Mina couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. “I don’t know if dancing is how I would want to spend my birthday.”
“Friday is your birthday? I didn’t know. We can do something else, if you want.”
“No, I think spending my birthday with you would be the perfect gift.” Mina smiled over the phone.
“So decide on what fairy tale couple you would like to go as and then give me a call. I would prefer to not go as the frog prince if you get my drift. Green and slimy doesn't look good on me.”
Mina was pacing her room and thinking of some of her favorite fairy tale characters, when she passed her bedroom mirror. She stared at her reflection and touched the fabric of her red jacket, a reminder of the many piles of red clothes that littered the floor. Mina realized that no matter what fairy tale princess or character she would try to go as, the Story would keep making her into the same one.
“How about Red Riding Hood?” Mina intoned sadly.
Brody’s voice brightened. “Then I will be your hunter. Never fear, Mina, I’ll keep the big bad wolf away.”
Those words sent a tingle of dread through her limbs. She felt the power of the Story at work and actually feared that very conclusion.
***
After the phone call, Mina climbed out her window and made her way up to her rooftop retreat. It was just after dark when Mina pulled out the red notebook. She decided to look through the Grimoire where her mom wouldn't worry. For Sara, out of sight, out of mind, really was the best medicine. Mina reclined in the lounge chair and flipped through the notebook's pages. Still only one story. She caressed the lines and spoke to the Grimoire.
“So there's this dance and this boy. I really want to go but I'm scared of what will happen. Do you think you can help me? I could really use all the help I can get. Please.”
Mina waited as if for a response, but the wind chose that moment to pick up and swirl fallen leaves around the rooftop retreat like mini tornadoes. She dropped the notebook and the wind blew the pages closed. Mina felt the hairline crackle of power crawl over her arms and she knew that something was near.
“I take it that was a no,” a masculine voice spoke behind her.
Mina turned and grabbed the Grimoire, holding it to her chest protectively, until she saw that it was Jared on the other side of the roof.
“What are you doing here?” Mina snapped.
“I'm surprised you’re asking the book for help. I thought you had decided to run away. You certainly seem to be good at it.” Jared walked past Mina, ignoring her to admire a rose bush growing up a brick wall.
“I know that I can't run forever, but I thought I could at least get away from you. But even that seems impossible now.” Mina turned her back on Jared and began to pick up her jacket and fold it over her arm. She didn't hear Jared move, but in one second he was next to her grabbing her wrist, holding it up to the waning light so he could see a faint outline of bruising. He lightly rubbed the bruises with his thumbs.
Mina’s eyes widened and she jerked her hands out of his in surprise. A caress from Jared was the last thing she would have expected. His eyes turned dark, his expression unreadable. Mina found herself rubbing her own wrists, whether to rub his touch away or soothe the pain, she wasn’t sure.
“You can’t run anymore. It’s too late.” Jared turned his back on her and looked out over the roofs of the international district, his dark hair blowing slightly in the wind. “It was almost past the point of no return, once you stepped into the Babushka's Bakery. The power compelled you to enter the tale and act. It placed you in the position and you chose. It’s too late for you, Wilhelmina Grimm, great-great-great-granddaughter of Wilhelm Grimm. And you’re going to need my help.”
Chapter 18
Mina felt as if she was going to faint. “Why are you here, really?” Jared was really starting to scare her. “What part do you play in this?”
Jared looked at her and she could have sworn that his skin glowed golden for one split second. But after she blinked her eyes, she decided it was just an illusion from the setting sun. The sun was covering both of them with a bright warm glow.
He closed his eyes as if he was soaking up the sun and took a deep breath as if it was his first, or his last. “I am a part of this as much you are and have as much at stake, if not more.” He sighed and looked at her. “Everything else has a time and a place but it is not now, not yet.”
Mina couldn’t understand the change in his speech, why he was suddenly speaking in riddles. She shook her head as if to clear her thinking and remembered an earlier statement. “What tale are you referring to? The notebook only shows the bull and the stag.”
Jared walked away from Mina back toward the edge of the roof, she had no choice but to chase after him if she wanted an answer.
“Hansel and Gretel.”
“But wait, how?” Mina thought back through the day. “The bakery was the gingerbread house?”
Jared snorted, “Obviously.”
“But there wasn’t an old witch. No one was imprisoned.”