Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 2)

Jared threw Mina to the ground covering her with his body as burning furniture whisked by overhead almost hitting them. She tried to look up, but Jared kept her head buried in the ground. She could feel flames lick her feet as it passed by her and into the book. Mina and Jared began to be pulled toward the book. Loud rushing wind, howling and screaming could be heard, until Mina realized that she was the one screaming. She had never seen the book pull this hard before, and she feared that both of them would be entrapped as well.

One moment it felt like the hospital was about to fall down on them; the next, silence. Jared waited a few seconds before moving over and letting Mina up. But he kept his arm protectively around her. Mina barely noticed. Her attention was on the damage before them; the whole wing was destroyed. The fire had been smothered by the windy vortex. A half burned piece of paper fluttered down from the air to land on Mina’s head. Pulling it off she barely glanced at it but saw that it had Nan Taylor’s name on it.

“Nan! Dr. Martin! We have to make sure they are okay.” She looked to Jared, but he wasn’t moving; he was staring at the book.

Reluctantly, Mina moved away from him to grab the book. She opened it up to the last page and ran her fingers across the beautiful picture of a dragon fighting a giant. “Who was she?” Mina whispered.

“A dragon,” Jared answered. He touched the page tenderly, almost lovingly.

Mina touched his cheek with his hand and wiped away a stray tear. “No, who was she to you?” He wouldn’t look at her.

“Probably the only one who ever really cared about me.” He pressed his lips together firmly and she could see that he was steeling himself, getting ready to hide behind his stony mask.

“That’s not true.” Mina pressed her forehead to Jared’s, trying to comfort him. “I care.”

He opened his eyes wide at her admission, and she was sucked into his beautiful grey eyes. He closed his eyes and waited on baited breath as if savoring the moment. Reluctantly, he pulled away from her and looked at the book. “She was my Nanny,” Jared admitted. “She raised me since I was a kid, until I was banished. I was like a son to her.

“Why did she try to scare me?”

“I think she thought you had the Grimoire, and like most Fae, she’s not real fond of the Grimms. But I didn’t even know she came to the human world, she must have come here shortly after I did. I was as surprised as you, when she came crashing through the door.”

Mina nodded silently and stood up, pulling him up with her. She began to walk toward the stairway pulling Jared behind her. Once they were on the stairs, she realized that she was still holding hands with him. She tried to pull away, but Jared held onto her hand firmly.

Not seeing any reason to let go, they walked hand in hand down the stairs. On the second floor they were met by firefighters who escorted them to safety. The parking lot was chaos, filled with fire trucks, ambulances, police, and hospital staff.

It seemed the fire had been contained to the fourth floor and everyone had been accounted for. Everyone except nurse Diedre. Mina sat on a stretcher and was tended to by an EMT. Jared sat next to her, refusing to leave her side. It wasn’t until Mina saw the tour bus and a frightened Brody and Peter waiting impatiently behind a police line that she remembered them.

She ran across the parking lot, and Brody ducked under the police tape and ran to meet her. She wasn’t prepared for Brody’s enthusiastic reception when he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

“You’re okay? You aren’t hurt?” He looked at her and pulled her into another embrace. “I can’t tell you how terrifying it was to know you were in there. And when you didn’t come out with Nan, I feared the worst.”

Looking up into his deep blue eyes, she could see the worry etched deep in them and something else. She didn’t have time to think because he leaned down and kissed her. Startled, she froze for a moment before enjoying the kiss. It was soft, tender, and beautiful.

A loud clearing of the throat interrupted them. They broke apart to confront an angry Jared.

“Excuse me, but Dr. Martin is awake and asking a lot of questions. Also, they are about to transfer Nan to another hospital. I think you should get over there, if you know what I mean,” Jared hinted.

Mina grabbed Peter’s hand and dragged him toward the ambulance. She begged the staff to let them have a few moments with Nan before they transferred her. The EMT wasn’t amused, but since Nan wasn’t injured and wasn’t going anywhere, he nodded.

Even in an ordinary hospital gown, Nan was beautiful. Of course, Mina knew it for what it truly was- an enchanted sleep. She was probably the only one who understood that her glowing skin and beautiful complexion was due to Fae magic instead of medicine.

Peter stood before Nan, and he reached out to take her hand in his. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, but she didn’t respond. He looked over to Mina expectantly. “So what is the plan?”

“You kiss her,” Mina answered. “Just like all of the fairy tale stories where true love’s kiss breaks the spell.”

“Mina,” Peter laughed uncomfortably. “This isn’t a fairy tale. I care for her deeply, but we barely know each other. I would never, ever wish this on anyone, but I don’t see how a kiss is going to wake anyone from a coma.”

“It has too,” Mina argued. She clenched her fists to her sides and felt doubt begin to rise up. “I know it will. She was madly in love with you, Peter. It’s what all of your crazy satirical songs are about. So what are you waiting for? Kiss her. If she wakes up, you’ve got a great new song to write about.”

Brody came and stood next to Jared and watched the two argue. Finally, he chimed in. “Go ahead, I’ve never seen you balk at kissing a girl before,” he taunted his cousin.

Sweat began to bead on Peter’s forehead; he wiped it away with the sleeve of his shirt. “Well, that’s because I’ve never kissed an almost dead girl.”

“She’s not dead, or almost dead. Just kiss her and we can all go home.” Mina bit her lip and jumped up and down nervously. She couldn’t understand Peter’s hesitation.

After much coaxing, he moved forward placing either hand on the side of Nan’s shoulders. He took a deep breath, leaned in, closed his eyes, and kissed her on her lips. A few seconds passed, and he broke the kiss.