Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #4)(32)

“It’s too late. I’m already starting to fade. It’s happened to my brother and now me. Tell me you know what’s causing this!” Mina spun toward Constance and Baynard.

Constance sighed and looked to Mei. “I was afraid of that. Something has altered the course of the tale.”

“Which tale? This doesn’t sound like any I know of,” Mina said.

“Your whole life is one long tale, starting back to the very beginning with the Grimm Brothers. That is the beginning of your tale; you are in the middle of writing it.”

It wasn’t the news she wanted to hear. “And you’re saying that someone has altered my tale? How can that be?”

Baynard spoke up. “From what we’ve gathered, something big happened and altered the course of the Story. It may have to do with your ancestors. Do you see those mirrors that are yellowing and are covered with dust?”

“Yes, what about them?”

“They were not like that a week ago.

“What?” Nix, Nan, and Mina said at once.

“Something or someone has altered your history. It’s only a matter of time before this occurrence catches up to our current timeline.

“How do I stop it?” Mina asked. “How do I stop something that I can’t see?”

It was little Thistle that spoke up. She scurried down the wall and ran up Nix’s arm. “You can’t. Not at this time.”

“Then she’s a sitting duck. Not any duck—probably a Peking duck.” Nan ran to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. “Don’t worry. I will hold onto you. I’ll never let you go.”

“No, she has to go,” Thistle piped up again.

“You just said there was nothing she could do,” Nix intervened. “Make up your mind.”

Thistle tapped her foot impatiently. “You’re not listening. I said there’s nothing she can do at this time. She can still stop this.”

“How?” Mina and Nan chimed together.

“There’s nothing you can do in the present. You have to go back in time.”





Chapter 15


“That’s outrageous,” Mina whispered.

“That’s impossible,” Ever gasped.

“That’s awesome!” Nan cheered.

Ever looked the most startled at the prospect of time travel. Her face had paled. “It can’t be. I don’t believe it.” She kept casting Mina sideways glances and frowning, but Mina was quite used to the odd looks from Ever.

The thought of going back into the past terrified her. What if she messed up—stepped on a butterfly and the following chain of events destroyed the world? Wasn’t there a movie about that? There was no way she could do it.

“What does she need to do?” Nan jumped up and down in excitement.

“Well, it’s going to take some preparation,” Constance said. “Baynard, how long would it take to get Schumacher in here to disassemble one of the looking glasses?”

“I believe it would take two days to craft at least. But there’s no guarantee we could land her in the right spot or time.” Baynard turned and whispered to Thistle who took off running up a pipe that went into a wall and into the next room.

The Guild had clearly decided on a course of action without her. They were going to send her back in time. Constance, Mei, and Baynard began to walk among the mirrors and study each of them. It seemed they were looking for a certain one.

“I think we should use one of the oldest. They are the strongest and have garnered the most magic over the years,” Mei said.

Constance nodded her head. “Yes, but we also need to make sure that we don’t destroy its powers in the making. This could get tricky.”

Mina was temporarily forgotten by the Guild as they plotted their next move. Nan, however, was thrilled at the idea of Mina going back in time. She immediately started to pressure her with all kinds of demands. “Okay, make sure that you bring me back souvenirs, and if you see one of my family members, you should leave them with a set of winning lottery numbers. No, that won’t work. Lottery wasn’t invented back then. Wait, what time are you going back to?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mina said heatedly. “I’m not going.”

“What do you mean you’re not going? If you don’t, you’ll disappear!”

“We don’t know that for sure.” She knew it was a stupid thing to say—but at that moment she was feeling very overwhelmed. This was not a task for a seventeen-year-old girl. There had to be someone else who could go back and fix whatever was wrong with the timeline. Some other Grimm.

She was about to ask Mei who else could go when she turned and met Nix’s angry emerald eyes.

“Don’t even think about backing out. You have to do this!” he demanded. “It’s not just your own life that you have to save.”

“Nix, I don’t know if I can.”

“So what? At least you try. Mina, if it wasn’t for you, I would have given in to the darkness and become a Sea Witch…or I would have faded and died. If something in the past keeps you from coming into my life, I’m a dead man. Please do this! Please try and save—not only your family—but me as well.”

“You have to! You have to try and save Charlie and your mom!” Nan jumped in, cheering her on.