Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #4)(89)

Kathleen scurried off of the front porch and ran to the creek. She slipped off her shoes and dashed haphazardly into the water. Her body slowly grew, stretched and shifted into an ugly bullfrog form. The frogs peeked their head out of the water and one by one they steadily swam to her.

She held her arms open wide and let her tears flow freely into the water. A misty fog started to form around her feet and the creek bed. Her voice became low and coarse, then she started to croak out loud. More tears fell from her cheeks and every time one fell into the water it glistened like gold and moved through the water to find an awaiting bullfrog. The frog would glow and shimmer and slowly, grow larger, taller, and become a human boy.

Jared recognized Mitch Trujillo from his missing poster, and a few seconds later Kevin Sanders appeared next to him. Another boy, Jared recognized but whose name he didn’t know, materialized. Soon the creek bed was filled with disoriented teenage boys. He waited and counted but it didn’t add up. Kathleen was crying, and the more she cried, the further physically withered she became until she resembled green leather.

“There,” she huffed. “I did it.” Kathleen waved her hands to Jared, and he moved closer to her. She collapsed on the ground, a pathetic version of her Croanoak form.

Jared leaned down to her and lifted up her head. She smiled wanly. “Now kiss me,” she cried out.

“No,” he said firmly. “That’s not all of them.”

She squirmed uncomfortably under his direct gaze. “It’s most of them. I could die trying to save them all. Kiss me now and then when I’m no longer cursed I can save him.”

“I know the rules. If you are in your human form, then you will no longer have the power to free them. Do it now!” he shook her shoulders hard, and he could feel her brittle bones creak beneath his hands. She really was wasting away.

His anger finally pulled her out of her own lovesick enchantment. “You lied to me Jared. You had no intention of ever kissing me!” she screamed. Her green eyes squeezed out one more tear, and she grasped hold of Jared’s arm beneath his sleeve.

“You disappointed me my prince, like the rest. You will now feel what it’s like to be a frog for the rest of your life.”

He tried to pull away but the toxic touch of her skin to his made him lightheaded and disoriented again. He watched as her ugly green stretched lips reached toward his, and he could do nothing to stop it. He was under her toxic spell.

Jared was furious with himself, and he could hear another voice laughing at him, which only made him more desperate to break her hold on him. Move your body! he screamed at himself, but his body wouldn’t obey. His mind was free, but his body a prisoner.

Kathleen’s lips touched his and he could feel her magic pulling at him, pulling at his Fae form.

Kathleen was a Croanoak, a Fae creature that travels the planes, hungrily searching for a stronger form for themselves. Their greatest weapon is their ability to forcibly steal another’s form and make it fit them. For some reason, probably because of the Story’s bidding, Kathleen was not only searching for the perfect body, but the perfect love as well, so it would fit the frog prince tale.

He could feel Kathleen pulling at his Fae side, and it was as if he could feel her hands begin to mold his power into a different shape. She ripped through the planes and began to reveal his other nature.

Help!

The bushes moved, and a black form rushed from them screaming in fury, with a glowing gold spear in her hand. Mina landed next to them and smacked the shaft of the spear across Kathleen’s face.

Instantly, Jared was released, and he fell backwards into the creek. His body ached, and his soul felt like it was putty. His breathing felt ragged and his chest hurt.

He lifted up his hand and saw that it was no longer a flesh tone, but a bright green hue. Kathleen had started to change him already, in her terrible revenge. He rolled over and splashed through the creek until he was standing among the boys, looking as confused as them.

Mina, once again wearing all black, faced the still Kathleen. Her hood had fallen down and her brown hair spilled over her shoulders. She’d swung the spear around and had the point directed at Kathleen’s heart. But instead of stabbing her, she stopped and studied him.

“Are you okay, Jared?”

He should have been relieved that she was worried about him. In some ways, it made him happy. In other ways it made him angry. What was she thinking? She’d taken her focus off of the enemy.

“What are you doing?” he yelled at her.

She frowned at him. “Saving your life.”

“No, you are being stupid.” He was about to point out her mistake, when Kathleen used Mina’s distraction to knock her legs out from under her. Mina slipped and slammed flat onto her back. Jared rolled his eyes and tried to step out of the creek to help her, but he found he couldn’t.

He couldn’t leave the water! His heart thudded loudly in his chest. He was terrified.

Kathleen had rolled on top of Mina and was using the spear shaft to choke her. Her throaty cackle filled the night with evil delight as Mina gasped for breath.

“Flip her off. Twist your body!”

Mina gripped the spear and used her body weight to twist and knock Kathleen off. They both rolled, and Mina did what she could to direct their momentum so they rolled down toward the water.

With a splash, they both landed in the creek. Kathleen crawled away into the water, trying to lie down and soak up as much of the water as she could. But it also put her within reach of all the vengeful boys. They grabbed her and lifted her up out of the water. She couldn’t fight them all at once.