42. Casper
Chapter forty-two
Casper
Prince hangs up the phone, and a deadly silence passes through his office.
We’ve all gathered in his throne room, and he isn’t happy about the fact.
The room is big enough to fit all eight of us, but since this has always been Prince’s sacred place, he’s reluctant to share.
His mismatched eyes fall on Snow specifically as she sits directly in front of him, and my throat bobs.
“Are you still sure about this, Snow?” he asks.
The woman of my dreams takes a deep breath beside me, and tension spreads through the room.
None of us were happy with her proposal. Not even Prince deep down, and lo and behold, it seems he actually cares about Snow.
Or maybe he just didn’t like her giving him demands, who knows, but it’s obvious he was reluctant to work with Leroy’s daughter.
Still, something has changed in him since she killed Ferdinand. Since he heard his own words pouring from that asslicker’s mouth.
I’m just glad he aimed that gun at me instead of Snow.
Of course, being on stage, I was blinded to everything but my own inner sanctum. That place I disappear to when I go into character.
The bright lights don’t help any matters, either. The crowd was just a blur of faces, but I could feel her eyes all the same.
It was her I was singing for. She was my sole focus.
No one else mattered.
“Yes,” Snow replies. “Regina is just as much as my enemy as yours, Prince. So, it’s time she went down.”
Prince closes his eyes, rubbing the space between his brows. He looks rough. Lines bracket his mouth, and he looks ten years older in that moment. Maybe twenty.
“Well, it seems our interests are definitely aligned…”
Hunter sighs, kneeling beside Snow. “Snow, you don’t have to do this. Don’t offer yourself up as bait. We can find another way.”
“He’s right,” Knight chimes in, coming up behind Hunter. “We can find a way that doesn’t jeopardize your safety.
The twins are solemn and silent. Saint looks torn, but Angel regards Snow with that same unyielding pride.
He's besotted with her, as we all are.
Even Moth has finally stopped treating her like crap, acknowledging her for the wonderful person she is.
It turns out that he met Snow long before any of us. The two of them go way back, and who knew my surly cousin could be such a romantic deep down.
Even now, he regards her with pride as he polishes his brass knuckles, readying them for battle.
Snow shakes her head. “No. It’s time I took a stand against that woman and reclaimed what is rightfully mine. My father’s kingdom will be mine once again. As it always should have been.”
My heart swells when I hear her talk in that passionate way. I can’t deny that I am falling for this woman.
She inspires me so much, and I swear if we all make it out alive, then I will dedicate my life to her.
Every song will be for Snow from this moment on.
Prince leans back in his chair, studying her carefully. “She could kill you…”
Snow meets his eyes, and my heart pounds when a shadow settles over her.
Holy shit.
She’s beautiful when deadly.
“She can try.”
If I’m mistaken, Prince smiles behind his finger as he places it against his mouth, but he hides it quickly as he’s all business again, rising in his chair.
“Well, let’s get this over with. She agreed to meet in one hour.”
My stomach bottoms out, and I have the urge to throw up.
Prince called Regina and told her that he knew where Snow was. His only request was that she come alone, unarmed, and without backup.
Seems a little too good to be true that she agreed so willingly. She definitely has a trick up her sleeve.
Prince wipes his hands down the lapels of his suit, as if he can’t bear the thought of heading into battle with lint on his person. “She’ll suspect that we’re planning to double-cross her.”
But would she expect that Snow has been living with us this whole time, consorting with her enemies?
I don’t know.
Strategy isn’t my area of expertise.
But even I can see the flaws in this plan from a mile off.
We just have to bet on Regina’s ignorance.
Let’s just hope she hasn’t anticipated our every move. She thinks leaps and bounds ahead of most of us.
Snow nods and gets to her feet, and I follow closely behind her, making sure all my weapons are secure.
I just hope we all survive.
We have the warehouse surrounded by our men as the seven of us enter through its old, busted doors.
Our team scouted the area before our arrival, and true to her word, Regina came alone.
My heart trembles when I spy the deadly woman sitting calmly on a chair right in the middle of the derelict warehouse.
No one owns this patch of land, which was why we agreed to meet here.
It’s a neutral zone.
Her cruel gaze rakes over each of us as we file into the cold building, keeping a reasonable distance away.
I see why they call this woman a queen. The way she looks down on us as if we’re inferior.
Angel looks ready to lodge one of his knives into her chest when her eyes fall on him. Saint tightens his fingers around his own blade.
Moth brandishes his brass knuckles, and Knight’s hand falls on the gun in his holster.
Hunter keeps his own gun close while I linger on the sidelines.
When her eyes find me she licks her lips, making my heart squirm. She looks ready to eat me alive, but I refuse to show her fear.
Regina cannot intimidate me.
We left Snow out back with one of our men.
Luckily, someone we can trust.
This war between our families ends today.
And then when we kill Regina, we can appoint Snow as the rightful queen of her late father’s empire and combine our families.
It's the only way forward.
Time to put the past behind us.
Regina crosses her legs, brushing lint off her perfectly-pressed pants suit. The gesture reminds me of Prince.
The woman is flawlessly put together—she’s Prince with tits, pretty much. Probably why my cousin hates her so much.
Unfortunately for him, she has twelve years over him. In her eyes, we’re all just little boys.
Seven little men.
“Hello, Prince,” she croons in that sultry voice. One that has brought many men to their knees.
Yet her allure doesn’t work on us. It never has.
It’s why she deems us a threat. She can’t bend us to her will, and the knowledge drives her insane.
Other men may melt at her feet, but not us.
“Regina,” Prince replies, and the woman narrows her eyes, raking her gaze up and down his body.
“Nice suit.”
Prince’s jaw ticks, and it’s obvious he’s not here for small talk.
Finally, Regina rises. She matches our heights effortlessly.
The woman is six feet without heels, and I truly do feel like a dwarf in her presence.
“So, where is my beloved stepdaughter? Was she too shy to come in and greet me?”
We all tense, and fuck…
She knew Snow was with us all along.
Yet Prince doesn’t react to her comment. He remains the stoic king of our organization as he focuses solely on the woman in front of him.
A king facing off with a queen.
“Who says we have her? I merely said I know where she is,” Prince replies.
A strong play on words.
One Regina has seen right through.
Regina chuckles, pacing before her makeshift throne, and I realize that it’s a baroque antique chair. One with upholstered red cushions and gold mouldings.
It looks so out of place in this abandoned warehouse.
Which means one thing…
She had already anticipated this meeting and prepared in advance. Hence why she ensured she had a proper throne.
Regina promised she would come alone. Our men scouted this area and relayed back to us that she kept her word.
Which means…
Fuck.
I hope Prince has caught on, too.
“Well, that’s a shame. I was really looking forward to our mother/daughter reunion.”
Prince spits our pure venom next. “You’re not her fucking mother…”
He may want to tone down on the anger. He almost sounded protective of Snow.
Regina will see right through it. If she hasn’t already.
Regina stops pacing, facing him once again. “No. I’m really not, and thank goodness for that. Perhaps now you have finally seen the light, little Prince . That I never loved her, and that she never meant anything to me. And here I was hoping you would save me the trouble of killing her myself, but no… You had to go and fall for her like your foolish brothers.”
My brothers grab their weapons, and we should have known…
Regina played us all along.
Of course she knew we had Snow.
And I know why.
Some of our men betrayed us.
“Bring her in, gentleman.”
My heart drops to my feet when our very own men drag Snow into the warehouse, and the hatred burning in Snow’s eyes when she finally lays eyes on her stepmother makes my blood run cold.
“You bitch! You tricked us!”
Prince yanks his gun out, but he’s too slow.
Regina already has hers cocked and placed near his head, and so much for her promise for coming unarmed.
Her eyes flash as her finger dances over the trigger, and now she becomes a real-life fairytale witch. One that wears a black cowl and carries around a poison apple.
“Did you honestly think you would come out of this alive?” she whispers.
Prince’s green eye flashes as he grits his teeth, a deadly promise in his eyes.
None of us move, as the witch has her gun pointed at our brother’s head, and she’s got us trapped.
If we move, she will shoot Prince.
But we can’t just stand around and do nothing.
Snow cries. “Regina, don’t shoot him! Please!”
Regina bares her perfect white teeth. “Ooh, do you like this one, Snow?”
She gasps when she hears the wickedness pouring from Regina’s mouth, and the irony isn’t lost on me or Prince if his taut expression is anything to go by.
Finally, he sees what we have all along.
That Snow isn’t his enemy.
No, she was something more.
Someone who could love and care for him as his own mother once did. Even his father.
Snow is family…
Regina backs Prince up toward a stack of empty crates, and that smirk never leaves her beautiful face. “Maybe I should put a hole in his head. Make you watch as I smear the floor of this quaint warehouse with his brains.”
Snow whimpers, squirming in our man’s grip.
Well, our ex- man.
He's a fucking traitor. They all are.
“Regina, please! I’ll… I’ll do anything. You can kill me instead. Then you can be the sole heir to Daddy’s empire. Just don’t kill Prince or his brothers…”
“Snow, shut up,” Prince growls, keeping his hateful gaze on Regina, and I can’t take the tension.
Prince’s fate hangs on a delicate balance as we all stand at a stalemate.
But then Angel finally has enough of biding his time, flicking his knife at Regina at long last, and he gets her in the shoulder.
Her gun goes off, and it all happens so fast.
Bullets begin to fly around the warehouse.
I just hope we all get out alive.