Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4) (37 page)

“This is
some difference!” he whispered as he leaned down to give her another hug.

“Oh, gag
me with a spoon. I feel like a simpering Disney princess,” she whispered back,
batting her eyes at him. She pulled away and did a twirl in the hallway, her
invisible wings still fluttering with excitement, making any loose papers go
flying out of the neighboring lockers.

Jared
was impressed. She was doing a bang-up job of drawing attention their way.
Everyone in the hallway was staring at them.

Jared
scanned the crowd of onlookers and spotted a pair of green eyes filled with
envy—Kathleen’s.

“The show
is about to begin.”

“I
thought it already started,” Ever said, chuckling, as she pulled him after her
down the hall.

Jared
followed and made sure to pay extra attention to Ever. Despite her total
makeover, she was making him uncomfortable. Maybe because he knew it was a
ruse, but wasn’t sure if she really thought of it that way. She seemed a little
too eager to participate.

Once they
neared Kathleen, Jared whispered, “Now.”

Ever
turned around and jumped up into the air easily with the use of her invisible
wings and wrapped her arms around his neck again, running her fingers through
his hair.

“Jared,
promise you’ll
nev
er
le
ave
me.” Her voice was husky with emotion, too much emotion.

He did
everything he could not to look at Kathleen and instead to stare deeply into
Ever’s eyes. “I will never leave you. I promise.” The words sounded forced even
to him, but he hoped it was enough to catch Kathleen’s attention. He ignored
every desire in his body to glance back as he headed to his next class.

Ever and
him made a big show of not wanting to part in the hallway, and she even gave
him one last hug.

“Remember,
she’s going to try to touch you. So be careful,” Ever warned as she blew him
fake kisses and walked away.

Jared
nodded silently and walked into his third-period class. He took an empty chair
and waited for their next journalism assignment. Adam and Mark were giving him
excited looks and thumbs up. They must have seen Ever’s show in the hallway.
Lucy, on the other hand, refused to look at him. Uh oh, another angry female.
He should be used to that. Wait, he saw her shoulder’s shaking. Lucy was
laughing at him. He was about to pick up a pencil and throw it at her when a
familiar scent caught his nose.

He could
smell Kathleen before he even saw her. She smelled slightly musty, like she’d
been swimming in a creek all day. Her curly red blonde head popped into view,
and she pulled up a chair next to him.

“Hi, I’m
Kathleen Donovan,” she held out her hand for him to shake it. Jared ignored it
completely and turned back toward the front of the room.

Kathleen
was persistent. “So, was that your girlfriend? You must really love her a lot.”

“Yeah
that’s Ever. She’s the air I breathe. I couldn’t imagine life without her,”
Jared replied, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous he sounded to himself.

Kathleen
leaned in closer to him, and he physically drew away from her. He saw how his
actions affected her, and she wasn’t happy. He needed to go in for the kill to
make her really angry.

“Let’s
you and me get a bite to eat after school? We could meet at the café down the
road.” She tilted her head and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Here it
was, her advance, and he needed to prove how loyal he was to Ever.

“No, I’d
rather not. I’d never betray my princess like that.” The words were forced out
of his mouth, but he chose them carefully.
Bas
ed on
what he
had overheard at the creek behind her house, he’d made certain to use the
words, betray, never leav
e
,
pro
mi
se and
prin
ce
ss
.

Kathleen’s
eyes turned dark with anger, and she stiffened in her chair. She brought one
hand up to her eyes, and she pulled it gently away, revealing that tears
glistened on her fingers.

He’d made
her cry. Not a good thing to make a Fae creature cry. They tended to become
very powerful when distraught. Kathleen held it together and didn’t say
anything the rest of class.

When
class was over, Jared was careful to leave before Kathleen. He could see Ever
down the hallway waiting for him Her expression said she was bursting with
questions.

He didn’t
make it that far before a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. He looked
down and saw a long, sinewy green arm. He tried to shake it off, but the arm
was attached to a still human looking Kathleen. She’d let part of her Fae side
show on this plane.

“You will
forget you ever loved her. She’s not your true love,” her voice croaked out.
Slowly, she released her webbed grip on his arm, and he looked down to see a
slimy green film absorb into his skin. He began to feel lightheaded and dizzy.
He spun to look at Ever, and she was waving at him trying to get his attention.

He turned
away from Ever and gazed at Kathleen. Beautiful, ethereal Kathleen. His own
goddess. His princess.

Kathleen
preened at his sudden change in demeanor, and they walked away down the hall.
Ever stood there with a horrified look on her face, but she didn’t go after
him. She had to stick with the plan.

Chapter 6

Jared
felt like he was floating. He looked to his left at the beautiful girl on his
arm, and he frowned slightly. This wasn’t right. It’s not who he wanted to be
holding his arm. He faintly remembered brown eyes and vanilla. He shook his
head, and it felt heavy, foggy. He ignored it and followed the girl down the
street. It was night. When had it gotten so dark?

Kathleen
was saying something to him, and he turned, studying her. Her mouth formed
words, and he felt like he was watching a movie in slow motion. But he didn’t understand
any of the words she was saying. After a few minutes, Jared’s head began to
clear, and he could just make out her question.

“Do you
truly love me?” Kathleen asked.

Jared
paused and looked around. They were heading down a familiar street. He had just
been here with Mina a few days ago. They were heading toward Kathleen’s house.
Her persuasive touch was wearing off. Had Ever been able to take care of her
part of the plan?

“Of
course I love you,” he lied and tried to look at her in a loving way. He was
sure it came off as pained.

“If you
love me, then kiss me.” She reached up her slender arms and caressed his cheek.
Every time her slimy hand touched him, he felt like he was losing control,
losing focus. He turned his head at the last moment, and she touched his jacket
instead. He breathed a sigh of relief when she let her hand fall to his
shoulder.

“I would,
if you loved me back.”

She dropped
her hand from him completely and started quickening her pace, hurrying up the
driveway toward the back of her house.

“What are
you saying? Of course I love you,” Kathleen sniffed out, annoyed.

They were
at the screen door, and she pulled out her key and inserted it into the lock.
Her hands trembled slightly.

Jared
reached past her and placed his hand on the door, leaning down toward her. From
a distance, it probably looked like he was going in for a kiss, but instead he
growled out, “I know what you are.”

The keys
slipped out of Kathleen’s hands. She picked them up and looked at him
pretending indifference. “I’m Kathleen, and you’re my prince.” She reached up
to touch him but Jared grabbed her arm through the sleeve of her jacket.

“You’re
right. I’m your prince. I’m the one you’ve been looking for, the one whose form
you desire.” Jared squeezed her arm firmly showing her that he was the stronger
Fae.

He’d
thought to alarm her but instead her eyes glistened with tears, and her voice
rose in happiness. “You know about me then. You know my secret. Can you really
save me? All the others said they could save me as well, but they lied. Their
kiss did nothing.” She glanced at the creek bed behind her, and more tears ran
down her cheeks and across her lips.

Jared
caught her quick glance and noticed the tears. He would have to be very, very
careful. She wasn’t really crying. The Croanoak could secrete tears.

“It’s
because they’re not Fae. They don’t have the power to break the curse. Unlike
me. I can be your true love, if only you would do something for me in return.”

Her lips
started to tremble. “Oh yes, yes, I want to be beautiful. I want to take the
form of a beautiful Fae. Please help me.”

“I’ll
help you, if you show me that you don’t care for the others.” Jared made a
point to look at the creek. He could still hear the croaks of the bullfrogs.
“If you loved me you wouldn’t keep them around.”

He
reached out to caress her hair, a safe enough place to touch. She pressed into
his hand, like a puppy who wanted to be petted and told they were loved.

“Yes,
oh yes! I can feel the power in your words. You are right, only you can be my
prince and turn this frog into a princess. I love you!” She reached up to try
and pull him into a kiss, but he pulled away.

Jared
turned and stepped down off the porch and walked toward the creek. “Not until
you prove it to me. Change them back and release them. Only after you’ve proven
your loyalty to me will I grant you your wish and give you the form you
desire.” He spoke the words loudly and in the direction of the bushes. He
didn’t need to look to know that Mina was hiding there with the Grimoire,
waiting to pounce.

He just
hoped that she’d caught his hidden instructions.

“I
can’t,” Kathleen whimpered. “I don’t know how.”

Jared
started to lose his temper. He could feel his anger billowing up inside. He
knew she was lying. “Yes, you
do
…my
l
ove.” The words were like sandpaper on his lips, but they did the
trick.

Kathleen
scurried off of the front porch and ran to the creek. She slipped off her shoes
and dashed haphazardly into the water. Her body slowly grew, stretched and shifted
into an ugly bullfrog form. The frogs peeked their head out of the water and
one by one they steadily swam to her.

She
held her arms open wide and let her tears flow freely into the water. A misty
fog started to form around her feet and the creek bed. Her voice became low and
coarse, then she started to croak out loud. More tears fell from her cheeks and
every time one fell into the water it glistened like gold and moved through the
water to find an awaiting bullfrog. The frog would glow and shimmer and slowly,
grow larger, taller, and become a human boy.

Jared
recognized Mitch Trujillo from his missing poster, and a few seconds later
Kevin Sanders appeared next to him. Another boy, Jared recognized but whose name
he didn’t know, materialized. Soon the creek bed was filled with disoriented
teenage boys. He waited and counted but it didn’t add up. Kathleen was crying,
and the more she cried, the further physically withered she became until she
resembled green leather.

“There,”
she huffed. “I did it.” Kathleen waved her hands to Jared, and he moved closer
to her. She collapsed on the ground, a pathetic version of her Croanoak form.

Jared
leaned down to her and lifted up her head. She smiled wanly. “Now kiss me,” she
cried out.

“No,” he
said firmly. “That’s not all of them.”

She
squirmed uncomfortably under his direct gaze. “It’s most of them. I could die
trying to save them all. Kiss me now and then when I’m no longer cursed I can
save him.”

“I know
the rules. If you are in your human form, then you will no longer have the
power to free them. Do it now!” he shook her shoulders hard, and he could feel
her brittle bones creak beneath his hands. She really was wasting away.

His anger
finally pulled her out of her own lovesick enchantment. “You lied to me Jared.
You had no intention of ever kissing me!” she screamed. Her green eyes squeezed
out one more tear, and she grasped hold of Jared’s arm beneath his sleeve.

“You
disappointed me my prince, like the rest. You will now feel what it’s like to
be a frog for the rest of your life.”

He tried
to pull away but the toxic touch of her skin to his made him lightheaded and
disoriented again. He watched as her ugly green stretched lips reached toward
his, and he could do nothing to stop it. He was under her toxic spell.

Jared
was furious with himself, and he could hear another voice laughing at him,
which only made him more desperate to break her hold on him.
Move your bo
dy!
he screamed
at
himself, but his body wouldn’t obey. His mind was free, but his body a
prisoner.

Kathleen’s
lips touched his and he could feel her magic pulling at him, pulling at his Fae
form.

Kathleen was
a Croanoak, a Fae creature that travels the planes, hungrily searching for a
stronger form for themselves. Their greatest weapon is their ability to
forcibly steal another’s form and make it fit them. For some reason, probably because
of the Story’s bidding, Kathleen was not only searching for the perfect body,
but the perfect love as well, so it would fit the frog prince tale.