Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 4)

The doors burst open and two giants entered, blocking her escape. The elf-girl turned, aware that she was trapped. Reaching within her dress, she pulled out two more blades. She scanned the room searching wildly for her targets, but the Fates had disappeared.

Teague had disappeared.

Mina felt a brush of cold air across her skin and realized that Teague at least had never left. The candelabras blew out as something large passed in front of them, leaving everyone in near darkness.

By the dusky light coming through the window, Mina saw a shadow beast materialize behind the terrified girl.

Ferah turned, screaming, stabbing at the darkness that merely dissipated. Her knife pierced nothing.

The temperature dropped and the girls whimpered when their breath became visible. The beating wings of the creature grew louder, and the girl slowly backed herself into a corner. Her chest rose and fell in panic, and her knives whizzed through the air as she continued to stab at any shadow that passed close to her.

Mina could feel the girl’s terror radiate outward and spread to the girls behind her. Knowing how deadly Jared was and knowing that Teague was even more so, her first priority was to protect the innocent girls.

“Give me your hand.” She reached out to the girl closest to her, not knowing if they’d even listen. But a trembling hand latched onto hers. Mina felt around and found another arm. They formed a chain, and Mina pulled them to the side of the room away from the action. The girls huddled in a corner with Mina in front of them, her arms held out as a human shield.

The young assassin regained her composure and dashed to the middle of the room away from the approaching beast. The shadow creature moved, materializing as it touched down on the floor. But the darkness was evident even in Teague’s handsome form. His eyes were dark with anger, his hair tousled from flying. He must have made a sound because the girl spun.

Her dress didn’t seem to hinder her as she leapt into the air and let the knife fly toward Teague, followed quickly by a second blade.

Teague moved so fast he blurred as he dodged the knives, but they continued their trajectory.

They were heading straight toward the clump of girls. As Ferah saw her mistake, her eyes widened and she reached out as if to stop their course.

“No!” Mina shouted. She held her hands over her face. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was the glint off the silver knives flying toward her.

Chapter 23

The knives never made contact.

Mina waited a few seconds, opened her eyes, and dropped her hands to see the steely knives suspended in midair, mere inches from her face. Unwilling to take any chances, in case they continued on their trajectory she sidestepped the knives.

Her mouth was dry and her heart felt like it was beating a path out of her chest.

Wailing began behind her, and she turned to see that—of the six girls left—four of them had broken down into sobbing piles of color on the floor. It seemed they no longer cared about wrinkling their dresses. The two not crying were pale in the face, and one looked like she was going to toss her cookies at any moment.

“Are you all right?’ Teague came to stand next to her, his face full of concern. Two giants had grabbed Ferah and were now holding her in a kneeling position in the middle of the room. King Lucian and Queen Maeve materialized and stood in front of the young assassin. She had quit fighting and seemed to be slowly accepting her fate.

“I’m fine. Just a little shaken up,” Mina answered Teague. Her body was humming from head to toe, and she tried to get her emotions under control. “That was a little too close a call.”

“You defended me.” He smiled, one corner of his mouth lifting in a bit of a smirk. “Not that I needed your help. But I think it’s kind of cute.” He crossed his arms and continued smirking at her.

Which only irritated her. Here was the snarky Jared-side she was used to dealing with. “Well, I don’t know. You could have been distracted by all of the pretty skirts in the room. Who knows where your mind was?”

“Skirts? Why would the material of their dresses be distracting? I can tell you that I’m in no way interested in what they are wearing. Who’s wearing it is what matters.” He raised his eyebrow, and Mina rolled her eyes.

“You can calm down now. The danger is over,” he added.

“I know that,” she huffed.

“Well maybe you do, but my parents not so much.” He gestured with his chin to the Fates who were looking their way very pointedly. They were obviously still worried and upset about something, and it looked like it was Mina.

“What’s going on?” she asked. Apprehension rose within her once again. “Why do they seem angry?”

“It could be because they see you as a threat.”

“Me? A threat? I haven’t done anything,” her voice rose in fear. Had they somehow figured out why she was here?

“Well, you’re the one who is armed.”