Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #5)

She reached out to hand the whistle to Mina, but Annalora grabbed one of Ferah’s own daggers from her bandolier and stabbed the girl.

Ferah’s eyes fluttered in disbelief. The whistle fell from her limp fingers followed by a trickle of blood. It dropped and bounced on the floor.

“No!” Mina let the fury she had been holding back burst forth.

The room erupted into a ball of light, and Annalora backed up, her arms in front of her face. Mina turned her anger on Annalora and did as Teague had done centuries ago. She blasted the girl through the glass tower window.

Annalora screamed, and then silence followed.

Ferah lay on the ground, unable to speak. She held up her hand, and Mina rushed to her side and grasped it between her own.

“I’m so sorry,” she said in a pained whisper, “for betraying you over and over. Even in the Godmother’s Guild, I tried to drown you. I never had enough faith. I’m sorry.” She let out one last breath, and her head fell to the side.

“Teague,” Mina screamed, but he didn’t appear. She searched the floor in a blur of tears and picked up the bone whistle. She snapped it in two and threw it across the floor. Within seconds, he appeared by her side.

“Do something!” she begged.

“I can’t, my love,” Teague soothed. “Her soul has already passed to the In Between. I can meet her there and help her pass over and not be lost, but that is all.”

Mina rocked back onto her heels and wiped at her eyes. Another earthquake erupted, and the jagged shards of remaining glass rained down beside them in colored pieces.

Teague helped her up. He led her to the empty windows, and they watched as the two yellow suns began to turn dark.

“What are we going to do?”

He reached for her hand, and she looked up into his white eyes. “We save our world.”

“How?”

“When the worlds were first created, there was darkness. From that darkness, light came forth. There’s a balance of light and dark. My mother the moon, my father the sun. I think it’s safe to say that I’m darkness. And you, Mina, are light. I asked you once before if you would stay with me and rule by my side. I need you. I can’t exist without you. So I ask again, will you stay with me?”

Mina turned and looked at their hands clasped together and over at the world that was crumbling and dying around them. She wouldn’t let the circumstances pressure her into doing the wrong thing. She glanced into his eyes and still saw white. It didn’t scare her. On him, it looked majestic and not deathly. Maybe because his eyes conveyed so much love.

In fact, there was so much love, so much honor, that she wasn’t searching for them to change to blue or gray. The color didn’t matter anymore. The soul did. The prince, as he stood before her, was both Teague and Jared, and she had a part of his soul.

Teague also possessed a bit of hers.

“Yes,” she answered. “I’ll stay.” She felt a thrill as he smiled and bent to kiss her.

His lips claimed hers in a passionate kiss, and he whispered, “I’ve waited forever for you. Now I’m yours. Love me, rule with me. I’ll love and protect you for eternity.” The corner of his mouth lifted up in a smile as he reached up to caress her cheek.

“Eternity sounds perfect.” Mina rose up on tiptoes to wrap her hands around his neck, and he laid a trail of kisses down her face until he kissed her mouth again.

“Then open your soul to me like you did before.” He gently pulled away, and they turned to look out the tower across the land.

It was easy to do, to close her eyes and think of the love she had for him. She felt Teague do the same, and their minds touched.

He whispered, “Open your eyes.”

She did, and she saw hundreds of lights rise up out of the land, and more come from the palace and flow to her. She didn’t flinch or run away but felt the Fae magic flow through her and Teague, magnified like a prism. She and Teague began to glow together, and the Fae magic drew closer to them, uniting their souls.

Then, it shot out of them, across the sky, and into the Fae world.

She was a magnet—the conduit—for all the Fae power in the land. It flowed to them and through them. Mina understood now what the Fae lights were. There never had been anyone else in the palace. It was the magic that kept her company. She could see it, and it responded to her, just like when she was younger. It had always been attracted to her. It always seemed to come willingly to her.

It knew, just like Teague knew, they were meant to be together.

Mina felt no pain, only joy, as the Fae world slowly changed, grew and blossomed before her. The two suns brightened, the grass turned green, and the land healed itself. Water filled the lake again, but the magic wasn’t done. The palace rebuilt itself, and the magnificent structure returned to its former glory.

But it didn’t look the same. There were fewer towers, more rounded glass domes like observatories, and the river-paths flowed through the grounds.

Teague shifted into a black griffin as he turned toward Mina. This one had specks of white on the tips of his feathers, and his eyes stayed the same white as Teague’s. Mina climbed onto his back as he jumped from the tower and flew across the palace and over the lake. For hours they flew, watching as the Fae world reknit itself and became even more beautiful. It was everything she ever dreamed of.

When everything seemed to be in order, they flew back to the palace and alit on the steps. Mina slipped off, and Teague shifted back. He stood by her side as hundreds of Fae pressed close, crying out in tears of joy and thankfulness.

Teague’s face turned down, and she recognized his frustration. “What’s the matter?” she whispered.

“I’ve only just got you, and I’m not in the mood to share,” he grumbled as a Fae child ran up and hugged Mina around the waist. His frown turned to one of bewilderment as the same child, in turn, hugged him. He looked at a loss, and then his hand came down and gently patted the girl’s head. “She can see me, and she’s not scared of me.”

“I think people can see you if they don’t fear Death.”

The little girl whispered, “Thank you.”

At that moment, Teague must’ve appeared to others. They began to understand that it took two to save the world.

“All hail the Fates,” Adrith called out from the crowd. “King of Darkness, Queen of Light.”

“Alright!” Ever whooped.

Nix clapped eagerly. The Fae cheered on relentlessly, and the sound became deafening.

“Fate?” Mina asked as she looked to Teague.

He seemed a little confused. “What did you think I meant when I asked you to stay with me? It was a marriage proposal.” He shrugged. “So maybe it wasn’t the best one. Don’t worry, the title of Queen won’t come into effect until after the ceremony, but your fate’s already tied to mine. We became the Fates when we saved the Fae plane.”

“I guess I didn’t expect to marry a Fate worse than Death.”

Teague’s eyes lit up as he picked Mina up and twirled her around to the encore of the crowd’s cheers.

“I promise to love you forever,” Teague said when he put her back down on the ground. He reached down and kissed her knuckles.

Mina smiled and spoke softly, “Forever isn’t long enough.”