Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4) (8 page)

Daphne forced a smile. “We could
definitely put it on our Maybe list.”

He shook his head no. “Not going to
happen.” He grabbed a pen from the table and wrote it at the top of her paper
with a big heart around it. “We added them.”

Lara looked skeptical. “I guess we could
do one or two songs.”

“No, I say we bring them in live. If
we’re going to have a live orchestra for the waltzes, then they should switch
off every thirty minutes. After all, the band is family.”

Brody’s announcement really sent the
girls into a tizzy, but they aimed to please. Over the next hour, they crossed
songs off, rearranged, and highlighted like crazy. The girls did everything
they could to make it work—for Brody.

After a while, he disappeared to let his
mom know about the song list and to get drinks, leaving Mina with the cartoon
girls.

“So you know Brody from school?” Lara
asked, playing with the locket around her neck. “I still think it’s weird that
he insists on going to public school instead of private like us.”

“Uh huh,” Mina answered, slightly
intimidated by the elegant girls in front of her.

“What about the other girl? What’s her
name?” Daphne asked, tapping her lip with a perfectly manicured nail.

“Nan. Yes, we both attend classes with
Brody.” She automatically thought of her own best friend.

“No, not her.” Daphne rolled her eyes,
flipped a magazine open and pointed to an old photo of Brody and Savannah. “Is
she still with Brody?”

“Savannah? No, they aren’t together
anymore.” Mina wanted to claw the snarky Daphne for that jab.

Lara and Daphne started to pick up their
notebooks, magazines, and seating charts for the ball.

“So are you coming to the ball?” Lara
asked casually. Almost too casually.

“Why, yes, I promised Brody I would.”
This was starting to sound familiar.

“Really?” Daphne swung her cross-bag over
her shoulder. She eyed Mina’s clothes and ripped jeans. “As a server? I know the
club was a bit short-handed for the event.”

“No. As his date,” she said between
clenched teeth.

Brody returned with two glasses of iced
tea. Daphne reached for one, but Brody turned and handed it to Mina instead. The
gesture was so unexpected, she almost let the glass slip through her fingers.
Thankfully, she caught it, as well as the look of hatred that shot her way.
Brody took a long swig of his own glass of iced tea.

Right then, the old grandfather clock in
the corner started to chime, and it didn’t ring the two tones it should have.
It continued—another ten chimes.

Lara’s face scrunched up in confusion,
“Twelve?”

“I think your clock’s broken,” Daphne
snorted.

“It’s not broken. At least it shouldn’t
be.” Brody walked over to the clock, opened the glass door, and looked inside
for the key to wind it. He inserted it into the face of the clock, gave it a
few twists and turns, and gently moved the hands around the face until it
showed two o’clock.

Immediately, the clock started to chime
again. Everyone waited, silently counting two deep, resonant chimes.

There was almost an audible exhale as no
other noise came from the clock.

“See, it’s not broke,” Brody turned and
smiled.

“I guess not.” Mina smiled wanly, but she
kept her eyes on the clock because what she knew was coming next. She’d been on
high alert as soon as she heard the girls’ names. Steppes and Ziester? How
close could the Story get to “stepsister”?

The slight tingling began, indicating the
Story was near. Mina couldn’t take her eyes off of the clock, watching as Brody
hung the key up and closed the glass door. As soon as it clicked shut, the
clock continued its haunting chime.

Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve.

And this time, when the clock struck
twelve, the bay windows blew open, and the curtains flew horizontally into the
room.

Lara and Daphne shrieked as the pages in
the open magazine on the table began to flip.

Brody rushed across the room and tackled
the opened windows. Once he got them shut, the wind died down. The magazine
settled on a two-page spread of Brody wearing a white mask with the caption in
bold Times New Roman:

Brody
Carmichael—A real, live Prince Charming.

Mina launched to her feet, knocking her
knee into the corner of the coffee table. “Ouch! Excuse me, but I have to go.”

“Where are you off to so early?” Daphne
called out. “Is your coach going to turn into a pumpkin?”

“Don’t be silly, Daphne. She probably
just has to catch a bus.”

“Girls, enough.” Brody said heatedly.

Both Daphne and Lara turned pouty looks
toward him.

Brody leapt after her. “Mina, are you
feeling okay?”

She waved him off. “I’d like to go home.”

Brody disappeared to tell his mom where
he was going.

Mina could hear the two girls whispering.
One of them—sounded like Lara—said it was all an act. That Brody
couldn’t possibly like her. She was only there to make them jealous.

Mina’s anger got the better of her and
she spun. “No wonder you’re so excited about wearing masks at a ball. Who knows,
if you don’t say a word, you may be able to disguise your hideous personalities.”

Lara’s and Daphne’s mouths dropped open. They
looked like drowning fish as they tried to come up with a retort.

Mina didn’t stay to listen or battle with
words. She needed to get home and get help, because Teague had just set up her
next quest. As innocent as the Cinderella story sounded, Mina knew there would
be a deadly twist to this fairy tale.

The whole way home, she was tense and on
edge. Brody asked if she was okay.

“No, I’m not okay.” She blew out a long breath.

“Is it something I did?”

“Not intentionally. It seems like we’re
both in for another round of fairy-tale madness.”

“You mean you’re getting your intuition?”

Mina laughed softly. “Yeah, I guess you could
say that. I think we are about to go head to head with the Cinderella tale.”

Brody pulled the car up her driveway and
put the car into park. She listened to the hum of the engine as he unbuckled
his seatbelt and turned toward her.

“And you think we’re both caught up in
this tale?”

“Yeah, unfortunately I do.”

“Okay and what part do you think I’m
going to play in this quest?”

“I think you’re Prince Charming,” Mina
said, feeling awkward at voicing her assumption out loud.

“So in Cinderella, it’s all about the
girl falling in love with Prince Charming, right?” A mischievous smile lurked
at the corner of his lips.

She could hardly concentrate with how
good he looked right then. She swallowed. “Yes.”

“And the prince falls in love, loses the
girl, and has to find her.”

Again she answered, although her voice
dropped in volume. “Yes.” She studied her hands, clasped in her lap.

Brody reached for her hands and pulled
them up between them. “Well, this may be the easiest quest ever then, because
this prince has already found you.” He placed a gentle kiss on the back of her
hand.

Her heart slammed against her chest at
the simple gesture that was so packed with emotion.

“And I don’t plan on letting you go anytime
soon,” he added.

She smiled weakly. “It’s never that
easy.”

“I wouldn’t expect it to be. Otherwise
the other Grimms before you would have beaten this.”

“We could get hurt. You could get hurt.”

Brody tightened his grip on her hands,
cupping them between his. “I’ve seen you play sports. You need all the help you
can get. Maybe Nix could make up another batch of that foul smelling
fix-it-all? Then we’ll be good.”

Mina pulled her hand out of his to playfully
punch his shoulder. He lurched forward and she missed.

He laughed. “See, you probably couldn’t
hit the broad side of a barn.”

“Probably not, but I’ve got to try.”

Brody mellowed. “As long as you let me,
I’ll be here to help you.”

“As long as you remember me.”

“True, but keep in mind that’s not
something I can control. Still, there’s something between us that—no
matter what—keeps pulling us together. So if I forget or get put under a
spell, you’ll just have to remind me how awesome you are.”

Mina grinned and hopped out of the car.
He was right. There was something between them, and it spun her in circles with
confusion. Was it a crush, an infatuation, love? So soon after losing Jared,
she didn’t want to even think it was possible, but …what if what she had for
Jared hadn’t been real? It had only been a few weeks ago, but in her heart it
felt like years.

The stress of the quests was wearing on
her. She could feel the next one looming over her. But for once, she felt like
her future might not be so bleak.

One final question hung over her, though.
Teague
would
manipulate this. How
would she survive it?

Chapter 9

Nan insisted on taking Mina dress
shopping for her date with Brody after school on Wednesday. Since her car was
in the shop, they were stuck with the horrible public transportation system.
Maybe it was the combined stench of exhaust and sweat that filled the air
making her feel uneasy. Maybe it was the odd look that Ever kept giving her
from across the aisle.

It had started as soon as Nan compared
Mina to Cinderella going to a ball.

The bus dropped them off at Harlow Street
in a quaint area filled with small nook and cranny stores and family-owned
businesses. They were heading to Nan’s favorite café for a bite to eat while
they decided what type of dress she should wear. Mina wanted simple; Nan wanted
something spectacular, and jaw dropping.

“You don’t want any old dress. You need a
dress fit for a queen.”

Mina shivered. “Don’t say that too
loudly. I have no desire to be queen of anything.”

Ever snorted loudly.

“Fine. Then you’ll be the belle of the
ball.”

Mina inwardly groaned. Now it sounded
like
Beauty and the Beast
. The last
time she’d gone dress shopping, she was stuck in a Red Riding Hood tale. “No
belles, no queens. Just a dress. A simple one, with not too much stuff on it.”

“Boring. Got it,” Nan answered.

“No, not boring. I just don’t want any
extra attention on my date with Brody.”

Nan looked to Ever and wiggled her
eyebrows. “You heard that. We got our marching orders. We are on a mission to
make her as unattractive as possible.”

Ever smirked. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Hey, watch it!” Mina bumped her shoulder
into Ever playfully. Ever withdrew and moved away to walk on the other side of
Nan. That hurt.

Mina wanted to say something, but Nan
pointed to a sign above a store with a bunch of old clocks. “Hey, I’ve never
heard of this one. Hickory Dickory Dock! We should—”

“No!” Ever and Mina answered
simultaneously.

Nan’s eyes went wide and she was about to
ask why, when Mina noticed the traffic. A large garbage truck barreled toward
them. She thought it would slow down for the light.

Only it didn’t. It continued picking up
speed.

“Watch out!” Mina shouted. The garbage
truck hit the curb and vaulted onto the sidewalk. It was heading straight for
them.

The ground rumbled and noise split the
air as the driver blasted the horn in warning. The world moved in slow motion
as the faded green garbage truck crashed through a newspaper stand, scattering
papers into the air. The license plate came into focus. After all, she was only
feet away.

Mina saw Ever grab Nan and try to fly up
into the air, but the Pixie wasn’t going to be fast enough.

Instinctively, Mina stretched out her palm
and used power to launch her friends out of harm’s way. That was it. She knew
it. Save her friends or save herself. She turned and saw the driver’s terrified
expression as he raised his arm to cover his face, prepared to slam into her.

But right before impact, she heard the
sound of metal scraping across cement. And it wasn’t from the truck.

Chapter 10

“Stupid! You’re so stupid. I can’t
believe you didn’t try to save yourself. How dumb can you be?” A male voice
growled into her ear as her rescuer carried her, pressed tightly to his chest.

Mina couldn’t see the person who spoke.
Her arms were wrapped awkwardly around his neck, and she didn’t let go for fear
of being dropped.

It was dark, and the sounds of the city were
faint. Where was she? It had happened so fast. One minute she’d been facing
death, the next she’d been pulled downward into someone’s arms. The person
holding her stopped and tossed her roughly to the ground.