Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 2)

“Of course, it worked. I had been trying to give you hints long enough. I can’t believe it took you this long to speak to a mirror. I thought all girls talked to a mirror. Sheesh!” Even though he played at being angry, she could see the slight twitch in his mouth as he tried to hold back his happiness at seeing her.

“Jared, where are you? Is the Grimoire with you? Are you safe? Are there others with you?” She spoke quickly, nervously, and felt as if she rambled at a mile a minute.

He held up his hands and looked around his surroundings carefully. He looked tired and worn out, but physically unharmed. “I’m all right. Yes, the Grimoire is with me, and no there are no others with me. They are all imprisoned within the book, but I think we can free them.”

“Where are you, Jared? Who’s got you?” Mina whispered in kind, feeling his urgency and the need for quiet.

“Mina, I’m at the hospital. We are leaving, but he’s coming back tomorrow night.”

“Who’s coming back? Who’s got you, Jared? What do you mean you are leaving?”

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I can’t explain everything right now, Mina. It would take too long. You have to trust me on this.”

“Ha, like I’m ever going to trust you again?” She pointed her finger and jabbed it at the mirror as if trying to poke him.

“Mina, I never left you,” he spoke softly. “I’ve never once left your side, unless you left me.”

“But why aren’t you imprisoned within the book as well? Oh, wait. You, you said the book doesn’t work on you. Why doesn’t the book work on you, Jared?”

Jared ignored her. “Mina, it’s going to kill Nan.”

“What? Who would do something that awful? Jared, you should call the police.” Mina began to panic and felt her voice rise in nervousness.

Jared raised his eyebrows to remind her of the obvious reason. “I can’t call the police, Mina.”

“Well, then tell me. Who’s going to kill Nan. I’ll call the police.”

“And tell them what exactly? It’s a Reaper, Mina,” he spoke sadly.

“Reaper? Jared, I don’t know what that is,” she spat out in frustration.

Jared leaned close to the mirror, his eyes filled with sadness. “Yes, you do. You have heard of the Grimm Reaper before, but you never made the connection to your family. The Grimms don’t usually die from failing the quests, Mina. They die from meeting a Grimm Reaper. They are hunters who track and hunt the Grimms for sport. This one, in particular-- I recognized its scent. It was the one who killed your father.”

Mina felt like screaming in anger. Her blood boiled, and she clenched her jaw.

“When, Jared? When is it planning on killing her?” she spoke without emotion.

She saw Jared swallow in nervousness. “Mina, don’t come. It’s a trap. Don’t do it.”

“I’m not asking again, Jared,” she demanded.

“Tomorrow night. Midnight. The reaping hour.”

Chapter 22

This was absolutely the worst possible idea ever in the history of history. She paced the front porch of the Carmichaels’ three story mansion while biting her thumb. She had already lied to security about why she was here. It was easy considering she had used the same excuse the first time she came to the Carmichaels to drop off a pamphlet of information from Happy Maids, the company her mom worked for. Well, since that got her in the first time, she didn’t see any reason for it not to get her in the second time. And it worked.

Now she was a pile of nerves and had no real reason for being here. Except that she really, really needed to talk to Brody. Nobody answered when she rang the doorbell, and she was beginning to think that they were purposely avoiding her. One of the gardeners who was tending the bushes waved at her to get her attention and pointed to the back of the house.

Mina knew what was back there; she had seen it when she walked up the driveway. It was the stables. Even though they were in the suburbs, the Carmichaels owned enough property to raise horses. Races, jumps, or show; you name it the Carmichaels competed in it. She followed the stone walkway around the side of the mansion and down the pathway past the large Olympic-size, outdoor pool, which was currently set up with a net in the middle of it, probably so Brody could practice water polo. Luckily, no one was swimming, which left one other place to look. Mina shuddered, the stables.

Of course, he couldn’t be good at just one thing; he had to be great at everything. She could see him in the distance on a beautiful thoroughbred, taking her through the course. He was extremely soft-spoken when giving commands, and Mina could see that he had an easy way with the horse. When they were both ready, they lined up. One second they were still, the next they flew over, around, and back. He was handsome in black pants, riding boots, and helmet. He looked dashing and debonair. Mina looked down at her jeans, button down blue coat, and flats and felt out of place. She pulled on her messy braid and tried to straighten it without success.

Every time the horse jumped, Mina held her breath in terror, scared that he would fall off and be trampled. The horse didn’t miss a jump or a stride; only on the second to last jump did she knock a pole down. Mina made it to the fence and waited to be noticed before speaking, unsure of what her reception would be since the last time they had spoken she had blamed him for Nan’s death.

The horse noticed her first and turned to look at her. Brody looked up in surprise, and then he frowned. Yeah, Mina had known it was a bad idea to come. Before either one of them could say anything she turned and began to walk back up the hill toward the house.