Forever (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #5)(25)

“I mean you no harm,” she called out. She held up muddy palms in the air to show she was defenseless. “I didn’t do anything to you. Just leave me alone!” The mushroom tree had dried out even more, and leaves kept falling to the ground. Maybe the monster couldn’t survive above ground long. If that was the case, she only needed to wait.

A figure in a long black cloak appeared from the woods.

“Help!” Mina cried to the cloaked being.

But it only watched her from the tree line, neither helping nor hindering. “Please help me!” she tried again, but the figure didn’t move—just continued to observe as she ran from the monsters. “Fine! A thousand curses on you!”

The figure raised its hand and pointed at her, its meaning clear. It was commanding the trees to harm her.

Mina tried to keep the monsters in sight, but the way they skittered about on their roots made it difficult. The ash tree started to shake and crack, its movements becoming stilted. The birch monster showed no signs of wilting or slowing until it stopped, and its long, gangly roots burrowed deep into the ground. Suddenly, they erupted out of the earth right in front of Mina, wrapping themselves around her legs.

She screamed and clawed at the roots, trying to pry them off. She swore she heard the monster laugh as it began to drag her into the ground. Flipping over, she dug her fingertips into the dirt, desperate to anchor herself. She glanced toward the hooded figure and noticed it had come closer as if to watch.

A low rumbling noise sounded in the distance, growing louder as it came closer. Headlight beams illuminated the tree attacking her and created a giant circular bull’s-eye. The vehicle accelerated. Brody was back! He hit the curb at an intense speed, lifted into the air, and torpedoed straight into the trunk of the ash tree. No!

The monster shrieked as the impact severed many roots. The ones that had imprisoned her loosened, and Mina was able to wiggle free.

Brody’s front wheels were halfway up the trunk of the toppled ash tree. He kept his foot on the gas, the wheels of his SUV continually spinning three feet above the ground. Was he too scared to let off it, or was he injured?

She held her breath.

He stirred and moved around inside.

She let out a sigh of relief.

Brody waved at her, trying to get her attention. His car was probably totaled, but the electric window worked…sort of. It whirred and made a loud grinding noise as it wiggled down.

“Mina, look out!” Brody shouted.” His face was pale as a ghost.

Mina turned as the ash tree toppled forward. It was going to fall on her. She dove to the left and missed being crushed by the thick trunk. Branches snapped, and she imagined a rush of wind as if the tree had exhaled its last breath.

Thump…thump…thump. Brody finally got the driver’s door opened and dropped the three feet to the ground, his legs wobbly.

“Mina!” He crawled to where he had last seen her.

“Over here,” Mina answered. She inched out from behind the dead tree. “I’m okay.”

She looked back to the tree line. The ominous figure was gone.

“Is it dead?” Brody asked, rubbing his hand up and down his left arm.

He refused to come any closer to either of the tree monsters. His cheek was swollen with reddish scratches across it from the airbags deploying. It was already starting to bruise. One of his eyes looked swollen, and blood trickled from a small cut on his forehead onto his white polo.

“Brody! You’re hurt!”

He was favoring his arm. She went to touch it, but he pulled it away.

“This will be an interesting tale to tell my insurance company.” He looked his totaled car over. “Tell me I’m not crazy.” He wiped at his bruised face and winced. “Those trees were attacking you…right?”

Mina scanned the scene before her. The ash tree had fallen over dead. It had apparently been out of the earth too long, and whatever Fae magic had kept it moving had worn off. The birch tree was quickly drying up as they watched. Within seconds, it was back to a regular looking tree.

Mina pointed at Brody’s arm.

“I’ll be fine. I just need to sit down for a second.” He looked at the mangled car, the puddles of mud, and the tree corpses. “Yeah, I think I need to sit way over here.”

He walked a few feet and almost collapsed as he tried to sit on the wet curb. Thankfully, it had stopped raining.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I was following you. I followed you to the Country Club, and then I followed the bus. I never expected dating you to be so dangerous,” he chuckled sadly.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Mina warned.

“I promised I’d protect you.” His eyes looked glassy. “I don’t go back on my promises.”

“What if I released you from that promise?”

“I don’t think I like where this is going.” He looked down at his shoes.

“A lot has happened in the last few days, but it feels like it’s been weeks.”

“I know. I feel like I’ve aged ten years.” He chuckled and grabbed her hand.

“You might have, thanks to Claire’s touch,” Mina admitted as she ran her hand over the back of Brody’s. “She took some of your youth to sustain her.”

Brody studied her, his eyes filled with sadness. He reached out with his other hand and covered hers. “Mina, what happened the night of the ball when you kept disappearing? Something changed that night, and I can’t figure it out.”