Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #5)

“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?”

“This way.” He ran to the left, making sure to keep pace with her. “What’s wrong, Mina?”

“Reaper,” she huffed.

Her heart thudded loudly in relief when she saw the car. She ran to the passenger side and lifted the handle, but the door was still locked. Come on.

She held on until she heard the automatic click and then jumped into the seat. Brody pulled out his keys and fumbled with the ignition. “Go, go, go! Start it up.”

“I’m trying,” he said between clenched teeth.

The keys fell on the floor, and Brody bent down, feeling for them on the floor mat.

Another howl filled the air.

He stilled. “What in the world is that?”

He slowly straightened to look over the dashboard. “That dog is huge! But where’s the Reaper?”

Mina glanced back. Nothing. “I think the dog is the Reaper. Can you still see it?”

Her hand snaked forward along the arm rest until her fingers found the switch. A soft click sounded in the car as the doors locked. Childish, but she was out of options.

Crash!

“Whoa!” Brody shouted.

Mina heard claws scraping and digging at the glass. But she couldn’t see anything out there. “Is it heavy enough to break through the windshield?”

Brody shifted the car into reverse and sped backwards, spinning the wheel and executing a turnaround worthy of a stunt driver. The black beast’s claws clicked and screeched across the hood as it tried to stay on, but Brody’s driving threw him off. They heard a thud as it slammed against the side of the car. Brody hit the gas, flying up the road.

Thirty, forty, fifty, on up to eighty miles per hour Brody sped. Mina couldn’t make herself open her eyes until about thirty seconds had passed. She tried to look at her passenger mirror, but all she saw were trees whizzing by.

Brody slowed only enough to turn onto the on ramp. When they were safely speeding down the highway among other cars, he looked over to her. “That’s a Reaper… as in death?”

“I think so,” Mina craned her head to look between the seats. “They’re the hunters and assassins, but they’ve been known to go rogue.”

“And that beast dog is one?” Brody continued driving and cast a quick look over to her. “I’ve never seen anything that big.”

Mina studied his profile. He didn’t look scared at the prospect of being hunted—he looked angry. His sun-kissed blond hair accented the deep blue of his eyes, and his strong hands gripped the steering wheel with determination.