Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 4)

“Nix,” Ever said. “He helped you. He saved you.”

Mina gave her a scorching look, but Ever ignored her. “I owe him nothing. My debt was paid before he ever came to the human plane.” Mina glanced around, still confused that he hadn’t followed her. “Where is Nix?”

“I told him to not interfere and that I would try and reason with you,” Ever said defensively. “I won’t let you hurt him.”

Mina was taken aback by her venomous tone. Ever’s invisible pixie wings fluttered behind her, stirring up her dark hair. Another sign of her heightened emotion.

“I’m not going to hurt him,” Mina replied. “He’ll be fine. He’ll be better off if he never meets me. He’ll still be a Nixie. There’s no proof he would have turned into a Sea Witch. At least he’d still be alive.”

Ever snorted. “He would have made a terrible sea witch. He’s too kindhearted.”

“You should be worrying about me.”

“Mina,” Ever said, trying to keep her voice calm and even. “Nix is human now thanks to you. He’s defenseless against the dark prince’s power.”

“Yeah, defenseless like me.” Mina rushed out angrily.

“Ugh, there’s so much I could—” Ever shook her head. “It’s your own fault. You returned the Grimoire to the Fae plane, you gimp. And destroyed…Jared.”

“I didn’t know that would happen, because no one ever told me anything.”

“Listen to me, Mina. Nix is good. Saving him is the one good thing you’ve done since I’ve met you. You betrayed Jared, and now he’s gone. I won’t let that happen to Nix. Someone has to protect him from you.”

“What do you mean? By not going back, I’m not going to hurt Nix.”

Ever sighed and rubbed her forehead. Her shoulders slouched forward in defeat. “Look you don’t understand. You have no choice. I see that now—so clearly.” Her eyes grew misty with tears. “And I’m going to hate myself forever for saying this…but if you don’t go back, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Ever, what are you not telling me?”

Ever rubbed her arms as if to ward off an invisible chill. “You’re a Grimm. You can’t help that. Even if you don’t mean it, you will eventually betray us all. But I care about Nix, and I…I want what’s best for him.”

“I do too. You have to believe that.”

>“Then she’s a sitting duck. Not any duck—probably a Peking duck.” Nan ran to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. “Don’t worry. I will hold onto you. I’ll never let you go.”

“No, she has to go,” Thistle piped up again.

“You just said there was nothing she could do,” Nix intervened. “Make up your mind.”

Thistle tapped her foot impatiently. “You’re not listening. I said there’s nothing she can do at this time. She can still stop this.”

“How?” Mina and Nan chimed together.

“There’s nothing you can do in the present. You have to go back in time.”

Chapter 15

“That’s outrageous,” Mina whispered.

“That’s impossible,” Ever gasped.

“That’s awesome!” Nan cheered.

Ever looked the most startled at the prospect of time travel. Her face had paled. “It can’t be. I don’t believe it.” She kept casting Mina sideways glances and frowning, but Mina was quite used to the odd looks from Ever.

The thought of going back into the past terrified her. What if she messed up—stepped on a butterfly and the following chain of events destroyed the world? Wasn’t there a movie about that? There was no way she could do it.

“What does she need to do?” Nan jumped up and down in excitement.