Stealing Snow (31 page)

“This had better work,” Jagger said. He flipped one of the gold coin invitations in his hand, and the spikes split apart. Each spike transformed into a petal, and the petals fell open, revealing a door.

Our boat pressed on—without a moment more of hesitation.

It seemed as if I didn’t breathe the whole time.

When it seemed we were finally safe, I inhaled deeply. The scent that filled my nostrils was from flowers growing on the walls of the underground passage.

I thought of Gerde. Had she been here? I reminded myself that she probably wasn’t the only person in the world who could grow things, anymore than Kai was the only one who could build them.

We docked alongside a little-used entrance to the castle and made our way to the ballroom.

Jagger pulled me into one of the hollows of the palace. He pushed me gently against the wall and took my hand in his.

“If it all goes south,” he began, “drink this and say home…”

His hand closed around mine, pressing a tiny green bottle into my hand. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me.

“Home is the other side of the Tree,” I countered, trying to hide my disappointment.

He looked at me, reading my mind without the aid of the spell.

“It won’t take you that far. It will take you back to the Claret. It will take you back to me. I promise you that it will take you only where you need to go. Only if there’s no other way.”

I bit my lip, considering.

I grabbed the vial.

Emerging from the underbelly of the Duchess’s palace into the luxe main hall was like night and day. Mildewy concrete buttresses turned into marble staircases, tapestries woven with spun gold, and crystal candelabras.

All the guests were announced by an extremely tall man who took our second gold coin invitation. He flipped it over and up into the air. The coin disappeared. A piece of paper floated down in its stead. Fathom’s magic worked perfectly.

The coins were apparently part of an intricate magical security system. They knew their invitees and would alert the palace guards of imposters. Fathom had modified the coins so we could enter without incident.

“May I present Lord Rafe Mach and Countess Darby Mach of Glovenshire,” he said regally.

“I almost feel guilty for the poor sap,” Jagger said as we took the red-velvet-lined stairs down into the grand ballroom.

“Since when are you capable of guilt?” I mused. From what I’d seen, Jagger and the other Robbers did not allow themselves much room for guilt. But I could see what he meant. The real Rafe Mach was missing something quite beautiful.

The ballroom was abuzz with music and dancing. A twenty-piece orchestra played from one corner of the room. There were ice sculptures shaped like the Duchess hand in hand with a faceless suitor, her husband-to-be. Bright-yellow banners hung from the eaves. The chandeliers seemed to be floating on air. I looked for wires, but there were none. Magic.

And in the middle of all the din was my cousin, the Duchess herself.

She sat on a gilded throne looking perfectly poised. Braids woven into other braids formed a hair origami crown upon which her diamond-encrusted tiara sat. Her dress was an intricate brocade in a shimmering pale pink. But what made it special were the dress’s straps: garlands of flowers that wound their way down to the bodice. The skirt was also covered with live flower petals.

Across her porcelain face was a delicate gold mask edged with glittery lace filigree. The mask covered her eyes, extended right up to her hairline, and skimmed across the bottom of her flushed pink cheeks. I couldn’t see how it was fastened on. It seemed to be floating just above the surface of her skin. She was exquisite.

The Duchess glanced around the room, looking a little lost. She appeared to be my age, and she didn’t seem to be having a good time at her own ball. I knew that Algid was different from back home. But the Duchess seemed a little too young to be
deciding her forever tonight. My fate, however, would change course before the evening was over if I succeeded in finding the mirror.

The plan had made sense to me in the Claret. But now that I was here, I felt everything in me clench and not just because of the corset under my dress.

“First we dance and then we split up,” Jagger reminded me.

He had not stopped staring at me since we left the Claret. And I couldn’t help smiling as we took to the polished dance floor. I had a different face and so did he. But he was right. If you looked closely enough, you could see the real person behind the borrowed face. And we were both looking very closely. I liked the feel of his hand on the small of my back, so much so that I missed it when the dance required us to part.

“Um, don’t you think it’s weird that you brought a date to a suitor ball?” I realized suddenly.

Jagger could see my nervousness, but he talked right through it. Keeping his hand on mine, he smoothly led me into the fray.

“In Algid, everyone is eligible to marry the Duchess. If she takes a liking to me, she’ll execute you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was joking, but I needed to hear his laughter as confirmation.

“I think the Duchess will assume that I believed I had no chance. It will read as humble,” he said.

I laughed out loud. If the Duchess was even remotely as intelligent as she was rumored to be, there was no way she would think Jagger was humble.

Fathom’s voice interrupted our thoughts.
We have a problem
.

What’s that?
Jagger replied.

An uncloaking spell.

I couldn’t see Fathom, but I could sense her on the dance floor among the swirling skirts and colorful tuxedos and white gloves.

How is that a problem?
I asked before I realized what it meant to my fellow Robbers.

“She’s going to strip us of all our magic so she can see who’s at her ball,” Jagger explained. “It’s pretty clever. She’s doing it for her suitors. Which I have to say is a tad hypocritical considering she never takes off the mask.” There was trepidation in his voice. “After it happens, can you do me a favor? Don’t look at me, Snow. Can you do that?” Jagger said earnestly, his eyes brimming with concern instead of their usual mischief.

I almost stopped dancing. I forgot the steps and nearly tripped over my own heels, crashing into Jagger’s muscled chest. He caught me and righted me on my feet as if I were light as a feather.

He never took off his mask, either. Was he afraid I would see the real him? Was it vanity or Robber Rules? I recalled the scar on his chest. Had Lazar carved up even more of him? Was that what he was keeping from me?

“But don’t I need to see you so that we can escape together?” I asked, instead.

“By the time we get back to the boat, I’ll be back to myself.”

“Okay,” I said. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t care how he looked. Because I didn’t. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t care what was under his mask any more than I cared about what was under the Duchess’s. I only cared that he wouldn’t show me
his face after he had seen all my dark places. All my secrets. But I couldn’t open that up in front of the roomful of people. Especially with the entire Robber crew listening in.

Something caught my eye at the entrance of the room beneath the floating chandelier. I knew that every eligible man in the Kingdom was required to be here—even the servants—but still, I was surprised to see one man in particular. My heart began to race uncomfortably.

I knew Kai’s rail-straight posture anywhere, but the clothes he wore were new. Kai looked like a proper gentleman. He was no longer dressed in the rough burlap fabric that he wore back at the cube.

But just then Kai bowed in front of the Duchess. He asked her to dance.

“Old friend of yours?” Jagger said between dances when he realized my distraction. “Looks like your architect’s situation has changed.”

“Whoever do you mean?” I asked, knowing better but pretending not to. Where was Gerde? Where was the River Witch? Had they come here for me?

Spinning away from Jagger for a moment, I asked one of my fellow dancers, a woman in a pink monstrosity, who Kai was.

“Oh, that’s the King’s new architect.”

“The last one blew away in a snow-nado. Very tragic,” someone else murmured.

Was Kai working for the King now? Or had he been working for the King all along? My mind spun along with the music.

I pushed away the last thought. I didn’t believe it. Unless …
I felt a sudden tightness hit me in the chest. Unless our kiss had changed him, after all.

“He never stays long at these things. He’s either terribly shy or his heart belongs to another,” the other dancer assessed. “I mean, why else would you not put yourself in the running for the Duchess? She clearly likes dancing with him. Look at the color in her cheeks!”

The Duchess’s cheeks are barely visible beneath her mask
, I scarcely bit back.

“Snow, are you still with me?” Jagger asked, bringing me back to him.

“Of course,” I said, but part of me was still following Kai.

The architect doesn’t matter. He can’t matter.
Howl’s voice was in my head.

I’d forgotten about the oneness spell. Howl was watching me. So were all the other Robbers, probably. I felt my cheeks burn, knowing that they had all heard my thoughts. Especially Jagger.

Next time, you’ll know how to shield yourself
, someone said.

Next time we’d be going after Bale.

The idea of Kai dancing was almost as absurd as me dancing. But seeing Kai’s arms around the Duchess brought back our time together. Brought back the kiss.

“You kissed him?” Jagger asked lightly, but his eyes betrayed an intensity that I couldn’t help but read as jealousy.

“He kissed me,” I countered, but I felt myself flush.

“Well, I don’t think your kiss drove him crazy.”

I could see the jealousy in Jagger’s eyes. I looked at his lips
reflexively, considering a kiss, despite where we were. Despite Kai in the Duchess’s arms. Despite Bale.

“I almost froze him.”

If Jagger was surprised, he didn’t show it.

“You didn’t have control of your snow yet. You do now.”

I almost laughed. That was a lie. I was getting better, but kisses were supposed to be about abandon. About letting go. I’d seen it on TV, and I’d felt it with Bale and even a little with Kai. And if my lips ever touched Jagger’s, I just knew that control would be the last thing I was capable of.

“I thought we were supposed to put him out of our heads,” I countered, pretending that we were still talking about Kai.

But we both knew we weren’t talking about my kiss with Kai. We were talking about the one Jagger hoped to have with me.

“He’s not distracting me,” Jagger said, sounding light.

But I was sure that Jagger was lying.

“Could have fooled me?” I laughed.

Jagger pushed me backward on the dance floor, at the same time pulling me closer to him.

When we passed Kai, I did not strain to look for him again.

“For the record, a life without kissing is no life at all,” Jagger said, slipping one of his hands away from me and into one of his pockets. He pulled out his watch.

He nodded at me. We couldn’t talk anymore. Or dance. We had to move. There was a mirror to steal. Everything else had to wait. I let go of Jagger’s hand and slipped up the staircase, which spiraled to the second floor. As I climbed each step, I glanced out the window and saw that the lawn was covered with tents beyond
the River. Everyone wanted to see firsthand who the Duchess would choose.

Now, Snow!
Margot said.

I hope she doesn’t blow it
.

I looked back from the window and down at Jagger in the ballroom. I wouldn’t be around to see Jagger uncloaked. But despite my promise, I wished I could see his real face.

At that moment, all eyes were on the Duchess, who was addressing the crowd.

“I want to thank you all for coming. It is an honor to have you in my home. We all know that magic has an unspoken place in this Kingdom. But when it comes to love and the future of Algid, it is important that there are no rose-colored glasses. I must see clearly whose hand I am taking before I step toward the future. To that end, when the clock strikes midnight any spells that have been cast will be unraveled.”

It was ten minutes until the clock would chime.

Ticktock, Snow
, Jagger’s voice said in my head.

I wondered if they would just abandon the mission. Robber Rules: No one sees anyone else’s real face. But Jagger stood his ground and so did all the Robber girls. The mirror was that important.

Ticktock, Princess
, Jagger’s voice said as he made his way toward the Duchess.

I’ll get the others
, Fathom said.

The dungeon
, someone answered.

I felt my heart speed up. I was just as worried about the girls as I was for myself. It wasn’t just the oneness spell. At some point in
the last few days, I’d learned what it was to care about not just one or two people, but a whole bunch of them at once. Even Howl.

I put Jagger out of my head. But as I reached the top of the landing, someone put his hand on mine and bowed low in front of me.

It was Kai. He hadn’t stayed to dance with the Duchess, after all. Kai gently pulled me to his rail-straight frame and took my hand in his. The music and party continued below us, the lilting notes drifting up to where we stood. Before I knew it, Kai and I were dancing. To my surprise, somehow we still fit together well. And he moved with an ease that I did not expect. Meanwhile, I fumbled, stepping on his feet and cursing beneath my breath. When I looked up at him, I reminded myself that I was wearing another face. Kai thought I was someone else. And that someone else should apologize.

Kai wrapped his arms around me. He was stiff, but he knew all the steps. I wondered if Gerde had given him some sort of dancing root or if it was one of the things that he was just annoyingly good at. But I was happy to see him. His blue eyes locked with mine. The timing was wrong, but the sight of his overly tall figure lifted something up in me. It broke through the intrigue and the danger.