Fairest (29 page)

“Ah, so I take it you know who I am.” His blue eyes became darker, and his smile fell from his lips.

“Yes, you must be Teague,” Mina’s words were clipped and controlled. “You are the one to blame for everything.” She slowly reached toward her pocket of her jacket and the Grimoire. Teague saw her deliberate movement and grabbed her wrist painfully.

“Ah! Let’s leave my little brother out of this for the moment. What I have to say is between you and me.” She glared at him in defiance when she refused to flinch from the pain. He smiled at her strength and then released his grip on her wrist. “So you overheard my mother call me Teague, but do you know I am also called by a different name?” he taunted.

Her lips curled up in a knowing smile. “I know. I looked it up at the library. Teague has many meanings, but the most common is Storyteller or, in your case, Story.” She watched as Teague’s eyebrows rose in surprise. She had caught him off guard.

“Very good. I’m impressed; it seems I may have underestimated you. You are the very first Grimm ever to figure out our secret.” He raised his hand slowly and brushed his knuckles down the side of Mina’s cheek. Her skin crawled from the contact.

He chuckled. “So do you like my parting gift? I thought it would be nice to give you what you wanted for once. You had been so miserable the last few weeks when I erased your friends’ memories. I was tired of watching you mope around all pathetic. I thought you would like this ending better. Your best friend and boyfriend get to live happily ever after.” He was extremely pleased with himself and smiled widely.

Bile rose up in Mina’s throat at Teague’s obvious machinations to try and break her and to use her friends for his games.

“It’s fine,” Mina taunted back. Stepping forward, she pushed into Teague’s chest.  He moved back a few steps. “I, too know how to play this game, and I am getting better at it.” She began to chuckle, and the smile dropped from Teague’s handsome face.

“What?” he asked worriedly. “What is so funny?”

“Nothing,” she answered back coyly. “It’s just so much easier knowing that it is you that I have to overcome not some magical book that exists in the Fae world. Because if your situation is as similar to Jared’s, and I believe it is, then your existence is bound to a book as well. So, in other words, if you die, I kill the Story, which means, bye-bye quests, and bye-bye curse.” Mina walked over to the rooftop and grabbed a spade she used to transfer her potted plant.

All of the color drained from Teague’s face as Mina spelled out his secret. She kept adjusting the handle of the spade in her hand testing its weight.

“You wouldn’t dare!” he joked nervously. “The Fates would send more Reapers after you.  In fact, all of the Fae would try and kill you.”  He backed up and tripped backward over Mina’s lawn chair, breaking it. Teague fumbled with the plastic furniture and finally freed himself from it.

“Tell me something new. They’ve been manipulating our original bargain and hunting my family down for hundreds of years. But nobody has ever tried to bring the fight to them. That is all going to change, starting now.” She had advanced upon Teague and swiped at his midriff with the spade. He jumped back and fled to the other side of the roof. “This Grimm will no longer follow the rules.”

“You don’t know what you would be doing. You would be declaring war!” He looked scared, but not because of Mina’s spade.  He was scared at what she was proposing.

“Then prepare for war, Story.” Mina took the spade and began to drag it across the roof, scratching out a very definite line in the cement. “The lines of battle have been drawn. Tell your King and Queen to send their best because
this
tale is about to be rewritten.”

End of Book 2

Chanda Hahn is the epitome of a jack of all trades. She’s a former children’s librarian and bookseller with an obsession with books. Currently she writes in her free time and is a credentialed children’s pastor. She likes her coffee cold, chocolaty and preferably blended, even when it’s below freezing outside.

She was born in Seattle, Washington, grew up in Nebraska, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their twin children; Aiden and Ashley.

Visit Chanda Hahn’s website to learn more about her other forthcoming books.

Other Books by Chanda Hahn

UnEnchanted: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 1

The Iron Butterfly

Connect with Me Online at:

Web site:
www.chandahahn.com

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/chandahahn

Smashwords:
www.smashwords.com/profile/view/chandahahn

A quick thank you to everyone who helped me with this book. Whether it was inspiring words, encouragement, editing or watching my twins so I can write. Thank you: Alison Brace, Ann-Marie Morgan, Stacey Wallace Benefiel, Mandy Pratt and my husband Philip Hahn.