Read Online The Snow Queen's Captive by Jill Myles - Free Book Online Page A

familiar. With another glance around, Charlotte continued down the hall…and then paused.
    She was standing atop the room with the mirror in it.
    That creepy, creepy mirror that oozed bad magic.
    I can help you…
    Swallowing the nervous knot in her throat, she called out, “Um, no thanks! I’m good.”
    Are you truly? The eerie voice laughed and mocked her. You seem unsatisfied to me. Perhaps I can help…
    “I’m pretty sure I don’t want your help,” Charlotte said, stepping out of the hall and adding another layer of ice.
    She’d never come down this hall again, if she could help it. She shuddered. Just what was in that mirror, she didn’t know, but she didn’t like it.
    Not one bit.
     
    ~~ * * * ~~
     
    When Charlotte returned to her room later, she found Kai asleep in her bed, wrapped in the polar bear skins. She was a bit thrown at the sight, then realized that the ice door to his cell was too heavy for normal humans to lift. With a small sigh, she headed to the wall, dragged out enough ice to form an icy couch, and laid down. She pillowed her head on her arm to sleep, wishing she could curl up next to him. He looked so deliciously comfy in her bed, so at ease.
    But one touch of her skin would burn him, and she couldn’t allow that. Charlotte sighed and closed her eyes, determined to sleep in her new spot. As she drifted off, though, she wondered…
    How had the snow queen touched Kai before without hurting him? He’d been covered in ice, but not burned, and he’d admitted they had sex. So what was the key she was missing?
     
    ~~ * * * ~~
     
    Charlotte avoided Kai that morning. She slipped out through the bedroom walls as soon as she awoke and headed out to do her daily reinforcements on the ice castle battlements. Time was ticking away, and she had to be ready when the heroine showed up to save Kai. The irony of things? Charlotte didn’t want to keep him either — she was being forced to by the workings of the fairy tale. The fairy tale in which she should have been the heroine, damn it. Not the bad guy. Irritation made her magic surge, and the wall she was working on sprouted fierce spikes.
    “Hard at work, I see?” The cheerful voice interrupted Charlotte’s thoughts.
    She whirled, surprised to see the small, rotund form of her fairy godmother, Muffin, dressed in a crocheted beach cover up, and a floral one-piece swimsuit, and flip-flops. A wide brimmed yellow hat perched atop her head.
    The sight of her startled the heck out of Charlotte. “Oh!” The magic at her fingertips surged and the icy spikes she’d just created shattered into bits.
    Muffin raised her eyebrow at Charlotte from over a pair of enormous, oversized sunglasses. “Premature magic ejaculation?”
    “Um. Not really? You just surprised me.” Though now she was blushing. She shook out her hands, her fingertips re-frosting. “It’s so incredibly nice to see you, though!”
    “It is?” Muffin blinked in surprise, then gave Charlotte a pleased look. “I don’t often get that. Normally I get a ‘where the hell have you been, you old bat?’ I have to admit I like this much, much better! You’re my new favorite.”
    Charlotte wiped her sweating – okay, more like frosting – brow. “I’m glad I’m someone’s favorite, at least.”
    “Oh dear. That was a sad panda tone of voice if I ever heard one.” Muffin pulled a wand out of her oversized beach bag. She waved it at the snow and a bright pink inflated pool lounger appeared. She plopped into it and wiggled, the entire thing squeaking loudly. “Now, tell me all about it, sweetie.”
    A second inflatable chair appeared next to Muffin’s. After a moment of hesitation, Charlotte sat down. “I…I’m just struggling, is all.”
    “Really? You look like you’re doing pretty well to me.” Muffin waved a hand at the icy walls of the castle. “I see we’ve figured out the snow queen powers and we’re redecorating in a very angry sort of motif. It’s not my usual