Forever (13 page)

Chapter 16

Mina landed on something cold
and hard. The glow of the portal she had been hurled through closed up, leaving
her in pitch black. What mirror was she in? It wasn’t the bathroom, hall, or
kitchen. The darkness surrounding her made her shiver. Was it the house trying
to help her again? Where had Nix even found this mirror?

She sat up and groaned in
pain, her foot scraping across what sounded like stone. Mina felt around her
and along the freezing cold floor. There. A wall. Better to have that to her
back than be wide open to who knew what. As she shifted, she heard something
slide across stone. Someone or something was in the darkness with her.

“Who’s there?” she called out
softly.

No one answered, but she
heard a slight cough. Terrified of being attacked in the dark, she scrambled
along the wall until she felt a somewhat familiar shelf. She sighed in relief
when she felt a paint can, toolbox, and next to it a flashlight. Nix had found
a mirror in the basement. Clicking it on, she swung the beam in an arc while
she kept her senses on high alert.

The light illuminated a leg
in dark jeans. She followed the leg up to a body in in a red shirt and
hesitated just before reaching the face. Did she send up a silent prayer? She
wasn’t sure. Gathering her courage, she shined the beam on the person’s face, and
his hand came up to block the light.

“Ow!” The voice grumbled.
“Give a guy a break.”

“Sorry.” Mina moved the beam
away but brought it back close enough that she could see his face clearly. Her
heart was already thudding loudly in her ears, and the flashlight shook in her
hands.

It looked like him, but he
had his face turned away from the light as if he was purposely avoiding looking
at her. She had to know.

“Is it really you?”

“Go away.” His voice was low,
almost growling at her.

“Not until you tell me who
you are.”

The man lunged at her, his
voice rising in animalistic pitch. “Go away!”

Chains attached to the floor
below him brought him up short. His body convulsed, and he stopped struggling
against his bonds. He slowly turned his back on her, chains rustling. Now she
had a full view of his back.

But she knew.

“Jared. It
is
you!” Mina moved to just outside the
reach of his chains and tried to sit on the floor.

“It’s me, Mina.”

He hadn’t changed. His dark
hair was longer, unkempt from lack of care. His face looked thinner, but it was
still just as handsome beneath the layers of grime. She hadn’t seen his eyes,
but she didn’t really want to know their color.

She told herself it wouldn’t
matter. This was Jared.

He turned and gave her a long
searching look. She waited for recognition to flare in his eyes, for the smile
to reach his lips.

He just sneered. “Mina. What
a pathetic name—for a pathetic girl.”

“I’m not pathetic. You are.
You’re the one lying here in filth and dirt.”

His head rolled to the side,
as if holding it up took too much effort. This time he did smile cruelly as he
shook the silver manacles in front of him and shook the chains at her. “I, at
least, have a reason, for it. You do not belong here. You need to leave,” he
warned.

“I’m not leaving without
you,” Mina promised, moving forward slowly, unthreateningly. She motioned to
his manacles, and he held them up for her to inspect.

Her heart dropped when she
saw how bloody and mangled his wrists were under the metal. No padding
protected his skin from the iron, which was terribly painful to Fae. On someone
not as strong, it might have killed them or driven them mad. Of course, she
wasn’t sure how much time had passed on this mirror plane. How long had he been
here? Was he still safe?

She closed her eyes, and her
hand glowed over the lock. A loud click followed, and the first manacle fell
from his wrist.

Jared groaned in pain as some
of his skin came off with the manacle, but he held out his left hand as she did
the same to the second lock. This time, he clenched his teeth as she held the
manacle still and carefully pulled it off, mindful of his wounds.

His breathing had quickened
from the pain. She bit her lip and studied the raw and bloody wrists. He needed
more than just bandages—he needed a hospital. She ran to the basement
door and pulled on the handle, only to find a solid brick wall. They were
trapped in the mirror. A reflection of the Grimm family basement. A brick room
with no windows, and the only way out blocked by a brick wall. It was the
perfect cell. Designed to withhold Teague. Of course there wouldn’t be an easy
way out.

“Okay, this might hurt.” She
spoke soothingly as she placed her hands above his wrists and concentrated on
healing his hands. She watched her work with surprised satisfaction—his
wrists glowed, and the skin started to heal. When she was done, she frowned.
Terrible scars remained on his wrists.

“I don’t understand. I
thought it would heal.”

Jared rubbed his wrists.
“Nothing can fully heal iron wounds. I’d been bound for a long time. I’m lucky
to be alive.” He turned his back on her once again as he sat on the cold stone
floor.

“What are you doing?”

She’d freed him. He should be
jumping for joy, thanking her, kissing her even. Instead, he sat back down.

He leaned his head back
against the wall and closed his eyes like he was asleep. “I’m sitting,” he
answered dryly. “It’s a bit cold, but I’m used to the cold.”

“No, why aren’t you trying to
escape? I freed you. You should be thankful.”

He opened his eyes to slits.
“Do you see a another door besides the one you tried? And thanks. You want me
to say thanks. You came in here to my home—”

“Prison,” she interrupted.

“Prison,” he repeated. “With
no clue what you’ve done or who you’re messing with.”

“I know exactly what I’ve
done. I’ve come to save you.” Mina ground her teeth.

“I don’t need saving.”

“You don’t mean to stay
here.” She gestured to the small room.

“This is where I belong.” He
closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

Mina came to sit by him and
touched his arm. “No, you don’t, Jared.”

He pulled his arm away from
her. “I’m not Jared.

She tried to not let his
words hurt her. She steeled her resolve and her voice. “Teague can’t imprison
you any longer. I’ve trapped him in seven mirrors. Four of those are destroyed
already. All I need to do is destroy the others, and we’ll win. Teague will be
destroyed and…” She couldn’t finish.

“I’ll be destroyed as well,”
he finished for her. “It’s why I have to stay here.”

“Well, I’m not leaving
without you.”

“Fine by me. Enjoy your stay,
although I have to say, the meals are few and far between, the beds are
non-existent, and the company is horrible.” He flashed his teeth at her, then
pulled his knees up and rested his head on his forearms.

“Jared…”

He groaned. “Girl, I swear.
Stop calling me that cursed name. I am not this… this person.”

“Mina.”

“Whatever,” he rolled his
shoulders and ignored her.

How could she convince him
she was here to help? “Okay, well I meant it. I’m not leaving unless you come
with me. I’ll use the seam ripper. We have to try to escape. You can’t give up
hope.”

“Not going to happen.” He
yawned and proceeded to stretch out on the cold floor, his back to her.

Mina sat down and pulled her
knees up to her chin for warmth. She could wait him out. She was almost certain
of it. She knew Jared could be stubborn, but she was going to have to show him
that she was serious.

Mina rocked back and forth
trying to get her body to warm up. As Jared slept, she held back the desire to
go over and kick him in the stomach for being so stupid. Instead, she settled
for walking as far as she dared in the dark, while trying to keep an eye on
him.

The longer they stayed in the
basement, the more it seemed like the darkness was creeping up on them. The
shelves and boxes slowly disappeared, and they were surround by it. A darkness
that continued forever. Finally, perhaps hours later, she came back and sat on
the cold floor as close as she dared to Jared without waking him up. Soon, the
chill set in, and drowsiness overtook her.

She couldn’t hold her head up
anymore. Mina let herself slide to the ground, and she heard the sound of
chattering. Was that her teeth? It didn’t matter, because staying awake was a
fight she didn’t mind losing.

Sometime during her sleep,
she dreamed someone grumbled and cursed about her freezing to death. Something
heavy and warm draped over her, and she wrapped herself up in the safety of it.

After all, what harm could
come from sleep?

Chapter 17

Mina
opened her eyes and blinked in confusion at her surroundings. Where was she?

It took a
few seconds before she comprehended.

She was
in the mirror. But she was no longer freezing. She was in fact quite warm, or
at least her back was. She tried to move away, but a weight across her waist
pulled her back against the warmth.

She
froze. A soft brush of warm air caressed her neck, and she couldn’t help but
notice the masculine arm around her stomach, holding her possessively. Mina
turned over and looked into the deep gray eyes of Jared. He had moved over and
spooned her to keep her warm. Now, those mesmerizing eyes were looking at her
with what? Regret?

She
couldn’t read them.

He leaned
forward and whispered into her ear. “You are the most insufferable girl when
you’re freezing. Whining and shivering. I could hear your teeth clattering. I
had to keep you warm, just so I could get some sleep.”

She
smiled softly at him. “Liar.”

His gray
eyes darkened, and she thought she saw a hint of blue. She needed to
remember—he might not really be the Jared that she knew.

“Who am
I?” she asked, unwilling to pull herself out of his embrace.

“A
dream.” He tugged her closer. “An annoying dream that has come to plague me.
Although you haven’t disappeared yet. But you will. You always disappear.”

So that
was what was bothering him.

“I won’t
leave if you won’t,” she whispered back.

Just the
softest of smiles worked at the corner of his mouth.

“There’s
only one way to prove you’re not a dream.” His hand came up and brushed against
the side of her cheek. “And that’s to do this.” He leaned forward and pressed
his lips to hers.

She
didn’t move, lost in the feel of his mouth brushing against hers in a gentle
caress. He pulled back suddenly, his eyes filled with confusion. “Wait…how?”

Mina
didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her hand around his head and pulled him back into
the kiss.

He didn’t
hold back this time. He deepened the kiss. His lips claimed hers, and she let
her hands roam freely in his hair, afraid that she really would wake up, and
he’d be gone.

It was a
kiss of longing, a kiss of desperation, a kiss of remembering.

Their
lips remembered their one shared kiss long ago.

This time
when he let her go, there were tears in his eyes. “No. Fates No, tell me you’re
not here. You can’t be here.”

“I am. I
came for you.”

He closed
his eyes in pain and pulled away from her to sit up on the floor. His demeanor
changed, and he stiffened. Immediately, she felt the absence of his warmth.

“If
you’re here, then you know.”

“Know?”
She sat up and reached to comfort him, but he pulled away.

“Know I’m
a fake. A fraud…a…a copy.” It was obvious that the admission pained him. “I’m
the reason you’re cursed, the reason for the things that happened to
you—and your family. I told you in the beginning not to trust me.”

“You are
the only one I trust.”

He turned
to her, his gray eyes filled with tears. “But you can’t. I’m not Jared. It’s
just a name I stole from a memory, because I didn’t want to remember all of the
horrible things I did. I’m
him
.” He
said the word with disdain. “And he hates you… but at the same time, parts of
me can’t stay away from you.”

“I know.
But it doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”

“It
should.”

“I still
can’t be trusted. You need to finish what you started and destroy the mirrors.”

“No. Not
unless you come with me. I can save you. I can free you.”

“Mina,
just you knowing who I really am is enough for me. I can die happy.”

“Now wait
a minute. Who said anything about anyone dying here?”

“I can’t
leave here,” he said simply. “I wasn’t joking when I said that I’m imprisoned
here. I always have been and always will be the prince.”

“I don’t
believe that.”

“Last
time I was dangerous enough to be split in two.” He came and took her hand. “I
know how you feel about me, how I feel about you. But when I became whole
again, I took those memories of Jared and locked them up, deep inside, banished
them to the in-between. That is all that’s left of me. The Jared you knew is
just a memory.”

“No,
you’re more than just a memory to me.”

He shook
his head. “No, Mina. If you can’t let go of the memory of Jared, then there’s
no hope of ever saving me. The real me. I’m still poisoned and filled with
hate. And I don’t understand what happened between us.”

“I don’t
believe you.”

“It
doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. Look at me,” he demanded. She closed
her eyes and turned away.

He came
forward and grabbed her shoulders. “Mina. Look at me.”

She could
feel the sobs coming on, and she clenched her jaw to try and hold back the
overpowering feelings. But she looked into his deep gray eyes, at his strong
defined jaw. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like what was coming next.

“I told
you, Royals can shift. Because we’re the strongest Fae.”

“No,
stop.” She squeezed her eyes shut again.

He
touched her cheek softly, and her breath caught. She refused to open her eyes.
But then his grip on her changed, and his lips once again pressed on hers. This
time, she couldn’t help opening her eyes.

She
gasped and pulled away.

“I’ve
tried to deny it, even held onto this form in memory. But you have to see the
truth.” His eyes were still gray, but Jared’s appearance had changed. His hair
was darker, his face a bit more angular. He was Teague.

She tried
to comprehend the person in front of her. Even his voice had changed. “What
about your eyes?” Mina asked. “Why are your eyes still gray then?”

“Well,
because a copy of a copy is never as clear as the original. Blue eyes have
always been and always will be the true Teague’s one tell.”

“Can you
see me?” Jared asked “Through this?” He gestured to his face. Even though the
face was different, his expression was the same.

Could
she?

“Look!”
He pointed to the darkness surrounding them. As she watched, hairline cracks
splintered her world. “Someone is breaking the mirror. If you don’t leave,
you’ll die.”

The
cracks fanned out, becoming bigger. Mina held onto him. If they were going to
die, she wanted to die with him—together.

He
pressed his forehead to hers. “I love you, Mina,” he said breathlessly.

“I love
you too.” Mina cried. Her heart was breaking at the thought of gaining him and
losing him so quickly.

He looked
at her, full of grief. “Please,” he begged as the walls around them started to
crumble and fall. “Say my name.”

“Jared.”
She grasped onto him desperately, scared of being separated.

“No, no
more lies. Please.
My
name.”

Mina
looked up into his pain filled eyes and knew what he was asking. Fae were
tricksters, full of lies. They couldn’t be trusted, but here he was baring his
heart and soul, wanting a piece of him to be recognized.

In that
moment, their last, as the mirror finally shattered around them, trapping them
together, she knew the truth. “I love you, Teague.”