Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #4)(85)

When the bell rang, Jared reached out and tapped Lucy’s shoulder. She spun around and looked up at him in surprise. “I know, not a good first impression,” she said. “You probably think I’m nuts like Mark and Adam.”

“No, I wanted to say that I believe you.”

“You do?” Lucy’s mouth dropped open and hung there.

Jared shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, and I’m willing to test your theory.”

Lucy wrinkled up her nose and shook her head. “I don’t think you should. I mean, I would hate for the new guy to go missing too. And what if I’m wrong? You’ll probably just tell everyone, and then I’ll be the biggest laughingstock.” She turned to walk away, but Jared called out after her.

“But what if you’re right?”

Lucy stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn around. She was obviously contemplating the repercussions of being right. She spun around, her eyes bright with excitement. “If I’m right, you promise that I get first dibs on the story?”

Jared thought about it. “Sure. Why not?” he answered, knowing full well she probably wouldn’t remember it after the tale was over.

“Done.” Lucy stuck her hand out and Jared awkwardly grabbed it and gave it a shake.

“So what’s the plan?” Jared asked.

Lucy looked a little embarrassed. “Um, you need to get a girlfriend and act like the world revolves around her. Like a Romeo and Juliet—soap opera type love.”

Jared stepped back and stared at her. This posed a problem. Mina was the first girl who popped into his head to play the role, but she hated him at the moment. And he didn’t want her involved in this anyway. He cocked his head to the side and hoped he was pulling off a winsome smile, but she shook her head and backed up.

“Nope, not gonna happen. The girls were all hot as well. Even if I had an extreme makeover, I’m pretty sure no one would believe us.” Lucy took off her glasses in a pretense to clean the lenses, but Jared saw it as a ploy not to look at him.

He sighed. Maybe he should just back out now and let Mina take over the quest. He knew she could handle the frog girl, but that was the problem. It wasn’t the Fae that was the tricky part of this quest. It was the rules of this particular tale that needed to be satisfied. The Frog Prince tale was about a spellbound frog prince who is kissed by a girl. Well, in this version it looked like the girl needed to find her prince for her curse to be lifted—and until that happened, a whole crew of teenage boys were suffering under it as well!. But if Jared told Mina what he knew, she would demand to know how he knew, who told him, and why the Story wanted him to be the prince.

He didn’t know her well enough to tell her all his secrets. No, it was better to satisfy the quest first, and then let Mina finish it with the Grimoire.

Jared had to think of another option. One person who could probably pull it off did come to mind, if she could keep her sarcasm at bay. “Okay, I think I can find a fake girlfriend. Did you find anything else, oh Wise One, that would help me seal the deal?”

Lucy hesitated before answering. “Are you sure you’re doing this to expose her, and not just date the girl?”

Jared was disgusted. “Positive.”

“Then if she tries to talk to you, or comes in contact with you, spurn her. Make fun of her. Make her ripe with jealousy. It will make her go after you more. I’ve seen it with a few others.” Lucy sucked on the inside of her cheek in thought and leaned against the doorframe. “You really think you can do this?”

Jared flashed his dangerous smile at her. He watched as her eyes widened and her hand unconsciously moved to her heart.

“Lucy, when I want something. I get it.”





Chapter 4


Jared knocked on the motel door and put his hands in his pockets, waiting. He hoped she hadn’t moved somewhere new. Was this the smart thing to do? Was getting another Fae involved in this quest worth keeping Mina in the dark?

What would Mina think? After all, it was her quest. She was already mad at him. He’d been hearing her spout off all kinds of rotten things about him in the back of his mind. It didn’t matter if she wasn’t with him. If she was anywhere near the Grimoire, he would always be able to hear her thoughts.

He should probably just trust her. After all, she had defeated Claire on her own using the Grimoire. However, just the memory of his allowing her to get kidnapped by the Fae wolves infuriated him. He’d failed them both, really. He hadn’t been able to protect her, and he’d been seriously injured in the process. What had the Story been thinking picking such a young girl?

Jared knocked again, but this time he pounded so hard the wood splintered. He grimaced and tried to rein in his anger, which was starting to seize control again. But once he’d seen what Kathleen Donovan was, he’d known it was never a quest set up for Mina. This was a trap especially laid out for him, because Kathleen was a girl and the quest needed a boy, a prince.

The hotel door opened, and a short girl with black spiky hair stepped out. She was wearing all black, except the violet glittery skull barrette in her hair and the purple gloves on her hands.

“Jared? Holy periwinkle! It is you!” She jumped up and flung her arms around his neck, pressing her face close to his. “I’ve missed you! You haven’t been by in such a long time.” When he didn’t immediately return her embrace, she slowly slid down and looked at him. “Wait, what’s wrong? Someone found the book didn’t they?”