myself?” I said, while letting out a sigh.

It was more out of frustration than annoyance. But I still wasn’t happy that my family had kept so much from me. I looked out the window, determined not to speak another word in fear that I’d say something I couldn’t take back.

But seriously? How could they all keep from me that I was not only a werewolf, but a witch as well? I don’t want to be like Jackie!