Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4) (17 page)

Brody had asked her to come. He was here
with
her
.

But Mina didn’t have much time to dwell
on that. Her next dance partner, a younger man—in his late twenties,
she’d guess—found her. She politely asked him how he knew who she was. He
looked a little embarrassed but explained that he knew everybody’s name in the
room except for her. And he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her since she
entered the hall.

Mina fell silent after the compliment.
She wasn’t expecting one from a complete stranger.

As they danced, Mina saw that her first
partner was right. After learning the waltz, it was easier to learn another
dance. Her new partner helped her through the turns and didn’t seem to mind
that she didn’t know what she was doing. He seemed charmed by her innocence.
The dance ended.

Finally, Brody came to claim her for their
first dance. His hair was messed up and there was a smear of lipstick across
his cheek. The sight made her uncomfortable, except that she knew he hadn’t
left the dance floor the whole time. He’d just been the victim of Daphne’s
parting gift.

Brody gripped Mina around the waist and
pulled her to the middle of the floor. “How are you surviving?”

“I’m actually quite enjoying myself,”
Mina laughed.

Brody frowned. “That’s unfortunate. You
should be just as miserable as me, since we haven’t been able to dance
together.”

“What do you call what we’re doing now?”
she teased.

He had to stop and look down. “Uh,
dancing.”

“And are you miserable?”

“No, I’m not,” he admitted.

“Then quit complaining.” They continued
to dance, Brody leading, Mina attempting to follow. He joked and she laughed,
but something felt off. Maybe it was the building tension she felt—a tremble
of trepidation that sent shivers down her arms.

The song was almost over when a mirror
ball was turned on and the room alit with dancing lights. A woman and her
partner stopped dancing to comment on the display.

“Hey, those shoes are amazing! How much
did it cost to get them to light up?” the lady in the blue dress asked.

“Light up?” Confused, Mina looked around at
the faces as the crowd slowed to watch her. Lifting the hem of her dress
slightly, she gasped aloud. Her glass slippers pulsed with a light that grew
brighter and brighter.

“Mina, what’s happening?” Brody asked.

“No, not here! Not now!” Mina turned to
run off the floor.

Brody called out after her, but she
didn’t stop, didn’t slow down. She just kept running. Tears started to fall as
she realized the implications of what she was doing. She ran through the foyer,
toward the exit, aiming to get out of the building and onto the golf course
behind the club. Somewhere where there were less people.

She never made it. Her shoes sparkled and
the lights flickered faster. She picked up the hem of her dress and barely made
it down the first few steps when Brody burst through the doors in a panic, as
if he too realized what the Cinderella story really entailed. He would lose
her.

And—with the Story in
charge—he might not find her.

“Mina!” Brody yelled from the top of the
stairs.

She stopped running. “Stay back, Brody.”
Mina stood on the bottom step, holding her hands up warning him away.

“Don’t go,” he said. “Please.” He looked
heartbroken.

“I have to. I have no choice.” The
tinkling sound grew more intense, and a piercing white light surrounded her,
cutting off her view of Brody. One minute, she saw him mouthing her name and
reaching for her. The next—he was gone.

Chapter 19

Mina refused to move until her eyes
adjusted from the flash of light.

Right before she’d transported, she heard
a loud sucking noise followed by a small pop. She could only imagine what being
pulled through time would do to her nervous system. Her limbs tingled from the
rush of returning blood as if her whole body had fallen asleep. Tall spindly
forms began to come into focus around her.

Trees.

Where had she ended up? When? Teeth
chattering uncontrollably, Mina wondered how the whole time travel thing
actually worked. Had she gone into a hyper sleep? Broken down into energy particles,
beamed somewhere else, and rematerialized like on Star Trek? The sheer thought
of it all scared her. She was just grateful to be alive and in one piece.

She tried to take a step, but her body
seized up in pain and she had to grab onto a nearby tree for stability. Her
hands were cold as ice, but she tried to continue moving. She didn’t know how
much time she had, but she figured she needed to find Jacob and Wilhelm. This whole
curse had started with them, so maybe if she could find them and warn them
about the Fae plane, she could convince them never to set foot there. Maybe,
just maybe, she could end the curse before it ever began. Then the brothers
would never catch the eye of the Fae or the Reapers. And her family would be
safe.

But what if Schumacher’s shoes didn’t
take her to the right time? What if she didn’t land in Germany—or
anywhere in the vicinity of where she needed to be to save the Grimm Brothers?
She tried to keep herself together and not fall into hysterics. She really
should start thinking things through before she agreed to these plans.

Wait, she had thought them through. She
said no! Look how well
that
didn’t
work.

She blinked and studied the mossy pine
forest around her. Her eyes had adjusted enough that she could try and make it
out of the woods to look for a road. If she could find a highway, it might lead
to a town where she could get more information.

A few steps told her it would be a
difficult journey. Her glass slippers were impossible to walk in, and the heels
kept sinking into the soft earth.

She gathered the skirt of her dress,
watching her step carefully. She made it to a clearing and looked up into the
night sky, hoping to see the North Star.

“Oh crud.” Mina was on the verge of breaking
down. The night sky was alit in a glorious display of stars, but—unlike
her stars on Earth—these were moving and shooting across the black
expanse. Something that wouldn’t happen on her plane. At least not to the extent
that it looked like a never-ending display.

Which meant she was on the Fae plane.

Mina found a stump and sat down to take
off her shoes. It may not have been the smartest thing to do, but she could
move faster without them. Gripping the glass slippers in one hand and holding
up her dress in the other, she started walking.

The moonlight shed a bit of light in the
woods. Mina had no clue what direction she was heading, since she couldn’t find
a single point in the night sky that would stay put long enough for her to get
her bearings.

Suddenly, an immense shadow flickered on
the ground as something passed over her. She froze in her steps and waited,
counting to thirty before she continued on. When the shadow passed over her a
second time, she ducked underneath the canopy of the nearest tree. Mina tried
to calm her nerves and scan the sky for the owner of the shadow, but her silent
predator made no sound. Staying beneath the branches of the trees, she kept
moving. She needed to either find shelter or lose whatever was tracking her. The
size of the shadow filled her mind with the worst possible man-eating-beast
scenarios.

Her canopy came to an end. She’d have to
run without cover to the next copse of trees. Gripping the shoes close to her
chest, she counted to three and took off running across the meadow.

She heard it before she saw it. The
screech of her pursuer was the only warning, a sound so terrifying it made her
body tremble. She looked up to see an immense red-gold griffin bearing down on
her from above, its front claws outstretched to maim her. She threw up her
hands to protect her face just as something dark darted out from a nearby tree
and knocked the griffin out of the sky. Mina felt the barest touch of the
griffin’s wings across her back as she dove to the ground.

Her rescuer swooped back into the
clearing—another griffin. The much larger red-gold griffin veered right
and pulled up into the sky again, driven off course by the smaller griffin. Its
feathers were gray, fading to black along the hindquarters. The dark griffin
flicked its feline tail, while its bird-like head screeched at its airborne
enemy. Then, it landed right in front of her. Up close, the griffin was terrifying—a
four-legged beast with the hindquarters of a powerful lion and the giant flesh-ripping
talons of a bird. Enormous gray and black wings extended from the powerful
predator’s back.

Mina was frozen in terror, lying on the
ground in front of the black griffin. Its scorching breath heated her face, and
she tried to not show fear.

The powerful beats of the golden griffin’s
wings thundered in the air around her as it tried again to attack her from
above. But the black griffin screeched and opened its wings wider, claiming her
as its own.

Mina was too terrified to scream or run.
She just stayed low and waited for the ensuing battle over who got to eat her
for dinner.

The golden griffin wouldn’t back down and
kept calling out in challenge from the sky. Twice more it feinted toward her,
veering away at the last moment, trying to draw out the black griffin. The
third time, the predator flew even higher, tucking its wings to its side with
its talons extended, prepared to attack.

Mina watched in wide-eyed astonishment as
the black griffin’s feathers grew lighter and it shifted into a smaller form.
Before her eyes, the tail disappeared along with the wings, until a young man
stood before her, protecting her. He turned his face upward and held his strong
arms outward, challenging the griffin.

When the giant griffin saw the man, he
squawked in fear and pulled up. Ungainly and clearly disappointed, it flew away
into the moving starry sky with its tail between its legs.

“I’m sorry about that,” the young man
spoke up. “The griffins are allowed to hunt these grounds freely. When, they’re
hungry, they tend to forget their manners and will fight over food. Sometimes they
need to be reminded that a Royal is never to be undermined.” He kneeled down
and gave her a brilliant smile, offering a hand to help her up. “Are you okay?
You shouldn’t be out in the Fates’ woods unescorted. It’s much too dangerous.
And, Milady, where is your coach?” He looked around and waited for her to
explain her sudden appearance.

Mina was powerless to answer him and unable
to comprehend who stood in front her. It was Jared.

No, that couldn’t be right. The eyes were
the wrong color.

“Y-you saved me?” she answered
breathlessly.

His eyes lit up and crinkled with
laughter. “So you
can
speak. For a minute
there, I thought I had saved a mute. But mute girls don’t exist except in Fae
tales.”

He was beautiful. The moon highlighted
his strong chiseled jaw. His dark hair wasn’t as long as she remembered but cut
shorter along the sides. His eyes were full of joy, and she could see the hint
of teasing mischief that lurked there. As he helped her up off the ground, his
warm hands held onto hers just a second longer than was necessary. Her heart
was in utter turmoil as she tried to process the voice and personality that
were coming out of the young man. It had to be Teague, but he wasn’t trying to
kill her. He was being polite, bewitchingly charming even, which was more
Jared’s style.

He pulled her up and she crossed into the
moonlight. It was his turn to be left speechless.

“I know you,” he stated emphatically.

Mina felt a tremor of cold dread run
through her veins, and she stepped back from him in fear. Teague didn’t let her
move away, but grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. Mina cried out, thinking
he was going to try and hurt her like before.

She leaned away from him. “Let go of me.
Please, let go.” She whimpered and pushed against his chest when he came too
close.

“Why do you fear me? I will not harm
you.” He immediately let go of her hand and stepped away, giving her space. Clasping
his hands behind his back, he continued to study her, every emotion showing on
his face.

“Do you know me?” Mina whispered,
doubtful.

“Yes…and at the same time, no.” This time
he seemed like the one who couldn’t believe his eyes. “I’ve dreamt about you. I
didn’t think you were real, but here you are.” He reached out to her but caught
himself and stood up straight. His hands went behind his back again.

It was odd, but she felt reassured by the
way he was holding himself in check. She wasn’t afraid anymore. Mina watched as
his eyes devoured her every inch of her. He held himself impossibly still and
swallowed nervously the closer she came to him.

Teague wore a high-collared shirt tucked
into black pants and black polished boots. A ring of silver leaves embellished
the collar. “I’m sorry,” he said, bowing. “Let me introduce myself to you. I’m
Teague, Prince of the Fae. And you are?”