Read Online Sneaky Snow White (Dark Fairy Tale Queen Series Book 2) by Anita Valle - Free Book Online

now.”
    At least The Mirror is cooperative. The scene opens up for me. I see Cinderella resting in bed, her back propped up with pillows. She looks pale and tired, but she’s smiling. Her arms curl around something small, rolled in a blanket, and I can just make out the curve of a tiny red cheek. The baby. I never wanted her to see it.
    Then Hunter steps into my view and sits on the stool by Cinderella’s bed. At first I’m confused because Hunter is also holding a small bundle. And then I realize it’s-
    Another baby! Oh my stars, she had TWO!
    Well, that’s just peachy! Look at this mess, it’s like Cinderella and I have traded places. Now I’m the Evil Queen and she gets to live in a cottage with Hunter. They look like a sweet little family. I clench my fists until my fingernails bite into my palms. There’s nothing worse than watching somebody else get everything you always wanted. It turns your blood to poison.
    Which reminds me, I’ve got a curse to cook up.
    I try to leave but The Mirror won’t let me. A thought sinks into my head.
    You’re not ready.
    “What?” I snap. “Just when do you think I’ll be ready? We don’t have much time. As soon as Cinderella feels better, she’ll come marching back here to reclaim her throne.”
    The Mirror reminds me of the Dwarves.
    “True,” I say. “The guards are gone. I have an army now and she doesn’t. But I can’t stay here forever. I don’t want to be the queen.”
    The Mirror shows me a dazzling image in which I’m sitting in the crystal throne. I’m wearing an astonishing dress made entirely of white feathers. My hair has been piled high on my head, a bouquet of black swirls behind a diamond tiara. Blood red roses are dropped in my lap and sprinkled around me on the black marble floor. It’s a striking picture, though I don’t understand the point of the roses. But clearly, The Mirror wants me to be the queen.
    The Mirror… wants.
    I lift my eyes to the top of The Mirror. “What are you? Why do you have feelings like a person?”
    The aura begins to recede from me.
    “No, don’t you go away. I need to understand. You were nice to Cinderella once. And then you rejected her. Why? Was is really because you thought I was fairest? Why are you doing all this?”
    Like before, a word slides into my thoughts.
    Revenge.
    And then the aura drops off me and I feel nothing more.

~*~ 25 ~*~
     
    Revenge? That’s an interesting word. Especially coming from a thing that hangs on the wall. Why does a mirror want revenge?
    I return to the scary lair and read the spell for the poisoned apple. It looks tricky. The spell must be begun at midnight and concocted in total darkness, with no light other than that of the fire below the cauldron. At first I’m worried because it calls for black rose petals which I didn’t think existed. Then I find a full jar of them on a shelf. You must boil the petals for three hours in a pot of new-fallen rain, stirring once an hour while chanting the name of your victim. Several other ingredients are added, one being ‘A Shriek of Despair’ which I’m not sure I can pull off. Perhaps if I remember how I felt when I lost my mother…. Finally, you must soak the apple until the following midnight. If done right, the apple turns a deep purple color. Not one poisonous ingredient goes into the brew. The poison comes from the hatred in your heart.
    I try. The hardest part is getting the new-fallen rain, which is needed to give the spell potency. It takes a week before we have a good downfall. I follow the instructions with scrupulous care, reading every step three times over. But after the long simmer, my apple is nothing but a squishy brown lump.
    I wait for more rain and try again. The second apple boils down to nothing but skin, limp as a dead leaf.
    “Why?” I rage at The Mirror. “What am I doing wrong?” The response is simply to keep trying. But I’m losing patience. Hunter and I no longer meet at the well, I’ve heard