Page 8 of Snow’s Charming (Hope Runs Deep #7)

All’s Fair in a War

H ey readers. Did you miss me? I know I said I was going to let Sesi tell you her story—and I promise she will!

But for intents and purposes, I’ll be your story guide to fill in the blanks when Sesi isn’t around.

MKay? Now, we left off where Sesi just learned that she was a werewolf because she shifted into one—talk about a hairy situation!

Get it? Okay, maybe I’ve been hanging out with too many Fairly Godfathers—because that was definitely a dad joke!

Now, I’m sure you want to know more about Sesi, but aren’t you also curious about what Jackie’s up to? I can confidently say I’m curious. Oh, who am I kidding? I want to spy on the bitch! And since I have the power to do so, we will and with another character’s perspective, I might add!

“The brat is finally gone!”

Jackie opened the door to her bedroom and twirled around the carpet to dance .

“I can’t believe how easy it was to convince her to go to the inn! That kid is so stupid. She’ll be dead before nightfall with all the werewolves in those mountains! Isn’t this wonderful news, Kenneth?”

She plastered a fake smile as she gazed at a ceiling-to-floor mirror next to her walk-in closet.

My image was instantly reflected before her.

God, how I wish I didn’t have to look at her face!

I balled my fists, wishing with all of my might that I could break the mirror, but the magic holding me in this hell was too powerful.

Still, the disdain for Jackie allowed me to keep my thoughts clear.

“The spell you put me under will backfire on you, wife, because my fairest will live a strong, happy life.” I spat.

“I expected you to give me an answer like that, husband. You’re too strong-willed for my spell to overpower you just yet.

It’s only a matter of time before the bond with that brat of yours breaks.

The mirror will overtake your soul and compel you to forget everything you know.

Your soul is mine, husband, and soon you’ll only answer the questions I ask of you.

Let’s try it out—shall we?” she said as she waved her hand in front of the mirror.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?”

I thinned my lips, and heat crept up my cheeks and ears. She was ugly on the inside. Her heart was blacker than the night itself. However, the mirror didn’t care. She was physically gorgeous, and it was forcing me to state that truth. Surely there must be a way to say exactly what I wanted to her.

“Well, Kenneth? I can’t wait all day! I have a date with the lawyer.

Giving him a little sugar is the least I can do.

His forgery of the will was spot on. I got everything, and that delinquent daughter of yours got nothing more than a death sentence.

I warned you not to cross me, Kenneth. Too bad you discovered I was a witch.

You were a little fun to have around, but I can’t have you foil my plans.

That’s why you will rot in that mirror, never moving on, forever entrapped.

You’ve been a bad husband, Kenneth. You were supposed to do what I commanded you to do.

Your purpose was for me to inherit your wealth.

” She said while letting out a cackle. “Oh? And your purpose in limbo is to entertain me. So entertain me! Am I not the most beautiful woman you’ve been with? ”

“You may want me to call you beautiful, but the mirror will not allow me to lie. The only thing I think about where you are concerned are ways for you to die!”

I smiled brightly at my verbiage. It was perfect, even though the rhyming was killing me.

The incessant rhyming is dreadful—isn’t it, dear readers?

A horrid side effect of the spell. Kenneth’s wolf, being an alpha, allowed him superior strength to keep his essence and continue to fight Jackie.

No normal human wouldn’t last more than a day trapped in that mirror, and I should know!

However, if the spell wasn’t broken soon?

Only a shell of him would remain in the mirror.

His important part, his soul, would be sucked into the void.

The void is where misguided, all-dead, or trapped souls wind up.

It’s a sentence far worse than a stint with Lucifer.

That delicious fallen angel knows how to party, for sure.

He’s divine, too—no, that’s not a slip of the tongue—God made Lucifer quite divine.

I, your Fairly Goddess Mother, should know.

I’ve met the guy. Sadly, we’re all aware of where Lucie’s foul mouth got him—a trip to hell.

It’s a little hot there, but no hotter than Texas in the summer.

I should visit Lucie soon. He’s good people! Anyway—back to the story.

I raked a hand through my hair in frustration.

“This mirror may not let me lie. However, beauty is deeper than your flawless skin. That’s why you’d never compare to my girls.”

“Oh, Kenneth, I’d like to see you try to kill me. Hmm. Try rhymes with die. I seemed to have made a funny.” She said with a cackle.

“I’m so glad that hellion daughter of yours is out of my life.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face.

Fuck! That mirror can’t make me answer her! If I don’t resist, I’ll reveal Sesi’s secret, and I can’t do that. I’d fucked up enough in life. I should never have married this evil witch. Damn it!

“That’s where the joke is on you, witch. Sesi isn’t out of your life. The fact is, she will cause you much strife!”

God damn it! Say no more, Kenneth. No more! Don’t let your wolf out !

I stepped away from the mirror so Jackie couldn’t read my face.

Frankly, I was going to lose my shit if Jackie hurt my baby girl.

All I could do was hope the brigade figured out what the bitch had planned.

I was glad I had talked with Chary and Sylus before my death sentence in this mirror.

At least Sesi was safe now. Away from the evil that had consumed them both for the past decade.

“She’s still alive so far? Well, not for long. Screw the date—I’m taking care of your spawn myself! Well, at least enough so I don’t get my hands dirty!”

Her voice was a sickly, sinister whisper.

“Jackie!”

My voice was a low growl, and that isn’t good for obvious reasons.

I couldn’t get furious with Jackie. Since she trapped my wolf in the mirror also, I could shift.

If I didn’t control my anger, Sesi was surely dead.

I wouldn’t let that happen. Not when I now realize all the hell I put my daughter through, and it was all my fault!

“Sorry, Kenneth. I get that you are skulking. But, sorry! You don’t get to see me naked anymore,” Jackie said as she closed the curtains around the mirror.

“Jackie, don’t hurt my little girl!”

The rustling of fabric echoed in the room, and then the curtains surrounded me in darkness.

“Relax, Kenneth—in fact? You should thank me because I plan to trap her in the mirror with you. She was always the family you put first! It will be nice to eat off both your souls! It’s what keeps me beautiful, after all.”

“Jackie, she’s my child! How dare you!”

I clenched my fists a few times in between breaths. Above all, I had to calm my wolf. It was the only thing I could do now to protect Sesi. I had to trust Sylus and the brigade to do the rest.

“Yes, and I was your wife whom you left destitute in your real will!”

She let out a cackle.

“I don’t normally rhyme with my spells, Kenneth, but your mirror talk has got me feeling more frisky! Goddess of the moon’s light, infuse this apple with a deliciously appealing bite. Dark goddess of the night, grant me the gift that Sesi never again wakes in the sun’s light. So mote it be!”

Well, fuck, ladies and gentlemen of the reading page, this doesn’t bode well for Sesi Snow—now does it!

Savannah Silverwand out!