Snow's Lament (19 page)

I slid my wet slippers off and padded through the liquid, trying not to make audible gagging noises. The fog was finally beginning to clear and I could make out Naomi’s thin figure bending over a prone body.

Max.

I stood behind her, my weapon still at my side, floored at the sight before me. He was gloriously naked, which I knew already, but I was short and the chamber was high so all I could see was his side the first time I’d seen him. Ahem.

His extremities twitched—whether in shock or cold, I couldn’t tell—and his eyelids fluttered.

Naomi touched him gently and sent a swirl of soft magic inside him. The angry, green monster inside me reared its ugly head and I wanted to kick her, but I squashed the rage because she was helping someone I loved.

“Max?” she inquired softly.

He inhaled and liquid burst from his mouth. A guttural groan was his answer.

“Nnnggh.”

“Max. Try to open your eyes.”

She was so engrossed in him, she had no idea I was standing right behind her. I could mow her down right now if I wanted to and make it easier for all of us.

But…I couldn’t make myself do it. It was horrible enough I’d shot Max in a moment I could barely think about without getting the shakes. To do it again, especially when Naomi had bargained with a man I was convinced could be the devil incarnate to save him, would make me a monster.

Against my better judgment, I holstered my weapon.

Naomi helped Max sit up. Her touch was tender. With a soft word, she used magic to dry him off and clothe him.

Max opened his eyes and looked blindly around as he tried to orientate himself. He gripped Naomi’s arms to steady himself. She waited patiently for a moment as he came to.

“We have to get out of here,” she whispered urgently, and tried in vain to help him stand.

I saw my moment. “Need some help?”

Her back stiffened and her head bowed, but she didn’t let go of Max, even though I’d caught her in a completely vulnerable moment.

Max’s gaze caught mine and it took my breath away. So many emotions, so many unsaid words. He looked haggard, but by the gods, he was alive. I would take it.

“Thank you,” he said to Naomi.

She nodded once and he pried himself from her arms. He sat there studying us, a grim expression on his face.

“What did you have to do for me?” he asked Naomi.

She stood and wiped her wet hands on her robes. “I bargained with the cursed one.”

Max shut his eyes for a moment, but Naomi spoke. “It is done. The only thing he wanted was a convincing escape route with Cinderella, but Snow here ruined it.
Again
.”

She sounded so irritated, I almost laughed. But it was neither the time nor the place.

“I’ll deal with him later,” I said.

“No one deals with Rumple,” she said in disgust. “Not if they value their life.”

I shrugged. “I’m like a cockroach,” I said and grinned fiercely. “Or so Belle says.”

She snorted. “I suppose you’re here to end this.”

“Unless you’re willing to take a blood oath promising to leave me and anyone involved with me alone, then yes,” I said with a lot more nonchalance than I felt. I fiddled with the moonstone nervously, said a quick prayer to the goddess, and squared my shoulders. The latent magic swam in my veins, beckoning me to use it, but I had no idea how.

Her eyes flashed with anger. “Not a chance. You’ll die at my hand one day.”

I sighed. “I thought you’d say that.”

I was no match for her magic unless I learned how to use my own. Belle was the perfect example of untamed magic running wild. Neither one of us moved. I was trying to figure out my next move and Naomi was probably wondering why I kept not dying.

Pure, unadulterated luck, my friend.

The moonstone began to pulse with warmth on my wrist. Trying not to be distracted by it, I unholstered my weapon and held it up. Naomi rolled her eyes and with a quick swipe of her hand disarmed me. The gun went skittering across the floor and I cursed inwardly. That liquid was sure to ruin it. Chalk one more thing in Naomi’s destroyed category.

“Admit defeat, Snow. This is growing tiresome.”

I didn’t disagree, but I was no quitter. I stepped closer to her and tried for something I never had before: reason.

“There is nothing for you here any longer. Just leave.”

Max struggled to his feet. “Naomi, this is no longer worth it. Snow has taken control of the castle. There is nothing here for you any longer.”

“You, of all people, say this to me knowing the things this family has taken from me?” she snapped.

My gaze bounced back and forth between them in confusion. “We took nothing!” I was getting real tired of her entitled act.

Max bowed his head, his jaw tense and tight.

Naomi stared at him, her chest heaving, anger evident in every line of her body.

I was missing something. Something important. “Max?” I questioned, thinking he’d be the one to help me out.

“Your mother—” he stopped.

My heart began to beat faster. “What about her?”

Naomi spoke. “She stole your father from me. We were to be married.”

My mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again as I struggled to speak. “That doesn’t sound like her,” I said, but my tone didn’t sound convincing, even to me. It didn’t sound like her, but how would I know? I grew up privileged and spoiled and my parents provided me as little information as humanly possible. Part of the reason I’d been stumbling around trying to find answers for all these years.

“But what did I ever do to you?” I asked before I could stop myself. She didn’t have to answer. I was a byproduct of her betrayal.

Max stepped back. “I’m sorry, Snow.”

I turned wild eyes to him. “You knew all this time?” I pinched the tender place between my eyebrows. I knew he’d just gotten out of a coma, but I still wanted to punch him.

There was nothing I could say or do to fix this. I knew it. I steeled myself for the inevitable. “Killing me will not mend what has happened,” I finally said.

“Yes,” she said as a grim, terrible smile formed upon her beautiful face, “but it would make me feel so much better.”

I jumped out of the way before the first strike of lightning touched the ground where I’d just stood and crashed into Max. We both went down with a grunt, but I didn’t waste time making sure he was okay. I scrambled off him and headed straight for Naomi, this time making sure her arms were fully in sight so she couldn’t eviscerate me. She braced herself, but my anger gave me the edge.

I was tired of all this, but especially tired of her. She’d made my life hell for over a decade, even when she wasn’t there for most of that time. I’d been looking over my shoulder every day, unsure if one day she’d show up at my door and take me out before I could even get a word in edgewise. I’d lived, but not well. I’d made friends, but always held them at arm’s length. I’d fallen in love, but even that was a sham.

Rage filled my veins, my mind. It clouded my vision with hatred and jealousy and denial of the fact that I’d just watched her be somewhat of a decent person. Even the worst serial killers had mothers who loved them. She was a smear on the ground. Dirt on my feet. A germ on an otherwise pristine counter. And one thing was for sure: if I backed down now, if I let her take me down this time, I would never again have what it took to take back my life.

Blood red nails raked down the side of my face as I plowed into her. I screeched in pain and punched her in her pretty pale face. She reared back, blood pouring from her nose, but I wasted no time. As we careened backwards, I steadied myself and head-butted her. Blood burst from my nose and it hurt like hell, but I still held on.

Her screams of pain emboldened me and I knew as long as I kept her hands from moving and her mouth from forming words, she would not be able to use magic against me. I slammed her into the bookshelf. Glass vials and containers fell from all angles above us and shattered on the ground. Ignoring the tearing in my feet from the glass shards, I continued to punch and kick her. But there was something additional building in my veins and I couldn’t control it. The warm moonstone heated to painful levels and even though it was burning the shit out of my wrist, I didn’t dare lose my momentum with Naomi. Every time I had, I ended up magical mincemeat. I wrapped my hands around her throat and began to squeeze. My voice spoke of its own accord.

“
Et disperdam te. Et abiit auguratricis!
” My hands began to glow and threads of red magic twined around my hands and body. My hair pulled away from my head and began to swirl around me, but I couldn’t control any of it.

Naomi’s eyes widened in horror. “No,” she choked out. “Stop!”

I gritted my teeth and tried to pull my hands away, but the magic sucked me under. “
Et abiit auguratricis!
” I screamed again. The words reverberated through my head. “I banish you. Be gone, sorceress.” The only Latin I knew was creature names from my old job as a cryptozoologist. What the hell was happening and where the hell was I sending her? Tears streamed down my face as I tried in vain to stop myself, but the power spun out of control. The wind picked us up off our feet and the horrified roar of Max screaming our names was drowned inside the vortex of our combined magic.

My veins pumped full of magic, mine and the power I was stealing from Naomi.
Power leech
. I gritted my teeth and screamed in agony as Naomi’s eyes slipped closed and she went limp against me.

I shook with my tears, but still, the magic didn’t let up.

“
CONFUTO
!” The scream rang through the room, except it wasn’t my own. The floor below us split and cracked, since the power had to drain somewhere. The wind slowed and eventually stopped, allowing Naomi and I to plummet back to the ground. I held her against me and took the brunt of the fall.

I slumped against the broken bookcase, Naomi’s limp body against mine. I wasn’t sure if she was dead. I wasn’t sure if I was myself anymore.

Maleficent’s horrified face swam into view. “Gods,” she murmured and gripped my face to study me. She took my pulse quickly and extricated Naomi from my arms. She worked rapidly and efficiently and was not freaking out, which was a very, very good thing, because I was on the urge of an epic freakout.

“Say nothing,” she barked, and I pressed my lips together.

Maleficent screamed for Robin and Belle, and I stared in dazed shock at the scene in front of me.

The magic woo-woo room was torn into shreds. Glass had torn my feet into bloody ribbons, and worst of all, Max was nowhere to be found.

My eyes slipped closed and the tears I’d held in for so long slipped through them, making a bloody trail down my face and neck. Whimpering sobs racked my body.

I hated magic, but right now, I hated myself even more.

Comforting, cool hands brushed my hair back from my face and gentle arms helped me to a standing position. I hissed in pain as my feet hit the ground and I found myself swept up into powerful, comforting arms.

“Shhh,” Robin whispered and brushed a kiss across my forehead. “You’ll be all right, lass.”

My response was a broken sob. I would never be all right again. Robin held me tighter and took care not to jostle me too much as he ran out of the room. He deposited me gently onto a small bed covered in white. That was going to be ruined. One more thing destroyed by me.

Belle’s voice intruded into my pity party. “Snow, I need you to lie still. I need to tend to your feet.”

I let her gently adjust me and elevate one of my legs. I kept my eyes closed. I wouldn’t be able to bear them looking at me with sympathy or anything else right now. The sound of glass repeatedly hitting a metal container was somewhat soothing, and even though the tugs were painful, it lulled me into a sense of calmness. I covered my face with one of my arms and tried to slow my breathing.

After about ten minutes, Belle released my leg and elevated the other one. More glass hit the container. The only sound was Belle’s soft breathing and the occasional squeak of Robin’s leathers.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” she asked in a completely non-judgmental way.

“Is she dead?” I asked instead.

Belle blew out a breath. “I don’t know.” She paused. “Maybe.” Belle paused in her ministrations. “What in the ever-loving hell happened back there?”

I took my arm off my face and opened my eyes, blinking rapidly at the bright electric light above me. Belle and her technomancy in action. “I was so…” enraged, infuriated, jealous, “mad,” I finished lamely.

Robin barked a laugh and clapped his hand over his mouth. “Sorry, love, but if that’s mad, I’d hate to see you furious. You’d set the world on fire.”

I sighed and Belle muttered a quiet admonishment to him.

“Sorry, but I’ve seen her mad before. This was something quite different.”

“He’s right.” The ancient voice intruded in and a tense silence fell across the room.

I sat up abruptly, wincing at the pain in my body.

Merlin stood in the doorway. No, that wasn’t exactly right. Merlin
loomed
in the doorway, power evident in every single fiber of his being. Belle stiffened in her seat and stared at the man who abandoned her all those years ago. My gaze ping-ponged between the two of them, but Merlin was only staring at me.

Super.

“It was a mistake to give you your power back like that, and I must apologize sincerely.”

“Was there any other way to do it?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Giving someone untrained a power like yours was like handing off a nuclear bomb to a toddler. It was bound to go wrong.”

Maleficent stepped up behind him and he shifted to allow her entrance. “It was our only choice at the time.” Exhaustion was set in every line of her body. “You could not have beaten her otherwise.”

I laughed in scorn. “I didn’t beat her! I almost bled to death on the stone floor.”

Merlin’s brows rose. “I was unaware, but I can see the claiming took place. The lilies are a nice touch.”

“You beat her today,” Maleficent said quietly.

That, I did. “Is she alive?”

She nodded. “Barely. But she is…different. You stripped most of her magic.”

I was afraid of this. I could feel it inside me like a poison. “And it’s within me?”

“I’m afraid so,” said Merlin. “And it must be purged before it kills you.”

Just like a poison. “Okay. How do we do that?”

Maleficent looked pained. “Not easily. It will be painful.”

Awesome. “And Naomi? Can she get it back?” Not that she deserved it or I would let her have it back, even if I
could
give it to her.

Surprise flashed across Merlin’s face. “You would do that after everything?”

“Probably not,” I muttered, “but is it possible?”

“I’m afraid not. Power leeches are unique in that they do not only steal magic, they change it and disperse it harmlessly back into the ground from whence it came.” He gave me a meaningful look. “Usually, it happens that way. Provided the magician knows what they are doing.” He held up a hand to cut off my sharp retort. “We all know you have never been properly taught. I’m not blaming you. Let me finish.”

I snapped my mouth closed and waited for him to explain.

“But it not only changes the magic, it
changes
the person it is stolen from.”

Silence fell in the room as the magnitude of his words sank in.

“So, she will never practice magic again?” I hadn’t killed her, but if she was no longer a sorceress, I might as well have.

“Not in the way you think. Magical talent is inherited in most instances, but someone with the time and willpower can learn magic once it’s stolen from them. She will never have the same talents again, though.”

“I should have killed her,” I murmured.

Belle finally took the time to speak. She’d been extraordinarily patient considering her long lost father had just walked through the door. “Not necessarily. Just give her some time. This doesn’t have to end poorly.”

I raised my eyebrows at her overly enthusiastic optimism. “I can’t imagine Naomi would be so quick to forgive me.”

Merlin agreed. “I will speak with her and inform her if she interferes with you or your loved ones any longer, she will have to deal with me.”

I swallowed hard. “Much thanks.”

He nodded once and turned his attention to Belle. “Daughter, walk with me, please?”

Belle pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and stared at him for an uncomfortable few seconds. I began to think she was about to blast him into next week when she stood up and brushed past him into the hall. I blew out a long, shaky breath.

Merlin gave me one long, meaningful look before he left. “Allow Maleficent to purge the magic from your body. I must leave after speaking with Belle, but rest assured, our business is not concluded.” His chameleon eyes shifted from deep brown to clear green and I almost peed myself trying not to show fear.

I lifted my chin. “Very well.”

He stepped into the hallway and disappeared.

“Admit it,” Robin whispered to me once he was gone, “you literally almost shat yourself.”

“Robin.” I snorted with laughter. “Idiot.”

Maleficent pushed me gently back down. “Children, let’s be serious for just a little while longer.”

“Yes, Mother,” Robin and I said in unison.

Amusement flashed in her eyes but was quickly replaced by seriousness. “I must apologize in advance, friend. This will be excruciating.”

Robin loomed over me and waggled his eyebrows. “Did you hear that? Not just painful.
Excruciating
. How very fun!” He shivered and wiggled his body in mock anticipation.

“Go. Away.” I glared at him, but couldn’t resist a smile. He was a charming bastard.