Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4) by Chanda Hahn

me? Why save me?” she said
irritably.
    “Because you haven’t finished the next
quest that I’ve set up for you. And this one is the most important of all
stories. I am especially partial to the ending.”
    “Yeah, me too. Because one day her prince
will come and they’ll live happily ever after.” She tested the waters to see
what he had up his sleeve.
    He laughed. “Come on, Mina, you know
there’s no such thing. The day your prince comes will be your worst nightmare. For I will make you bow down and beg
for your life.”
    “You’re wrong. One day I will have a
happy ending. It will be the day that you’re dead.”
    “I know, Mina. I know. You’ve tried your
best. But I’m not done with you yet.”
    “I’m done playing along.”
    “No, you’re not. Soon you’ll bow to me
and beg for your life.”
    “You are not ruler of the human plane,
Teague.”
    “And I don’t plan on ruling the human
plane. I plan on destroying this one.”
    “Why?” Mina asked, shivering at the chill
that crept into her veins at his merciless tone. “What do you have against
humans?”
    “You ask why?” Clearly, he believed his
reason to be obvious. “Humans are shallow liars and thieves. They are emotionally
fickle, which is fun for the Fae to feed on, but they leave a sour feeling in
my stomach.”
    “Teague, don’t do this. You don’t have to
be evil.” Mina moved toward his dark figure and paused within a few feet of
him. She could see that she made him nervous. His eyes kept flickering to her neck,
probably remembering the pain he’d inflicted on her with his hand. As if he
couldn’t trust himself with her. If he felt guilt, then maybe there was a way
to reason with him. “You can be good.”
    “I was…once. But being good didn’t really
work out for me. Being nice and gentlemanly didn’t give me what I wanted.” He
met her eyes and she thought his expression saddened for a split second. “So
now I just take what I want. And right now I want the dagger.”
    “Teague,” Mina cried out in frustration.
“I don’t have it. I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
    “Don’t lie to me!” Teague roared at her
and rushed toward her again.
    Mina raised her hands, trying to mimic
what she’d done earlier and push him away with power. But she was too scared.
    He closed the distance between them but
didn’t raise a hand to touch her. “I know you have it. I’ve waited for so long.
Jared didn’t think it was you. He tried to convince me I had the wrong
girl—that I was mistaken, but I’m not. I know it’s you. You haven’t
changed. After your next tale is over you will give to me. Or I will hurt your
friends and start sending the quests after your brother and your mother.”
    “I thought only one Grimm at a time could
complete the quests,” Mina said.
    Teague just smirked. “Silly Mina, why do
you think the Fae Guild exists all over the world? Why do you think the
Godmothers watch all the Grimms from their little mirror room? I’ve toyed with
all of them at one time or another. But there was only one Grimm I ever cared
about.”
    She knew which Grimm he meant. Whichever
one the Grimoire presented itself too. Because he needed his other half—he
needed Jared.
    He turned his back on her and walked
away. “But you’ve always been a deceiver, and I’ve never been one to play by
the rules,” Teague continued before disappearing down another tunnel, leaving
her alone in the dark. His voice echoed back to her. “Neither have you, Mina.”
    What in the Fae plane was he talking
about? Mina’s hand brushed her aching throat, and every part of her wanted to
break down and cry. But she couldn’t at this moment. She needed to get out of while
she could. Teague had left a small flashlight on the stain-covered mattress.
She had no desire to think on the sources of those stains. Instead, she needed
to focus on escape.
    Thankfully, the flashlight clicked on.
Its bright beam of light sent even more rats