Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #5)

Mina had to be careful. She was playing one of the most dangerous games ever. And with the most dangerous opponent.

“Do you have them?” Mina asked softly again.

Teague turned his head and looked across the water, refusing to make eye contact. “Careful, or I’ll destroy the whole pier. Shall I do what I did to your school here?”

Mina didn’t take the bait. “I don’t care about this place. I want to go back with you.” She took another step forward and was almost face to face with him. His skin had turned yellowish, his veins dark blue. Annalora had to be right. The tip was working its way toward his heart. He was getting worse.

Now he smirked. “Trying to bargain with me again. That’s not going to work. Maybe this will convince you I’m serious.” The fog still made it hard to see, but she could hear something. Very loud creaking of metal followed by popping sounds. Horns honked, and then the creak echoed across the water again.

“What is that?”

“The gate. I came through the same one you did.”

“But the sirens and the timing…how?”

“The sirens are gone. I had to move the stars and freeze the gate. My army must have finished coming through by now, so I imagine they are destroying it. Here, I’ll show you.”

Teague waved his hand, and the fog dissipated enough for Mina to see the Golden Gate Bridge bending and torquing as two stone golems attacked it. One worked on the base, bending and pushing the post, while the other stood in the middle of the road causing all of the cars to crash and veer dangerously as it snapped the cables.

“Stop it! People are going to get hurt.” What did he mean the sirens were gone?

“It’s too late for them, Mina. You can’t save them all, just like you couldn’t save your brother, friend, and boyfriend. But why should you? You always were selfish.”

Mina watched as the destruction kept on. A stone golem picked up the nearest car and tossed it into the bay. The fog continued clearing, and she could make out more of his army, of Reapers, giants, and beasts roaming and bashing the hoods of the cars. A bright yellow school bus was trapped on the bridge.

Angry tears flowed, and she turned on him. The Fae power rushed to her—her hair whipped her face, and heat rose to her eyes as the power crackled off of her and she channeled all of it at Teague.

Teague stepped back startled. “Your eyes!” His hand moved to his heart in pain. “Stop it!”

“Call off your army!” she demanded.

“Never!” Teague yelled back, his angry blue eyes glowing with power. He lashed out with a blast and flung Mina against the railing. She lost her focus, the air momentarily knocked from her, and he retaliated again. Another blast of power had her spiraling through the air.

Onlookers screamed as she landed on the pier. Nearby people scattered. Teague roared, and the wood planks began to crack along the pier, separating her from anyone trying to help.

Mina got back up and tried to reach into Teague’s mind. Searching, calling for him, for Jared. For the goodness that she knew was still inside of him. When Teague ran toward her, she stood her ground. She needed to get close to him.

“You are no match for me!” Teague stepped forward. With a wave of his hand, she slid across the pier and under the railing to fall into the bay.

She grabbed the post at the last minute and hung on, her fingers clawing at the post. Her feet dangled twenty feet above the water. Using every ounce of strength she had, she swung her body to the side and got her foot up. Slowly, she pulled herself back onto the pier.

“You’re no match for my power, no match for my hate. You are weak,” Teague taunted.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” She stood up and wiped her hands on her pants. “You think hate makes you strong, and I understand. But love always wins,” Mina answered back. “Jared!” Mina called to him. “I know you’re in there.”

Teague sneered, and she felt the squeezing pressure around her body as her feet slowly lifted off of the ground. Teague came forward, pulled out the poisoned dagger, and held it up in front of her. “You tried to kill yourself with this and rob me of my victory.  I saved you. Now I will finish the job. Only I’ll do better than try.”

Mina struggled to look out across the bay. The golems continued to wreak havoc on the bridge. They were only a few cars away from the bus. This has gone on too long. If I can’t have Jared, I’ve just got to die and give Teague what he wants. It’ll save everyone else.

Just then, she heard a loud piercing shriek, and one of the stone golems burst into small pebbles. She saw the siren ship and recognized Kino at the bow attacking a third golem who’d appeared in the water. A giant wave surged up and over the bridge. As it passed, it deposited an army of very ticked off sirens. Cars began to rise up out of the water as if on lifts.

Mina knew Ternan and Winona would do their best to fight off Teague’s army. But she also knew they were vastly outnumbered. There was only one way to stop this.

She couldn’t feel her legs. They had gone numb from Teague’s grip on her neck. But she had to fight against his power. As she hung in the air, she gathered all of the love she had—all the feelings and memories of Teague before he was poisoned—and she willed those images into his subconscious. Her memories of Ferah stabbing him, of Mina trying to save him, to close the wound in his chest.

He shook his head and shoved his hands into his hair. “Stop it. It’s all lies.” The pressure released from her neck, her feet touched the ground, and she sucked in a deep breath.

“No, only truth,” she gasped out. “Love always prevails. Good always wins.”

Teague turned and this time physically grabbed her by the throat. She slipped and fell backward onto the pier. He landed on top of her, and she tried to push against him, but he was too strong. The knife landed with a thud on the pier next to a piece of broken railing.

Mina used her right hand and scrabbled around trying to find the dagger. In a desperate attempt to stall, she closed her eyes and willed a piece of wood to morph into a decoy dagger. Then she made the dagger look like the broken railing stake. Jared had once shown her that very same trick on a beach.

She turned her head, frantic, and reached for the true dagger. Teague hadn’t noticed her switch. He turned, grabbed the fake, and raised it above his head.

“I love you!” she choked out. “I always will.”

It was about to come down toward her chest, when with a final lunge, her fingers reached her goal. She closed her eyes. The stake grew hot in her hand, and then it was gone. Disappeared. Morphed back into the dagger of Erjad.

Without hesitation, she thrust the blade upward into Teague’s chest. He shuddered, his blue eyes opening wide in pain and then traveling to look at his closed hand. He opened his fist, and the wood shaft fell to the ground.

Mina sobbed as she shoved the knife deep, deeper, until it couldn’t go anymore.

Teague’s mouth opened and closed, and he reached down to gently touch her face. He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look full of hate. He looked… relieved.

“I knew you had it in you,” he whispered and slowly fell forward.

Mina caught him and helped him onto his back. She leaned down and took his hand in hers. “I didn’t want to. I never wanted to kill you. But you’ve hurt too many people, taken too many lives.”