The Hunt for Snow Read Online Free Page B

Self-preservation won. With curse words worthy of a pirate, Cyndi rushed one of her suitcases back into the house, locked the door, and then rushed over to us just as Belle and I were getting adjusted in the back seat.
    She shoved me over unceremoniously and plopped beside me. “The Mystic Falls Towers, please,” she said.
    Our driver grunted in acknowledgment. In the decade we’d been away from the Enchanted Forest, none of us had acclimated to driving yet. Although I did have a car to drive to work, normally if I couldn’t walk, bike or get a cab there, as far as I was concerned, I didn’t need to go there. Earth frowned on horse and carriages, so that was out too. As we pulled away from the curb, I couldn’t help but think our lives were about to get much more interesting before this whole thing was over. To most of the Leaguers, the conference represented a time for us all to catch up, hang out, swap war stories, and return home refreshed and invigorated. The stakes were much, much higher for me. My home and lands were ripped away from me by Naomi. I wasn’t naïve enough to think she wouldn’t try to take me out for good if she were able to.
    The Huntsman’s warnings rang in my head. I would have to be very, very careful this week if I were to survive the days ahead. Everyone knew Naomi was crafty, but not everyone realized the depths of her depravity. Some people believed there was still goodness in her. I knew there wasn’t.
    As the car ride went on, my thoughts drifted back to my father and the actions that landed me in this mess. He was always a sucker for a pretty face. After my mother’s death, Father slipped into a depression the likes of which I’d never seen before. His handsome façade withered. His hair turned gray, and the once lively conversations between us dulled and eventually disappeared. Until Naomi came along, that is. At first, she was beautiful and kind. The townspeople adored her…and so did I.
    For a while, that is. I might have been of a tender age, but I wasn’t raised to be anyone’s fool. I noticed quickly what Naomi was doing. Win their hearts and minds…and then destroy everyone. She wanted the kingdom and she wanted me and my father out of the way. My thoughts about her were confirmed when I overheard her in a conversation with that damned mirror of hers.
    My father died soon after. Alive and vibrant one day, gray and cold the next. But there was no time for mourning. Naomi put on a united front with me. She was going to be Queen of the Enchanted Forest soon. Until she had an iron fist of rule around the land, she would pretend to be the doting stepmother she’d been before my beloved father’s death. And eventually her tender ministrations turned to cruel rebuke. Her hands stroking my hair turned to slaps across my fair skin.
    I learned to hide. And hide well. The stableboy taught me about weapons, horse riding, and warfare. I was nobody’s fool. But I would no longer be a doormat. The days came when the beauty of the Enchanted Forest dimmed, as if it knew the cruelty of its new ruler. Visitors stopped coming to the castle. People no longer looked Naomi in the eye. Certainly not me. I avoided her as much as humanly possible. The sound of her voice like tinkling glass, although beautiful, made me realize just how sharp it really was. She justified her actions by telling us she knew what was good for the land.
    But the land didn’t agree.
    Darkness soon fell across the Enchanted Forest, the sun a distant reminder of the love my father once showered upon our kingdom. At first, the sun would peek out from behind the clouds for about half the day. And you could see the townspeople square their shoulders and the flicker of hope in their eyes. Until eventually the sun appeared less and less, the dark fog of Naomi’s evil choking off any happiness the land had left. By the time I was forced out of the kingdom, the only sun in the Enchanted Forest came at the end of the day in a