Page 42 of Snow's Charming
“I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was too late.”
“Hopefully, Raven will have some answers for us because I’m worried about this healing ability.” Said Zhang.
CHAPTER 14
Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here
Thanks to Zhang and his cloaking spell, Accius didn’t meet up with us at our next rest stop. He didn’t show at the hotel we stayed at either. We were in the home stretch of our trip, just hopping off the exit to New York City, when I got a text from Sylus.
We are being followed. It’s a black SUV two cars behind us.
How do you know this?
My heart was pounding against my chest in rapid succession. It felt as if it would burst through my rib cage.
We’ve been tracking the same SUV since we left the hotel. Zhang said his cloak would only last for so long and that Accius would catch up to us.
But is it Accius? I mean, it’s NYC.
Call it a gut feeling, princess.
I voiced Sylus’s concerns with Zhang and my father. My father gazed into the rearview mirror and locked onto the SUV with a familiar plate. It most definitely followed us through the past couple of states we drove through to get to NYC.
“Princess, tell Sylus we are shaking this tail. Zhang, text Raven and let her know what’s up. We need to meet her somewhere other than her home.”
“Okay. We can meet her in Central Park.” Said Zhang.
“Good idea. It’s crowded enough where we can hide in plain sight.”
A few minutes passed as we both drove through the streets of the city, trying to ditch Accius. Thankfully, we both passed through a light before it turned red. Accius had no choice but to wait. He was behind a police car. We drove down three blocks and came up to a garage before Accius caught up with us. We drove in and parked.
“What now?” I asked, getting out of the car while walking toward Sylus and the others.
“We head to Central Park. Pull up your hoodies so it’s harder for Accius to recognize you.” Zhang said as he removed his robe and shoved it under the seat. He stood clad in a gray hoodie and dark blue jeans and was almost unrecognizable.
“Wow! You look like a regular person without that robe, but that beard is a dead giveaway.”
“Yeah, well, I kinda saw this coming. That’s why I prepared, Sesi.” He said as he fisted his long beard. It transformed into a 5 o’clock shadow before my eyes.
“I did not doubt that you wouldn’t have seen this coming, being a sorcerer and all, however? I didn’t expect you to pull off a glamor spell. Impressive!” I said with widened eyes.
We all covered our heads with our hoodies, which wasn’t much of a stretch for late October in New York. The weather had been warm. It’d been hovering around 45 degrees during the day and not dropping below 40 for late-night temperatures. We walked down 5th a little until we got to 64th and entered the park.
Accius had walked past us twice in the sizable crowds on the streets. The first time, he was on the opposite side of the street, and the second time he jogged right past us on the same side.
I was glad he didn’t notice us, but the closer we got to meeting Raven, the more worried I became. I feared he’d discover us before she could break the curse.
Sylus must have seen the nervousness on my face, because he reached for my hand and brought it to his lips to kiss my knuckles. The sensation of his warmthlulled me into comfort. Before I knew it, we were in front of Raven, who stood up from the park bench she’d been sitting on.
“Come, it’s not safe here. Let’s head for Grounds,” Raven said as she motioned for us to follow her.
We headed to the back and huddled by a couple of tables and chairs in the patio area.
“What do you want, baby?”
“Just a lemonade. I’m coffeed out.”
He smiled and went with Joker and Chary to grab everyone’s drinks. Once he reached the counter, I turned to Raven, Zhang, and my father. Raven placed a hand over mine and gave me a bright smile.
