Fable: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3 (3 page)

She held up her hand, hushing Sara. “No.
Think about it, Sara. I’m your only friend beside Mei Wong. You
know that it’s either with me or the shelter, and I refuse to let
my friend who just lost a family member stay at a place like
that.”

Sara’s mouth opened and closed in shock
before she finally nodded her head. She turned to Mina and gestured
toward the white car. They had nothing to load into the trunk
except for a few blankets people had given them, and of course the
Grimoire.

Terry Goodmother lived on the top floor of a
large, expensive apartment building. Everything in the condo was
white: the carpet, furniture, walls, even down to the six poodles,
each named after an extravagant gemstone. There was Jade,
Turq—short for Turquoise—Diamond, Emerald, Pearl, and Ruby.

Sara slept in Terry’s only guestroom, and
Mina took to sleeping on the couch. Each morning she woke with a
stiff back because Turq and Ruby took it upon themselves to sleep
on top of Mina. But the last few days had dragged by. Terry’s
constant chatter did little to pull them out of their shocked
state. Complete strangers came by with boxes of clothes and
household supplies to give to the Grime family. Terry was great and
organized all of the donations in her living room. It was obvious
that soon they would have to find a new place to live. They
couldn’t continue to survive on the goodness of Sara’s boss. But
Terry was phenomenal at getting the funeral arrangements
handled.

Someone touched her elbow, abruptly bringing
her back to the present. Mina blinked in surprise and looked up
into the striking face of her crush, Brody Carmichael. He was
tanner and his blond hair had turned lighter, evidence of his
summer traveling the Mediterranean. The wind whipped his hair
around his face, but he ignored the torment of Mother Nature as he
looked deeply into her eyes, studying her.

Mina’s heart jumped in her chest, and her
mind blanked. She hadn’t expected any of her classmates to come to
the funeral. Even Nan was still out of state and wouldn’t make it
in time. For Brody Carmichael to be the one to show up tore at her
heart. She couldn’t believe it—it showed how truly caring and
special he was, and now it was making it harder for her to not fall
in love with him all over again.

Her eyes began to fill up with tears, and
her bottom lip quivered with emotion. She was going to make a fool
of herself right in front of him. Brody still hadn’t released his
grip on her elbow, and when he saw her tears start to build up, his
eyes widened in concern, and he pulled her close to his chest.

She was shocked by the show of concern and
melted into his warm embrace, because that’s what it was. His arms
gingerly wrapped around her, and his hand gently cupped the back of
her head. She refused to move or breathe, and prayed for this
moment to last forever as she tried to imprint it into her
memories. She was so distracted by his scent, his strong arms
holding her, that she didn’t hear him whispering something to her.
She tried to lift her head to hear what he was saying, but as soon
as she did, he abruptly let go and took a step back.

Disappointed by how
quickly he’d released her, she stared at the ground, not ready to
look into his gorgeous eyes. She knew what she would see there:
pity, not love. Her heart ached for him, and it was probably not
reciprocated.
By now, if he isn’t already,
he should be in love with Nan. I mean, who wouldn’t love her? She’s
beautiful, funny, and quirky.
Mina hoped
that the summer months and the distance between them would make the
love she held for him wane, but seeing him once again and having
him hold her in his arms made everything rush back like a tidal
wave all at once. She still very much cared for Brody Carmichael,
and every part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms and
tell him to never let go of her again. But she didn’t; she stood
her ground, cleared her throat, and gathered her courage to make
eye contact. What she saw there made her doubt her
decision.

He was struggling. She could see his inner
turmoil, the battle that was being fought within him. He had tears
in his eyes, and he swallowed nervously. His hands clenched into
fists at his sides, and his knuckles were white with tension. He
quickly turned his back to her and ran his hands through his hair
in frustration. Mina was too scared to approach him and waited
until he turned around again.

When he finally did, he was apologizing.

“
I’m sorry. I was out of
line.” He looked in pain. His eyes begged her
forgiveness.

Mina was confused, until she remembered he
was with Nan. Then it became clear—he was scared what her friend
would think. “It’s okay, it was just a hug. I won’t tell Nan.”

Her words seemed to hurt Brody even more,
because he closed his eyes and shook his head. “No, I’m not
apologizing for holding you. I won’t ever regret that. I’m
apologizing for what I said.”

Mina’s eyes widened, and she mentally began
to berate herself for spacing out and not listening to what he’d
said when he hugged her. What did he whisper to her? What could he
have said that would make him so upset? Could she ask him to repeat
it, or would that sound dumb? Maybe he was saying he still had
feelings for her? Her mind made up a hundred different things he
could have confessed to her. The mystery was killing her so much
that she wanted to curl up and die.

“
Don’t apologize. I feel
the same way,” she lied, and instantly regretted her choice of
words. He looked confused and stared at her like a stranger. Great!
she thought. She did it again. Insert foot in mouth.

Brody had stepped back from Mina and was now
looking around the graveyard uncomfortably. He’d probably just
realized how inappropriate their conversation was, considering
their location, and was looking for a quick escape. Mina felt sorry
for him and decided to relieve his distress.

“
So I guess I’ll see you
at school, then.” Not the most eloquent moment, but it would
do.

Brody looked at Mina, and he shuffled his
feet uncomfortably. “Yeah, see you then.” He turned to leave, but
stopped as if he’d forgotten something. He reached into his suit
and pulled out a slightly crumpled rose. Heat rose to Mina’s cheeks
when she realized she was probably the one who’d crushed it when
she buried her face in his chest.

He walked over to Charlie’s casket and held
the rose out awkwardly, as if he couldn’t bring himself to release
the flower. Instead, he turned to Mina and offered the rose to her.
That one action alone created another wave of silent tears. She’d
sworn that she couldn’t cry anymore, but Brody was proving to be
her undoing. Gently, she reached out and took the pathetically
smashed flower, and she laughed softly. Charlie would be laughing
hysterically if he were here to see the state of the rose. It was
at one time a beautiful specimen of a rose, and unlike the ones
others had brought and laid on Charlie’s casket, this one still had
its thorns. It must have come from Brody’s own garden. Which made
this one even more special.

“
Thank you,” she
whispered.

He nodded to her and walked silently down
the hill to his car.

Two men came forward and began to lower the
casket into the ground. Brody’s rose was still in her hand, and she
had a moment of selfishness where she wanted to keep it forever,
because it was a gift from him. At the last minute, Mina rushed
forward to drop her rose onto the others as the casket finally
lowered to the bottom.

A few people stopped to speak with Sara and
pay their respects, but Mina couldn’t help but stare at the rose
that she’d tossed on the casket. As much as she’d wanted to keep
it, she had to start breaking the ties between them.

But something was wrong. Unlike the other
roses, this one wasn’t holding still. It was moving back and forth
as if blown by a forceful unseen wind. Incredibly, a gust came by,
and the rose shot out of the grave and blew across the grass.
Irritated, Mina chased after Brody’s rose, trying to stop and pick
it up, but it continued its wild journey until it flew under the
branches of a shaded willow tree.

Mina stopped and parted the long weeping
willow’s branches, and could see the rose resting against Jared’s
black boot. Wait…not Jared—Teague.

Teague reached down to pick up the rose and
brought it to his nose to breathe in its scent. His hair was a
lighter shade of brown than Jared’s, and his eyes were a deep blue,
while Jared’s were a haunting gray. They both had similar angular
jaws and drop-dead-gorgeous looks. Teague once again was dressed in
black, and Mina had a mind to joke about whether he was going to a
funeral, but he was, so the words died on her lips before she even
spoke them.

Instead, she glared at him and held out her
hand, demanding the rose without saying a word.

Teague’s eyes widened and looked her over,
never once dropping his Cheshire Cat smile. “I only came to pay my
respects.”

“
What respect? You don’t
respect me or my family. Otherwise, your kind never would have
cursed us.”

“
You’re wrong—it’s always
wise to respect your enemies.”

“
Well, I don’t respect
you.”

“
You should, Mina. Do you
see what happens when you ignore your duty—when you ignore me?” He
pointed to Charlie’s grave, and his voice became threatening. “I
don’t like to be ignored, and now you have one less distraction in
your life, so you can focus more of your time on me.”

Teague’s words confirmed her worst fears.
Her actions had led Teague to strike out against her family and
kill her brother. Her stomach dropped, bile rose in her throat, and
every inch of her was sick with the guilt his words layered on her.
It was her fault, and she knew it. But she couldn’t show him how
weak she was, and how much his words had affected her. She had one
more person to protect: her mother, and she would not be negligent
again.

“
You’re not welcome here.
So please leave.” Mina snatched the rose out of Teague’s hand and
felt a sting in her palm. She winced in pain but refused to
acknowledge it.

Teague reached for her hand, and Mina let
him open up her palm to inspect her wound from the thorn. She was
still reeling, and her whole body shook with anger. Teague leaned
forward and blew on the small cut in her palm, and it healed
itself. She ripped her hand from his grasp and took two steps away
from him, almost falling on the ground. She needed to keep better
control of herself. She needed Jared.

“
How is my dear brother?”
he asked, as if reading her mind.

“
Why don’t you ask him
yourself?”

His eyes darkened. “We are not exactly on
speaking terms.”

“
It wouldn’t have anything
to do with the fact that you keep trying to kill me, would
it?”

“
Now, sweet Mina, our
fight goes back long before you were born. But you can’t hold it
against me that I’m only doing my job. I’m supposed to throw quests
your way, and you are supposed to try to stop me. It’s as simple as
that. I can’t help it if we have a casualty or so in the process.
That’s what makes the stories so good.” He smirked. “That’s what
makes them popular. That’s what makes
me
powerful.” He was so close to her
now that he ran the back of his finger across her cheek, and she
flinched and smacked it away.

“
I see that you are as
disgusting as ever.”

“
I see that you’re getting
your fight back. You know, Mina, out of all the Grimms over the
years who died at the hands of my fables, you are by far my
favorite to toy with. I wonder why that is?” he asked, appearing to
ponder the question.

“
Maybe because you picked
the wrong girl to mess with.”

“
I don’t think so. I’ve
finally found the perfect Grimm. I think you will be the most
challenging. Which means your ending, the tale that finishes you
off, will make us both famous.”

Mina’s lip trembled, and she steeled herself
to not show fear. She stood her ground and looked Teague right in
the eye. “A thousand sweet words can never disguise the rattle of a
viper about to strike. I will not drop my guard ever again. And I
will end this curse…by doing whatever…or killing whoever…I have
to.”

Teague’s face turned furious, and his lips
pressed into an angry thin line.

“
Then be prepared, my dear
Mina, for you won’t be able to ignore this next tale. I’ve made
sure of that.” He stepped away from her. A crack of thunder rattled
the earth and she jumped, turning in surprise. A second later,
pouring rain followed, soaking everyone within minutes. Mina turned
back toward Teague, but he was gone.

Chapter 4

Mina ran back to the burial site and gently
tossed Brody’s rose onto the others. She looked upon the grave and
felt her heart rip open anew. Charlie was so young, and none of
this was fair: the curse, the constant moving, not having a normal
life…all because of their last name.

She ignored the pouring rain and was
actually reveling in its cool touch. The rain hid her tears, and
she felt as if it was washing away her guilt, her past. She
shuddered and made a vow to herself and her brother. “I failed you,
Charlie. I failed to protect you from the curse. I’m so sorry. But
I won’t let it take another Grimm. The curse ends with me, I
promise.”

Mina heard her mother call her name, and she
looked up and started running for the Wongs’ car.

It was time to go…but go where? She didn’t
think she could go back to living with Terry for much longer. But
they didn’t have to, because Terry pulled up right then with a
large white van with the Happy Maids logo on the side.