The Hunt for Snow

by S. E. Babin

  6

  Twenty minutes later I was gaping at myself in the mirror. Damn…I looked good in fuchsia. Belle walked into the bathroom and whistled. “Dang, Cyndi,” she said. “Who is this and what happened to our crabby Snow White?”

  Cyndi clapped her hands and grinned. “Isn’t she gorgeous?” She reached over and tucked a stray strand of ebony hair behind my ear. “I so knew this color would bring out that alabaster skin. Damn, Snow,” she said with awe, “I’m feeling a wee bit jealous.”

  Hell, I was pretty sure I was about to wet my underwear in shock. The change was startling to say the least. I was content with comfortable jeans, brushed back hair, T-shirts and slacks when I was required to teach a class. But now, I turned to examine my profile in the mirror…now I was starting to see a much different side of myself. I looked good. Really, really good. She’d managed to curl my shorter hair and it fell in soft waves around my face, highlighting my cheekbones and the heart shape of my face.

  Cyndi (thank God) packed slimming black slacks. New, from the looks of it. They fit perfectly, meaning I could breathe, stretch and sit down with zero discomfort. This also meant I could conceal my Sig in the back waistband, a fact I was giddy over. The fuchsia blouse brought out the ivory of my skin and deepened the already ebony color of my hair. Whereas I’d always lamented my lack of ability to suntan, this blouse made it seem like I was some sort of cool and aloof princess. My eyes were piercing and my guns were loaded. I was ready to go.

  I turned to Cyndi and embraced her for a quick second, ignoring her sound of surprise. I didn’t do it often. “Thank you. This doesn’t mean you’re forgiven for your meddling, but this helped.”

  Cyndi nodded. “I really am sorry. It was a misguided effort to help. I just could have gone about it in a different way. I’ll make sure your clothes are back here by tomorrow.”

  My brows rose. I’d thought they were a loss considering how expensive the cab ride up here was. “Tomorrow? How are you going to pull that off?”

  She gave me a mysterious smile. “Don’t worry about it. Wish firm remember?”

  “Uh, yeahhh,” I drawled. I might have to do some snooping around the house when we got home. Maybe I just hadn’t been paying much attention, but Cyndi and Belle seemed to have a whole lot of secrets I wasn’t privy to.

  “I have to get dressed,” Cyndi chirped and rushed over to her suitcase and started digging like crazy. Belle and I settled in soft recliners to wait for her. She reached for a magazine and cracked it open, and I studied her for a moment. Every time Belle made an effort, I was astounded at what a beauty she was. Her long chestnut hair was brushed to a burnish (Cyndi’s efforts, despite Belle’s numerous and colorful curse words), and piled into a messy updo. Long curls fell around her face, highlighting the soft brown of her eyes. She chose to wear a classic little black dress tonight, and even though it was modest, I thought she looked like Audrey Hepburn. Long slim legs ended with skyscraper heels, her only real nod to vanity. Belle had fan-freaking-tastic legs, the result of years of Pilates and a much lower intake of wine than me. I wondered again about her and Robin, and what happened to make her have the reaction she did around him.

  She caught me studying her and gave me a weird look. “What?” she snapped.

  I snorted. “You look great.”

  Mollified, she shrugged. “Thanks. You looked much deeper in thought, though.”

  I shrugged. “Lots on my mind today.”

  I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, so Belle and I chatted about unimportant things for the next few minutes while waiting for Cyndi to get herself together. By the end, she and I were both chuckling over Cyndi’s great luggage switcheroo. I was still pissed, but it was funny and sneaky. Not many people managed to get one over on me. I’d have to watch it around them for a while, just in case anyone else felt like being a joker.

  Cyndi stepped out of the bathroom, huffing like she’d just run a marathon. Her makeup and hair were flawless as always. White pants and a cerulean blue shirt hugged her body to perfection, and the nude heels she had on added a few inches to her petite frame. “Ready?” she asked. At our nod, she grabbed our room keys, doled them out, reminded us to grab our purses, and herded us out the door.

  The nerves started as soon as we stepped into the elevator. Memories of just a few hours ago played through my head, giving me flushed skin and a headache. Max was either hot or cold. So far I hadn’t seen any happy medium with him. Would he be there tonight? I wanted to see him, wanted to be with him, wanted to be his. But I didn’t want to die for it. I liked my life very much, thank you. Belle, sensing my distress, reached over and squeezed my hand. The lights on the elevator lit as we descended to the lobby area.

  I felt myself break out into a cold sweat, even though the air conditioning was down low everywhere in the hotel. If Naomi was going to make a move against me, there was a good possibility it would be tonight. Hell, who was I kidding? I was ripe for the picking the entire week I was here. Breaking into my room wouldn’t require being a genius. Magic and minions would do all the dirty work for her, and my guns wouldn’t stand a chance if they had to go up against her sorcery unless I managed to get the element of surprise behind me.

  I exhaled a deep, nervous breath, squared my shoulders, and waited for the elevator doors to open. One of my hands rested on the back waistband of my slacks, ready to pull my Sig out if we had any problems getting out of the elevator.

  “Oh ye of little faith,” Cyndi whispered. “Get your hand off your gun. It will be fine.”

  Says the girl who still thought it was fun to sweep and play with makeup. My hand twitched, resisting against me, but I pulled it away and let it rest against the side of my thigh. The doors of the elevator slid open and…

  Nothing. It was very anticlimactic, and I was as nervous as a whore in church. I blew out a breath, chuckled nervously at my antics, and stepped out with Belle and Cyndi close behind. The noise of the mixer from a few rooms down met our ears before we could even see anybody. It was harder to scope the crowd with so many people. While I was looking forward to seeing my friends, I was also terrified at what their reception would be. Grumpy notwithstanding, it was possible everyone else could be holding a major grudge. I hoped not. I could do with some down time. In between Max trying to kill me and the meeting with Naomi, I was ready to kick up my feet and sleep for a week.

  Unfortunately, the vodka I’d consumed had long since burned off, leaving me a little queasy because I hadn’t eaten much since lunch. Fighting for your life tended to burn off a lot of calories. We kept walking toward the room as I glanced around trying to take in everyone and everything—the shadows playing off the walls, any suspicious-looking waiters—but especially Max.

  As we rounded the corner, I halted, my breath caught in my throat. I knew almost everyone was here, but I didn’t expect to see everyone from my other life all at once. My dear friend, Red, stood lounging against the wall, a tumbler of something in her hand, talking in earnest to a handsome man I’d never seen before. Grumpy was milling around with some of the others. I felt a smile creep on my face as I noticed Happy and Clumsy—two of my favorites—who from the look on Grumpy’s face were annoying him to no end. Robin was surrounded by three simpering females, one of whom appeared to be Rapunzel. I’d never liked her. She was all fluff and no substance. Seriously, anyone who couldn’t figure out how to get out of a tower didn’t deserve much respect, in my opinion.

  Belle stiffened beside me. Looks like she’d gotten a glimpse of Robin and his new BFF too. “Rapunzel,” she muttered under her breath, “what a bitch.”

  “Belle!” Cyndi said, mortified. “You can’t say things like that here! You never know who’s going to overhear you.”

  “I don’t care who overhears,” she said. “It’s true.”

  Cyndi looked over at me, her expression pleading, but I shrugged. “Sorry, I kind of agree with her.”

  Belle offered me her fist and I bumped it. We moved as swif
tly as we could through the wash of bodies. The stares of the people followed me as I swept past them, but I did not acknowledge them. If I made eye contact with anyone, I nodded and kept moving. This was not the open arms affair I often longed for in my dreams. We finally made it to the bartender, and while we were waiting for our drinks, I craned my neck to look inside the ballroom. “Looks like just the usual people we’d expect right now.”

  “All the evil people don’t come out to play until nine,” Belle said dryly and snagged her drink as the bartender set it in front of her.

  “Make fun of me if you want to, but there’s a reason I’m still alive. It’s called Paranoia. With a capital P.” I smiled when my drink was handed over to me and took a long sip of my spiked tea.

  “Do they offer that class in college?” Belle asked, deadpan.

  I elbowed her hard enough to slosh her drink, but she shut up. Red still stood in the corner, engrossed in conversation. I wanted to go over to her so much, but I was nervous. Would she reject me? Cyndi looped her arm through mine. “Red was one of the people asking about you before we left. Come on. It will be fine.”

  I allowed myself to be led in Red’s direction, hope knocking around in my chest. If I got a good response, it would be one of the first since I got here. Everyone else seemed to get twitchy. Cyndi cleared her throat once we got close enough. Red’s cool gaze swept over Cyndi, recognition taking a moment. She suddenly straightened, her jet-black hair swinging with the motion.

  “Hot damn! Cinderella is back!” A wide grin broke out as she swooped in for a hug. Cyndi reciprocated, and as Red straightened she noticed me standing there. So many emotions went through her face that I paused, scared like a rabbit. Anger, love, hurt and concern all flashed before she gave me the same smile.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. “I’ve missed you for ages. I thought about you almost every day. How in the world—”

  I smiled tentatively. “Giles managed to get me back here.”

  She laughed. “If anyone could get the elusive Snow to come out of hiding, it’s that wily old bastard.” Red gave me an appraising stare. “You look great,” she said, her tone serious. She stepped forward and pulled me into a tight embrace, the spicy familiar scent making me long for my old home again. “The Huntsman will be here in a few minutes. Everyone is all atwitter about your impromptu make out karate session,” she whispered in my ear.

  I stiffened, my mouth open. As I pulled back, Red laughed out loud at the look on my face. “Welcome home, Snow. You know nothing stays secret for long around here.”

  “Wow,” I managed. “That’s just…wow.” I shook my head and took another sip of my tea. How in the hell did anyone find out about that? Unless Giles was talking. Normally he was the picture of propriety and wouldn’t be caught dead gossiping, but things could have changed over the past few years. “How did you find out?”

  Red shrugged, her gray eyes sparkling. “Grapevine. No one knows who started it, or at least they aren’t saying.” The sound of a male throat clearing startled her. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Excuse my horrible manners.” Red gestured to the man standing next to her. “Peter, this is Snow, Cyndi and Belle.” We all nodded as my thoughts swirled. Peter…Peter who?

  I gave Red a questioning look and she mouthed that we’d talk later. If that was Peter Pan I was Mulan. But, that was the only Peter I knew about in the Enchanted Forest. I’d been gone too long, that’s for sure. Peter extended his hand to all of us, and as he reached me, I noticed he had a firm grip, but not overwhelming. After introductions were made, he excused himself. Red beamed after he left. “He can take social cues.” She smiled secretively. “That’s so rare.”

  “Peter?” I questioned.

  Red’s ruby lips pursed. “Oh, you haven’t been around for a while, have you? Crazy things have been going on. Realms not normally reachable have opened their portals. We have all kinds of new people, plants and animals milling together in the forest now. That man you just met,” her face contemplative as she watched him walk away, “was none other than the great Peter Pan.”

  “Holy smokes.” Belle swiveled her head to watch him. “But he’s not a boy.”

  Red sighed, managing to make it sound salacious. “No, he’s most certainly not, ladies.” She gestured for us to follow her inside the ballroom. I couldn’t help but admire how much my old friend had grown. She was lithe and lean, her skin a toasted almond color. Long, ebony hair swung back and forth across her waist as she walked, and she was wearing, no rocking, a short red dress showcasing mile-long legs. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Red was out to eat someone and the wolves in here had better watch out.

  I grinned remembering how well the real wolf fared when it went up against Red. You’d never seen someone as pissed as she was when it managed to get inside their house and tried to attack her grandmother. Before I left the Enchanted Forest, Red and I were thick as thieves. We’d been out gathering berries one morning when we noticed a wolf skulking closer and closer to her house. Red silently pulled out a wicked dagger and crept around to the side of the house. When the wolf jumped in through an open window, Red let out a banshee scream, threw open the door, and the next thing I heard were the high-pitched shrieks of a crazy woman and an animal in pain. I still wasn’t sure how it went down because Red was notoriously tightlipped about it, but what I did know was that when I finally made it inside the house, Red was still holding the blade, covered in blood and standing over the wolf’s body, a curl of disdain on her upper lip.

  To be honest, I’d never been more terrified of anyone in my entire life at that moment. It was only a few months after that I had to run for my life, and I’d never gotten the chance to say goodbye to her. It was one of the great regrets of my life, but it looked like maybe I could make up for it this week.

  We followed her in, gawking at the sheer size of the ballroom and the amount of people inside. Curious stares followed us, some turning incredulous as the whispers about my identity grew. I wasn’t too hard to spot in that respect, the books were pretty much spot on, except for the hair thing. Before I left, my hair was past my rear end and coal-black. Having it used as a weapon against me a time or two, it didn’t take me long to learn that having long hair wasn’t worth the vanity if it lost me my life, so I’d cut it into a short sleek bob. You take the ebony hair, the alabaster skin and the bright blue eyes, and I was pretty much smack out of the story book, appearance wise, at least. The other stuff was all crap. Any girl worth her salt back home knew how to shoot a bow and arrow, start a fire and run like hell when shit got real. We might not have advertised it, but those skills were there and, in my case, honed to perfection.

  We picked our way through the crowd and found our reserved table, white cards with calligraphy lettering on it announcing our seats. Mine was marked Princess Snow White. I whistled low under my breath. If Naomi saw that, she was bound to lose her shit. To her, there was no princess in line to the throne anymore.

  I settled in at my seat and pulled the crisp linen napkin across my lap. The entire table setup was gorgeous and must have cost a pretty penny. Pristine white tablecloths covered all the tables in the ballroom. In the center of each table was an elaborate, yet small, ice sculpture carved to show a heroic task or adventure from the Enchanted Forest. At our table, Saint George rose up in a heroic, almost impossible pose and was poised to slay the dragon that lay beneath his feet. Mortals from Earth would probably argue about that considering Saint George was popularized as a strong Christian figure during the Crusades, but I promise you, he was all ours. And, just to crush everyone’s hopes and dreams, King Arthur, Merlin and Lancelot belonged to us, too.

  Sprays of baby’s breath surrounded the ice sculpture and red roses were interspersed through the white flowers in a beautiful arrangement. Our wine glasses were filled with something already, so I set my tea down and picked it up to taste. Whatever it was, it was alcoholic and delicious. The plates were made of fine china and made me nervous. I was a clu
tz around anything pretty and breakable, so if I made it through the dinner without a casualty it would be a miracle.

  The rest of the ballroom I had to admit was beyond gorgeous. A large tree rested in the middle of the room. Well, let me backtrack…it wasn’t just large. A better word would be ginormous. It was a ginormous freaking tree right in the middle of the room, and the amount of magic pouring from it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The branches crawled along the ceiling and swung out to the edges of the room like a forest umbrella. Thousands of fairy lights strung across the branches and up the trunk gave the room an ethereal, fairytale glow. I chuckled. I’d gotten way too used to Earth. There was no way even the best designer could have pulled this off because this was magic through and through. Earth magic from the smell of it.

  Belle was gawking like a kindergartner does when confronted with an extremely tall man. Her neck craned up as she studied the tree and the lights pouring off it. “My goodness,” she finally murmured. “The magic it must have taken to do this.”

  Cyndi had a dopey grin on her face. “I miss it so much,” she whispered, and I’m pretty sure I lost a piece of my heart right then and there. I’d been selfish to not consider going back before this and taking my kingdom back. They’d done nothing but support my misguided attempts to lead my own life on Earth, but now sitting here with them and with Red studying me like she knew exactly what I was thinking, I was having major doubts about settling back home again. I was a princess for God’s sake. A displaced one, yes, but I was strong now. Not weak like before.

  The sound of tinkling bells broke me out of my reverie. A feminine voice came out of nowhere and asked everyone to start making their way to their seats because dinner was about to begin. Our table was quite large and since we were only filling three of the seats, we still had quite a few more people to go before it was full. I would be ecstatic if Robin was sitting with us, but I couldn’t see the name tags on the other seats. And it was too hard to get back up once you sat down. So I was stuck with whoever the organizer thought would be the most appropriate.