Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #4)(76)

Mina stepped onto the cold balcony and shivered—from both the chill in the air and the worry creeping up her spine.

Something bad was going to happen. Even if Teague hadn’t threatened the impending doom, she’d have felt it coming.

Brody saw her shiver and wrapped his hands around her. He pointed out across the golf course. They could see the town and, to the right, the river. Down below, couples had gathered on the grass to watch the fireworks display. Even from the second floor she could recognize Daphne and Lara huddled together and pointing up at the sky. Mina craned her neck to look at the watch on Brody’s wrist and wished for the second hand to stop moving.

Thirty seconds left. She couldn’t take it anymore. She turned to pull away from him, just as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

“Mina, I know things have been kind of crazy. And this has moved very fast between us, but I want you to know that I’ll be there for you. Through all the crazy. Through whatever curse tries to hunt you down. I want to be your knight in shining armor. And although this tradition is a bit old fashioned, I find that’s the kind of guy I am.”

She had no idea what he was talking about. Her heart was pounding, and she felt like any moment she was going to fall down an elevator shaft.

She couldn’t focus on Brody. She was consumed with Teague. Why hadn’t she just given him the stupid knife?

At the stroke of midnight, the fireworks lit up the night sky. The first boom made Mina jump back in surprise. She gave a little cry of alarm before laughing it off.

Another one exploded in the sky, followed by a cascade of more colorful bursts. She watched for a full minute and then felt the tension release from her body. It was midnight. Everything was okay. She sighed and turned to look at Brody and the object he was holding in front of her. It was his gold class ring with a ruby red stone.

All thoughts fled her mind, and she stood there staring in shock. Around them, the sky was on fire with color, and right in front of her was a boy that seemed to care about her. He was offering her something she’d never thought to get. True, she hardly ever saw anyone wearing rings in school anymore. They just posted their relationship on the Internet. But here in this moment it felt so right. So perfect.

“Brody, I…I—”

“Booooom!” The explosion came from over two miles away, but Mina felt the quake beneath her. She stumbled and Brody caught her, dropping the class ring onto the balcony. She watched as it rolled off the ledge into the row of bushes two stories below. A second blast followed the first, and another ball of fire erupted over by the river. Down below, people started screaming and running. Others pulled out their cell phones and started taking pictures as the dark sky filled with orange fire.

Teague’s warning came back to her and she could barely speak. “Wh-what was that?” She had to ask, but deep down she already knew.

Brody squinted into the night and she could see that he was looking for landmarks and estimating distances. “It’s fine. Everything’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just an abandoned building that’s nowhere near us.”

“Brody! What building is that?” She grabbed ahold of the lapels on his suit and stared at the burning orange sky.

“Mina, it’s fine. You’re safe. No one was hurt. It’s the Old Green Mill Recycling Center. It’s been abandoned for years.”

She cried out as her feet gave way beneath her and she crumpled to the ground in a desperate heap. She stared through the metal slates on the balcony railings and wanted to die.

“Noo!” She screamed into the night. Her cries mingled with and echoed those of the people below. Teague had finally gotten his revenge. He had tried before to take them out but was unsuccessful. This time, his blow struck home.

Mina couldn’t pull her eyes away as she watched the Fae Godmother’s Guild go up in flames.





Chapter 32


It took some convincing, but Brody finally drove her to the recycling plant. Firefighters were already on site, fighting back the blaze and dousing the building with water. Mina jumped out of the car and ran to the edge of the caution tape. She didn’t see anyone coming out of the building.

But there was no way the building was empty.

Maybe the fire hadn’t reached the Fae living below the recycling center. The firemen would have been evacuating the wreckage. Many of the Fae could mask themselves as human, but there were still quite a few that couldn’t. They’d have to be hiding somewhere.

She heard a wailing sound come from the edge of the woods and ran toward the trees fifty yards away. Brody was right on her heels. She crashed through the underbrush and passed through the illusion that was hiding the real damage. Fae were dragging and carrying the dead and wounded from the underground tunnel in the middle of the river. She saw a familiar girl with short black hair, struggling to help an injured man out of the tunnel.

“Brody, help them!” Mina cried out. She ran to help Ever carry Ken Wong out of the river bed to the embankment. She could see clear as daylight the fire and the firemen and policemen by the parking lot and building, but they couldn’t see past the glamour. Which was good. The remaining Fae were using all of their last resources to cloak their escape from their headquarters.

“You missed the party,” Ever grunted as she kneeled to get Ken to lie down. There was a large bruise on his face and a bloody cut across his stomach. Most of his hands were covered with second-degree burns. He was conscious and kept trying to get back up to head into the tunnels. Two other Fae came and picked Ken up to move him into a large truck. It seemed like they were doing a quick evacuation of the survivors.