He stood before her, his eyes glowing with power. She tried to stand tall in front of him, but she couldn’t stop the tears as they fell.
“The dagger and…” She let her voice trail off, knowing the other but unwilling to say it out loud.
“Your life.” He smiled, one corner of his mouth pulling up to show his even white teeth.
Mina took a deep breath and shuddered. She held out her hand.
“Deal.”
Chapter 8
She knew the deal had to be made, but she pulled her hand back at the last second.
“Changing your mind already?” He sneered.
“No, I uh, I’d just like to add a few conditions.”
He crossed his arms and snorted. “Of course you would.”
“I’d like twenty-four hours before you collect on your debt.”
“Two hours.”
“Twelve. Take it or leave it.” Mina panicked inwardly, thinking she wasn’t even going to get that.
“Twelve measly hours isn’t going to save you from my wrath any more than two. The ending will be the same.”
Mina sighed. “I know. I just want to say my goodbyes.”
“Your human emotions are so typical.”
“They’re not just human emotions. They’re Fae as well.”
“Emotions make you weak,” he said, as if his own jealously and rage weren’t emotions.
Apparently he only considered sentimental emotions weak. How interesting. “Twelve hours,” Mina repeated and held out her hand.
Teague looked at her offered hand with a raised eyebrow. He wasn’t sure what to do with it. “So Mina, twelve hours I grant you. Then I will come for you. You better have my dagger. And no funny business. He pulled her delicate hand mirror out of the air. “Remember, I’m watching your every move.”
He disappeared right before her eyes—and with him, the bubble holding her thousands of feet above the ground.
Mina screamed as she fell out of the sky. Her hands clawed at the air as if, somehow, she could slow her freefall.
She couldn’t inhale, she was falling so fast. Her destroyed school appeared, and what looked like ants all around it. But they weren’t ants. They were people—people getting bigger.
As the ground rushed toward her face, she placed her hands in front of her, closed her eyes, and prayed. She imagined two large hands catching her and stopping her fall, saving her moments before she hit the ground. She pushed every ounce of willpower she had into her imagination.
She could hear someone else scream when they noticed her falling, or maybe she was screaming herself. Then she slammed into something warm and soft.
She grunted at the impact and looked up, but she was surrounded by darkness. Except that it wasn’t completely dark. A crevice of light opened up, and Mina could see what was left of the day peering in through the crack in rock. Although it couldn’t be rock. The walls shifted, opening up, and she realized she was sitting in the palm of the giant’s hand.
She looked up into his eyes, and they looked straight into hers, glowing golden. When Mina turned her head, the giant turned his head too. She looked up, and the giant looked up.
Put me down. She mentally commanded the giant. Then added, Gently, for good measure.
The giant bent down and placed his hand on the ground. Mina scrambled out and gave herself plenty of space for safety. The giant just stood there blinking at her, awaiting orders. She wasn’t sure how, but she had taken control of him. His will was hers.
Very cool, but very scary.
Teague appeared next to her. “So you think you can control my army? A giant is the weakest minded creature here. But tell me, what are you going to do with him now?”
Mina thought about using him to destroy Teague, but then she saw all of her friends still at the mercy of the rest of his army: Brody held captive by Claire, Ever pinned down in the hands of an ogre, Nix and Charlie surrounded by his griffins, and she still hadn’t seen Nan. She couldn’t save them all.
Go home, Giant. Mina commanded. Go back to the Fae plane, and live a happy joyful life. Let no man, woman, beast, or Fae control you again. You are your own mind.
He stared at her, and his eyes still glowed. He turned to walk away, probably to try and find a gate still open between the planes.
Oh, and one more thing. She mentally called out after the giant. He paused in his step and turned.
Thank you for saving me.
She wasn’t sure, because she was still controlling him, but she thought she saw the barest hint of a smile cross his large face.
Teague stood before her. He looked irritated as he signaled his horde to fall back.
Chapter 9
They weren’t happy at Teague’s orders, but Claire released Brody and backed away to be quickly surrounded by Grey Tail and Lone Tree. Ever yelped as the ogre dropped her on her bottom. One by one, members of his army moved away and scattered among the wreckage of the fairgrounds.
As soon as the giant disappeared, fire and rescue teams swarmed the area. Men in uniforms ran to those injured on the ground, and the GMs quickly phased and tried to hide their true selves again. Those that couldn’t hide their Fae side quickly made themselves scarce.
Nix got up from the ground and helped Charlie to his feet. His red hair stood out against his pale skin. “That was too close.” He reached out and ruffled Charlie’s hair. “And what about you, Mr. Siren? I’ve got a distant cousin.”
Mina ran over and hugged Charlie, fresh tears of relief pouring down her face. “Oh, Charlie.”
She ran her fingers up his face. He was still warm to the touch, and his fever seemed to be out of control, but he looked fine. In fact, he glowed with power.
Ever waddled over to Mina as she rubbed her backside. “How are your wings?” Mina asked.
“Could be better. I thought they were goners for a sec there. But it’s going to take more than an ogre to ground Ever Farindale.” She turned and slowly flapped her deep purple and blue tinted pixie wings, wincing in pain.
Mina turned and scanned their group for Brody, but he’d disappeared. She couldn’t see his blond head anywhere. She was about to turn and go look for him when Constance called her.
“Mina.” The muse spoke softly.
She turned to her high school music teacher, with her short gray spiky hair and wing-tipped glasses. Her skirt and top were torn and dirty, but she didn’t look injured.
“You came?” Mina said incredulously.
“We got our injured safely hidden with another inactive sect of Godmothers down in San Francisco. This one wasn’t going to let us abandon you.” She pointed to Nix, who blushed until his skin matched his hair and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“But how did you know where to find me?”
Constance sang a few notes and held out her wrist. A small dragon landed there and immediately began to dance around in excitement.
“Of course. Anders. How could we have forgot about him?” Mina exclaimed.
“You were meant to. He was supposed to follow you, and—when you were in trouble—come find us. There was a small group of us already on our way back to the Guild to try and salvage some of our archives when he found us. Sorry, this is all we had.” She gestured to those standing behind her.
Mina couldn’t help but zero in on Ferah, with her untamed red hair, standing among the GMs. She spoke wildly to the others.
