Fable: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3 (12 page)

Twice she caught Brody staring at her in the
rearview mirror, but she quickly looked away and pretended not to
notice. The small notebook grew warm in her hands, and she flipped
it open to a blank page and stared in wonder as words began to fill
up its pages.

Did you enjoy your date tonight? ~T

The words appeared for a few seconds and
then faded into the paper. Teague must be writing in the book on
the Fae plan to make it appear in hers on the physical plane. An
image appeared in her mind of the dark-haired prince leaning over a
golden column in a round room. On the column sat a very large and
ancient book. He was looking around to see if anyone was spying on
him, and then leaned forward to write in its pages with a white
quill.

She scrambled in her purse for a pen and
tentatively wrote back on the Grimoire, her heart pounding with
adrenaline.

He was a disappointment. I
had higher expectations. But I guess I’m hard to please.
She couldn’t believe she was doing this, taunting
the Story through the Grimoire. She didn’t even know it was
possible.

I’ll try harder to meet your expectations
next time. And you can be sure there will be a next time…and a
next…and a next.

I will defeat you!

There was a long pause, and she thought that
he had left and stopped writing. She stared at the page, willing an
answer to appear, but nothing came. Finally, when she was about to
close the book in frustration, his answer came, written slowly and
deliberately.

Then I will look forward to that day when
you confront me face to face.

That day may be sooner than you think,
Teague.

I wouldn’t expect you to be the one speaking
tall tales.

Why did it seem like he was flirting with
her? She could have sworn he was smiling when he wrote that, but
how would she know? How could she so easily visualize him writing
in the book, when she couldn’t see him? Or was it because he was
connected to the tales as much as she was that they were connected
also. Her stomach rolled in displeasure.

Mina.

She didn’t want to play this game anymore
and almost stopped writing completely.

What?
she finally answered.

I’m sorry.

For what?

For what I’m about to do…but then
again…maybe not.

The car had pulled to a stop in front of
Nan’s apartment building, and Mina didn’t even know how long they
had been sitting there. She looked up in alarm and saw Brody lean
forward and kiss Nan on the lips. It was aggressive and very unlike
him, and she knew then what Teague was doing. He was pushing Brody
into kissing Nan. She knew then that he was truly evil and
sadistic. She slammed the notebook closed and sat on it in
frustration. The slamming noise and movement from the back seat
broke the spell that Brody and Nan were under. Nan flushed pink,
and Brody pulled back so fast from the kiss he hit his head on the
rearview mirror.

“
Ouch!”

Nan wiped at her mouth with the back of her
hand. Brody rubbed the back of his head and refused to look at
either one of the girls. “Mina, I’m so sorry—you were so quiet I
completely forgot you were back there.”

“
It’s okay. I can call my
mom to come get me, if you guys want to continue your date.” Her
voice sounded hollow even to her.

“
No, I’ll drive you home,”
Brody replied gruffly.

Nan smiled at him in gratitude and waved at
her before she stepped out of the car and headed to the doorman.
She turned right before she entered the double doors, and waved
sweetly and blew a kiss toward the car. Mina had no doubt that the
kiss was meant for Brody.

She stayed in the back seat of the car as
Brody pulled away from the curb. The silence became deafening
between the two of them. She told herself she didn’t care, that Nan
and Brody belonged together. But when Teague kept interfering with
her friends with the sole intention of hurting her, she hated him,
hated them. Being burned from a relationship was painful, and
Teague had found a wound he could keep picking at to hurt her. She
had almost believed him for a second when he said he was sorry. But
she knew he wasn’t.

After a few blocks, Brody slowed the car
down and came to a stop down a road lined with darkened houses.
“Would you like to sit in the front seat?”

“
No, I think I’m good back
here,” she said stiffly.

“
I really don’t know what
came over me,” Brody said quietly, looking at her through the
rearview mirror.

“
She’s your girlfriend—you
don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

“
No, it was inconsiderate
of me, considering our past history. I’m not even sure why I drove
Nan home first. It was never my intention to hurt you like
that.”

“
I know. It’s not your
fault.” Her heart was being twisted in a vise, and she didn’t think
she could handle it anymore. Quickly, she flipped open the Grimoire
and pulled out her pen and tried something.

Jared,
she wrote.

Mina? Wow, how are you doing this? I can see
your words in my head.

Never mind that. Can you come get
me…NOW?

Are you in danger?

She thought for a moment.

Yes, no. Just come get me…please.

On my way,
he answered.

Brody squeezed his hands on the steering
wheel and turned around in his seat to look at her. “You don’t
really mean that. You can’t just up and forgive me for the way I’ve
treated you. Mina, I’ve never been so confused before. I feel like
I’m in a tug of war of emotions. When I’m with Nan, it’s like a
powerful force of nature and I can’t fight it. I don’t know how to
fight it. But I feel so much for you. I don’t…I’m not sure—”

Mina didn’t let him finish because she saw
the dual headlights coming down the road, and they slowed to a halt
in front of the car. She grabbed her purse and notebook, and opened
the door. Brody was surprised by her sudden exit and opened the
driver’s door to jump out after her.

She couldn’t just abandon him without an
explanation. She turned back and took a deep breath, being careful
to keep her tears at bay. She stepped up to the door and closed it.
Brody’s warm hand came down on top of hers through the open
window.

“
Sometimes love is worth
fighting for. And if you don’t fight for it, then it slips through
your fingers.” She pulled her hand away.

He looked devastated, but she didn’t turn
back, and instead continued to walk toward the Ford Boss. Jared was
being careful to not make eye contact with Brody. For once he was
being the gentleman. She only hoped that she hadn’t interrupted his
date with Ever.

She slid into the front seat and opened the
window as Brody pulled away. The rush of wind in her hair and the
hum of the engine lulled her into a place of nothingness. Refusing
to think of Brody, of Jared, of Teague, she concentrated on a happy
place. Of a time when she was still with her brother, playing board
games. Moments later Jared pulled up to the Grimm house and waited
by the gate. Mina leaned forward across him and punched in the
code, and the gate opened up. He drove slowly up to the front door
and turned off the engine. She sat in the car, still numb, and he
walked around to the passenger side.

He didn’t speak, didn’t ask any awkward
questions, and she respected him for it. He saw that she was
hurting, and he reached out to grab her arm and gave it a
reassuring squeeze. She lost it. She threw herself into his arms
and started crying, using him as a shoulder to cry on. He held his
hands up in the air awkwardly before he wrapped them around her and
let her cry herself out.

When she was done blubbering, she pulled
herself away and used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away the
tears. “I’m so sorry.” She sighed.

“
Nonsense. I’ve watched
many Grimms grieve over the years, and I think I like the way you
do it the best,” he answered.

She smiled and nodded pathetically. “It’s
not fair to you and Ever that I ruined your night, too.”

“
Hey, I may be old, but
the night’s young.” He tilted his head, and the moonlight
illuminated his swollen and bruised cheek. He noticed where she was
staring and shook his head. “He sucker-punched me with a fist made
of iron.”

“
Copper,” she
corrected.

“
Is that so?”

“
Yeah, I think he was a
Stiltskin, too. How many of them are there?”

“
More than you probably
want to know.”

“
Then help me get to the
Fae plane and rescue my brother.” It was probably the wrong time to
bring it up, but she was done wasting time. Tonight proved it. And
she wasn’t going to mention what she needed to do once she was over
there. If Jared learned of her plan to steal the Fae book, he would
definitely refuse to help her.

“
Are you daft and dumb? No
way.” He grabbed Mina’s arm, threatening her. “I won’t let you
throw your life away on something that is impossible.”

“
Every quest I attempt is
a life-or-death situation. So why is it that when I want to do
something it’s dumb, but if it’s a fairy-tale quest or creature
it’s different. It’s because finding Charlie doesn’t help break the
curse, isn’t it?” She pulled her arm out of his grasp.

“
No, it’s because finding
Charlie is a lost cause that will surely end in your
death.”

“
What’s the big deal? The
curse will pass on to another Grimm, and you can be free of me and
go on to choose to help or not help the next Grimm.”

Jared looked taken aback. He leaned against
his car and crossed his arms. “Maybe I don’t want to help another
Grimm.”

“
Maybe I don’t want your
help, either, then. If you won’t help me, then I’ll find someone
who will,” she threatened him.

He snorted. “Who?”

“
I don’t know—there’s got
to be other Fae out there in this world who would be willing to
help a Grimm.”

Jared’s face went red in embarrassment, and
he started to stutter. “Uh, about that?”

“
J-a-r-ed.” She dragged
out his name.

“
There may be someone.
I’ll have to think about it.” He got in his car without another
word and drove off into the night.

Chapter 13

She was having a nightmare. Reid was in her
room, standing over Nan. Threatening to turn her into copper. He
kept stroking Nan’s face, taunting her. Mina was frozen in her
dream state and couldn’t move. Nan disappeared, and Reid slowly
morphed into Temple. His voice filled the room and echoed into her
unconsciousness. He reached a gold-dusted hand toward her, and she
tried to evade his touch but was still frozen. Her breath came in
gasps as he touched her face, and she could feel herself start to
change and become gold. She looked at her hands and they were gold,
but she could still move.

“
Don’t forget your
promise,” he whispered, then disappeared into the darkness,
laughing at her.

The dream changed again, and she saw Charlie
locked up in a golden cage, curled up in small ball.

She called his name, and he sat up in
confusion. Then his face lit up when he saw her, and he ran to the
bars. Charlie held out his hand for her to grab him, but he was too
far away.

“
I can’t! I don’t know how
to save you, Charlie. I don’t know how to get over there.” His
hands dropped to his side, and she could see the disappointment
etched in his small face. But then it was replaced by a look of
fear. He pointed behind her, and she turned to see a wall of fire
erupt around them. They both were trapped within its fiery grasp,
and the fire raced between them, separating them both now by fire
and the golden bars. There was someone else there. She could make
out a male body lying on the floor, and she knew he was
dead.

“
NOOOO!” she
yelled.

She woke up, breathing hard. The dream felt
real—had she really seen Charlie? She lay in her bed and willed
herself to go back to sleep so she could dream of her brother again
and gain a clue as to how to save him. Sleep eluded her, and after
she lay in bed for two hours, no more dreams came. She threw on a
pair of blue shorts and a white T-shirt, and ran to the bathroom to
quickly brush her teeth and run a brush through her hair without
looking at it.

The wood floor was cold on her bare feet,
and she paused when she heard voices coming from the kitchen.
Quickly, she opened the door to the kitchen and was greeted by the
sight of her mother and Jared sitting calmly at the kitchen table,
chatting amicably. Mina froze with her hand on the doorknob. Her
eyes went to her mother in disbelief and back to Jared.

He was dressed in the same clothes from last
night and he looked like he hadn’t slept, but that didn’t take away
from how handsome he looked. Never before had Jared shown any
interest in getting to know her family. Did her mother know she was
talking to the same Jared who had kidnapped her last year? No, if
she did, she would probably demand that he leave the
house…immediately.

Mina waited a few seconds, but nothing
happened. Sara was oblivious to the internal battle her daughter
was facing. Sara saw Mina come in, and she cleared her throat and
motioned to Jared with her hand.

“
Um, sweetie. This is
Jared, and, uh…Terry sent him over to fix the shutters on the
house.”

Mina stared at her mom before giving a
cursory glance at Jared, being careful to keep her face
neutral.