Forever

by Chanda Hahn

  The giant bent down and placed his hand on the ground. Mina scrambled out and gave herself plenty of space for safety. The giant just stood there blinking at her, awaiting orders. She wasn’t sure how, but she had taken control of him. His will was hers.

  Very cool, but very scary.

  Teague appeared next to her. “So you think you can control my army? A giant is the weakest minded creature here. But tell me, what are you going to do with him now?”

  Mina thought about using him to destroy Teague, but then she saw all of her friends still at the mercy of the rest of his army: Brody held captive by Claire, Ever pinned down in the hands of an ogre, Nix and Charlie surrounded by his griffins, and she still hadn’t seen Nan. She couldn’t save them all.

  Go home, Giant. Mina commanded. Go back to the Fae plane, and live a happy joyful life. Let no man, woman, beast, or Fae control you again. You are your own mind.

  He stared at her, and his eyes still glowed. He turned to walk away, probably to try and find a gate still open between the planes.

  Oh, and one more thing. She mentally called out after the giant. He paused in his step and turned.

  Thank you for saving me.

  She wasn’t sure, because she was still controlling him, but she thought she saw the barest hint of a smile cross his large face.

  Teague stood before her. He looked irritated as he signaled his horde to fall back.

  Chapter 9

  They weren’t happy at Teague’s orders, but Claire released Brody and backed away to be quickly surrounded by Grey Tail and Lone Tree. Ever yelped as the ogre dropped her on her bottom. One by one, members of his army moved away and scattered among the wreckage of the fairgrounds.

  As soon as the giant disappeared, fire and rescue teams swarmed the area. Men in uniforms ran to those injured on the ground, and the GMs quickly phased and tried to hide their true selves again. Those that couldn’t hide their Fae side quickly made themselves scarce.

  Nix got up from the ground and helped Charlie to his feet. His red hair stood out against his pale skin. “That was too close.” He reached out and ruffled Charlie’s hair. “And what about you, Mr. Siren? I’ve got a distant cousin.”

  Mina ran over and hugged Charlie, fresh tears of relief pouring down her face. “Oh, Charlie.”

  She ran her fingers up his face. He was still warm to the touch, and his fever seemed to be out of control, but he looked fine. In fact, he glowed with power.

  Ever waddled over to Mina as she rubbed her backside. “How are your wings?” Mina asked.

  “Could be better. I thought they were goners for a sec there. But it’s going to take more than an ogre to ground Ever Farindale.” She turned and slowly flapped her deep purple and blue tinted pixie wings, wincing in pain.

  Mina turned and scanned their group for Brody, but he’d disappeared. She couldn’t see his blond head anywhere. She was about to turn and go look for him when Constance called her.

  “Mina.” The muse spoke softly.

  She turned to her high school music teacher, with her short gray spiky hair and wing-tipped glasses. Her skirt and top were torn and dirty, but she didn’t look injured.

  “You came?” Mina said incredulously.

  “We got our injured safely hidden with another inactive sect of Godmothers down in San Francisco. This one wasn’t going to let us abandon you.” She pointed to Nix, who blushed until his skin matched his hair and shoved his hands in his pockets.

  “But how did you know where to find me?”

  Constance sang a few notes and held out her wrist. A small dragon landed there and immediately began to dance around in excitement.

  “Of course. Anders. How could we have forgot about him?” Mina exclaimed.

  “You were meant to. He was supposed to follow you, and—when you were in trouble—come find us. There was a small group of us already on our way back to the Guild to try and salvage some of our archives when he found us. Sorry, this is all we had.” She gestured to those standing behind her.

  Mina couldn’t help but zero in on Ferah, with her untamed red hair, standing among the GMs. She spoke wildly to the others.

  Ken Wong separated himself and came over to them, whispering hurriedly to Constance. “Ferah says we have to leave. The police are asking questions, and we are a very large group standing in the open. We’re sure to draw speculation.”

  Constance nodded her head. “She’s right. We must leave. But first I need to ask you, Mina, what happened? Why did he leave?”

  That was one question she wasn’t ready to answer, especially not in front of her friends and brother.

  She turned away. “He’s toying with us, trying to intimidate me by showing he can strike any time and anywhere.” She turned back to Constance. “What I want to know is what about Charlie? Did you know he’s Fae?”

  “Part-Fae,” Constance answered. “And yes. So are you.” She grabbed Mina’s arm and walked closely beside her as their troop made a hasty exit, not out the front fair exit, but by the back bus-barns.

  “Your mother was a powerful siren. When we learned what our future held, and how it depended on the Grimm family defeating Teague, we tried to strengthen your bloodline with Fae blood.”

  “How dare you meddle where you have no business meddling? These are my family’s lives—not your genetic cauldron for creating weapons.”

  “Do you think your mother didn’t love your father? Do you think we cast some sort of spell to make him fall in love with her? No, Sara and James fell in love all on their own.” They squeezed through a fence behind the school, skirting the worst of the damage. “Your mother was so in love with your human father that she went to a sea witch to bind her Fae powers so she could be human. We didn’t know at first that it was James Grimm that she was in love with.”

  “So she lied to my father?”

  “Do you honestly not recognize your mother’s own tale? Where a girl was so in love with a human that she was willing to give up her tail, forget her previous life, and live as a human forever so she could be with him?”

  “You mean The Little Mermaid?” Mina scoffed. She followed Constance carefully past a sheer drop-off in the ground, actually the giant’s foot print.

  “What do you think a siren is, dear?” Constance smiled sadly. “A mermaid is the human term for them. Once a month, on the full moon, sirens gain their legs and walk on land, usually to cause mayhem. After all, they aren’t the noblest of creatures and are tricksters. It was during your mother’s moon spell when she met your father.”

  Mina couldn’t help but think back to the stone siren that guarded the waterways under the Fates’ castle. Nix had said sirens were like sea witches but worse.

  “Am I going to sprout a tail?”

  In the distance, the fire and rescue crews were still parked around the perimeter of the fairgrounds.

  Constance laughed. “No, you and your brother won’t, because that is what your mother sacrificed to become human. So it wasn’t passed down to you. It does seem that Charlie picked up the siren’s call, and you picked up the lure, though.”

  “Lure? Don’t you have to sing to be able to do that? You’ve heard me in class. I can’t sing a note.”

  “Lure is of the mind. It’s the most powerful of curses, dear. I’m sure you’ve seen it firsthand. You lure others to do your bidding. You’ve been luring the Fae power and controlling it for years. You did it again with the giant, and you’ve done it with your friends.”

  Mina let the knowledge wash over her as they headed toward the parking area. She wasn’t human, never had been. Her whole life was a lie—all because her mother was basically the little mermaid on steroids.

  “And you just let it happen?”

  “We didn’t think it would hurt anyone if the Grimm line inherited some of her Fae powers. In fact, it would only help. Your mother was one of the strongest sirens in the sea. How else do you think you made the crystal bowl sing if you weren’t already Fae, hmm? A siren doesn�
��t have to sing to still be a siren.”

  “This is all too much,” Mina confessed as they hustled around the block. They’d made a huge circle to get back to their cars and not be stopped by the police.

  “Or is it not enough, I wonder.” Constance muttered.

  “Why couldn’t you tell me this earlier?”

  “Too much too soon. Your mother didn’t want to remember her old life. And she never wanted you to know, because she was afraid you’d hate her.”

  “That’s why all of her forgetting charms,” Mina muttered as she came to the parking lot.

  “But she remembered whenever you needed her to. Don’t forget that, dear. Whenever she needed to remember the old ways, she could.”

  The GMs hurried away, and Constance needed to go with them.

  “What are we going to do about that?” Mina pointed back to the destroyed school and fairgrounds. “We’ve left quite a lot of Fae evidence.”

  “We can only hide from the world for so long. It looks like our time is up. We’re prepared for the human world. The only question is whether they are ready for us.” She slowed down so that they fell to the back of the group. “I’m not sure why Teague backed off the way he did, but whatever you promised him, it’s not worth it.” Constance turned to follow her group.

  Mina looked at her friends in the lot. Nix stayed close to Charlie, Ever waited by Nan’s car, and they all looked to her for direction. Brody and Nan hadn’t shown up.

  “I thought they’d be here,” Mina mumbled to herself. She felt foolish thinking somehow Brody would be waiting for them by the car. She hoped he’d only stayed behind to help, rather than gotten in danger somehow. But where was Nan? “He promised… That he’d let them all go.” She kept waiting for Nan to pop out from behind a bush and say boo.

  “Should I go back and look for them?” Nix moved Charlie closer to Ever and pointed back into the fray, at all the people who ran toward the school grounds to get pictures of what was happening.

  “No!” Ever shouted and grabbed her side in pain. “We need to get far away from here as fast as possible.”

  Mina was torn. Ever was right—she needed to get Charlie out of here. But she couldn’t abandon her friends. Finally, she understood the decision the Godmothers faced, trying to protect those who were injured or unable to protect themselves.

  But she could make a different choice. Her path could be different. “Ever, stay here with Charlie,” Mina commanded and then nodded to Nix.

  Within moments, they were picking through the mob of bystanders trying to get to the main street.

  “This is chaos!” Nix shouted over the crowd. “Hey, I see something!” He pointed to a side alley, but Mina wasn’t as tall as Nix, so she couldn’t see what he saw. She broke through the edge of the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief. Brody was making his way toward them, carrying someone. Long blonde hair spilled over his right arm. Mina recognized the blue shirt as belonging to her best friend.

  “Nan!” Mina ran to them both.

  Brody gave them an accomplished grin. “She’s heavier than she looks.” He sounded out of breath.

  Nan’s hand came up and slapped Brody upside the head. “Am not, jerk. Now put me down.”

  “You’re wounded.” Brody shifted her body so he could hold on to her better. His eyes were filled with joy as he looked down at Nan’s frowning face. There was something else there too, some emotion he was trying to hold back.

  “Only my pride, Brody Carmichael.” Nan laughed and tried to squirm out of his grip.

  Brody leaned forward and gently placed her feet on the ground, holding Nan’s arm as he tried to steady her. She had a large bruise on the side of her face and a few scratches had torn through her shirt.

  The minute Nan tried to move on her own, she started to fall, and she instantly turned back to Brody for support. His strong arm wrapped around her waist, and he didn’t let her go.

  “He saved me, Mina.” Nan touched the bruise on her cheek.

  “Not really,” Brody confessed. “Right before those wolves attacked me, I saw some sort of beast dragging Nan into the school. I wasn’t sure if she’d still be there, but—when we were freed—I needed to be sure.”

  “That horrible bear took me into the school, but then the building started to come down around us.”

  “I found her in the hallway outside the cafeteria. The bear was dead, killed in the collapse. Nan was trapped under a steel beam.”

  “I thought I was going to die, but once Brody found me, he wouldn’t even leave to get help. He just started lifting the debris off until he could pull me out from under the beam—a regular knight in shining armor.” Nan beamed at Brody.

  Mina knew that look. She’d seen it plenty of times on her best friend’s face. Smitten. And for some reason, Mina didn’t feel a pang of jealousy. Her best friend would never intentionally try and fall for Brody. In fact, Nan tried to stay as far away from him as she could, but they were friends. It seemed like, if Mina let it, and without the Story pushing them, they might become more on their own. Without Brody being lured to fall for her.

  Brody blushed at Nan’s comments and met Mina’s eyes, swallowing nervously. Mina just smiled and gave a slight nod in understanding.

  Who was she to try and stand in the way of love, especially when it could happen between the two people she cared about most? Besides, she’d just agreed to sacrifice her happily ever after, so theirs might be possible.

  The dark cloud of her soon-coming demise loomed over her, and she couldn’t help but feel sad.

  Ever noticed and came over. “Do you want me to dump him in the nearest lake?”

  Mina chuckled. “No, I think this is their happy ending that I’ve been too selfish to see. They deserve each other. I think they could be happy, if I just stepped out of the way.”

  “You can’t really be serious.” Ever groaned.

  “No, I think I am,” Mina admitted. “I think I’ve been taking away his choice and making him like me, and I’ve done terrible things to them on accident. I see that now. I’m not a nice person, Ever.”

  “That’s bull. You are about the sappiest and nicest person I know. You can be a bit lame at times, but you’re always nice. It’s why I love hating you.” Ever turned and gave her a goofy grin.

  Mina wasn’t so sure, she could feel that darkness from down inside her, the jealousy that would sometimes surface. She’d used it to manipulate Fae power and the Story to get what she wanted. She even let it turn her into the evil queen during one quest. It had been so easy, since she had a bit of siren deep within her.

  Understanding why the Fae power came to her so easily did give her some relief. Finding out that her mother was Fae in her own right was a little disconcerting. What it meant, though, was that she really had belonged in the choosing ceremony among the others. She was Fae.

  “Ever, we’ve got to talk. Is there anything we can do to keep Teague from hearing us?”

  Ever thought for a minute while Mina’s mind swirled with plans and questions.

  She nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I got it. We’ll take care of it back at the house.”

  “There’s something I have to do first,” Mina said. “Before I head back to the house.” She went around to the back of Brody’s SUV and opened the hatch. Ever helped her get her bike out and onto the pavement. “Can you make sure Charlie gets back safe? And you may have to stop at the store for supplies, since we never made it there.”

  “What kind of supplies are you after?” Ever asked.

  “I need to get Charlie far away from here.”

  Ever didn’t say anything. She just nodded her head and took the money out of Mina’s hand.

  “What? You’re not disagreeing with me?”

  “No, I agree with you one hundred percent, which is why you didn’t get a sarcastic reply. I’m assuming you need supplies for two people.”

  Mina looked hard at Ever, willing her to understand. “Yes. I’m going to ask someone to take hi
m.”

  “And I can trust you not to get killed while on this errand?”

  “Yeah, I think I’m safe for now. Teague won’t come for me yet.”

  “But you think he’s coming?”

  “I know he is.”

  Chapter 10

  Mina slipped away on her bike while Ever distracted the group. Ever would make sure they all made it back to the house.

  According to her watch, Mina only had eleven hours until Teague would come for her, so she needed to use the hours left to take care of business. And by business, she meant her friends—her only family.

  From the school, Mina rode her bike to the nearest bus stop. She took a moment to latch the bike onto the bus’s front bike rack and rode a half mile to the Country Club—where the ball had been held the night Teague attacked. Mina got her bike and rode up the sidewalk.

  The gate was closed.

  She parked beside the brick wall and walked around until she found a spot in the hedge she could squeeze through. Jogging up the grassy hill, she thought again how beautiful the Country Club was. It looked as lovely this evening as it had a few nights earlier.

  Mina looked for the balcony she and Brody had stood on to watch the fireworks. There were a couple, but Mina found the balcony that overlooked the river. She pulled out her laser pointer and searched the bushes below it.

  She wanted to kick herself for not bringing a flashlight. Even though she still had a few hours of daylight, the shadows had lengthened, and the brush under this balcony was square in the dark. Brody’s class ring couldn’t have rolled too far away. She hoped beyond hope that the laser would reflect off the big stone in the top of the ring. But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?

  The bushes were scratching her arms up, and she was getting angry. She didn’t have time for this. She wanted to do something great for her friends, and the bushes were getting in her way! Her hands tingled, and she shoved at the bush again in frustration.

  The bush started to part—she jumped back. It was moving.

  “What the?” The bush’s branches pull themselves away from her and shifted out of her way. She shined her laser pointer into the newly cleared area.