Page 27 of The Midnight Blizzard

My mouth hung open. “Are you serious about this?”

“I don’t see any alternative, do you?”

I thought, but no solution came to mind.

Jack shot me a conspiratorial look. “We’ve already bent a few rules already. What’s one more?”

Chapter 9

According to Jack, in lieu of another ball, the prince had planned to take walks with each of the fifteen women still remaining after the feast. As I had already walked with Stephen and received a letter requesting I stay longer, I wasn’t required to present myself in the ballroom that afternoon and evening while Stephen took each of the ladies for a stroll. When Jack and I stopped by the ballroom, I saw that Jasmine had been sent home, but my stepfamily was still there. My stepsisters were facing the door to ensure they were easily visible, and my stepmother sat in the shadows beside them, her back to the door and whispering in a low hiss to them. They took no notice of Jack as he strode toward the prince, nor of me, staring in from the crack in the doorway so I wouldn’t be spotted. For several minutes, Jack and Prince Stephen spoke in low whispers and stole glances at my stepfamily, who all sat rigidly straight with painfully wide smiles, fully aware of the scrutiny they were under.

“He agreed to have them go last and introduce them to his mother,” Jack muttered when he finally emerged again. “But they aren’t announcing the order. That should keep them busy for a while.”

Each step felt increasingly dangerous as Jack and I crept toward my stepfamily’s suite of rooms, and I wondered how guards didn’t come running just from the sound of my pounding heart.

“We aren’t doing anything wrong by walking down the hall,” Jack pointed out in a whisper, but he kept his footsteps light as well.

“We’re not doing anything wrongyet,” I corrected him. We’d been over the plan several times already, but my hands still shook. I swallowed, but my mouth remained as dry as chalk.

“Keep watch,” Jack murmured, withdrawing a key from his pocket. “If anyone sees us sneaking into the room…”

Each flutter of the hallway curtains and each flurry of the snow outside drew my gaze as I scanned the corridor for any movement. After a few seconds, there was a click of the bolt being slid back, and the door swung open.

I ducked inside, elated with our success. Jack followed, hurriedly closing the door as gently as possible. “Lock it again,” I reminded him. “If any guards come by?—”

“The guards don’t go jiggling the door handles of guests,” Jack laughed, but locked the door anyway. “They aren’t robbers.”

“No, but we will be soon if I can just find…” I began searching the room, careful to replace each item precisely how I found it as I searched the places I thought were most likely to hide an important document.

The amount of luggage my two stepsisters and stepmother had brought filled every nook and cranny of their expansive suite and could have hidden a library’s worth of documents. But no, my stepfamily’s vanity was evident as Isifted through their multiple trunks. There were cosmetics, dresses, hats, accessories, shoes, corsets, and several items neither Jack or I were able to identify, including a stretchy, skin-colored material that felt slightly more supple than a rubber boot heel.

“Any idea what this is?” I asked, holding it up and stretching it out experimentally.

He rolled his eyes. “You’re asking a man who has no experience with anything related to women or fashion. If you don’t know, how should I?” His head tilted as he studied the mysterious object. “If it’s used to stuff into their bodices to accentuate their curves, I may vomit. I’m not touching that.”

I burst out laughing, then quickly clapped a hand over my mouth to muffle my voice. “Don’t make me laugh like that,” I hissed at him. “This is a secret mission.”

“Then maybe you should act more secretive,” he said as I put the unidentified object back where I’d found it. “You need to be looking for the will, not—” He broke off, suddenly on high alert as the sound of a key sliding into a lock came from the door.

Eyes wide with panic, I grabbed the front of Jack’s tunic and whirled him into the closet, folding myself in after him and pulling the door nearly closed just as the door to the hallway opened. I stared through the tiny crack, almost forgetting to breathe as my stepmother slowly came into view, setting down the enormous handbag she always carried with her as she made her way across to the opposite side of the room.

The handbag.

I stared at it. It was large enough to conceal several documents, and it would make sense that she would neverleave it unattended if that was her hiding place. But why would she be back so early?

My question was answered as I saw my stepmother cross to the vanity and sit down with a slight grunt. There followed multiple clicks and snaps of small containers being opened and closed as Valencia touched up her makeup. Of course; how could I be so stupid as to forget my stepmother’s midday practice of obsessing over her looks? Heaven forbid she have a single hair out of place at any moment. Jack and I wouldn’t be able to leave or make any noise at all for however long it took until she deemed herself perfect once more.

Silently, I pivoted away from the door and realized that the closet I’d thrown us into was the equivalent of a tiny broom cupboard. Jack had attempted to give me as much space as possible, but was still pressed against me, arm up above my head on the closet’s wall as he tried to avoid knocking anything off the shelves.

By holly, we were going to be stuck like this for at least half an hour while my stepmother went through her extensive skincare and cosmetics application process. The narrow sliver of light from the cracked door fell across my face and lit up the closet just enough that I was able to see Jack’s facial expressions, much easier to pick out because of his pale features. I slowly lifted my finger to my lips then pointed toward my stepmother.

He mouthed,How long?

I shrugged. It was very difficult to find the motivation to pull my attention away from reading Jack’s lips.She’s doing her makeup, I mouthed, pleased when Jack’s gaze dropped to study my mouth. I had to mouth the words several times before he understood, and I found myself watching his lips, trying valiantly to appear as though I was simply waitingfor him to respond. But the moments stretched into minutes and neither of us looked away.

The closet was warming up unnaturally quickly considering that it was snowing outside. Jack always felt warm, but he could have rivaled a furnace for the waves of heat he gave off and I struggled to remember that he was a mage with ice magic. I hoped the dim interior of the closet hid the redness that I was certain was rising to color my cheeks.

Jack’s throat convulsed as he swallowed, still looking down at me and standing so close that it was impossible not to touch him. My fingers curled around the front of his jerkin, scrunching the fabric into my palms. A gentle touch brushed against my side as Jack’s hand crept up to trail along my waist, fidgeting with the seam on my dress with light, hesitant touches. It left me desperately wanting more, unable to restrain myself as I lifted my hand to run my fingers up his chest and around to the back of his neck. Staying away from him demanded an inner fortitude I wasn’t sure I possessed. His thumb raised to caress my jaw, our mouths mere inches apart. I closed my eyes, certain that I would be able to live forever on the ecstasy of this moment alone.

---