COLD (Twisted Forbidden Tales) Book One

Chapter Seventeen

SNOW ( One Year Later)

I felt the softest caress against my cheek. A scent all too familiar reached my senses. I had the strangest dream, almost like a story. It was full of love, pain, and sorrow, but none of it was mine. A beautiful woman with long curly flaming red hair, and captivating silver-gray eyes captivated me. Was the story hers?

She was someone worthy of love, yet why did she suffer so much pain? Familiar lips touched mine. I let up a small moan. How long have I slept? And why did the woman in my dream remind me of the fairy queen?

“Wake up my love.” Familiar hands caressed my cheek again. I must have been really exhausted. I rubbed away the blurriness and let her help me sit up. I turned to look at my love, my eyes widening at the woman before me.

“Hannah?” I asked in a bit of confusion.

“It's actually, Talia,” she said, smiling at me. She didn’t say anything more, giving me time to process. She had the same voice as my love, but her hair and eyes were the color of my fairy queen and the woman in my dreams. I suddenly remembered the name of the friend my dad was searching for who had saved his life.

“It's really you.” I was so excited that I couldn’t help but hug her tight in my embrace. After a while, I let go, to stop and look around me. Where were we?

“Where are we?” I asked. This place looked different but familiar. “The Old Wisdom Tree,” Talia said, and everything else became clear. She helped me out of the glass bed. It was then that I noticed the Seven were all here too.

“Talia, what's going on?” I asked as I noticed they all had smiles on their faces, their eyes were a bit glossy as well.

“Look behind you,” she said, and I could do nothing but turn around. How could I have missed this? Behind me were two more identical glass beds. In one lie, my dad, Silas, and the other, my mom, Selene.

“How?” I was confused, my parents weren’t dead.

“Come sit and let me explain. “ Talia took my hand and, as she did, a glowing light produced chairs for us to sit on before she spoke.

Christine had poisoned both Selene and Silas, with the help of Finnigan. Silas was poisoned early on and fate had brought Talia within their path. Due to Talia’s timely warning, Uncle Ben was able to produce a counterattack to keep the poison at bay for a while.

Selene was poisoned with the same poison later on that had been slightly modified. This one contained Christine's blood that was mixed with mine. At the time, no one was aware that Selene was pregnant. The poison had been infused into both mother and child and only after Silas and Selene married did it become known what Christine had done.

Unknown to Christine, this had created a loophole for Silas and Selene. Selene fell into a cursed sleep after Snow’s birth. Unable to figure things out at the time, Silas came to a safety measure to announce her death to flush out Christine’s accomplice.

Sure enough, the person showed their hand when Snow was one year old. On a trip to the garden maze, an attempted k********g leads to a surprising discovery. Snow’s blood carried traces of the poison. It was completely dormant, making her immune. Her attacker was none other than Rose, who we all believed at the time to be Walden’s mother.

Something changed in my blood when I was five and I was attacked again that year, going missing for a day. This was the year I met my fairy queen in a special old wisdom tree. An innocent kiss and holding Talia’s hand in mine led us to be soul mates. Awakening her sooner than planned and activating both our blood and purifying it. Making me the antidote once we completed our mate's bond one year ago today.

On the last visit to their kingdom, Finnigan poisoned Silas again, but this time he used the same poison given to Selene, causing Ben’s counterattack to react. Their fail-safe was to put him in a deep sleep until they found an antidote, not knowing the antidote, was so close to them. Together, Talia and the Seven complete Silas' plan, bringing us to where we are now. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I now understood their smiles and their teary eyes.

“What are we waiting for, let’s get to it”. I held out my arm toward Ben.

They all laughed at my excitement. Talia explained I needed to wait a bit for Ben to set everything up. My parents would be brought home first and Ben would then get to work. It wasn’t just my blood alone that provided the antidote. Talia’s as well as my biological father’s blood were also needed because of his pure fairy lineage .

I frowned because I had no idea who he was. I wasn’t going to lie. I was excited but also conflicted. Why did he wait to reveal himself until now? He was part of Silas' plan, so there must be a good reason. Maybe his life had been in danger too. I would at least give him the benefit of the doubt and hear him out before deciding how we move forward.