Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 5)

The sea witch stood and waved at Mina in irritation. “Fine, I’ll grant you a small favor of my choosing. But you must leave and never come back.”

She beckoned with her hand and led Mina down a tunnel. Mina felt the press of power as they passed through a veil. They’d stepped out of a wall of rock that hid the entrance to Taz Clara’s cave along the rocky shoreline.

It was morning, and fog rolled along the water, making it almost impossible to see anything beyond twenty feet. Somewhere in the distance, a fog horn sounded. The boat was coming closer.

“The morning tours will start soon. You should be able to make your way back on the ferry when they leave.”

“Okay, thanks.” Mina answered awkwardly and started up the path.

The sea witch’s gaze followed her until she turned a corner.  She ducked behind the rocks, staying low when the first ferry arrived. When the passengers disembarked and followed the tour guide, Mina tagged along for the two-hour tour. She snuck on the ferry with them at the end.

By the time she landed back at the pier, it was way past the agreed check-in time with Nan. Mina ran the whole way, knowing she would probably miss them, but also that her friends would be looking for her. Even when Mina got a stitch in her side, she kept on running until she could see the Zoltar machine. A crowd had gathered in front of it, and Mina slowed to see if she could see what they were looking at.

Someone pulled on her arm.

“Hey,” she cried, as Ever grabbed her and yanked her aside.

“Where have you been?” Ever yelled.

“Long story. Have you seen Charlie, Nan, and Brody?” Mina tried to pull away from Ever, but the pixie wouldn’t let go.

“No, they didn’t come,” Ever answered. “Ternan and Winona are hysterical looking for you. Kino says something bad happened, and cops have been crawling all over the pier by the aquarium. Talk to me, Mina.”

Mina pulled away from Ever and ran toward the machine. It was just a bunch of teenagers, putting money in and getting their fortune cards. She was about to turn away when she saw something that made her blood run cold.

“They were here.” Mina jogged over to pick up the Superman action figure she’d shoved into Charlie’s backpack. She flipped it over and saw C.G. written in black marker on the red boot.

“Charlie!” Mina rushed into the crowd, searching. “Charlie!”

Ever joined Mina, and they worked their way out in a circle, shouting. Mina spotted Nan’s bug by a parking meter and checked out the car, but no one was in it. Just like she’d seen in her dream, though, Charlie’s jacket and a bunch of comics covered the back seat.

“Ever, they have to be around here.”

“I’ll go this way.” Ever pointed, taking off down the street and looking in boutiques. Mina ran back toward the gift shop and started to check the stores nearest their meeting point. Maybe they just got tired of waiting. Maybe they stopped for food.

Maybe they were kidnapped by Teague.

Oh, this was all her fault. If only she hadn’t had snuck out. She caught a glimpse of a familiar form in the window and stopped. She looked over her shoulder.

No one was there.

Mina continued to search for her brother, but this time she didn’t imagine seeing Teague. He didn’t bother to hide his presence in the reflection of the mirror.

But she pretended she didn’t see him and moved along the shops toward the end of the pier. When she got to the end, she waited until she felt the prickle of power. She closed her eyes and turned to face him.

He just stood there. His dark hair looked wet—it could have been gel—his jeans were well fitted, and he wore a homespun black shirt. His choice of clothes felt very Jared to her.

“You came.” Mina spoke first. She wanted to try and reason with him, maybe find her friends.

“I did, because you left.” His eyes lacked emotion.

Her fear-level rose, and she tried to squelch it. “Against my will.”

“That’s not what it looks like.” He lifted his hands and gestured to the pier. “You seem quite frantic looking for your brother and friends. I wonder where they could have gone.”

“Please, I would have stayed. It was my grandfather who took me. He thought he was rescuing me. He didn’t understand, even though I tried to explain you’d blame me and try to hurt my brother.”

“You’re right. I do blame you.” He stepped closer to her, his voice tapering off.