Of Sorcery and Snow by Shelby Bach

crystals, her fair hair bound up under a crown.
    Her lips—the color of snow mixed with a single drop of blood—curled slowly into a triumphant smile.
    My eyes reached the next line before my voice did, and my heart stopped.
    â€œWelcome, children,” said the Snow Queen. “You are mine now.”
    And then Philip’s terror evaporated. Only despair was left. If this villain had stolen them, there would be no rescue.
    The rest of the page was blank. “That’s all. That’s the last line,” I said.
    Now we knew why the Director had cancelled the quest. It didn’t seem like such a stupid decision anymore.
    Chase stared at me, like he was waiting for me to say, Late April Fool’s. I clasped my hands behind my back, so that no one could see them shaking. Lena let a map dangle from her fingers, not noticing the crease she was making in the parchment.
    â€œWell . . .” Miriam’s voice was rough. She cleared her throat. “At least we know he’s still alive.”
    I wondered how long she’d been worrying about that.
    â€œWhy didn’t she tell us?” Lena said. “If the Director knew since yesterday, why didn’t she announce it?”
    â€œPanic,” Chase said. “It would ruin the ball.”
    The Director and her stupid ball. She should have told us. We had a right to know.
    I had a right to know. I was the one who was supposed to stop the Snow Queen, wasn’t I?
    â€œLena, have you found the map of Portland yet?” Miriam asked.
    Lena’s eyes were huge. “Are we still going ?”
    But we needed to go. The slush the book had described should still be there, frozen over. The tracks would be easy to follow.
    I made myself bite my tongue. It was Miriam’s Tale.
    Our Tale bearer just flipped forward in the book, blank pageafter blank page. “All this empty space. It means his Tale is still being written. We still have time to rescue him.”
    â€œBut from the Snow Queen’s palace?” Lena said. “What does she plan to do with her prisoners? Maybe we can rescue Philip after he gets a little farther away from the Snow Queen. . . .”
    â€œYou guys are asking all the wrong questions,” Chase said, striding over to the table. “How did she get out ? And is it really her? That could have been a doll.”
    â€œLike that Mia kid last year?” Miriam said, sounding way less stressed.
    That would be nice. At least with a doll, we wouldn’t have to worry about the Snow Queen’s magical arsenal on top of Genevieve Searcaster’s.
    Chase took the book from Miriam and turned pages until he found one that wasn’t blank. At the very top, it said, “The Snow Queen.” Underneath, an illustration showed the villain exactly how she looked when I last saw her, her skin kind of yellow. She lounged in a throne room hung with white silk. On one side, the drapes had been ripped away to reveal the wall of her prison, the Glass Mountain. Beyond it were the forests of Atlantis.
    He began to read.
    FIRST STORY, which tells of a Queen and her Prison
    The Snow Queen sat in her prison and smiled. True, the children had gotten away. That troublesome Rory Landon had retrieved the Water of Life and rescued the two boys.
    Chase looked up. “I resent that. I did a lot in there. It was my idea to—”
    â€œNot now!” I said, and he returned to the book.
    Doubtless, they would now be distributing the Water to all those poisoned. Doubtless, they thought that they’d won.
    She allowed herself a moment of frustration—yes, wiping out the entire Canon under Mildred’s very nose would have been delicious. Killing the Rory girl would have been particularly sweet. But no matter.
    Her hard work hadn’t been for naught. She had completed her primary objective.
    The Snow Queen reached under her throne, and from a spot hidden behind her skirt, she grabbed two