Fable (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 3)

“Wait! Everyone has their price, and no one says no to me.” He frowned at her.

“Well, I just did say no.”

“That’s only because you haven’t heard my other offer.” Temple took off his hat and brushed imaginary dust off it.

“It wouldn’t matter, because the answer is still no. You have nothing I want,” Mina said.

“Ah, and that’s where I beg to differ. I do have something you want. I make sure to always have something someone wants.” He placed the hat back on his head.

“Are you deaf? Because I just said no.” She placed her hands on her hips and raised her chin.

“What about your brother Charlie? Such a quiet boy, but charming all the same. He misses you, I can tell.”

Mina came alive with anger. “What do you mean, Charlie? He died in the fire!”

“Come now, you can’t really believe that!” He touched his hat and fingered the golden feather. “I sent my servant to retrieve the boy for me and destroy your home. Now he is mine. I will trade him to you for the item I want you to procure, and nothing more. His life for my item. It’s fair—what do you say?”

Mina stared at Temple in horror. “You did this? You planned this from the beginning, stealing my brother to make sure I couldn’t say no! What kind of monster are you? It’s been weeks. Why now? You could be lying. Why didn’t you come to me that night?”

“Because you’ve been surrounded by Fae. What’s a few weeks in the life of an eternal Fae? I’m patient. I’ve been waiting for hundreds of years—what’s a few mere weeks? But if you fail, Charlie is mine forever.”

Tears of relief started to trail down Mina’s cheeks. “What is it I have to do?”

“A favor, one itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie favor. A piece of cake for a Grimm.” His smile was so sweet it was sickening.

“What is it?” Mina said, her heart dropping into her stomach, since she already had an idea.

“You have a wonderful book. The Grimoire—its power is unmatched…except for one other book. Its twin. I want that book.”

“Impossible,” she blurted out quickly.

Temple’s expression started to get angry, but then he was able to calm himself down. “Unfortunately, I know you are wrong. My plans are always...perfect.”

“How do you expect me…? How could I possibly…?” She couldn’t finish; she knew nothing about the Fae world or how to cross into it. It was a hopeless quest.

But weren’t all quests hopeless at one time or another? If her ancestors hundreds of years ago figured out how to cross over, then how much harder could it possibly be now, in the twenty-first century?

“I don’t know how to go about it. I don’t know how to cross over,” Mina said.

“Ah, where’s the fun in that? Besides, I’m confident you’ll figure it out. I find that those with the most to lose tend to be the most motivated. So are we in agreement?”

“I have no choice,” Mina mumbled. “I have to try to save Charlie.”

Temple bent down and picked up a bobby pin, and motioned for her to hold her finger up in the air. She did so, and he pricked her finger, drawing blood. As her blood soaked the bobby pin’s edge, it began to turn gold. He smiled and opened his jacket, revealing an array of pockets and containers with various gold objects, each with a small bloodstain on them, evidence of other bargains and transactions he’d made. She could see a pencil, a knife, a large spindle, and her heart stopped cold.

“Lest you not know what you have done. You’ve made a deal that cannot be undone.” He patted his jacket happily.

“Who are you?” she asked in dread, knowing deep down who she’d just made a bargain with, but needing to know if she was right.

“I told you my name is Temple.”

“No, what’s your full name?”

“Ah, that. Well, I’m not as famous as the rest of my family, and I’ve sort of inherited the family gift. But I would think you know all about that, taking on the family business and all. So I think you know what I am.”

She knew—his words confirmed it. Taking of a child, items of gold, bargains. “You’re a Stiltskin, aren’t you?”

Temple smiled widely, revealing gold molars, removed his hat, and bowed. “Templestiltskin at your service, and by the way…I would figure out a way to cross over sooner than later. Your kind aren’t meant to survive on the Fae plane. Something happens to them. They change, and not for the better. So I would get crackin’, because according to my watch, you’re already two weeks behind. And I want the dark prince’s book.”