Page 26 of Rapunzel Unchained
However, there was someone else that might be willing to do the dirty work for me. That was if I could convince the little devil to play along.
“What if there was someone else, close to him, that could get the information you needed? Not Adam himself, but someone else?”
Rebecca’s sly side look told me she had an inkling on what I wanted to do.
“Someone else would work as well.” She plopped the rest of the dresses on the ground and then snapped her fingers. The pile disappeared. “I will do what I can on my side and look forward to hearing from your... source.”
Hope swelled in me. I turned back to the wardrobe and searched for something among the unscorched dresses that were left.
I found one of a pale purple and pink with slits up both sides. It shimmered with each shift of the light on it. The neckline scooped down held up only by the tight bodice and would leave my shoulders bare.
Treacherous water I was about to swim into. I had to be careful. The last time I’d faced Zane’s demon hadn’t ended well for either of us. Though, this time, I had control of my magic, and I was confident in my ability to sway him to my side.
The demon hated being trapped in Zane. He’d made a point to let me know that he wanted to do everything he could to hurt his host. I had a feeling he would like the chance to pull one over Zane.
It didn’t make me feel good to use Zane in this way. He’d been nothing but kind and understanding to me since the beginning. He cared for me, that was certain. And I was about to use the feelings he had for me to my advantage.
Did that make me a bad person? Evil?
Snow would certainly think so. She’d painted me the villain in all her journals.
Her journals.
I’d forgotten about that little thing with everything that had happened. I plucked it out of the magical pocket I’d put it in and flipped through it until I found the last entry.
January 5th
The evil queen sits in her tower and no one can save her. I have the mages preparing the spell now to conceal herwhereabouts. She will be erased from the histories as if she never existed. If only that would be enough to remove her from my mind.
She tortures me daily, still. The death of my father and Ferdinand remain in mind, as clear as the day that they happened. The tower is the least of what she deserves, and I know I’ve done everything I can to destroy what she has built.
Her name will mean nothing. She will be nothing.
And yet, something nags on my heart. A deep embedded fear that this wasn’t over.
I look down on my child, the only thing I have left of Ferdinand, and wonder each day, will this be the day that she breaks free? Will she come for me and my child? Will we suffer the way my father and my love suffered?
I wish I’d killed her. Then I would be free of her, and nothing would stand between me and my happily ever after. Except killing her is too quick of a price to pay for what she has done.
I wanted her to suffer. Suffer long and unending, the way I will suffer for the rest of my life. Except I knew there was an end to mine. I had to make peace it would be enough.
There would be no end for her. Not now. Not ever.
I snorted and snapped the book shut.
“It looks like you didn’t get what you wanted after all, Snow.” I peered down at the journal with all the disdain and hatred I had for my stepdaughter.
So she had a child? I wondered if the line continued. Could I find them here and now? If I did, then I’d make them pay for what their ancestors had done to me.
But first, I had a demon to seduce.
Chapter 14
Sliding into my bed for the night, I blew out a breath. There was nothing else I could do at this moment while Rebecca looked into her contacts. I would reach out to Zane soon, but not yet.
Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t want to taint the feel of Blake’s and Luke’s hands on me. A bath was one thing. Being with someone else so soon after was another. And the things I planned on doing to Zane would definitely mix the experiences.
I wanted to remember every single moment of my time with each of my mages, individually.
