Forever
Authors: Chanda Hahn
Forever
An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 5
Copyright
© 2015 by Chanda Hahn
ASIN:
B00VGTNK24
Cover
design by Steve Hahn
Cover
model Erica Cornelison
Photographer
Tiana Meckel
Makeup
Artist J.J. Hines
Kindle
Edition, License Notes
1
st
Edition
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review,
the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form is
forbidden without written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
For my super fans
Bethany A Bachman
Jamie Deann and Evalyn
Paola Loader
Kerry Marriott
Marsha (Critchfield) McGregor
Doris Orman
Aliseea Patricia
Sherry
Ralph-Lyle
Izabela Wardzińska
Chrissy White
Will Beauty have to destroy
the Beast she created?
A trail of smoke still sailed
into the sky like the colorful tail of a kite. It could be traced back down to
the decimated remains of the Green Mill Recycling Center.
Mina sat on the hill across
the river and stared down at the dark, burned wreckage that had been the
Godmothers’ Guild. Only a single fire rescue worker remained, and he walked
among the rubble, scattering ashes with a large rod to keep flare ups from
sprouting. Yellow caution tape roped off the whole area.
“Come on,” she mumbled under
her breath.
She tapped her closed fist
against her bent knees. She’d been sitting, watching, and guarding the
building—waiting to see if any of the rescue team would discover what
really lay only a few stories below them. She could only hope that the Fae had
covered their tracks well.
The news had called the fire
a rare accident, saying the explosion was caused by a ruptured gas line, but
the Fae knew otherwise. And Mina knew otherwise, but she suspected there was
some Fae persuasion being used to cover up what really happened.
The cause of this tragedy was
the dark prince himself. He’d sent his army to attack the Godmother’s Guild
like he had done over twenty years ago. Last time, the Guild had been able to
fight off the attack, even trapping one of the trolls in stone. But the prince,
the Story, wasn’t as strong then.
Now, Teague was nearly
invincible. Joined with the other half of his soul, Jared, he had fully come
into his power, and he wanted vengeance—against the Guild, against the
humans, against her.
She let out a long sigh and
dug her fingernails into her palms as she stared past the rubble along the
river to an area that the Godmothers had warded and protected from the rescue
team. Even she wouldn’t have known what to look for if she hadn’t been there
when it happened.
The river rock was slightly
darker along the embankment, where Fae flame had devoured the bodies of the
dead. Of those who had died in the battle and from the fire. One of them had
been Mei Wong, her faithful brownie Godmother.
“Why?” Mina whispered, her
voice hoarse from crying. “Why you? You were nothing but gentle and kind. You
didn’t deserve this. He did. It’s
his
fault.”
Tears burned in her eyes, but
she refused to blink. She let the pain well up inside of her. Because although
she tried to place the blame on Teague, Mina knew deep down, he wasn’t the one
who started it. She was.
She was the one who had gone
back into the past and set all of this in motion. It was her. It had always
been her. She was the one who created the Grimoire. She was the one who had
given it to the Grimm brothers. She was the one who betrayed Teague by saving
Ferah, who, in turn, stabbed the prince with an evil dagger, the tip of which
remained inside him and poisoned his heart. Of course he blamed her. When she
tried to dig out the tip, he saw her only as another assassin and blasted her
through the tower window.
Trying to save herself, she
had inadvertently opened up a gate between her world and his, and he’d been
chasing her ever since. He had to wait over a century for the timelines to catch
up.
But now they were on the same
playing field. There were no more secrets. She knew who he was, and he knew she
knew. She created the beast, and now she’d have to destroy him. She knew that
now.
Jared was Teague, at least a
part of him. When she’d met Teague back in time, she saw bits of Jared in
him—the smile, the smirk, the cocky grin. Even the way he looked at her
when he didn’t think anyone was watching. It had been Jared’s look, his jokes,
his smile.
But that was then, before he
was poisoned. Now? Now she didn’t know what to make of him, of the prince, of
the Story.
Who he had been and who he
was now would no longer matter. Innocents were at stake. Too many had paid the
price for Mina’s folly. Too many had been injured; too many had died. She could
only see this concluding one way. It would end with death—hers or
Teague’s.
He had said she might be more
agreeable in the morning. Well, it was morning. Where the heck was he? Brody
and Nan had forced her to go home last night to get some sleep. But that was a
joke. She couldn’t.
She’d taken off the lavender
dress and thrown it onto the bed, feeling the weight of the dagger hidden
inside the pocket. She’d changed into jeans and boots, and layered a plaid top
over a shirt. Grabbing mittens, hat, and scarf, she snuck back outside at first
light and rode her bike all the way to the Recycling Center.
Seven hours later, her rear
was numb, and her legs were stiff from sitting, Most of the damage had been
contained and fires put out. She had watched and counted as each of the City
Gas vehicles, the police cars, and the fire trucks had pulled away one by one.
Her stomach growled from
hunger. She knew this was where he’d want to meet her. So he could gloat over
his handiwork, his accomplishments. He wanted to see her cower, but she knew
she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
Her skin prickled with the
familiar sensation that she felt whenever he was near. Mina jumped up and
turned around just as he stepped out from behind a large evergreen.
His dark, angry, blue eyes
crinkled up in the corners with mirth, mirroring the smirk on his face. His
perfectly styled dark hair accentuated his cheekbones. He wore a long patchwork
jacket, made of different leathers and black textures, like a cape off of his
shoulders. Both the cape and his tall, black boots gave him an animalistic
ruler vibe. The only light thing about him was his stark white shirt.
“I think I prefer these
clothes to your fancy dresses,” he said, his voice like velvet as he stepped
closer to her.
“I think I prefer your other
clothes. Are you auditioning for an episode of
What Not to Wear
?”
Teague frowned and shook his
head. “Again with the insults that mean nothing to me.”
“How about this? You look
like an animal.”
His handsome head fell back,
and his eyes closed in laughter. “Now that is funny.”
He came up and reached out to
touch her cheek, but she slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
His nostrils flared in anger,
but he held back his biting remark. Instead, he turned away from her and placed
one boot on a rock, gazing down over the smoking building in the valley.
Here come the insults
.
“Do you have it?” His voice
had lost its teasing tone. He was asking for the dagger.
“Yes.”
“Then give it to me, Mina.”
He cast a forlorn look over his shoulder at her.
“I didn’t bring it.”
She could see his jaw working
as he clenched it. He straightened, cracking his neck as he faced her full on.
“Did you not get my warning?” He pointed down below at the very spot of the
burned river rock. “I’m done playing games.”
“Well, the game now has new
rules. It’s an expanded edition.”
He raised one eyebrow. “You
think to outplay me?”
“Did you bring my mirror?”
she shot back. “I may exchange one for the other.” She wanted the mirror. With
that mirror, he could always watch her. Always.
This time it was Teague who
looked surprised. “May exchange?”
“How about: You bring me the
dagger, and I’ll let your friends live.”
“Without my mirror, I won’t
even
think
about giving you the
dagger.”
He sighed and sat on the
large rock, extending his legs in front of him. He crossed them at the ankles.
“I think I’ll hold onto my mirror a little longer. I’ve learned that women
can’t be trusted, and I like the idea that you know I’m watching you. It makes
it harder for you to plot against me when I can watch your…” He stood up and
slowly walked around her. “… every… single… move.” He leaned in on the last
word and inhaled the scent of her hair.
“I hate you,” she seethed.
“Wrong.” He grabbed her
shoulders and turned her to face him. “I know how you feel about me.” The
corner of his mouth crooked up. “Or at least a part of me. You were in love
with me.”
He tapped his head. “I have
his memories.”
“Then you know how he felt
about me?” Her voice rose in hope.
“Pity.” Teague said, sending
her moment of hope crashing to the ground. “He pitied you.”
It was a jab in the heart.
She couldn’t deny that his words hurt, but Teague was a liar, and she couldn’t
trust anything he said.
“Mina.”
She lifted her head up to
look at him.
“It seems you need a lesson
in obedience.” Something suddenly drew his attention past her, across the
river, to the woods. Mina heard a thin, eerie whistle, and she looked at
Teague.
His face took on an
expression of contempt. “It seems you have company. I warned you I would take
away your friends one by one. You like games? Well, so do I. But I’ll wait my
turn. Someone has a message for you.”
He turned to glance back and
pointed his finger across the river to the distant woods, far behind the
wreckage. “I’d get moving if I were you. And fast.”
“What did you do?” She turned
to watch Teague disappear into the woods. Then she looked back in worry at the
forest and the remains below.
There was still a single
safety worker down there. She watched in trepidation, but nothing happened. The
man was satisfied with his work and threw his tools into the back of the white
city truck. A few minutes later, he was gone, driving away.
The wind changed course and
blew in her direction, sending the smell of burnt wood, oil, and fumes over
her. She ducked to avoid the onslaught of the aroma and caught a glimpse of
something moving in the woods. Across the river, on the south side, there
appeared to be a large black dog the size of a German shepherd, but with huge
ears and paws.
The dog followed a scent
trail. It came into the open, stared at the debris, and spent a bit of time
nosing around the burned lumber and scrap metal. It walked through the large
puddles left by the fire hoses. Back and forth the beast went, even stopping to
scratch at something in the dirt.
After a few minutes, nothing
significant had happened. Mina figured she was probably making too big a deal
out of the dog’s presence. Teague must’ve been warning her about something
else. Either way, there was no point in lingering. She stood and stretched.
At least she’d been able to
take the time for one last goodbye. The wind whipped her hair into her face as
it shifted back toward the wreckage.
The dog’s hackles rose as
soon as he caught her scent. Even across the river, she saw the beast change
its posture from curious to killer.
The forest around the dog
blurred and shifted as a large being took his place. The thick man wore a long
cloak of grayish-black wool covering black leather armor. Across his chest hung
a row of throwing blades. He fingered the hilt of a knife just before he turned
death-like eyes, orbs of white, her way.
Could he see her? If she
didn’t move, maybe he wouldn’t notice her.
He reached for a knife, and
she knew. No matter the color of his eyes or the distance, he could see her.
Run
, she commanded her legs. But they were
frozen in fear.
Run
! Mina spun toward
the nearby woods but slipped and fell to the ground.
Thud
.
A black knife had embedded
itself into the tree right in front of her. If she hadn’t fallen, the knife
would have impaled her, not the tree. She looked back and saw only the dog.
Hackles up, abnormally large black ears flat against his head, and lips pulled
back, exposing sharp canines. The hulking head flicked toward her, its
death-white eyes locking onto her seconds before it let out a terrifying howl.
A shape-shifting Reaper? Mina
kept low and crawled along the ground, trying to make herself a smaller target.
What had she been thinking coming here by herself? Why hadn’t she brought
backup?
She hadn’t expected to run
into a Reaper here—that’s why. She’d expected to see Teague. He still
wanted the dagger, and he wouldn’t stop until he got it. So he hadn’t sent a
Reaper to kill her, had he? If she died, that didn’t put the knife in his hand.
As soon as she got into a
denser copse of trees, she pushed herself to her feet and took off down the
hill, away from the dog, as fast as she could. Sliding along the rocks, kicking
up dust, she didn’t stop until someone stepped in front of her. Unable to stop
in time, she plowed into him.
The man grunted as he took
the full force of her blow, and they both fell to the ground rolling a few
feet. Brody groaned and looked up at her. But the smile fell from his face when
he saw the terror on hers. “What’s wrong?”
“Run,” she hissed and jumped
to her feet, pulling him alongside her. But she had to stop, looking around in
confusion. “Where’s your car?”