Page 29 of Snow’s Charming (Hope Runs Deep #7)

All is not What it Seems

I know what you are thinking, dear readers.

There was a happy ending—so why this next chapter?

Well, my darlings, magic is never what it seems. For every evil, there needs to be good.

Nature, earth, and souls require this balance to maintain the free will of the soul.

And that means that Sylus and Sesi are about to be paid a visit by the most unlikely of people—but I’ll let you witness this for yourselves, my dearies.

Much Love,

SS

“You promised me, Demetrese! So, when are you going to reverse what Raine did to me?”

Jackie’s tone bordered on batshit rather than just plain crazy.

“All in due time, Jackie,” Demetrese said as he patted her hand before bringing it to his lips.

“You told me that if I broke the brat, she’d cave and give you her powers.

It took me a decade to break her, and in a matter of one quick minute, Raine fucked me over in the worst possible way.

We could have had all of her powers if you hadn’t told me to put the whammy on Sleeper—and all the while, you knew he was a witch! Why would you do this to me? To us?”

“You did well, my love. And all according to the plan that Yudi and I came up with long ago. Yudi will restore your powers soon. First, I must retrieve a particular staff for you to help with the rest of the plan.”

“Rest of the plan? What are you going on about now?”

“I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but? How about a getaway, my love? Let’s spend some time in the mountains, specifically at Mirror Lake Inn. It’s in the Adirondacks. It’s lovely weather topside this time of year with the leaves changing.”

“You only say that because I’ve been complaining about the hellhole you live in.”

“How many times do we have to go over this, Jackie?”

Demetrese pinched the bridge of his nose.

“It’s called the Underworld—not Hell.”

“Anywhere that keeps me away from exacting my revenge on Sesi and Sylus is hell as far as I’m concerned!”

“Okay, clearly you won’t let this go unless I give you a better hint. You’ll love the getaway I’ve got planned. We’ll be crashing a honeymoon, Sesi and Sylus’s—to be exact.” Demetrese said with a raised brow and half smile.

Jackie’s smile broadened as she clapped her hands together and jumped up and down.

“Demetrese, you are a genius! I’d like nothing more than to ruin the happiest day of their lives. They’d never expect us to come after being dormant for so long.”

She drew him into her arms, her lips grazing his neck before she nipped the sensitive area under his earlobe.

“You’ve been a wonderful boy, Demetrese, and deserve a reward.”

Demetrese palmed Jackie’s shoulders to place some distance between the two of them.

“As much as I’d love to collect right here and now, I’d much rather ravish you topside. I booked the room, and it’s ready for us,” Demetrese said as he held a key card in his hand.

“Did you really book the room already? I knew that glamour spell in the Nuri Witch Book of Shadows would work for you to get us a room!”

“Yes, invoking Yudi did the trick. Thanks for reminding me demons possess a small amount of witch magic, my darling. Existing for so long means I forget a thing or two sometimes. I’m sure I could have made my human self a little more handsome for you, though.”

“Well, I think you are a sexy silver fox. Now, you aren’t the only one who needs a disguise. I don’t want to risk them recognizing me before we execute your plan of stealing her powers. ”

“I’m one step ahead of you, darling.”

“Is that so? Does that mean you are leaving me in the dark with the rest of your plan again?”

“No, darling, I don’t intend to do that at all. In fact, you’ll be an integral part of my plan to steal more than just Sesi’s powers.”

“Unless it has anything to do with getting back at Raine, I’m not interested.”

“It does. Skye and Morgan, Skye’s bestie and Raine’s distant cousin from another lifetime, are pregnant. I plan to kidnap them as well, giving us even more power at our disposal. Since we haven’t bothered them in a few years, they won’t expect us. We’ll have the element of surprise.”

“I’ve got a better plan.” Jackie said, nodding her head. “Let’s have my appearance only visible to Sesi and no one else. It will make her go mad and possibly an easier target. I think that will work better than Armageddon did.”

“I like your plan. But I must explain Armageddon to you. It wasn’t entirely my fault.

Keme tried to resurrect me. There’s a reason humans and magicals may not summon me—my children will follow.

I can’t close the veil between realms because my children may follow me into any realm of existence.

That was by design from Yudi, of course.

He’d banished me from topside eons ago, so there was no need to worry about?—”

“Hell unleashed on Earth when Keme summoned you? ”

Demetrese sighed.

“Yes, but my babies are not evil by nature. However, it’s complicated.

You see, humans have similar powers to me.

They unknowingly create tulpas. They do not always make those of pure light.

Many times, they contain equal amounts of both light and darkness.

Those tulpas were what passed through the gate when Keme summoned me. ”

“Well, I may hate Raine, but at least he put the tulpas back where they belong.”

“Yes, darling. I couldn’t agree more.”

“Do you? Do you still have feelings for her?” Jackie asked, placing a bit more distance between the two of them. “Lilith—I mean. Normally I wouldn’t ask, but I’m curious, I guess.”

“Jackie—she’s ancient history in the most literal sense. We broke up in 4 B.C.. Please don’t worry about her coming between us.”

“But you asked her to go to hell with you two years ago. Clearly, you still hold a torch for her. She’s a goddess—it’s not like I can compare. I’m just a witch. So let me know now, Dem—do you want me or am I just a means to your end of gaining more power?”

Demetrese closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped her in his arms.

“You are my everything, darling. I can’t imagine an existence without you.”

The inn took my breath away once we pulled into the parking lot.

The white siding and hunter-green shutters made it appear homey and oh so quaint.

When we walked in, the grand staircase led us to registration.

Sylus placed our bags next to a chair and palmed my cheek.

His thumb stroked my lower lip. With each swipe, his eyes darkened with desire.

“Wait here, wifey.” He said with a devilish grin as he pressed his forehead to mine. “I can’t believe I get to call you that now. How did I get so lucky?”

I gazed up at him through my eyelashes and smiled. Not realizing until that moment, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. I’d been happy with Sylus as my mate, but nothing could prepare me for how I felt about becoming his wife.

“Don’t take too long, hubby,” I said, palming his hand over my cheek.

“Sylus! Sesi! It’s good to see you. I’m glad you are here.” Said a man who palmed Sylus’s shoulder.

“Ciro, it’s good to see you, too. How’s the woman?”

“She’s good, but busy with her job. You know how her job is.”

“Yeah, it’s out of this world—right?”

“Sylus!”

“Relax! I’m only kidding with you.”

“So, honeymoon—huh?”

“Yeah. And don’t worry—we booked the Presidential Suite. That’s nowhere near you and your Scooby Gang.”

“Yeah, I so do not want to experience your first night together. Really glad you did that with us in mind.”

“Ciro, don’t kid yourself, man. I did that for us,” Sylus chuckled. “I don’t want us thinking about any of you on our first night alone together.”

“Yeah, that must be tough on you both. How is your dad and the rest of the brigade?”

“Sesi’s father moved back to the Snow Estate, and my father and the rest of the brigade plan to do the same once we return from our honeymoon. It’s a gracious gesture, but it still feels weird that the original officers will live outside our territory.”

Ciro clapped his palm on Sylus’s shoulder.

“I understand. It will take time for them to get used to the new dynamic. Once they do, everything will go back to normal.”

“You’re probably right. But it still doesn’t feel right to have the pack split up. That’s too many miles between us. What about an attack? We’re too stretched out.”

“Out of all alphas, I probably understand this fear better than any other. I always worry about the safety of my pack when I’m on planet Effeminate with Verena. But Eagan and Ingram are the best seconds an alpha could ever ask for. You’ve got a great beta, too. ”

“Yeah, Bear is great, and I’d love to continue having him as my beta, but he’s been with my dad forever—doesn’t seem fair to break up the brigade like that. Dad suggested I pick someone closer to my age that I trust. You know—so all of them can all retire together.”

Ciro quirked a brow.

“Retire? Since when would those guys retire?”

“Yeah, I don’t buy it either. Sure they want to go riding cross-country, but after a couple of months they’ll be bored.”

“That’s when things will go back to normal in the pack, I’m sure.”

“One can only hope.”

“Seriously, don’t worry so much. You’ve got a great pack.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s just things are finally going well, and I can’t help but wonder if Jackie is going to fuck things up for Sesi and me again. Call it a gut feeling.”

“You can’t worry about Jackie like that. She’s neutered—magically speaking—of course. She can’t do anything to you.”

“You are probably right. I guess I’m just being silly. Listen, Sesi is waiting for me to grab the keys, so I’m going to head to the front desk so we can get ready for dinner.”

“Sounds good. You headed to the Cottage tonight? We might see you there.”

“I made reservations at the View. I wanted our first meal together to be special.”

“I can’t argue with you there. But I get that there isn’t much of a nightlife here at the inn, so if Sesi is up for some drinks afterwards, text me and we can all hang out at a couple of hot spots we frequent together.

I’m sure Sesi would love hanging out with the Scooby Gang and getting to know the gals.

Verena, Mimi, and Ara can’t wait to meet her.

They are girl’s girls and want to welcome her into the fold, so to speak. ”

“I’m sure Sesi would love that. She said she wanted to do some exploring while we were here—and she didn’t mean just the trails. Let me run it by her, and I’ll text you if we are up for an adventure after dinner.”