“Snow?” he called softly.
She didn’t respond, of course. He ran his hand down her hair, and then stroked his thumb across her cheek. He leaned closer.
“I should have told you before,” he said. “I should have told you I love you more than life itself. I should have told you I didn’t care if you destroyed Katarina. I only wanted you here with me. I should have said that selfish as it is, I didn’t care how many others she hurt if it meant the possibility of losing you. But I didn’t. I let you go. I let you try to save us all, and instead you gave your life.” He shuddered a sigh. “I’d give anything, even my life to Katarina, if it meant bringing yours back.”
He stood and leaned over her. “You are my heart, Snow White.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, surprised again at the warmth he felt there. And then . . . was that movement her felt beneath his mouth. He jerked back, looking down at her. “Please,” he pleaded.
He kissed her once again and suddenly a sigh issued from her.
“Snow?” he asked, aware of the others stepping closer as if they’d heard her also.
“Kiss her again,” Grouchy urged.
Philip complied and this time he definitely felt her mouth move beneath his. Instead of moving back, he kept his lips pressed to hers, waiting. Then her mouth was definitely moving beneath his, kissing him back.
His eyes opened and he stared at her, willing her to open her eyes. He dared to pull back so that his mouth was only centimeters from hers. Her lashes quivered and his heart picked up tempo. Medic stepped forward and placed his fingers on her wrist.
“She has a pulse,” he said triumphantly.
Her eyes fluttered open. A wide smile broke across Philip’s face. “Snow,” he breathed.
“Philip?” she questioned. He nodded. “You’re looking at me,” she said sleepily. She blinked a couple times. “What happened? Why am I . . .” Alarm filled her eyes. “Katarina, she—”
Philip laid a finger across her lips. “Shh, it’s okay now. You’re here and she’s gone.”
“Gone? Am I in Fableton?” Philip nodded and she smiled at him. “I’m back?”
“Yes. And I’m not going to let you go again.”
Snow threw her arms around Philip’s neck, and he lifted her into a sitting position as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest. They clung to one another for long minutes until Grouchy cleared his throat. Philip reluctantly released her as she gave a delighted laugh.
“Grouchy, Medic, Blithe, Dim . . . you’re all here.” Philip stood back long enough for her to hug each one before pulling her into his arms again.
“I thought I failed,” she moaned. “I thought I’d let you all down. But how did I destroy her? She gave me some of the berries.” She glanced up at Dim at her statement. Agitation was in the lines of his body, his pacing and hand wringing at the thought.
“Katarina brought you here,” Philip said.
“She . . . she’s alive?” Philip nodded. “Why did she bring me here, then?” She glanced down at herself for the first time, saw the dress and the bottom portion of the casket. “Is this a casket?”
“Yes,” Philip said. “She thought she killed you. She brought you here so that we would be forced to watch you lying here, looking as if you were sleeping.”
Suddenly a screech filled the air. The Seven jumped back and Philip drew Snow close to his side. Katarina swirled down from the sky in an eddy of dust and wind. Philip jumped to his feet, pulling Snow up with him, tucking her beneath his arm. One glance at him showed that his eyes had clouded again. He couldn’t see.
Katarina glared at them. The Seven stared at her, quaking. They’d never seen Katarina before, only heard the legend. She was terrifying in her beauty and the power that exuded from her. However, she didn’t even turn her gaze toward them. Her eyes were locked on Snow and Philip.
“No!” she screamed. “How can you be alive? I killed you!”
Snow moved around Philip to face Katarina. “You tried,” she said. “And you failed.”
“You can be sure I won’t fail a second time,” she said, lifting one hand toward Snow.
“Are you sure?” Snow asked. Katarina hesitated in whatever she’d intended. “I mean,” Snow continued, “you said I couldn’t destroy you because I didn’t believe I could. The same isn’t true with you.” She took a step closer to Katarina, away from Philip. “You did believe you could kill me, and yet you didn’t. I don’t think you can.”
Katarina screeched again and The Seven slapped their hands over their ears.
Snow, more confident now, took another step toward Katarina, and another. Philip reached out to her, but then let his hand drop. He believed in her. So did she now.
“You taught me an invaluable lesson, mother,” Snow said. “You taught me that I can destroy you, if I only believe it.”
“No,” Katarina said, taking a step backward from Snow’s advance.
“And now, Katarina, I believe it. With every fiber of my being I believe it.”
Katarina began shaking her head, as the deep grooves began to crease her face. Her hair became like straw, wild and thin, turning gray as ash. Her claws extended but still she retreated. Snow stopped her advance as Katarina began to shrink in stature, as an old woman, her skin going from green to the same ash gray as her hair. She brought her hands to her cheeks and began wailing.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to kiss you and wake you up with their love,” Snow whispered.
Katarina quieted and turned horrified eyes to Snow. She’d heard and for just one second, Snow felt pity for her. A blue light burst over Katarina’s head, and she collapsed in a pile of ash. Snow stared at the spot, jaw gaping. She couldn’t believe what she’d just seen. Had Katarina really disappeared, for good this time?
She glanced at The Seven and saw their expressions matched hers. She spun around to where Philip stood behind her. He didn’t look shocked, he looked . . . awed.
“Philip?” she said. “Are you okay?”
He grinned at her, coming forward to place a hard kiss on her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back just as hard. Suddenly she pulled back.
“Wait, you can still see me?”
He smiled. “I can see everything.”
“You can?”
He nodded and lifted his gaze over her head to The Seven. He grinned at them. “It’s good to see you, old friends.”
They were still stunned by Katarina’s change and disappearance, but even more stunned as they looked around. Snow and Philip followed their gaze, hands clasped together.
All of the amazingly brilliant colors began to run out of the trees and flowers, leaving everything the same dull ashy gray as Katarina’s hair. The villagers all came out of their cottages and walked toward Philip and Snow. They looked at one another in confusion. As they gathered, their cottages, which by now were completely gray, disappeared in the same puff of ash as Katarina had.
“What do we do now?” Coy asked loudly. All of the villagers turned to Snow and Philip, waiting for their answer.
Snow looked up at Philip and smiled at him. His answering smile was brilliant.
“We take care of them,” she said.
“Yes,” he said. “We take care of them. Forever.”
Note from the Author
I almost didn’t write Snow White because it feels like Snow White is everywhere these days. But I have to admit, she’d been on my mind. I was beginning to write Immortal Yours, the sequel to Immortal Mine, when I dreamt of Snow White. Not the Disney version, but my version. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get her out of my mind until I got her on paper, so I put aside my other book to write this one.
I wanted to merge the historical version of Snow White with a modern day girl who could kick butt when called upon to. My Snow White might have begun as a frightened mouse, but she became confident and able to take care of herself without losing the essence of who she was. I was quite i
n love with her by time I finished, and I hope you are as well.
If you enjoyed Snow’s story, you might enjoy Beautiful Beast, Book I of the Enchanted Fairytales and Red and the Wolf, Book II of Enchanted Fairytales. You can read more about these stories at http://enchantedfairytales.blogspot.com/. Enchanted Fairytales are just the beginning as I countdown to the full-length Rapunzel, coming from Sweetwater Books in February 2013.
You can read more about me at http://cindycbennett.com.
Thank you for reading Snow White.
~ Cindy C Bennett
Discover other Kindle titles by Cindy C Bennett
Heart on a Chain
Immortal Mine
Beautiful Beast
Red and the Wolf
In the Beginning
Geek Girl (Sweetwater Books)
Reluctance (Noble YA)
Watched
Pre-Order Rapunzel in print
Sneak Peek of Red and the Wolf - a contemporary retelling of Little Red Riding Hood
Part I: Homecoming
“Hey, Red, wait up.”
Ruby stopped, teeth and fists clenched at the voice. Taking a breath and forcing a pleasant look on her face, she turned toward the speaker.
“Hey, Lowell, what’s up?”
Lowell continued jogging toward her. Ruby wouldn’t deny it: Lowell was gorgeous. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, strong jaw, full lips, just enough stubble to exude a sexy aura . . . buff in all the right places. Even covered in jeans and a jacket in the chill air, his strength was obvious. Most girls in their tiny mountain burg of Piera would give anything for Lowell to turn his gaze their way. And he had, on many of them, leaving a string of broken hearts. Not that it stopped those same girls from continuing to pursue him.
“Just chasing down the elusive fox,” he said, bestowing on her the grin used for melting girls’ hearts. Didn’t work with Ruby. She rolled her eyes and continued walking. If it wasn’t for her lifelong friendship with Lowell’s family, she wouldn’t give the guy the time of day. “Come on, Red, I’m just teasing you.”
Ruby stopped again in frustration. Lowell, hurrying to catch up to her, continued past at her abrupt stop and turned back to her.
“Lowell, I’ve told you how much I hate being called Red. Why do you insist?”
He shrugged, completely unrepentant. “It’s your name, right?”
“No, my name is Ruby.” There was one person who could call her Red and get away with it. And she didn’t need any reminders of him.
“Which means red. And if that weren’t enough, well . . .” He lifted a strand of her long, curly hair.
She cursed her parents yet again for thinking they were so clever naming their red-headed child Ruby.
She sighed. “You’re so . . .”
“Charming? Sweet?” Lowell’s fingers lightly pinched his chin. “Incredibly good looking?” He tipped his head comically side to side. Ruby couldn’t help it, she laughed. “See? I knew you liked me,” he said.
“Incorrigible,” she said. “You are utterly incorrigible.”
Lowell placed a hand dramatically over his heart. “Why do you wound me?”
“I’m in a hurry, Lowell,” she said with a grimace, and began walking again. “Is there a purpose to this torment?”
Lowell stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. As she walked away, he said somberly, “Thought you might be interested to know that my baby bro is coming home.”
Ruby’s feet practically skidded to a halt. Her mouth dropped. She raised a hand to her chest as if she could still her pounding heart. She calmed her breathing into a normal pattern, snapped her gaping jaw shut, and said, “Rafe’s coming home?” When Lowell didn’t answer, she glanced back at him. He nodded. “When?”
“Tomorrow.”
Ruby turned away from Lowell again. Tomorrow? Hurt threaded through her heart, and she forced nonchalance into her voice. “Good. That’s good. It’ll be good to see him again. Tell him to stop by the shop and say hi.”
Without looking at Lowell again, she walked away. She heard his muttered, “You’re not fooling anyone,” but ignored him, not in the mood to spar with him. Not about this.
Rafe.
Coming home.
Want to continue reading Red and the Wolf? Get yours now at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008PODBAO
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