Forever

by Chanda Hahn

  There’s not enough time.

  “I’ll never be a match for him.”

  Ever tossed her toast back onto the plate and shoved away from the table. “How can you say that about yourself?”

  Mina winced. Did Ever not remember that he could be watching them? Teague was always watching. Of course, it was possible that was the reason Ever was being so adamant and loud in her confession. She was trying to taunt him.

  “Do you still not realize your potential?” Ever went on. “You passed the Fates’ tests! You, who are a half-breed, not even born on our plane, have more Fae power at your fingertips than some of the strongest Fae families.”

  “Why is that?” Mina asked, frustrated with her own ignorance.

  “Beats me, but I wouldn’t be looking a gift dog in the mouth.”

  “Horse. You mean gift horse?”

  “Dog… horse. Whatever. Your kind talks funny.” Ever picked up her backpack from the floor by the door and put her arm through the black straps. So, promise to not leave the house until I get back.”

  “I won’t leave the house,” Mina promised.

  A sly look passed between them.

  Ever sighed and shook her head. “I hate leaving you this soon, especially after yesterday.”

  “Go,” Mina answered. “It’s more important that you find help.”

  Ever gave her a long look, a silent communication. “We’ll beat him Mina. For what he did to your family.”

  Mina only nodded. If she spoke, Ever would be able to read the doubt and fear in her voice. She needed to act scared, not wired up.

  As soon as Ever left, Mina locked the door after her. She sat at the kitchen table and watched the clock’s second hand tick. Then, she went back up to her room, laid across the covers of her bed and waited for the end.

  Chapter 15

  “Mina…” The voice drawled out her name, the whisper echoing throughout the room.

  Mina sat up in bed and stared around her empty bedroom, the hair on the back of her arms lifting with the flow of power that radiated throughout the room. The air was so full of magnified Fae power, she could almost choke on it.

  It was the mirrors. Not only were they distorting the looking glass to keep Teague from spying on her, they also seemed to be bouncing his power back on itself and magnifying it.

  “Why do you try and hide from me, Mina… Mina… Mina?” Teague’s voice was unmistakable, as was his tone of displeasure. He was using power to amplify his voice, causing it to scatter and repeat through multiple mirrors.

  “I’m not hiding. I’m right here.” She threw off the cover and stood next to her bed. His image faded in and out as he tried to see her. The mirror-protection was working. He couldn’t focus on her.

  “Ah, I see what you’ve done. But you can’t stay in the circle forever. Have you gone back on our deal?”

  “Of course not. But I want a guarantee you won’t go after my friends,” Mina yelled.

  “Give me the dagger, and I’ll leave your friends alone. No other bargains will be made. I could send a Reaper after your brother right now to help you understand the necessity of following through.”

  Her body started to tremble. How could she win against him? Despite what Ever said, here, now, in this moment, she doubted her strength. If she risked the fight and lost, she’d only guarantee the death of everyone she loved. A tear slid down her cheek. “Okay, you win. Take the dagger, but leave my friends and family alone.”

  “Step away from the circle,” he demanded.

  Mina stepped away from the protection of her circle. A glow of light appeared under the hallway door. The knob turned, and the door opened. Teague.

  He came in and studied the display of mirrors. “Very impressive for a human.”

  As he moved toward her, she backed up. The back of her knees bumped against her bed.

  He chuckled at her fear and reached out for her face. She turned away, but he gently plucked a strand of hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Where is it? Do not make me ask again.” His voice was softer than she expected.

  Her eyes flicked to her nightstand and back to him.

  Teague pulled open the small drawer filled with her hair brush, numerous hair bands, and pens. His hand lingered over her blue notebook of Unaccomplishments and Epic Disasters. He pulled it out, flipped open a few pages, and skimmed them.

  “You really are bad luck, aren’t you? Some would say cursed.” He tossed the notebook onto her bed. “Of course, that could be in part because of me.”

  Teague reached back in and dug around until he pulled out the dagger. He stared overly long at the small missing tip. His free hand touched the spot over his heart where the tip lay. An expression of contemplation flickered across his face, and she saw a chance.

  “Teague,” Mina whispered his name. “That dagger is evil. It’s changed you. If you’d let me help you, we could remove the rest, and you’d be back to normal.”

  “And why would I want that?” His eyes went dark, and he turned on her. “I’ve never felt so alive… so powerful… so in control of my own destiny.”

  “Fine. So does this mean it’s over?” she asked. “That you’ll leave me and my family alone?”

  He turned to her, his face lighting up in an evil grin. “I’ll spare your friends, but I’m not done with you.” Within seconds, he was pressed up against her, his hand cupped around her face, his thumb just brushing the corner of her lip.

  Mina’s breath caught as he leaned forward to kiss her. She pinched her eyes shut, scared to fight, scared to breathe as his lips barely brushed hers.

  “My only wish,” he whispered, “is for you to share my fate.”

  Her eyes shot open. The dagger glinted as his arm lifted to plunge it into her.

  “No!” Mina screamed and reeled backward falling onto her bed.

  Her fall made her even more vulnerable. He smiled.

  The door burst open, and Ever exploded into the room flying straight for the dagger in his hand. She grabbed his wrist mid-lunge and yanked backward.

  “Now, Mina!” Ever shouted, as she struggled with Teague to pull him closer to the their target.

  Mina pulled all of the power through the mirrors into the room. The mirrors glowed, lights flickered, and the paintings on the wall shook.

  Teague blasted Ever against the wall, leaving a spidery crack up the plaster. She looked a bit dazed, but the pixie shook it off and flew toward him again, grabbing the hand with the dagger. Teague seized her in a net of power, frozen, her hand still wrapped around his wrist.

  Mina didn’t have much time. The mirrors were charged, but Ever was too close to Teague to go through with their plan.

  Ever’s eyes flicked to Mina. “Do it!”

  The joint attack surprised Teague. He spun his attention on Mina. She aimed the concentrated power from the mirrors at the knife and Teague. Power shot into him, making him glow, turning a bright white.

  He screamed in frustration and countered her power with his own. Teague was stronger. He released his hold on Ever.

  Screaming, she fell to the floor with a thud.

  Teague began to laugh.

  That worried Mina.

  “Don’t quit, Mina. Keep going,” Ever shouted. “This has to work!” She got back up and flew behind Teague. Grabbing him around the waist, Ever lifted him into the air. He roared as the pixie pulled him toward the center of the circle of mirrors.

  “Come on, Mina,” the pixie yelled over the glowing ball of light that now almost engulfed her.

  “Move. I can’t do it,” Mina hesitated, desperate to keep from hurting her friend.

  “It’s my job to protect you, Gimp. Forget about me. Think of your family!”

  Teague slashed Ever across the arm with the poisoned dagger. She yelped and let go to grab her arm.

  Mina had no choice. With all her might, she focused the magnified Fae power and, with a metaphysical push, shoved it straight into the center of Teague’s ches
t.

  He released his own burst of power as he started to fade in and out.

  “This is for my mother!” Mina screamed.

  Her arms and hands tingled as she sent another burst of power into Teague, pressing him toward the glowing circle. He held up his hands and began to separate into rays of light but fought being pushed into the circle.

  “Aaahhh!” Ever jumped into the air and charged Teague, knocking them into the bright light. Teague split into seven forms of himself, and Ever and several Teagues were dragged into the mirrors.

  The power backlashed, sending Mina spinning through the air to land on her bed. The house shook, and she heard the unmistakable sound of glass breaking.

  “No!” Mina ran to the edge of the circle and looked within. Three of the mirrors were cracked and dark. Ever banged at the other side of the intact bathroom mirror.

  When the power flowed out of the room, and it was safe for Mina to enter the circle, she ran to Ever’s mirror and pressed her hands to it. Ever met her gaze and slammed her fist into the mirror.

  At first, Mina thought the pixie was trying to get out, but then she saw a shadowy figure pull himself up off the bathroom floor behind her. Ever wasn’t trying to get out, she was trying to break the mirror and trap herself inside, with a version of Teague.

  It had worked. Ever’s secret plan to try and once again divide Teague’s power and trap him within the mirrors worked. And Mina was the only person strong enough to do it.

  Ever had said it was like a prism. Fae were in essence magic, and magic had seven colors—like a spectrum. She had thought of—not just splitting him in two—but using a prism and mirrors to split him seven ways. Each one would weaken a part of him. Then Mina and Ever would simply have to destroy the mirror and trap him inside. He’d never be able to cross over and hurt one of them again.

  Except that Ever was trapped in one of the mirrors with him.

  Thankfully, she wasn’t split. She hadn’t been in the center with the prism long enough. But she was injured and with a shadow form of Teague. Which one would he be? Would he be evil? Good? Something else?

  Beads of sweat appeared across Ever’s forehead, and her eyes started to look glazed.

  “Oh no no no no!” The effects of the poisoned dagger were causing Ever to fade fast. Mina pressed herself to the mirror and called out. “What do I do?”

  Ever bent down out of sight and stood back up, her right hand hidden out of sight. Ever smiled sadly and mouthed the words. “It’s too late for me. Break the other mirrors.”

  She raised her hand and held up the towel bar she’d pulled off the wall.

  Teague came into focus, running toward the mirror, just as Ever smashed the bar into it.

  It shattered.

  What had Ever done? Did she not think Mina could save her?

  Mina stared at the broken mirror before wracking her brain for answers, but she didn’t have any. Ever sacrificed herself for the plan by destroying the mirror from the other side.

  Then her bedroom door burst open with a flash of light as someone blasted her in the chest. Pain surged through her body as she flew through the far mirror.

  Chapter 16

  Mina landed on something cold and hard. The glow of the portal she had been hurled through closed up, leaving her in pitch black. What mirror was she in? It wasn’t the bathroom, hall, or kitchen. The darkness surrounding her made her shiver. Was it the house trying to help her again? Where had Nix even found this mirror?

  She sat up and groaned in pain, her foot scraping across what sounded like stone. Mina felt around her and along the freezing cold floor. There. A wall. Better to have that to her back than be wide open to who knew what. As she shifted, she heard something slide across stone. Someone or something was in the darkness with her.

  “Who’s there?” she called out softly.

  No one answered, but she heard a slight cough. Terrified of being attacked in the dark, she scrambled along the wall until she felt a somewhat familiar shelf. She sighed in relief when she felt a paint can, toolbox, and next to it a flashlight. Nix had found a mirror in the basement. Clicking it on, she swung the beam in an arc while she kept her senses on high alert.

  The light illuminated a leg in dark jeans. She followed the leg up to a body in in a red shirt and hesitated just before reaching the face. Did she send up a silent prayer? She wasn’t sure. Gathering her courage, she shined the beam on the person’s face, and his hand came up to block the light.

  “Ow!” The voice grumbled. “Give a guy a break.”

  “Sorry.” Mina moved the beam away but brought it back close enough that she could see his face clearly. Her heart was already thudding loudly in her ears, and the flashlight shook in her hands.

  It looked like him, but he had his face turned away from the light as if he was purposely avoiding looking at her. She had to know.

  “Is it really you?”

  “Go away.” His voice was low, almost growling at her.

  “Not until you tell me who you are.”

  The man lunged at her, his voice rising in animalistic pitch. “Go away!”

  Chains attached to the floor below him brought him up short. His body convulsed, and he stopped struggling against his bonds. He slowly turned his back on her, chains rustling. Now she had a full view of his back.

  But she knew.

  “Jared. It is you!” Mina moved to just outside the reach of his chains and tried to sit on the floor.

  “It’s me, Mina.”

  He hadn’t changed. His dark hair was longer, unkempt from lack of care. His face looked thinner, but it was still just as handsome beneath the layers of grime. She hadn’t seen his eyes, but she didn’t really want to know their color.

  She told herself it wouldn’t matter. This was Jared.

  He turned and gave her a long searching look. She waited for recognition to flare in his eyes, for the smile to reach his lips.

  He just sneered. “Mina. What a pathetic name—for a pathetic girl.”

  “I’m not pathetic. You are. You’re the one lying here in filth and dirt.”

  His head rolled to the side, as if holding it up took too much effort. This time he did smile cruelly as he shook the silver manacles in front of him and shook the chains at her. “I, at least, have a reason, for it. You do not belong here. You need to leave,” he warned.

  “I’m not leaving without you,” Mina promised, moving forward slowly, unthreateningly. She motioned to his manacles, and he held them up for her to inspect.

  Her heart dropped when she saw how bloody and mangled his wrists were under the metal. No padding protected his skin from the iron, which was terribly painful to Fae. On someone not as strong, it might have killed them or driven them mad. Of course, she wasn’t sure how much time had passed on this mirror plane. How long had he been here? Was he still safe?

  She closed her eyes, and her hand glowed over the lock. A loud click followed, and the first manacle fell from his wrist.

  Jared groaned in pain as some of his skin came off with the manacle, but he held out his left hand as she did the same to the second lock. This time, he clenched his teeth as she held the manacle still and carefully pulled it off, mindful of his wounds.

  His breathing had quickened from the pain. She bit her lip and studied the raw and bloody wrists. He needed more than just bandages—he needed a hospital. She ran to the basement door and pulled on the handle, only to find a solid brick wall. They were trapped in the mirror. A reflection of the Grimm family basement. A brick room with no windows, and the only way out blocked by a brick wall. It was the perfect cell. Designed to withhold Teague. Of course there wouldn’t be an easy way out.

  “Okay, this might hurt.” She spoke soothingly as she placed her hands above his wrists and concentrated on healing his hands. She watched her work with surprised satisfaction—his wrists glowed, and the skin started to heal. When she was done, she frowned. Terrible scars remained on his wrists.

  “I
don’t understand. I thought it would heal.”

  Jared rubbed his wrists. “Nothing can fully heal iron wounds. I’d been bound for a long time. I’m lucky to be alive.” He turned his back on her once again as he sat on the cold stone floor.

  “What are you doing?”

  She’d freed him. He should be jumping for joy, thanking her, kissing her even. Instead, he sat back down.

  He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes like he was asleep. “I’m sitting,” he answered dryly. “It’s a bit cold, but I’m used to the cold.”

  “No, why aren’t you trying to escape? I freed you. You should be thankful.”

  He opened his eyes to slits. “Do you see a another door besides the one you tried? And thanks. You want me to say thanks. You came in here to my home—”

  “Prison,” she interrupted.

  “Prison,” he repeated. “With no clue what you’ve done or who you’re messing with.”

  “I know exactly what I’ve done. I’ve come to save you.” Mina ground her teeth.

  “I don’t need saving.”

  “You don’t mean to stay here.” She gestured to the small room.

  “This is where I belong.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

  Mina came to sit by him and touched his arm. “No, you don’t, Jared.”

  He pulled his arm away from her. “I’m not Jared.

  She tried to not let his words hurt her. She steeled her resolve and her voice. “Teague can’t imprison you any longer. I’ve trapped him in seven mirrors. Four of those are destroyed already. All I need to do is destroy the others, and we’ll win. Teague will be destroyed and…” She couldn’t finish.

  “I’ll be destroyed as well,” he finished for her. “It’s why I have to stay here.”

  “Well, I’m not leaving without you.”

  “Fine by me. Enjoy your stay, although I have to say, the meals are few and far between, the beds are non-existent, and the company is horrible.” He flashed his teeth at her, then pulled his knees up and rested his head on his forearms.

  “Jared…”

  He groaned. “Girl, I swear. Stop calling me that cursed name. I am not this… this person.”