Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 5)

Ever rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I hear. I hear you cheat at games.”

Nix looked aghast at the accusation. “I only cheat to win.”

“Is there another reason for cheating?” Mina chuckled.

His mouth gaped opened, and his finger froze midair as he began a rebuttal but thought better of it. “Um, nope there isn’t.”

“So how’d you find them?”

Nix recovered and became serious. “It’s always wise to know where your enemy is, so you can avoid them at all costs. Growing up, we always heard the water sprites and sirens inhabited Dead Man’s Cove, so Ever and I had to make it there and wait for one to come up from the underground caverns or for a ship to pass by. Well, we got impatient and built a boat.”

“A raft,” Ever corrected.

“It was a fine ship.”

“It was barely staying afloat. It was nothing more than logs tied together with vines.”

“It had a mast,” he said.

“With no sail.”

“Stop dismissing our vessel. She was the finest one I’ve ever captained,” Nix pouted.

“She fell apart when we got near the cove and the rocks.”

Nix’s cheeks went beet red, and he scratched his head. “Yeah, well that was my plan all along.”

“Oh, that’s not what you told me. We were going to go out to the cove, sail near the rocks, and wait for one of them to try and lure us to our death.” Ever placed her hands on her hips.

“But it didn’t happen, did it?”

“No, our boat fell apart, and we began to sink. The sirens saved us.”

“Yeah, who’d have thought the myths were wrong?” He offered a sheepish shrug. “Sometimes sirens are the good guys too.”

Ever turned her back on Nix. “Well, anyway. We found them, and it took some convincing that we were legit and knew the daughter of Sarafina. It turns out your family is one of the oldest and strongest family lines, and… well…” She paused, and her head dropped. “If you had really lived on the Fae plane all those years ago, you probably would have been sent to the choosing ceremony for the prince.”

“But I wasn’t even born then.”

“It doesn’t seem to matter. You always find a way of surprising everyone. But it seemed that Ternan and Winona knew right away who we were. They had been keeping an eye on you for some time. They didn’t even ask questions but sailed straight here to save you. I gotta admit. Your family rocks.”

Mina looked over at the water and watched in amazement as something large and white shot out of the water and dove back beneath the waves. It looked like a creature that was half-fish and half… unicorn.

Ever coughed to get her attention, and Mina apologized. “They’re strangers,” Mina added.

“They don’t have to be. You were worried you didn’t have anyone to take care of Charlie. I’d say your family is a great place to start,” Ever coaxed.

“I’m his family.” Sure, her mom had told her to find them, but they were making things worse. Not better.

“They’re his family as well, Mina. Don’t you think Charlie would like to meet his grandparents?”

“We don’t need them, if you could help me go back,” Mina whispered urgently.

“To the human plane? No problem.”

“No back to the palace.”

“Mina, have you gone mad?”