Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #5)

Help me.

Claire and Grey Tail stopped by an abandoned building along the pier, far away from the flashing lights but still close to the water. Grey Tail ran his clawed hand along her cheek and tapped his nails against her skin.

“Very pretty. I can’t wait to rip it to shreds.”

Mina tried to stare him down and not show him how terrified she really was. Claire’s phone beeped with an incoming text. Mina ignored Grey Tail and looked to Claire. She flipped her phone open and spoke in another language, quick and direct.

She turned with a scowl. “We have to wait. They want to be here to see her die.”

“Who?” Mina asked, irritated that she couldn’t face her enemy.

Was this the same person in the cloak who sent the trees to attack her? It certainly seemed, as she thought back, that there were some attempts on her life that had nothing to do with Teague. She was tired of playing hide–and-seek.

“Someone that you’ve ticked off. Apparently you stole something that belonged to them, and now you have to pay.” Claire had leaned down to look her in her face. “Really, I was glad to take the job. You’ve been nothing but a problem for me since you walked into my factory. Now I’m free from one prison but stuck in another—servitude to the Fae Prince—but there’s no reason I can’t do a few odd jobs.”

Claire’s phone beeped, and she looked at the incoming text. Her face broke into a grin. “Never mind. The boss isn’t coming, and the others don’t care. We can kill you now.”

Grey Tail made an excited snuffing noise, and Mina pushed out harder with her power, hoping someone would answer. But then Grey Tail’s head cocked to the side, and he slowly turned toward her, eyes dilating.

“She’s using magic again,” he sneered.

Claire reached out and grabbed her arm roughly. “You think you’re so smart? There’s no one to save you now.” Claire reached for Mina’s head and began to drain her.

Horrible pain ran through her gut. This was what it had been like for Nan, although Nan was unconscious. Mina’s head flopped to the side, and she called and called and called—weaker each time—in a final, desperate plea for help. Her eyes fell across the dock to the water, which was bubbling and moving.

Something large rose up out of the water. Riding the wave, it stepped onto the pier, its dark green hair braided. The light green skin almost glowed in the moonlight as the sea witch raised her hands and commanded the wave beneath her to rush over Claire, Mina, and Grey Tail. Mina had only a moment’s notice. But that was time enough to prepare for the rush of water that flowed over her. She held her breath.

The wave moved like a living, breathing thing. It wrapped around Claire and Grey Tail and pulled them kicking and screaming back into the water as it receded into the ocean. Mina saw the green feet walk close to her face as she slowly closed her eyes for what she hoped wasn’t the last time.

Chapter 30

Mina woke, surrounded by darkness and a very damp smell. It took a bit for her eyes to adjust, but she realized she lay on a makeshift bed in a cave. Soft glowing stones lined the wall, and Mina could make out a dark figure shucking oysters.

The sea witch. Mina watched her, wary but interested. There could only be one sea witch in the immediate area.

“Are you Taz Clara?”

The witch turned her black eyes on Mina. Her hair was just as dark as Nix’s mother—the only other sea witch she’d ever run into.

Mina expected to feel intense hatred and anger roll off of her like it had with Nix’s mother, but she didn’t. Annoyance certainly, but she didn’t feel in immediate danger.

“I am Taz Clara, and I don’t like being compelled by anyone to do their bidding. Even if it’s you, Mina Grimm.”

“You know my name?” she said in disbelief.

“Of course I know your name. Do you not think I would know the person who started it all? I lost my position as a maidservant because I tried to save the prince’s soul, and it didn’t turn out the way the Fates wanted it. Still, it was my best work, and I’m proud of it. And here you are, wanting to undo it.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“For great magic to work, there have to be rules set in place. Most everything done can be undone.”

“Does that include the poisoned knife?”

Taz laughed. “Ah, now the real questions start. You could have called for the sirens to come and help you, but no… you had to raise Taz from her nice warm bed to be at your beck and call. And now you expect me to help you again? I think not.”

“Thank you for coming to my rescue.” Mina briefly wondered if Claire and Grey Tail had lived through it. But with Taz’s mood, it didn’t seem like the smartest idea to keep bringing up Teague, so Mina moved on to another line of questioning.

“How come you’re not evil? I thought nixies become evil after they change, or do you prefer to be called a sprite?”

“You just found out you’re Fae, and now you think you know everything.”

“No, I realize how little I actually know, which is why I’m asking questions—so I can learn. I’m friends with a nixie, and he was scared of turning.”

Taz’s eyes took on a faraway look. “Yes, I faced the same dilemma: lose my connection with water and die or start killing and feeding on others. But I found a way around it. I don’t have to kill and feed on lives; I can feed on fears. I lived quite happily for a while. I even grew close to the Fates. But after I couldn’t save their son, I was banished, and I came through the gate.

“Here on Alcatraz, there was enough fear, and there were enough deaths to sustain me. When the prison closed, I almost gave up and died, but I found the fear of the tourists can sustain me. I don’t go far because of the danger of becoming hungry and hurting someone. So when people need my help, they come to me.”

“I need your help.”

“No,” Taz snapped. She moved away from Mina.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”

“Yes I do. You want me to help you split the prince again, so you can be with the one called Jared.”

Mina could feel her cheeks heating up.

“Have you not been listening? I was banished because of you!”

“I fail to see how you being banished had anything to do with me.”

Taz turned her cat-like eyes on Mina, and her face took on a look of fury. “The Fates came to me for help, since I had succeeded in suppressing my dark nature. We hoped I could cast the dark, poisoned side of him into an object. They brought me his journal. How was I to know that the journal had once been torn in two, and its twin was on the human plane? That the one I held would mirror the other?”

“You never meant to split them,” Mina said aloud, feeling as if her heart was breaking.

“No, it was an accident. But a terrible one. The Fates let me take the blame for all of it. Prince Teague wasn’t as powerful without his other half, but I, still, had failed in my intent. I don’t plan on failing again, because I won’t try. I especially will not help you. I don’t want to be on the dark prince’s radar.”

“But you’ve helped so many other people… like my mother.”