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  She had been avoiding Jared, because seeing him reminded her of her oath to kill his brother. How could she tell him that she needed to become stronger, to work harder, because, Hey, I want to kill your family. The truth was, she couldn’t. She couldn’t face the truth, and therefore she couldn’t face Jared.

  What could she say? Mina decided to forget it. There was nothing she couldn’t tell him tomorrow, in the middle of the day. She had moved away from him to go back to her room when her eye caught the easel and frame that she had almost knocked over. She took a quick glance at Jared and his eyes were still closed, so she moved to the lone picture and raised her hand to pull at the covering.

  He spoke without opening his eyes. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Why not, Jared?”

  “Because some things are best left undiscovered...like Spam. Nasty stuff—that should have remained a mystery.” He turned to his side and smiled at her wanly.

  Mina wanted to roll her eyes at him, but he stopped her with that haunted look of his. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you that day.”

  She tensed up. It wasn’t Jared’s fault, it was hers, but she secretly wanted to blame him for Charlie’s death, for losing their house. But she knew that was a lie. She was to blame. She looked up at Jared and shook her head. “No, I could have called you, and I didn’t. It’s my fault he’s dead…no one else’s.”

  Jared looked uncomfortable. “I was ignoring you because you had been ignoring me. So I purposely tuned out your emotions. I didn’t know something was wrong until you fell. I almost didn’t get there in time. I didn’t know about Char…about what happened till after…”

  “You caught me, didn’t you?”

  He nodded. “I carried you to the alley by the ambulance and left you there. I’m sorry. I was still angry.”

  “You should have stayed with me. Not left me and my family alone on the worst night of my life. I thought you’d abandoned me.”

  Jared leapt off the couch and stood within inches of her, his breath warm and sweet upon her face.

  “I would never abandon you. I will always be there to catch you when you fall.”

  She closed her eyes and leaned into him, being careful not to touch him…and careful to shield her heart.

  “I’m scared to fall—I’m scared I’m not strong enough for the tasks ahead.

  Jared’s jaw twitched with emotion. “Then I shall teach you to fly. It’s time for you to get some answers. Pull the sheet,” he answered.

  “You just told me not to.”

  “Okay, how about this…pull at your own risk.”

  For once she actually didn’t want to know, but he was looking at her with such sorrow in his eyes that she actually was becoming angry at being pitied. She yanked as hard as she could on the sheet, and the easel almost fell over. It settled, and Mina focused on the portrait. A man in his thirties, wearing a brown suit and polka-dot tie, sat on a red lounge chair, facing the artist. His hair was dark brown, and a neatly trimmed mustache framed his nice lips. His eyes were warm and the same boring brown as his hair. It was the same boring brown of Mina’s hair. She was staring at a portrait of her father.

  Chapter 6

  “Who painted this?” she gasped.

  “One of the Fae. I don’t remember which one it was, but it’s a pretty good likeness.”

  “Why is his picture in this house?” Mina asked, feeling agitated by this new discovery. “What’s it doing here, Jared?”

  “Haven’t you figured it out yet? The house used to belong to your father, although he never lived here.” She stared at him with an utter look of confusion on her face. Jared started chuckling at her. “Okay, now I’m seeing how lacking your training as a Grimm is. Someone should see about that.”

  “Yeah, why don’t you work on that?” Mina quipped back, feeling relieved at finding out the house didn’t belong to a serial killer. But it left way more questions that dealt with her father and his death. She wasn’t really ready to delve into that, so she let the plaguing questions drop.

  Jared wiped away the tears and sat up straight. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing at you—I just thought you would have been smarter than that.”

  Mina was insulted and punched Jared playfully in his arm. “I would be if you weren’t a deceitful, pigheaded prince who plays both sides of the tales and obviously gets enjoyment out of terrorizing me.”

  “I like terrorizing you. Your face turns the prettiest of colors.” Jared playfully punched Mina back. In retaliation, she pushed him a little harder. Being a boy, and spurred on by the challenge of a wrestling fight. Jared whooped loudly and lunged for Mina, knocking her onto the couch. She squealed and started hitting Jared when he began to tickle her sides.

  “Stop…stop…NOO!” she screamed. He laughed and continued his ambush. She tried desperately to catch her breath. She kicked at his legs and tried to push him off, but all it did was bring his face that much closer to hers, and his eyes widened when he realized it as well. He stopped tickling her, his hands on her hips, and he leaned down and nuzzled her cheek. Mina immediately froze and sucked in her breath. Jared stopped and lifted his head to stare at the door.

  A second later, the storage room door opened and the light flicked on, illuminating the room. Surprised, Mina flew off the couch, and something hard fell to the floor. Sara stood in the doorway with a fire poker held out in front of her. Her chest was heaving from running. Her eyes flew to Mina.

  “Are you okay?” Sara asked. “I heard screaming.”

  Mina stared hard at the plastic mannequin on the floor that moments ago had been Jared. Her cheeks flushed, and she shook her head. “Yes, I was exploring in the dark and knocked this over. It scared me at first.”

  Sara looked around the room, unconvinced. Her eyes scanned every inch of the room before she nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s get out of here. There seems to be a lot of breakable items in here. Is that dummy okay? It’s not broken, is it?”

  Mina tried not to laugh as she stood up and gently kicked the mannequin. “This old thing? Nah, it’s not broken. It’s as hard as a rock…see?” She took pleasure in knocking her foot into it one more time, a little harder.

  “What an odd thing to be in a house. It almost looks alive.”

  Mina couldn’t help it—she snorted. “No, it’s a dummy all right. No heart and all.” She walked over to her mom and ushered her into the hall.

  “Aren’t you going to pick it up?” Sara asked.

  Mina grinned. “Nope. It can stay on the cold floor all night, for all I care. It’s punishment for attacking me.”

  “I’m really starting to not like this house. It feels too…mysterious.”

  “I think it’s perfect. It was meant for us.” With that, Mina flicked off the light and closed the door.

  Chapter 7

  “You know you don’t have to go today. I can call the office and get you excused,” Sara said softly. Usually at this time of the day Sara would be dropping Charlie off at his school, and Mina would be arriving on her bike. But since Charlie and the bike were no more, it was time for a different tradition.

  Mina chewed on the inside of her cheek and stared at the school. Just two weeks ago she was dying to go back; now she was dreading walking through the double doors. And she couldn’t figure out why. Nan was in there. She would get to speak to Nan for the first time since she left for the summer, but also Brody would be in there, along with Ever.

  But Nan may not know about Charlie. Mina had intended to call her as soon as she got back from camp, but it was the oddest thing. The house they were staying at didn’t have a telephone, or a TV. Once she walked in the school doors, every student’s eyes would be on her and they would pity her, and Mina would probably break down and cry.

  What to do? What to do? She was about to tell her mom to turn around and drive home when she felt her backpack grow warm on her lap. A tingling sensation spread out along her leg, and she gripped the car door and jumped out in record
time.

  It wasn’t a mystery what the sensation was—it was the Grimoire, which meant it was Jared telling her to get going. Sure enough, when she had walked twenty feet from the car, he joined her out of nowhere.

  He silently walked next to her and only bobbed his head in a casual greeting. Mina tried to smile back, but it was forced. She could feel the tears building, and she desperately tried to hold them at bay. She reached for the entry door and began to open it, but Jared put his hand on the glass, gently closing it. Students mumbled at the traffic jam they were causing and walked around them, using one of the other doors. Jared turned and looked at her, his dark gray eyes filled with emotion.

  “Hey,” he said, gently touching her shoulder so she would look up at him. “You’ll get through this. If today is too much for you, just say the word, and I’ll get you out of here. You got it?”

  She dropped her head to look at her shoes and found it impossible to swallow the lump forming in her throat. “You promise?”

  “I promise. Just say my name, and I’ll take you away.”

  Mina nodded and adjusted her backpack over her shoulder. It now felt like someone had loaded it with bricks. Jared opened the door and motioned for her to enter first.

  The school smelled the same, a weird mixture of books, paint, and sneakers. The air-conditioned air hit her as soon as she walked in, and she balked at the memory and guilt that assailed her. Jared gently touched her elbow and pushed her forward. She reached into her green jacket and pulled out a crumpled-up class schedule labeled Grime, Wilhelmina—Junior. Class A. Other than her name, she couldn’t make out where her first class was located. Her eyes were watering. She didn’t even know if Nan was in any of her classes. She was a wreck.

  A cute girl with a pleated skirt, black boots, and a skull shirt popped up next to them and latched onto Jared’s arm. Her short black hair had a new stripe of purple added to it, giving Ever added flair.

  She started chatting nonstop, and Mina could feel the slight breeze created from her invisible wings. Ever was Fae, like Jared. A pixie, to be exact, who had the biggest crush on the banished royal prince.

  “Oh, did you see who I got for history—snooze fest. And advanced physics. Yikes! I think I’m doomed to be a student here forever. I’ll never pass those classes.” The pixie kept chatting until she noticed someone to the left of Jared. When she saw Mina, she paused long enough to say, “Hey, Gimp.” And then she was back to her self-absorbed universe, asking Jared to hang out after school.

  Mina shouldn’t have been surprised at Ever’s reaction. Pixies tended to have short attention spans. But Jared was put off by Ever’s words. He pulled his arm out of her grasp and gave her an ugly glare to be quiet. She took his cue and immediately stopped speaking, and slowed to walk a few feet behind them. Jared directed Mina to her home room class and stopped outside the door.

  “Here you are, safe and sound,” he said lightly. “Don’t worry—if you get through today, tomorrow will be a breeze. I’ll see you in forty-five minutes, and I’ll come make sure you don’t get lost on the way to second period. Here, give me your backpack, and I’ll put it in your locker for you.”

  “Wait, how do you know where my locker is, and how do you know the combination?”

  He smiled crookedly at her, and for the first time since the fire she felt a stirring of emotion other than sadness. Her mind flickered back to their encounter in the storage room, and her cheeks flushed. It was like her frozen heart had started to thaw just a little at his smile.

  “Ah, that’s for me to know and you not to find out.” He opened up her backpack, pulled out a spiral notebook and pen, and handed them to Mina before turning and leaving.

  Mina almost dropped the notebook and had to maneuver quickly to grab it. Instead of sitting near the front of the room, she headed for the farthest corner of the room and sat in the back row. Ever happened to be in the same home room as Mina and gave her a worried frown before sitting up a few rows and over. It was obvious that Ever was upset at Jared’s treatment and was going to take it out on Mina.

  Students began to file in, and Mina stared at the spiral notebook, preferring to not make eye contact. She must have stared at the notebook for two minutes before she noticed something odd about it. It was the Grimoire, but it was once again in a notebook shape and not the small leather book she had seen it in before. Jared must have changed its shape while it was in the backpack on purpose, then handed it to her. She didn’t even know that was possible, but then she realized again—stupidly—how closely they were connected.

  She flipped open the notebook and perused through all of its prisoners, because that was what the book was, a jail of sorts. But the oddest of all was how this all started. Mina’s ancestors, Joseph and Wilhelm Grimm, had found a way over to the Fae plane and demanded that the gates between the worlds be closed. The Fae agreed, but only if the brothers could complete a list of quests, which would be logged into a powerful book that resided in the Fae world. Unfortunately, the Grimm Brothers had been tricked by the Fae. There wasn’t an end to the quests, because if one Grimm failed, the responsibility passed on to the next son. And the challenges started all over again. Mina had figured out that it had nothing to do with the quests and everything to do with being manipulated by the Story. The Story wanted the Grimms to trap the uncontrollable power-hungry Fae that lived on the human plane for them.

  But somewhere along the line, a witch or powerful Fae split the Fae book in two and ensnared the royal brothers Teague and Jared as servants to these books, one on the human plane to help the Grimms, while the other resided on the Fae plane. Mina had yet to find out what it was that the brothers had done to deserve their fate, but Jared refused to talk about it. He would only say that he had been banished from his home and must live as a servant to the Grimms. That was how Mina figured out that Teague was also bound somehow as well.

  She fingered the pages and traced the faint outlines of the pictures drawn on the paper. There was a lifelike drawing of Claire and Grey Tail, the Chicago Bears football players, and others. Her hand started to shake when she saw the scared faces of the innocents trapped within as well. For a Reaper, a killer that hunts down Grimms, had gotten ahold of the Grimoire and was using it to trap innocent Fae within its pages. There was her teacher Mrs. Porter, a UPS worker, a young girl. Quickly, she flipped the pages and saw Diedre and the Reaper locked in a death grip frozen on the page. She turned one more page, and her heart felt like it was being ripped out. The picture was of Brody kissing Nan, and in the background was the hospital on fire. It was a Snow White and Sleeping Beauty tale wrapped into one, complete with fiery dragon and glass hospital.

  She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the picture. Why would Jared give this to her? It was hard enough for her to accept her responsibility at the lack of fairy-tale quests solved over the last two months and her brother’s death in the fire. She wasn’t sure what would happen to her if she lost her mom.

  She was about to flip the notebook closed when a shadow fell across the page. Mina quickly covered up the drawing with her arms and looked up into the smiling face of—Brody.

  “Hey, Mina, looks like we have home room together.”

  Please, she thought, let that be it for the questions. As much as she wanted to speak to Brody, to hug him, to kiss him, to tell him she had feelings for him, and to please explain the kiss at the end of last year, she couldn’t. Not without falling apart like a blubbering baby.

  The teacher, Mr. Ames, began going over the morning’s announcements, club activities, and sports tryouts. Brody took the desk right in front of her and didn’t turn back for more conversation. Nan never walked through the door, probably meaning she was in a different home room, since this year they’d organized the students by alphabet. And Taylor was at the end. Luckily for her, she had the most laid-back class of the day with Brody, but unluckily for her, she also sat in the seat farthest from the door.

  When the announcements were over, they
had free time since it was the first day of school and there wasn’t any homework or tests to study for. But Mr. Ames made his way over to the back of the room and straight for Mina’s desk.

  He knelt down to be at eye level with her and took a deep breath. “We heard about the fire and the death of your brother. The school faculty and I know that this is a difficult time for you. If you need anything, please speak up and let one of us or the school counselor know.”

  He had been trying to speak quietly, but it was obvious by the stiffening of Brody’s shoulders and the audible intake of breath in front of her that he’d overheard their teacher. Well, that was one less awkward conversation she would have to have.

  Brody turned and whispered quietly to Mr. Ames, “If the school and faculty wanted to support Mina and her family, why didn’t any of you come to the funeral?”

  The question had taken the teacher aback, and Mina mentally cheered on Brody.

  When Mr. Ames went back to the front of the room, Brody spun around in his chair with pity in his eyes.

  “That wasn’t sincere. They should have been there to show support. I should have been there for you more.”

  Her heart felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly over and over with a knife. “Why? You’re not responsible for me. You’re not my boyfriend.” She could tell the words hurt him a little, because his cheeks reddened and then his eyes dropped down to stare at her lips. She knew he was remembering their shared kiss at the hospital. There was no denying the attraction…or the fact that an hour later he was kissing her best friend.