Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 4)

Mina was only slightly taken aback. “You know who I am?”

“Of course I know. I told you there’s a prophecy, and I’m here to stop it from ever taking root.”

“And I’m here to tell you that I’ve seen the future. I’m a Grimm, and the dark prince, Teague—he is my problem now,” Mina snapped. She held the book in front of her as it changed into a long bow. The knife in her hand shifted into a deadly golden arrow. Mina pulled back the string with the arrow nocked and ready to release. “I dare you. Dodge this if you can.”

Ferah backed away. “Okay. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She nodded toward Teague, who had rolled over and was gripping his stomach and moaning uncontrollably. “We will be expecting you to handle the dark prince. If you do need help, you can call on us.” Ferah continued to move away from Mina.

“Who are you?” Mina kept her sight set on the girl.

“We are a collection of Fae, dedicated to the preservat—”

“Stop!” Mina cut her off, her mind seriously spinning. “I know who you are. You’re the Godmothers.”

Ferah smiled wryly. “So you’ve heard of us? As a farewell gift, and to show you I bear you no ill will, I’ll see to your friend the pixie.”

“You’ll get no thanks from me.”

“I wouldn’t expect it. Not when you are the one who will suffer more than any for your choice you made today.” She turned and disappeared down the stairwell.

Mina waited and watched. When Ferah didn’t return, she released the bow. It shifted back into the Grimoire. She picked up the knife and ran over to Teague to try to figure out what to do. Maybe she could use the knife to cut the wound back open and extract the tip. She looked at the tip that was missing. There couldn’t be more than a quarter inch still inside of him.

Could she use Fae magic to wish it out? She closed her eyes. With everything in her, she focused on the words. “Please. Come out of Teague.”

Nothing. Her own heart clenched in pain.

She tried to hold Teague still as he continued to thrash and scream. Desperate, she lifted the knife above his chest and prepared to re-open the scar. Teague chose that moment to open his eyes.

What she saw in them terrified her to her very core.

His eyes flashed from blue to gray to blue again. Dark veins ran across his face and chest. Hate radiated out from him. His hand shot up and gripped her wrist, squeezing hard. He pushed her away, and she fell backwards onto the floor.

Teague pushed himself up from the floor and stood over her. He exuded power from every pore. She could feel it flowing from him, and it made her shake in her glass slippers. She tried to crawl backwards, away from him, but he stretched out one hand toward her. By magic, she was lifted into the air. She panicked as he moved her in front of the glass windows.

“You are a liar and a deceiver. Every last one of your kind will be punished for trying to kill me.”

“No, I didn’t. I saved you!” Mina explained, but Teague was having none of it.

“You saved the elf. I saw you in the forest. You did it so she could come and kill me. You were the bait. Very effective and pretty bait, I do have to admit.”

The tower lit up as another crackle of fireworks lit the sky, creating a mirror ball effect of colors in the room.

“Teague, listen to me. You’ve been poisoned. Ferah stabbed you with an enchanted knife and a piece is still inside you. Its dark magic is turning you evil.”

“Evil? I’ve never felt better or more powerful! Watch!” Still holding her suspended in the air, Teague blinked. Every window in the towers shattered, blasting outward and raining shards of glass on the maze below.

“And now you will pay for your betrayal. An assassination attempt on me is considered treason. But I’ve seen how you handle our Reapers. So how about the rest of your family? Hmm? I will hunt them down, toy with them like play things, and make them pay for your sins.”

“No!” she gasped out. “Please, they’ve done nothing wrong. I was only trying to save you. To help you, because I care about you.” She continued to struggle. Through the broken window, she could see guards racing from the palace to the tower. The King and Queen followed closely behind them. It seemed the exploding windows were evidence enough that something was not right.

“Then who’s Jared?” he snarled.

“It’s you!” she cried out. Tears poured out of her eyes as she realized she wasn’t getting through to him. “You’re right. I’m not who you think I am. Elle is not my name. It’s just the name of a girl in a story, a fairy tale. But I did come here to save my family.”

His eyes bored into hers searching for the truth, but he must’ve believed all he saw were lies. His face came within inches of hers, and he reached up to touch a strand of her hair. “Instead, you’ve doomed them.”

She was running out of time. Mina reached into her pocket for the Grimoire but her hand wrapped around something different. Something cold and cylindrical in shape.