Forever

by Chanda Hahn

  “Mina.”

  “Whatever,” he rolled his shoulders and ignored her.

  How could she convince him she was here to help? “Okay, well I meant it. I’m not leaving unless you come with me. I’ll use the seam ripper. We have to try to escape. You can’t give up hope.”

  “Not going to happen.” He yawned and proceeded to stretch out on the cold floor, his back to her.

  Mina sat down and pulled her knees up to her chin for warmth. She could wait him out. She was almost certain of it. She knew Jared could be stubborn, but she was going to have to show him that she was serious.

  Mina rocked back and forth trying to get her body to warm up. As Jared slept, she held back the desire to go over and kick him in the stomach for being so stupid. Instead, she settled for walking as far as she dared in the dark, while trying to keep an eye on him.

  The longer they stayed in the basement, the more it seemed like the darkness was creeping up on them. The shelves and boxes slowly disappeared, and they were surround by it. A darkness that continued forever. Finally, perhaps hours later, she came back and sat on the cold floor as close as she dared to Jared without waking him up. Soon, the chill set in, and drowsiness overtook her.

  She couldn’t hold her head up anymore. Mina let herself slide to the ground, and she heard the sound of chattering. Was that her teeth? It didn’t matter, because staying awake was a fight she didn’t mind losing.

  Sometime during her sleep, she dreamed someone grumbled and cursed about her freezing to death. Something heavy and warm draped over her, and she wrapped herself up in the safety of it.

  After all, what harm could come from sleep?

  Chapter 17

  Mina opened her eyes and blinked in confusion at her surroundings. Where was she?

  It took a few seconds before she comprehended.

  She was in the mirror. But she was no longer freezing. She was in fact quite warm, or at least her back was. She tried to move away, but a weight across her waist pulled her back against the warmth.

  She froze. A soft brush of warm air caressed her neck, and she couldn’t help but notice the masculine arm around her stomach, holding her possessively. Mina turned over and looked into the deep gray eyes of Jared. He had moved over and spooned her to keep her warm. Now, those mesmerizing eyes were looking at her with what? Regret?

  She couldn’t read them.

  He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. “You are the most insufferable girl when you’re freezing. Whining and shivering. I could hear your teeth clattering. I had to keep you warm, just so I could get some sleep.”

  She smiled softly at him. “Liar.”

  His gray eyes darkened, and she thought she saw a hint of blue. She needed to remember—he might not really be the Jared that she knew.

  “Who am I?” she asked, unwilling to pull herself out of his embrace.

  “A dream.” He tugged her closer. “An annoying dream that has come to plague me. Although you haven’t disappeared yet. But you will. You always disappear.”

  So that was what was bothering him.

  “I won’t leave if you won’t,” she whispered back.

  Just the softest of smiles worked at the corner of his mouth.

  “There’s only one way to prove you’re not a dream.” His hand came up and brushed against the side of her cheek. “And that’s to do this.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

  She didn’t move, lost in the feel of his mouth brushing against hers in a gentle caress. He pulled back suddenly, his eyes filled with confusion. “Wait…how?”

  Mina didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her hand around his head and pulled him back into the kiss.

  He didn’t hold back this time. He deepened the kiss. His lips claimed hers, and she let her hands roam freely in his hair, afraid that she really would wake up, and he’d be gone.

  It was a kiss of longing, a kiss of desperation, a kiss of remembering.

  Their lips remembered their one shared kiss long ago.

  This time when he let her go, there were tears in his eyes. “No. Fates No, tell me you’re not here. You can’t be here.”

  “I am. I came for you.”

  He closed his eyes in pain and pulled away from her to sit up on the floor. His demeanor changed, and he stiffened. Immediately, she felt the absence of his warmth.

  “If you’re here, then you know.”

  “Know?” She sat up and reached to comfort him, but he pulled away.

  “Know I’m a fake. A fraud…a…a copy.” It was obvious that the admission pained him. “I’m the reason you’re cursed, the reason for the things that happened to you—and your family. I told you in the beginning not to trust me.”

  “You are the only one I trust.”

  He turned to her, his gray eyes filled with tears. “But you can’t. I’m not Jared. It’s just a name I stole from a memory, because I didn’t want to remember all of the horrible things I did. I’m him.” He said the word with disdain. “And he hates you… but at the same time, parts of me can’t stay away from you.”

  “I know. But it doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”

  “It should.”

  “I still can’t be trusted. You need to finish what you started and destroy the mirrors.”

  “No. Not unless you come with me. I can save you. I can free you.”

  “Mina, just you knowing who I really am is enough for me. I can die happy.”

  “Now wait a minute. Who said anything about anyone dying here?”

  “I can’t leave here,” he said simply. “I wasn’t joking when I said that I’m imprisoned here. I always have been and always will be the prince.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Last time I was dangerous enough to be split in two.” He came and took her hand. “I know how you feel about me, how I feel about you. But when I became whole again, I took those memories of Jared and locked them up, deep inside, banished them to the in-between. That is all that’s left of me. The Jared you knew is just a memory.”

  “No, you’re more than just a memory to me.”

  He shook his head. “No, Mina. If you can’t let go of the memory of Jared, then there’s no hope of ever saving me. The real me. I’m still poisoned and filled with hate. And I don’t understand what happened between us.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. Look at me,” he demanded. She closed her eyes and turned away.

  He came forward and grabbed her shoulders. “Mina. Look at me.”

  She could feel the sobs coming on, and she clenched her jaw to try and hold back the overpowering feelings. But she looked into his deep gray eyes, at his strong defined jaw. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like what was coming next.

  “I told you, Royals can shift. Because we’re the strongest Fae.”

  “No, stop.” She squeezed her eyes shut again.

  He touched her cheek softly, and her breath caught. She refused to open her eyes. But then his grip on her changed, and his lips once again pressed on hers. This time, she couldn’t help opening her eyes.

  She gasped and pulled away.

  “I’ve tried to deny it, even held onto this form in memory. But you have to see the truth.” His eyes were still gray, but Jared’s appearance had changed. His hair was darker, his face a bit more angular. He was Teague.

  She tried to comprehend the person in front of her. Even his voice had changed. “What about your eyes?” Mina asked. “Why are your eyes still gray then?”

  “Well, because a copy of a copy is never as clear as the original. Blue eyes have always been and always will be the true Teague’s one tell.”

  “Can you see me?” Jared asked “Through this?” He gestured to his face. Even though the face was different, his expression was the same.

  Could she?

  “Look!” He pointed to the darkness surrounding them. As she watched, hairline cracks splintered her world. “So
meone is breaking the mirror. If you don’t leave, you’ll die.”

  The cracks fanned out, becoming bigger. Mina held onto him. If they were going to die, she wanted to die with him—together.

  He pressed his forehead to hers. “I love you, Mina,” he said breathlessly.

  “I love you too.” Mina cried. Her heart was breaking at the thought of gaining him and losing him so quickly.

  He looked at her, full of grief. “Please,” he begged as the walls around them started to crumble and fall. “Say my name.”

  “Jared.” She grasped onto him desperately, scared of being separated.

  “No, no more lies. Please. My name.”

  Mina looked up into his pain filled eyes and knew what he was asking. Fae were tricksters, full of lies. They couldn’t be trusted, but here he was baring his heart and soul, wanting a piece of him to be recognized.

  In that moment, their last, as the mirror finally shattered around them, trapping them together, she knew the truth. “I love you, Teague.”

  Chapter 18

  Mina flailed and fell out of bed onto the floor with a painful thud. She stared at the morning light pouring into her room. Her alarm clock showed a quarter past seven. Fifteen minutes.

  She sat on the floor, her hands covering her mouth in horror at what she had just experienced. It had felt so real—even following their plan down to a T.

  Ever had been stabbed and then destroyed, and Mina had tried to save somebody she thought was Jared and ended up dying as well.

  But how? Someone else must have come in after her and smashed the mirror.

  Was it a dream? A warning of something to come? Looking up in alarm, she saw that the mirrors were still intact. Mina and Ever hadn’t trapped him in the mirrors yet. In fact, Teague hadn’t even arrived.

  There was still time. Not a whole lot, but enough that maybe, just maybe, she could save one more person before she died. This had to be more than a dream. It was a premonition. There was still another enemy to watch out for.

  She grabbed the wooden bat from behind her bed post. She couldn’t risk losing Ever too. If she could just swing the bat and break the mirror, that timeline would be over. She hefted the bat, grunted and swung—but she pulled up short, changed direction, and hit the floor.

  Screaming in frustration, Mina pounded the floor until her anger was spent. She tossed the bat on the floor and wiped her wrist across her brow, staring at the mirrors. This plan was supposed to save her life, but it would cost Ever’s. She didn’t want to sacrifice herself to save everyone, but she knew she had to. Destroying their mirrors trap was the only way to protect Ever.

  Mina gripped the baseball bat again and swung. One by one, she destroyed each of the mirrors. Shards of glass littered the floor. She stepped toward the next, glass popping beneath her feet. She broke every single mirror.

  Except her mother’s.

  “Why mom?” Mina asked. She could just make out her own outline, blurred through her tears, and for a moment, convince herself she was talking to her mother.

  “Why did you hide so much from us? Why couldn’t you have told us and given us the best chance to survive?”

  Mina could imagine her mother’s voice answering, telling her she had the best chance ever—now—of saving not only herself, but her people, the Fae.

  Angry tears slid down her cheeks. As Mina looked back up at the mirror, she knew what she had to do.

  She grabbed her Unaccomplishments and Epic Disasters notebook and flipped it open.

  “You are a new Grimoire. You are not made from Teague’s life but mine. No longer will you hold tales of my unaccomplishments and epic disasters. You will hold my greatest triumphs and happily-ever-afters.” She closed her eyes and felt her hands grow warm as power spread through her fingertips.

  The notebook lifted off of the bed and spun in the air, before gently landing open on the bed. No longer a spiral notebook, the new Grimoire was a leather-bound journal with gold letters. She placed it on her bedside table, and on top of it the seam ripper. She hoped Ever would find it and know that she was passing the quests off to her. Ever would find the others and help protect her brother. Besides, she was better at being a Grimm and fighting Fae than Mina had ever been. She only wished she had thought of creating more Grimoires sooner, but they were made of journals. Hours of heart had gone into each book, and she had a suspicion that’s why they held the power they did.

  Ever was hiding in a room down the hall waiting to ambush Teague. To make sure she didn’t repeat the dream, Mina needed to get away from the house. She grabbed a cross over bag from her messy floor and shoved in the dagger.

  As she took off running down the stairs, she heard the closet door open. Ever called out in surprise, “What’s all the noise? Where are you going? What about the plan?”

  Forget the plan. Her current plan was to get as far away from her friends as she could before Teague came for her. She ran through the kitchen and out the back door across the grass.

  She looked at the watch on her hand as she ran. She only had two minutes before her twelve hours were up. Mina didn’t want to die, and she realized what must have run through her mother’s mind as she faced Death to protect her children: Love for others can make even the scaredest of souls become brave in the face of danger.

  Ever hung her head out a second-floor window. “Don’t do it, Mina!”

  She began a countdown in her head. When she only had a few seconds left, she stopped running and held her hand over the stitch in her side. She had almost reached the tree line.

  “Mina.” His voice echoed through the air, taunting her.

  “I’m here,” she answered.

  “So am I,” he said from right behind her.

  He was just as she pictured in her dream, wearing the same exact clothes, even the same exact expression of triumph. “I’ve come for what’s mine.”

  “It’s in my bag.”

  “Give it to me.” He stepped forward and held out his hand.

  Mina carefully opened up the crossover bag and reached inside, her fingers brushing the dagger. “Remember what you promised. You’d leave my friends and family alone if I gave you the dagger and my life.”

  She sucked in her breath and squeezed the blade until she felt the sharp sting as it sliced her skin. A burning sensation followed, but she held in the gasp and tried to mask the pain. She wanted to be the one in control, and this was the fastest way to seal the deal and protect her friends.

  “Yes, I get the dagger and your life. In exchange, they go free. I promise. Now give me the dagger.” His eyes searched hers and looked at her bag in worry. He noticed how long she was drawing out handing him the weapon.

  Mina lost her equilibrium and had problems focusing. A cold shock went through her body as she pulled the cursed dagger out of the bag and held it out to Teague. There was no mistaking the long bleeding cut along her hand from the poisoned dagger.

  “Mina, what have you done?” She thought she saw a hint of worry flash across his face, but she must have imagined it.

  He wanted her life, but he hadn’t specified how.

  “Here,” she whispered, her lips trembling as she fell to her knees. “I give you both the dagger and my life”—breathing became hard as she fought to make her lungs work—“freely.” Then the poison froze her limbs. The only thing she could feel as she hit the ground was the coldness of the wet grass against her cheek.

  Then her world went dark.

  Chapter 19

  Pain seized Mina, and she woke up gasping. Teague, face grim, leaned over her. Her stomach knotted, and she curled up in a ball to try and protect herself.

  “Make it stop,” she cried out.

  Teague cursed in anger.

  “Kill me,” she begged. Never in her life or death—if that’s what this was—had she ever thought she’d beg Teague to kill her. But she meant it. “Just kill me and get it over with.”

  “Not yet.” She swore his eyes turned gray for a minut
e. She watched his hands glow brightly when he brought them near her arm. “I have to burn the poison out of your bloodstream.”

  Another searing pain laced up her hand, and she blacked out.

  When she came to again, she had to fight to open her eyes, crusted shut from dried tears. She lay in a pile of straw in a dank, dark room. Mina’s first thought was “dungeon,” and her second thought was that she wasn’t dead. Iron bracelets adorned each of her wrists with small etched writing that looked Fae. Her skin burned and itched in slight irritation. She tried to use power to get them off, but it only hurt her wrists and turned them bright red. She quickly abandoned that idea. It seemed—though the bands were light—there was enough iron in the cuffs to limit her power. She studied the burns on her wrists and noticed that her palm had been well bandaged.

  Peeling back the white cloth, she saw that the cut had already healed. But the scar was still there, jagged and pink.

  How long had she been here? She pulled off the bandage and let it fall to the straw. There wasn’t much room in her cell, just enough space to stand and walk five paces from one side to the other. A Fae light floated in the middle of the area, giving her light to see by, but little else was in the room. There wasn’t even a door.

  How strange. “I’m either still dreaming… or dead.”

  “No, you’re not dead, though you should be,” Teague’s voice rang out around her. A hole opened in the brick wall, and he stepped through it. He wore his royal robes again with the silver-leaf emblem on the collar. Which probably meant they were at the Fae palace, and she was in his dungeon “You thought to rob me of my prize, dear Mina. We can’t have that. I said I wanted your life, and I shall have it, but only I will decide when your short lifespan will be over. Do you understand?” He grasped her chin and made her look up at him.

  She searched his eyes for a hint of gray. “And when will that be?”

  “Soon, if you don’t stop asking annoying questions.” He thrust her chin downward and forced her gaze away.

  “Fine,” she snapped, instantly regretting it.