Page 71 of Snow White

Nothing happens. There is only fire, dark, black fire. It rages all around me. I sit in the center of it, waiting for it to consume me as well.

Chapter Forty-Five

Azura

There was nothing but black flames. I feel the force and heat of the fire, but it doesn’t burn. I feel my body rebuild inch by inch, crafted from the flames. Every piece of me screams in agony as my body slams back together. For every light, there must be dark. Balance is required. There is a power vacuum, and it is one I’m required to fulfill. When the flame cyclone tightens around me, I step through it, naked but very much alive. Every nerve in my body is crackling with power. This power made my head spin. How did my mother carry this inside her?

Snow looks up at me, her face covered with ash and soot, two tear tracks cutting down her cheeks. “A-Azura?”

I look down at her in shock. She won? She killed Maleficent? I glance down at myself and focus on my new power. I summon clothes, dressing myself in a black gown with a deep v and crown. When I move, I see the ends of my platinum hair are now black. “It’s me.”

Snow stands, still crying. “Truly?”

I nod. “Truly.”

Her lips tremble, and she runs to me, jumping on me. It’s sofamiliar.Even in this new but old body, with these new powers, there is something so grounding about having Snow in my arms and kissing me. I smile into her mouth, lifting her. “You did the impossible.”

She continues kissing me and crying. “I did? I saved you?”

“You did, and you gave me even more.”

More power.

Her legs wrap around my waist, her fingers tunneling into my hair, holding me as an anchor. “More?”

I laugh darkly. “All that power had to go somewhere.”

Where there is light, there must always be dark.

“And it’s in you?” she whispers.

I concentrate, and midnight flames crawl up our bodies, taking us to her room in the palace.

There is no drain on me, no need to refuel. “Yes, my love.”

Snow looks around at the room, her body tightening around me. “Are you still going to try to marry my father?”

I laugh again. “No. No, I am not.”

“Are you leaving me again?”

“Do you want me to?”

She shakes her head frantically. “No!”

I frame her face, putting her on her feet. “I brought you here to pack.”

The flames had burned away her armor, and when I scanned her, I felt my power recoil from her back. I will discover what that is all about later.

She blinks at me. “Pack?”

“Yes, for our honeymoon.”

She smiles brightly. “Oh? Don’t you have to marry me first?”

I growl at her. “That will come soon enough. For now, I want to take you away.”

The urge to protect my treasure, and keep her far away from others, is overwhelming.

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