Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #4)(33)

“No, send someone else! I’m not strong enough to do this.”

When Ever met Mina’s eyes, she looked resigned. “You have to.”

“I can’t, Ever. I don’t think I can.”

Nix dropped to his knees and grabbed her hand. “Mina, I beg you please!”

“I’m sorry Nix. Please don’t ask me again.”

Mina ran from the hall of mirrors with no clear direction in mind. All that mattered was getting away.





Chapter 16


Loud footsteps followed Mina, and she turned expecting to have to dissuade Nix from pressuring her to go back in time.

Instead she was confronted with Ever. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pinched in stubbornness. A flicker of agitation flew across her face. She was far past upset.

Mina stood there with her hands on her hips. “Spit it out.”

“Nix,” Ever said. “He helped you. He saved you.”

Mina gave her a scorching look, but Ever ignored her. “I owe him nothing. My debt was paid before he ever came to the human plane.” Mina glanced around, still confused that he hadn’t followed her. “Where is Nix?”

“I told him to not interfere and that I would try and reason with you,” Ever said defensively. “I won’t let you hurt him.”

Mina was taken aback by her venomous tone. Ever’s invisible pixie wings fluttered behind her, stirring up her dark hair. Another sign of her heightened emotion.

“I’m not going to hurt him,” Mina replied. “He’ll be fine. He’ll be better off if he never meets me. He’ll still be a Nixie. There’s no proof he would have turned into a Sea Witch. At least he’d still be alive.”

Ever snorted. “He would have made a terrible sea witch. He’s too kindhearted.”

“You should be worrying about me.”

“Mina,” Ever said, trying to keep her voice calm and even. “Nix is human now thanks to you. He’s defenseless against the dark prince’s power.”

“Yeah, defenseless like me.” Mina rushed out angrily.

“Ugh, there’s so much I could—” Ever shook her head. “It’s your own fault. You returned the Grimoire to the Fae plane, you gimp. And destroyed…Jared.”

“I didn’t know that would happen, because no one ever told me anything.”

“Listen to me, Mina. Nix is good. Saving him is the one good thing you’ve done since I’ve met you. You betrayed Jared, and now he’s gone. I won’t let that happen to Nix. Someone has to protect him from you.”

“What do you mean? By not going back, I’m not going to hurt Nix.”

Ever sighed and rubbed her forehead. Her shoulders slouched forward in defeat. “Look you don’t understand. You have no choice. I see that now—so clearly.” Her eyes grew misty with tears. “And I’m going to hate myself forever for saying this…but if you don’t go back, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Ever, what are you not telling me?”

Ever rubbed her arms as if to ward off an invisible chill. “You’re a Grimm. You can’t help that. Even if you don’t mean it, you will eventually betray us all. But I care about Nix, and I…I want what’s best for him.”

“I do too. You have to believe that.”

Ever dropped her head, refusing to make eye contact. “I wish I could. All I can tell you, Mina, is if you do what the Godmothers tell you, you’ll save your family.”

“How can you be certain?”

She lifted her head and tears ran freely down her face. “I just have a feeling. Call it Pixie intuition if you must.”

“Ever, that’s not enough.”

“Why can’t it be enough?” She turned to kick the wall. “Gah, you were just as infuriating back then.”

“What do you mean ‘back then’?”

Ever blew out a deep breath and ignored the question. “Don’t try and argue with me. Get your tush turned around and go back to the hall of mirrors. You have a quest to finish and a family line to save. More than you can possibly know is riding on this. If you don’t mess this up, you have a chance of righting more than a few wrongs.”

She wanted to ask more, but Ever vanished around the corner.

Confused but determined, Mina retraced her steps and found the hall of mirrors. Nix sat on the floor, his head leaning against a smooth wooden frame. Nan kneeled in front of him, trying to coax him out of his depression. Constance and Mei were busy detaching a mirror from the wall and lowering it onto a rolling cart.

Mei patted the antique mirror and gave Mina a wide smile. “I knew you’d come around. You are not one to let others suffer. Yourself? Yes. Others, no.”

“I had to have someone talk some sense into me. I seem to have lost all my own for a minute.” Mina walked over to look at the mirror they had removed from the wall. The frame was made of crystal clear glass inlaid with diamonds and pearls. It looked to have been well taken care of over the years. “That’s beautiful.”

“It’s very old. Probably the oldest mirror here.”

“Whose is it?”

“Don’t you worry about it.” Mei ran her hand across the frame and a sparkle followed her hand. “I know we are asking a lot of you. You have met every challenge so far with great strength and determination. I’m proud of you.”