Fable: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3 (25 page)

It was dark, with a pale hint of the moons’
glow coming in through the glass ceiling. It took a few moments for
her eyes to adjust. The room was as big as her high school
auditorium; the walls were lined with tall pillars of white marble.
In the middle of the room on a golden pedestal illuminated by the
moon was a book. She didn’t need any explanation to know that this
was the Fae’s book.

It was large and old, and there was a
resonant hum that seemed to be coming from the book, or maybe it
was her imagination. As soon as she stepped into the room, the
large double doors shut behind her, and a huge crossbeam slid into
place, locking it. A faint purple glow appeared around the doors,
and Mina knew that Teague had magically as well as physically
sealed them in the room.

Teague went right up to the Fae book and
placed his hand on it lovingly. He closed his eyes, and his hair
began to blow around the room. It looked like he had just become
stronger from touching the book. There was a large stone fireplace
at one end of the room, with two wooden throne-like chairs on the
other. Another fountain trickled soothingly by a wall of large
glass windows. It looked like the room at one time had been a
ballroom.

“
So here it is, Mina. The
book. I know about the Stiltskin’s backhanded deal with you to
steal this book for your brother. But let me just tell you,
stealing the book for him won’t complete the quest.”

Mina barely listened to Teague’s monologue
as she scanned the room. There in the corner she saw it. A golden
cage.

“
Charlie!” she screamed,
and ran to the prison. Charlie was cuddled up in the blankets just
like in her dream, and he awoke to the sound of her voice. He flung
off the blanket and reached his hands through the bars toward his
sister.

“
Oh, Charlie, sweetie. I’m
so sorry I didn’t protect you. I’ll get you out of here, I
promise.” Mina’s hands touched his face, his head, and then his
arms, checking to see if he was hurt.

Charlie’s fingers dug deeply into Mina’s
arms, and silent tears trickled down his cheeks. He pressed his
little face against the bars to try to get as close to her as he
could. Fresh tears poured down Mina’s face, but she ignored
them.

Mina stood up and went to the lock on the
cage. It looked to be a mixture of a combination lock and a magical
seal.

“
Unlock it…NOW.” Her voice
left little room for argument.

“
I can’t. You haven’t
finished your tale. You must defeat the Stiltskin to win back your
brother.”

“
But I already have. I
trapped the copper Stiltskin in the Grimoire. What more do you
want?” she cried out, refusing to let go of her brother.

Teague walked over to a hidden door in the
wall and opened it. On the other side was Temple Stiltskin, and he
looked furious. His boots clicked ominously as he walked into the
middle of the room and glared at Mina.

“
You said you had nothing
to do with Reid’s disappearance!” Temple roared, his hands flexing
ominously by his sides. “You lied.”

“
Not on purpose. He
attacked me, and I had to defend myself. I’m not even sure why he
was there. I was already on a quest with you,” Mina said, trying to
explain.

Temple froze and turned to stare at Teague.
“Did you send my youngest brother to fight a Grimm after I had
already promised I would steal the boy for you? Why? I made the
bargain—I said I would put together the quest for you. Why in all
our worlds would you do something so underhanded?”

It was obvious that even Temple was
operating in an unhappy work environment. Something was falling
apart between them, and it wasn’t the most beneficial
relationship.

Teague walked away from his beloved book and
raised his hands in the air. “He was tired of being the youngest,
the weakest. He wanted fame and glory, and came to me. He offered
his services to me, and since our Grimm wasn’t in any hurry to try
to save her brother, I thought I would give her a warning.”

Temple raised his hands and let out a truly
broken-hearted cry.

Teague looked bored and began to tap his
fingers together in impatience. “So Mina, here he is—your tale.
Defeat him, and I will give you back what you have lost. Lose, and
the curse will most definitely pass to him.”

“
NO! You can’t do that!”
she spat at him, and stood up to face the Stiltskin, then had a
moment’s hesitation.

“
Temple, now remember, it
wasn’t I who killed your brother, but the girl. That is at least a
parting gift I can give you.” Teague smiled wanly.

Temple’s eyes were red from crying, but he
turned to Mina with fury burning brightly in his eyes. “I will kill
you for my brother!” He flung open his jacket and pulled forth a
small vial. He opened it up and dropped a small golden fang into
the palm of his hand. He whispered something in the Fae language,
and the fang grew longer and longer till it couldn’t be contained
in his palm anymore. The tip of the fang reared its head, and a
reptilian hood appeared around it. Mina could see two blood-red
eyes staring at her as the fang morphed and continued to grow into
a large golden cobra.

“
One of my pets would like
to say hello,” Temple bragged.

She sucked in her breath in fright and
looked around the room for a weapon. Anything with which to fight
off the cobra. The snake slithered along the ground, now as tall as
a full-grown human and intent on making her its next victim. Teague
had moved over to a large chair by the book and sat down in it,
watching the forthcoming battle with interest. His fingers drummed
along the armrest as if he was becoming impatient.

Mina ran away from the middle of the room,
and grabbed a large vase and threw it at the snake. It saw the
attack and quickly moved out of the way of the vessel, which
crashed and splintered along the marble floor. She ran toward the
fireplace and grabbed the long fire poker, and spun around just as
the cobra lunged at her.

Her hand went up reflexively and she swung
the poker, knocking the snake’s attack to the side. He had
missed—barely. The cobra was angry and coiled himself protectively
before he raised his head, which was as large as a Doberman, and
swayed back and forth. His large hood opened in an attempt to
intimidate her. It worked.

Her hands shook, and she could feel the
handle of the metal poker digging into her skin because of her
deathly grip on it. The snake lunged at her again, and she stepped
to the side and used the poker to stab furiously at the cobra. She
did it—she stabbed the snake, but her aim was off and she missed
the head. In retaliation, the snake whipped its tail around and
knocked Mina’s only weapon across the floor.

She watched as the poker skidded to a halt
by a column. The snake was fast, faster than she had anticipated,
and she didn’t have the help of the Grimoire or Jared. But it
didn’t mean that she was completely defenseless. She glanced over
at the book sitting behind Teague, and an idea began to form in her
head. It was a stupid idea, but stupid ideas worked the best—well,
at least for her, anyway.

Mina turned and began to lead the snake back
toward Teague. It followed. She began to run, and it took after
her. She jumped up onto the podium, and as soon as she grabbed the
book, two large strong hands grabbed her from behind and lifted her
bodily into the air. It was Temple. She had temporarily forgotten
about the Stiltskin. This fight wasn’t fair—it was two against
one.

Mina screamed as her legs flew into the air
and couldn’t find purchase. Temple was stronger than he looked as
he began to squeeze her body. She felt like candy, brittle between
his arms. She choked and couldn’t catch her breath.

Teague sat unmoving in his chair, not
amused. He didn’t even seem surprised when she’d tried to make a
play for the book. His fingers drummed across the armrest
impatiently.

“
Help!” she tried to choke
out, but the word died on her lips, and he squeezed again. A
rattling noise reached her ears, and she felt her whole world
freeze. Temple turned her toward the large man-sized snake and held
her out like an offering. The snake slithered angrily toward her,
blood dripping from its wound. It was twenty feet away, ten feet
away, five—when a loud crackle and burst of light
appeared.

Everyone’s head whipped to the large double
doors. Bright white light leaked through the cracks of the door as
the magic seal was unlocked. There was still a huge crossbeam that
physically locked the door, but whoever was on the other side
wasn’t letting that stand in the way.

A crashing boom rocked the room, and the
chandeliers began to shake. Vases skittered a few inches off the
tables. The crash came again and again, and the beam cracked in the
smallest spot. Teague stood up in amazement and stared at the door.
Temple refused to put her down, but even the snake had turned at
the sound of the new threat.

Crash!
The doors blew off their iron hinges, and everyone had to
duck as pieces of wood, metal, and doorframe flew every which way.
The dust had barely cleared when Nix ran into the room. He looked
deathly pale, and his hair was turning an odd brown shade. His
green eyes had faded to an almost gray color, but that wasn’t what
surprised her the most—it was who was on his heels.

One of the largest giants Mina had ever seen
lumbered through the broken doors, smashing what was left of them
under his feet. He looked like one of the giants who’d been
guarding the bridge, but she couldn’t be sure.

“
Mina!” Nix yelled, and
ran toward her.

The snake quickly turned back and rose up
again to strike. This time he was closer to her, and Temple grabbed
Mina’s forehead and pulled it roughly toward the ceiling, exposing
her neck. She swallowed, and felt the snake’s eyes zero in on the
soft skin of throat and her Adam’s apple. It hissed, and its jaw
opened wide. Maybe she imagined it, but she thought she saw a drip
of venom slide off its perfectly gold fang.

She heard herself let out a little whimper,
and she closed her eyes as it lunged forward. Something hard
thudded against her, and she felt pain around her throat. She
imagined it was the snake wrapping itself around her and biting
her.

A groan was heard behind her, and then she
was falling, falling to the ground. She smacked the marble floor
and rolled away. Mina opened her eyes to see that it was Nix who
was now wrapped up in a battle for life or death with the cobra. He
had something in his hand and he tried to use it to stab the snake,
but it was knocked from his hand and skittered across the floor to
land right in front of Mina.

It was her knife. Temple was lying on the
floor, bleeding, clutching his head where a large cut had appeared,
a broken vase lying next to him. The large giant who had barreled
through the door was now being flung across the room into the
marble wall. Huge web-like cracks spiraled out of the marble in
every direction.

Teague had stood up and was laughing
hysterically—finally enjoying the battle, it seemed. He looked
pleased to have worthy opponents. Mina didn’t give the giant any
other thought, but lunged for the glass knife and went to help
Nix.

She was almost there when she saw the snake
rear its head back for a strike, and then he bit Nix in the
shoulder. She heard him scream! It was the most awful
heart-wrenching noise, and then she realized it wasn’t Nix who was
screaming—she was!

Mina leapt onto the snake’s back, and
stabbed it over and over and over again. It didn’t matter; on the
first strike, the snake began to writhe in pain as it slowly turned
to gold. She dropped the shard of glass and quickly pulled Nix out
of the snake’s grasp before he was stuck in a golden snake
coffin.

“
Nix! Are you okay?” Mina
cried out, using her hands to cover up the large nickel-sized holes
in his shoulders.

His skin was drying out, and his eyes looked
almost white now. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I’m sorry that I
didn’t help save your brother. I’m sorry that I am a poor excuse
for a nixie.”

“
You said so yourself that
nixies are gentle creatures. I should never have asked you to help
me on this quest. And now it’s all my fault that you are
dying.”

“
I was always dying. Now I
have done something brave before I died. I am happy.” His breathing
slowed, and Mina tried to make him comfortable. Her heart was
hurting so badly with guilt she was finding it hard to
breathe.

A large roar filled the air, and a table
flew past her head. She screamed and covered Nix’s body with hers
to protect him, and looked up in alarm. Charlie was wringing the
bars of his cage frantically and pointing at the Stiltskin. Temple
had finally gotten over his disorientation, because he was opening
up his jacket and pulling something else out of his jacket. A
golden feather.

A screech echoed through the room, and the
phoenix once again appeared, flying high in the air. Temple spun
the feather in a circle around the room, and the phoenix flew the
same path, creating a circle of fire that split the room in two,
with Charlie on one side of the five-foot-tall flame and Mina on
the other.

It was just like her dream. Mina watched the
phoenix fly out of reach and sit on a tall crossbeam. She couldn’t
help but feel sorry for the firebird, and then her heart
constricted even more when she realized how little choice
Stiltskin’s slaves had in the matter. The firebird and snake didn’t
want to be slaves any more than she did. What in the world would a
Stiltskin do if he had a Grimm as a slave?