Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #4)(21)

He seemed to be in an odd mood, simply studying her face silently. His eyes softened as he cleared his throat and looked away from her. “That runaway garbage truck wasn’t me.”

“What? You didn’t try to run me over? That wasn’t part of your quest?”

He shook his head no.

“So why warn me? Why save me?” she said irritably.

“Because you haven’t finished the next quest that I’ve set up for you. And this one is the most important of all stories. I am especially partial to the ending.”

“Yeah, me too. Because one day her prince will come and they’ll live happily ever after.” She tested the waters to see what he had up his sleeve.

He laughed. “Come on, Mina, you know there’s no such thing. The day your prince comes will be your worst nightmare. For I will make you bow down and beg for your life.”

“You’re wrong. One day I will have a happy ending. It will be the day that you’re dead.”

“I know, Mina. I know. You’ve tried your best. But I’m not done with you yet.”

“I’m done playing along.”

“No, you’re not. Soon you’ll bow to me and beg for your life.”

“You are not ruler of the human plane, Teague.”

“And I don’t plan on ruling the human plane. I plan on destroying this one.”

“Why?” Mina asked, shivering at the chill that crept into her veins at his merciless tone. “What do you have against humans?”

“You ask why?” Clearly, he believed his reason to be obvious. “Humans are shallow liars and thieves. They are emotionally fickle, which is fun for the Fae to feed on, but they leave a sour feeling in my stomach.”

“Teague, don’t do this. You don’t have to be evil.” Mina moved toward his dark figure and paused within a few feet of him. She could see that she made him nervous. His eyes kept flickering to her neck, probably remembering the pain he’d inflicted on her with his hand. As if he couldn’t trust himself with her. If he felt guilt, then maybe there was a way to reason with him. “You can be good.”

“I was…once. But being good didn’t really work out for me. Being nice and gentlemanly didn’t give me what I wanted.” He met her eyes and she thought his expression saddened for a split second. “So now I just take what I want. And right now I want the dagger.”

“Teague,” Mina cried out in frustration. “I don’t have it. I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie to me!” Teague roared at her and rushed toward her again.

Mina raised her hands, trying to mimic what she’d done earlier and push him away with power. But she was too scared.

He closed the distance between them but didn’t raise a hand to touch her. “I know you have it. I’ve waited for so long. Jared didn’t think it was you. He tried to convince me I had the wrong girl—that I was mistaken, but I’m not. I know it’s you. You haven’t changed. After your next tale is over you will give to me. Or I will hurt your friends and start sending the quests after your brother and your mother.”

“I thought only one Grimm at a time could complete the quests,” Mina said.

Teague just smirked. “Silly Mina, why do you think the Fae Guild exists all over the world? Why do you think the Godmothers watch all the Grimms from their little mirror room? I’ve toyed with all of them at one time or another. But there was only one Grimm I ever cared about.”

She knew which Grimm he meant. Whichever one the Grimoire presented itself too. Because he needed his other half—he needed Jared.

He turned his back on her and walked away. “But you’ve always been a deceiver, and I’ve never been one to play by the rules,” Teague continued before disappearing down another tunnel, leaving her alone in the dark. His voice echoed back to her. “Neither have you, Mina.”

What in the Fae plane was he talking about? Mina’s hand brushed her aching throat, and every part of her wanted to break down and cry. But she couldn’t at this moment. She needed to get out of while she could. Teague had left a small flashlight on the stain-covered mattress. She had no desire to think on the sources of those stains. Instead, she needed to focus on escape.

Thankfully, the flashlight clicked on. Its bright beam of light sent even more rats scurrying for safety. Alarmed, she made a little noise in her throat and pain shot through it. It was probably best if she didn’t do that again.

Mina decided that stomping loudly as she walked would help disperse the rats faster. She aimed the flashlight at the tunnel that Teague disappeared down and was surprised that it immediately turned and opened up into another large culvert. Light poured in from an opened manhole in the ceiling above, and she realized Teague must have carried her until he found another exit.

She stood in the circle of light and looked to the left. No sign of him. After she clicked the flashlight off, she pocketed it before ascending the rungs to the street level. Orange construction cones surrounded the open manhole and a Silver City Sewer & Water truck was parked nearby. The city workers had abandoned their sewer work to investigate a crash—the one that had almost killed her—farther down the block. Mina pulled herself out of the hole and moved to the other side of the caution tape.

At first she walked, but then she started to run back to the scene of the accident. The garbage truck had struck a fire hydrant and run into the brick building. The whole area was cordoned off with tape, and carefully placed police vehicles kept the looky-loos at bay.