New Boys Can't Date The Snow Queen, Part 9
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
Saturday
There was a text on my phone. Will be round this afternoon to collect.
I replied as fast as I could: 1 piece is gone. Do u have it?
The wait that followed was torture.
I know where it is. See you at 2.
I sighed, leaning my head against the doorframe. I hadn’t slept at all last night; in fact, I hadn’t even changed out of the clothes I’d worn to meet Blake.
The mansion had never felt so cold, or so empty.
Well, if I was going to get rid of this mirror, I might as well look presentable. I was a de Winter, after all.
After showering, doing my face and teeth, and getting dressed in clean clothes, I put on my blue coat and winter boots. It had snowed during the night again; I decided to take advantage of the calm and quiet by going for a walk. I knew the paths around here as well as I knew the mansion.
I stepped outdoors, walking down the drive and shutting the gates behind me with a clang. Once the noise faded, all around me was stillness. I walked alongside the road, my feet making muffled crunching sounds on the snow, until I reached two beech trees with a gap between them.
A long white road stretched ahead of me.
I moved slowly and carefully, my hands in my pockets and a slight wind blowing my hair back. A few stray rays of sun caught the snow in the trees, making it sparkle. At night, with the moon shining down, this would be even more beautiful.
Then I saw it: a dark shape just down the path, growing closer and closer. My heart beat a little faster, but I kept walking. Eventually, the figure became clearer. It was Blake.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when I reached him.
He stopped. “I think…the same thing you are.”
We stood in silence for a moment. In the distance, a robin sang a few sharp, cheerful notes and another one answered it.
“Look, Blake,” I began, not knowing what to say, “I…”
He stepped a little closer, looking down at me with intense dark eyes. I stayed where I was, chin tilted slightly up, waiting.
Kiss me.
He placed a hand on my neck and leaned down; I reached up and pressed my lips against his. Warmth spread through my face and chest, and I took hold of his arms. He wrapped one arm around me…
Pain shot through my heart. I cried out and staggered, clutching my front with one hand.
“Claire? Are you all right?”
“Stay away from me!” The pain didn’t disappear. It was getting worse. I struggled to breathe, tearing at my coat front. My hands and fingers tingled; they wouldn’t stop.
Please, I inwardly sobbed. Please, someone, help me. I can’t do this alone!
Something inside me shifted. My hands started to glow with a pale blue light; I could feel that light inside, right over my heart.
It exploded, sending blue shimmers everywhere. I fell over onto the snow, panting for breath.
The snow around me hardened, crystallising into frozen shapes.
“Claire? Claire!” Blake knelt beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “Are you OK?”
I nodded, allowing him to help me up. He gazed around us in amazement. “Wow. You’ve got ice magic!”
I opened my mouth to apologise for telling him to stay away, but there was something cold inside my mouth. I raised a hand to my lips and spat it out.
Lying in my palm was a shard of glass. It gleamed in the light like a malevolent eye.
I couldn’t breathe. How had that got in me?
Cold fear gripped me. Was that what had been causing the chest pains?
Blake’s hand gripped my shoulder. “What is that? What was it doing in your…”
Suddenly his eyes widened in horror. “No, no, no. It can’t be.”
“What is it?” I croaked.
“My dad said he destroyed that thing.”
I looked down at the tiny piece of glass, then back up at Blake. How was he going to react when I told him the truth about the mirror and my part in his plan?
But people had to know the truth.
“There’s something you need to know.”
***
“I’m very glad you called me, Miss de Winter.” Zane King regarded both of us from behind his desk. “I was about to pay you a visit on a matter of extreme importance.”
Blake and I exchanged surprised glances. “You already knew about the mirror?” I asked.
“It was about your comb.” He picked it up in one hand. “It’s been enchanted with a memory spell. Every time you used it, it suppressed a specific memory; if this spell is activated often enough, it can start to remove other memories as well.”
That explained why I’d been so forgetful lately.
“Since you don’t remember that shard getting magically placed inside you, it must have been that memory,” Zane explained.
“Will that memory come back?” I asked.
“I’m afraid it will.”
Blake took hold of my hand and squeezed it gently. “Dad’s told me about that mirror. He said destroying it was one of the best things he ever did in his life.”
“What exactly does it do?” I asked Zane.
“This is a particularly unpleasant piece of dark magic. The mirror makes everything good seem hideous and it magnifies everything horrible and unpleasant. It was made to be a curse.” Zane shook his head. “To the right people, it’s extremely valuable.”
I swallowed. “How much trouble am I in?”
“Probably not much. You were being blackmailed by a wanted criminal, you had every reason to believe he would go ahead with his promise to frame your father, he placed a piece of the mirror inside you without your knowledge or consent and he used a memory spell on you. Even if you had refused to complete the mirror, the shard would have compelled you. And even if certain people do want to charge you, I will make sure you get the best representation if I’m not able to do it myself.”
“Thank you. He said he was coming to the house at two this afternoon.”
Zane nodded grimly. “And we’ll be ready for him – but before that, I thought you two might like to do the honours.”
He led us out of his office, down the corridor and two flights of steps. Right at the bottom was a door marked CONTAINMENT.
“How would you both like to use your magic to break it?”
Blake clenched his fists. “I can’t think of anything I’d like to do more.”
“I’d love that, too.” I couldn’t wait to use my ice magic for the first time.
“Good.”
Zane pushed the door open, revealing the mirror. As soon as I saw it, I felt the darkness inside and looked away.
“Stand in front of the mirror – not too close – and close your eyes.”
Hands trembling slightly, I took three paces forward and shut my eyes as tightly as I could.
The hatred, malice and cruelty inside the mirror wriggled. It knew what was coming.
My own magic stirred with a familiar, pleasant coolth. I raised my hands, feeling the power building inside my palms. Next to me, Blake’s fire danced with excitement.
“Now!”
Without thinking, I thrust my palms forward, expelling the power. There was a loud cracking sound and then the shattering of glass.
I opened my eyes to see an empty black frame. Tiny shards were scattered all over the office floor.
Blake hugged me tightly. “It’s over, Claire. It’s done.”
I nodded, face almost buried in his shoulder. “I’m going to call my dad.”