by Chanda Hahn
She grabbed the softball and tossed it underhand in a perfect arc for the milk can. It hit the edge, rolled around the rim and fell off. She frowned and tried again. This time, the ball went up and was falling in a perfect arc, right at the hole. But it changed course and bounced off the lip at the last second. Ever tossed her last throw—even more on point than the last—and it rolled into the middle, then popped out.
“That’s impossible,” Ever touched her finger to her lips and cast a suspicious glance at the vendor. He smiled slyly while counting out the bills in his apron.
“Oh, too bad. Better luck next time.” He waved them on.
Ever rolled up her sleeves and slammed another five dollars down.
The vendor smiled. “Oh you want to try again?”
“No, I’m betting you five bucks that you can’t make the shot again. If you can’t do it. I get to pick a prize.”
His eyes lit up in challenge. “Deal, and I’ll only need one toss.”
“Don’t count on it,” Ever said under her breath to Nan and Charlie.
The vendor picked up a softball and came over to stand behind the counter and toss the ball into the same milk can.
Ever stood slightly off to the side and, as soon as he tossed the ball, flicked her finger. When the ball hit the can, it rolled around and around the can but refused to go in. With another flick, Ever made it roll out.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” she said.
“No, wait. I get two more shots.” He stormed behind the counter to grab two more softballs. Mina could see sweat beading on his forehead in concentration as he tossed the ball perfectly. It would have been a perfect toss, if Ever hadn’t flicked her wings at the last second and blown it off course.
Now he was really nervous.
“One last shot, bub.” Ever sat on the edge of the booth and crossed her legs. “And I’ve got my eye on the popgun.”
“You won’t be getting it,” he growled.
And Mina realized suddenly what was going on.
He was Fae, and Ever knew it.
“We’ll see,” she smiled knowingly.
The man took his time lining up the last shot. Mina could tell he was trying to figure out what was going on. He tossed the last ball, and before it even got to the can, Ever knocked the whole milk can over, and it rolled away.
“Hey, that’s cheating.” The vendor turned on the girls in anger.
“So was what you were doing,” Ever snapped back. “Don’t even pretend you weren’t doing that to us. Don’t try and out-cheat a Fae.” Ever glared at him, and her skin glowed a bit, making the vendor cower in fear.
“Sorry, Miss. I didn’t know. I’d never intentionally cheat my own kind.”
“I may be Fae, but I’m not kind—or patient. Now give me my prize.” Ever pointed at the popgun.
The vendor nodded quickly, grabbed a hook, and reached up to grab the wooden gun off the display. He kept looking around nervously.
“Here. Now take your prize and scram!” He turned his back on them and went behind the booth.
“Wait, so he was Fae?” Nan asked.
“Yeah. Not a very strong one either.” Ever shrugged and handed Charlie the popgun. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Nan. There are lots of Fae living on the human plane now. Most of them are harmless, and you don’t even know they’re here.”
“Most…” Nan said and waited for Ever to continue.
“Like me. I’m harmless, unless someone tries to cheat me, and then… you know.”
Mina felt uneasy running into a Fae at the school fair. Still, Ever wasn’t worried, so Mina told herself not to worry either. Just because there was one Fae here didn’t mean there were others.
They continued walking the fair, stopping to ride the carousel and Ferris wheel and browsing the baked goods. It was easy to spot the drama club’s table selling pies. The football team obviously manned the football toss game, and there was a loud ruckus from that direction.
Mina had yet to see anyone from the water polo team’s booth or Brody. Until they bumped into a long line of girls.
“What’s this?” Nan stood on tiptoes to try and read the banner and mumbled, “Uh-oh.”
“What?” Mina asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She copied Nan and got up on her tiptoes to see that the white and blue banner read Kissing Booth.
“That’s kind of disgusting.” Ever made a face.
“And not sanitary,” Nan said, “but look at that line. I swear we came by here earlier, and it wasn’t that long.”
A feeling of dread crept back into her stomach, so Mina excused herself to walk around the line and check out the front of the booth. Her fears were confirmed. None other than the water polo team hosted the booth. The boys were lined up across the back of the booth, and each girl got to pick who they wanted to kiss. It seemed like two lines had formed since almost every other girl wanted to get their five seconds with Brody Carmichael.
He even had a stool to sit on. It seemed a lot of people were upset since he hadn’t been there the day before, and they had come to get their picture and kiss today. He was the town’s celebrity, not to mention extremely rich. Of course everyone wanted their picture with him.
Mina had shown up just in time to watch an excited sophomore bat her eyes and lean over to give him a kiss on the lips. The chaste kiss only lasted a few seconds, so there wasn’t really anything terribly wrong. Not that Mina had any official right to be jealous.
“Maybe you should get in line? Nan suggested. “Since he is sort of your boyfriend.”
“I don’t know,” Mina answered. “It’s not really my thing to make a show in public.”
“As far as people at school are concerned, he’s your boyfriend. Show them all that you’re not intimidated by this. Besides, I don’t think this was his idea for the kind of booth it would be. The rest of the team outvoted him.”
“Okay, you’re right.” Mina answered. “I should do this.”
Nan and Ever took Charlie off to the zipper, so Mina could have some privacy.
The feeling of dread eased, and she was able to ignore the line of girls.
Until Mina noticed the group in front of her. It was the cheer squad. Next in line for the kiss was a petite girl with a white-blonde ponytail. Brody’s ex-girlfriend, Savannah White.
Come on, Brody. Turn her away. Mina tried to send him her mental message, but it didn’t really work. Savannah put her money into the donation box and pointed for Brody to step forward. She leaned forward expectantly.
Mina watched him sigh and then lean in to give her a peck, except it wasn’t just a peck. Savannah’s arms snaked around his neck and held on as she deepened the kiss.
Pull away. Pull away. Mina internally screamed, but his friends started to hoot and holler and egg them on.
“Go. Go. Go!” The guys chanted.
Savannah swung her legs over the table and got on her knees, kissing him intently. Her hands were running through his hair, and Mina still couldn’t believe that Brody was letting it happen.
When he finally pulled away, his hair was tousled, and he had a confused look in his eyes. Savannah made a show of wiping the sides of her mouth and holding her hand up in the air. The cheerleading squad clapped and cheered.
“Still got it, girls,” Savannah said as she stood up and jumped off the table. “Something for you to remember me by, Brody,” she taunted. “Come find me later.” She waved and sauntered off.
Priscilla Rose bumped her hip in congratulations.
Brody sat on his stool, a look of shock on his face.
T.J. slapped his back and said, “Man, why did you ever let her go when she could kiss like that?”
Brody chuckled and rubbed the back of his head as he scanned the crowd of girls next in line. He froze when his gaze met Mina’s.
Since the squad had come to watch Savannah, that made Mina the next person in line. The five dollar bill in her hand trembled with her nerves, and she looked up at Brody. His face wa
s flushed, and he hurriedly wiped at his mouth.
Mina took a deep breath and tried to calm her temper. It should have bothered her a lot more to see them kiss, but, frankly, it didn’t. What hurt her was that he didn’t pull away.
There was no way she would kiss him after Savannah. She didn’t want sloppy seconds. A small part of her wanted to go away and ignore all this, but he’d just—thirty minutes ago—offered her his ring again. Who did that and then kissed their ex like that? She stepped forward, shoved her five dollars into the acrylic donation box and looked along the group of guys. There were quite a few she knew by name, but there were also some she didn’t know. One was standing off to the side watching her intently. He had sandy brown hair, green eyes, and a hard mouth—and looked slightly out of place among the other guys. Something about the way he looked at her made up her mind.
Her hand pointed at him, and his eyes went wide. He stepped forward, and she could see confusion among the water polo team members as they all watched Brody.
“What’s your name?” she whispered as the green-eyed guy came over.
He wore a gray jersey shirt and generic blue denim jeans. He smiled at her. “Whatever you want it to be,” he said in a low voice.
“That’s not funny,” Mina chastised. Her hands went sweaty.
“It’s not meant to be.” He leaned on his elbows across the booth and waited expectantly.
Mina leaned forward and was about to kiss him, when her eyes glanced over at Brody. He had stood up and was being held back by T.J. He looked angry, his fist clenched. But he also seemed hurt and confused by this stranger in the booth.
As much as she wanted to try and get even, she realized that wasn’t the kind of girl she wanted to be. Mina shook her head and leaned back. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this. I made a mistake.” A look of anger flashed in the stranger’s green eyes at her change of heart.
“No, you didn’t,” he growled. Fast, he leaned across the table and pressed his lips to hers.
It shocked her. Literally, there was a shock as his warm mouth pressed to hers, and she froze, unable to move. There was something about that tone—that voice—she knew very well. Her heart sped up, and her hands shook. His strong hands gripped her shoulders as he kissed her. Angrily.
First she was filled with fear, then curiosity. She could feel his anger drain away during the kiss. Then it stopped being angry and turned gentle. He pulled away and tenderly nuzzled her lips with his own. If he wasn’t holding her by the shoulders, she probably would have slid to the ground.
Mina couldn’t open her eyes, but the strange boy didn’t let go of her. Finally, when she opened them, she saw, not the green eyes of the stranger she’d picked out of a crowd, but the dark blue eyes that haunted her dreams. How in the world, out of the fifteen guys to choose from, had she picked her enemy in disguise?
He stared into her eyes, daring her to say something. He wasn’t hiding who he was from her anymore, and she wondered if everyone could see what she saw. He smiled in triumph.
“Let me go,” she whispered.
“Never,” Teague warned under his breath just as T.J’s hand gripped his shoulder. He turned in surprise, and his grip loosened just enough for her to slip out of it.
Mina realized that Brody was nowhere in sight, and she used the moment to dart into the crowd and disappear into the fair.
Chapter 6
What had she done?
Mina ran through the crowds of people and ducked behind the chipped yellow and blue house of mirrors. Her trembling hand touched her lips as she tried to process what had just happened. She’d been about to kiss a stranger to get back at Brody but decided she couldn’t do that to him. And the strange boy she picked out of the group happened to be Teague, wearing a glamour. What were the chances, and what did it mean?
Why was he even at the fair, and why the kissing booth? She wracked her brain and remembered that he had been standing there for a while. He’d probably somehow instigated the whole Savannah and Brody kiss, knowing Mina was in the line and would see—his own way of tormenting her. Except that it hadn’t really worked. She didn’t feel jealous at the sight of Brody kissing the other girls.
Could it be that her heart was finally catching up with her mind? That she was outgrowing her high school crush? She needed to search for the others, but she found herself back at the Date a Cheerleader booth. The whole squad had returned from their break to resume their dating fundraisers.
The line of guys had formed again, and Mina was close enough to overhear Savannah and Pri talking.
“So do you think he’ll leave her for you?” Pri asked.
Savannah had pulled out her compact and was fixing her lipstick, wiping where kissing Brody had smeared it. “He’d be dumb if he didn’t. I don’t get what he sees in that Grimey golddigger. But for a moment there, he really was kissing me back, just like old times.”
A Grimey golddigger? Mina stormed past the dunk tank and flicked her hand at the target. Mina was so angry she didn’t even realize she’d released a burst of power toward the tank. The dunk lever depressed and sent Savannah screaming into the tank. She spewed out water and started screaming at Pri to find her a towel.
Then, while Savannah was still inside the tank, a crack stretched along the clear acrylic and fanned out. Seconds later, the tank burst and water spilled out and knocked the entire squad of cheerleaders from their feet. They gasped and screamed and tried to stand, but all they could do was slip and slide in the mud.
Savannah and Pri cried about their muddy uniforms, while a crowd of onlookers pulled out their phones and snapped pictures.
Unfortunately, Mina missed all of the events that she had released onto the cheerleaders. Once Savannah screamed, something else had caught her attention. Someone who looked familiar ducked behind a red and white tent.
No. It couldn’t be. I haven’t seen him since… the bakery. Mina had to find out to make sure she wasn’t losing her mind. She’d trapped him in the Grimoire, after all. She carefully followed the tattooed man as he entered the tent. Mina went around to the back and tried to look in through a small hole in the tarp. At first, all she saw was a bunch of blurry shapes, but then they came into focus, and she saw the man with long, greasy, black hair. He didn’t bother to cover the wolf tattoo on his bare chest wearing only his black leather vest on his upper half.
It was Grey Tail!
He spoke quietly to an old woman wearing a bright colored dress and sash around her waist. Her white hair was covered with a shawl, and she argued quietly with the Fae wolf.
“I don’t care if everyone thinks fortune telling is lame. You get people into this tent, and I don’t care how. Threaten them, bribe them, or kidnap them. Just get them in this tent. I don’t want to be old forever. I need to regain my strength before our next attack!” she hissed.
The woman turned with a dramatic flair to sit behind a round table that held a fortune teller’s crystal ball.
“Claire,” Mina breathed out the witch’s name before taking a step back and tripping over a tent stake, causing it to shake.
“What was that?” Claire’s voice said from inside. “Go, and deal with it.”
Mina scrambled to her knees and took off running toward the middle of the fair. She bumped into someone, and a tall girl yelled at her and elbowed her in the side. She almost crashed into another person but regained her balance when she saw a large Tesla display.
The large electric coil reached high into the air, and there was warning tape that roped off the viewing area to keep spectators at a safe distance. But it was the two people she saw putting on the demonstration that made her mouth go dry. They matched this time in their black suits. Temple wore a dark suit with gold spats on his shoes and matching top hat. Reid wore a similar outfit with a bowler hat. It was unmistakably the Stiltskins, both of them.
Reid held his hand over the lever of the Tesla machine, and it started to pop as electricity ran up and down the coil. The hair on the
back of her neck stood up. Not them too!
She ran from the Tesla display to check out some of the boosters’ booths. She found Mr. Hamm behind the booth helping to sell Kennedy High souvenirs. There were a bunch of Kennedy High keychains, magnets, cozies, and—she quickly scanned the table and picked up a laser pointer.
She gave Mr. Hamm the money before twisting the cap to see if the pointer worked. It did. The laser pointer could cut through planes and reveal a Fae’s true self through their glamour. Only Royals were strong enough to shift their shape and hold it.
Mina ran back out into the crowd and used the laser pointer, flashing it at passersby and at each of the booth vendors. Nothing morphed or changed. Maybe that was it for the rogue Fae.
She spotted Nan and Charlie on the large carousel and jogged to the metal security fence. She tried to wave at them to hurry and get off.
“Can’t,” Nan called from her perch on a giant brown dog before it spun out of sight. Charlie sat next to her on a smaller tan dog.
“Not till the ride is over,” Nan yelled again as it went around a second time.
Mina found Ever waiting impatiently by the carousel exit.
“Ever! We have to get out of here now! Claire and the wolves are here. So are the Stiltskins.”
“Wait, what?” Ever jumped to attention. “Didn’t you trap them in the Grimoire?”
“Well yeah, I did, but after the Grimoire lost its guardian, it became just became a book again.”
“But what about the pages… inside?”
“Blank. They were blank.”
“Then they must have been freed from their prisons.”
“All of them?” Mina asked, utter fear rising within her.
Ever nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Mina and Ever looked at each other, and neither one could process what was happening.
Ever turned to yell at Nan. “Nan, get off that dang wolf now!”
“Wolf?” Mina looked closer at the carousel and what she’d thought was a dog. Gold windmills and flowers were painted along the trim. In the middle stood a large colorful landscape with a castle. Instead of wooden white horses, giraffes, and swans, this carousel had wooden wolves, bears, and griffins.