Chapter 9.

Nan insisted on taking Mina dress shopping for her date with Brody after school on Wednesday. Since her car was in the shop, they were stuck with the horrible public transportation system. Maybe it was the combined stench of exhaust and sweat that filled the air making her feel uneasy. Maybe it was the odd look that Ever kept giving her from across the aisle.

It had started as soon as Nan compared Mina to Cinderella going to a ball.

The bus dropped them off at Harlow Street in a quaint area filled with small nook and cranny stores and family-owned businesses. They were heading to Nan's favorite cafe for a bite to eat while they decided what type of dress she should wear. Mina wanted simple; Nan wanted something spectacular, and jaw dropping.

"You don't want any old dress. You need a dress fit for a queen."

Mina shivered. "Don't say that too loudly. I have no desire to be queen of anything."

Ever snorted loudly.

"Fine. Then you'll be the belle of the ball."

Mina inwardly groaned. Now it sounded like Beauty and the Beast. The last time she'd gone dress shopping, she was stuck in a Red Riding Hood tale. "No belles, no queens. Just a dress. A simple one, with not too much stuff on it."

"Boring. Got it," Nan answered.

"No, not boring. I just don't want any extra attention on my date with Brody."

Nan looked to Ever and wiggled her eyebrows. "You heard that. We got our marching orders. We are on a mission to make her as unattractive as possible."

Ever smirked. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Hey, watch it!" Mina bumped her shoulder into Ever playfully. Ever withdrew and moved away to walk on the other side of Nan. That hurt.

Mina wanted to say something, but Nan pointed to a sign above a store with a bunch of old clocks. "Hey, I've never heard of this one. Hickory Dickory Dock! We should-"

"No!" Ever and Mina answered simultaneously.

Nan's eyes went wide and she was about to ask why, when Mina noticed the traffic. A large garbage truck barreled toward them. She thought it would slow down for the light.

Only it didn't. It continued picking up speed.

"Watch out!" Mina shouted. The garbage truck hit the curb and vaulted onto the sidewalk. It was heading straight for them.

The ground rumbled and noise split the air as the driver blasted the horn in warning. The world moved in slow motion as the faded green garbage truck crashed through a newspaper stand, scattering papers into the air. The license plate came into focus. After all, she was only feet away.

Mina saw Ever grab Nan and try to fly up into the air, but the Pixie wasn't going to be fast enough.

Instinctively, Mina stretched out her palm and used power to launch her friends out of harm's way. That was it. She knew it. Save her friends or save herself. She turned and saw the driver's terrified expression as he raised his arm to cover his face, prepared to slam into her.

But right before impact, she heard the sound of metal scraping across cement. And it wasn't from the truck.

Chapter 10.

"Stupid! You're so stupid. I can't believe you didn't try to save yourself. How dumb can you be?" A male voice growled into her ear as her rescuer carried her, pressed tightly to his chest.

Mina couldn't see the person who spoke. Her arms were wrapped awkwardly around his neck, and she didn't let go for fear of being dropped.

It was dark, and the sounds of the city were faint. Where was she? It had happened so fast. One minute she'd been facing death, the next she'd been pulled downward into someone's arms. The person holding her stopped and tossed her roughly to the ground.

She slid across the cement in something slimy and let out a pathetic yelp.

The voice continued to berate her for her stupidity as her rescuer walked back and forth in the darkness. "You helped them instead of yourself."

She kept quiet and let her eyes adjust to the lack of light. It took almost a minute, but light trickled down through a hole in the ceiling, circular like a manhole. After a few more seconds, she saw rungs in the wall near her and made out that the top of the manhole was partially blocked. From this distance, she could see part of a wheel and the undercarriage of a car up there.

Now that she could see, she stood and glanced over to spot Teague only a few feet away, his chest heaving in anger, his hands clenched into fists. The look he shot her was pure disgust.

Had Teague just saved her? Why?

Before she dwelt on those thoughts too long, she took another look at her surroundings. She decided to wait before she called him savior. Right now, since she couldn't find an exit, he was her captor.

"Teague."

Like a flash, he closed the distance between them and pressed her into the ladder rungs. His forearm barred across her chest, preventing her from moving. He held his other hand over her mouth.

"Don't speak. Don't you dare say my name." His eyes blazed as he glared at her, but something was wrong with them. It was like they couldn't decide on what color they were. Shifting between a furious gray and an even angrier blue. He looked pained, and he momentarily released the pressure on her.

Mina lifted her hand to gently brush across his arm.

He inhaled in a quick hiss and jerked at her touch. He was shaking he was so furious.

But he pushed her against the ladder again. The back of her head connected with the upper rung, sending blinding arrows of light into her vision. His arm pressed harder into her body, making another rung dig deeper into her shoulder blade.

Tears formed at the corner of her eyes, and she lashed back in anger. "Get away from me, you freak!"

His lips formed a cruel smile as he leaned forward to whisper into her ear. "I could have let you die up there. In fact, I'm not altogether of one mind why I didn't...Oh, that's right. You have something I want." He took his free hand and gently stroked the side of her cheek, running his fingers over her lips. The move sent an unwilling shiver through her until his fingers moved under her chin. "I want that dagger."

"Even if I had it, I wouldn't give it to you," she spat out. She pushed against him to escape, but his fingers dug deeper into her throat, cutting off her air.

"Tsk tsk tsk," he clicked his tongue. "I thought you would have heeded my warning. I told you your friends aren't safe if you don't give me the dagger."

"It was you that attacked Brody."

"I thought it pertinent to give you another warning, to show you I mean business. But it will be your last." He pushed away and turned his back on her.

"No, leave my friends out of this. You have no right to bring them into our fight."

"You are the one doing that. You're endangering your friends, not me."

"That's an outright lie and you know it. You have been controlling me from the very beginning with your games."

"Mina, if you don't want to play my games, I'm okay with ending this here and now and moving on to the next Grimm. Your brother." He turned to face her, and his eyes looked almost black in the shadows. Something invisible tightened around her neck.

"N-n-no," she stuttered, struggling against the magic. Fear raced through her. Never before had Teague been so violent with her. Threatened her?-yeah. Tried to kill her through quests?-plenty. But before, she'd thought she was his equal.

She used to be able to play the games and win, but this was someone new. This was the Teague who threatened to tear the Fae kingdom apart. The one who frightened the Fates and forced their hand. This wasn't the Jared she knew or the Story. It was true: divided Teague was manageable.

This wasn't a case of Jekyll and Hyde.

This was Hyde on steroids. The person who stood before her was terrifying, and he was going to kill her.

She couldn't breathe, couldn't inhale, and she felt herself starting to black out. "Puh-please," Mina choked out.

"You're the only one who stands in my way."

"Mina?" Nan's voice echoed faintly from above her. "Mina, where are you?"

Teague clearly savored watching her writhe under his power. At the sound of Nan's voice, he turned to listen and released some of the pressure on her throat.

It was enough that Mina could gasp for air. Which then set off a round of coughing.

Teague looked irritated and moved away from her. Mina fell to her knees as she gathered her strength. "Pathetic," Teague taunted, staring up at the trickles of light that came from above. Police sirens increased in volume, coming to the scene.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Mina stood up straight to challenge him, her hands splayed at her sides.

"I keep wondering that myself." He turned to square off against her, his hands clasped behind his back as if waiting for her to make the first move. "What can you accomplish with no Grimoire to do all of your dirty work for you? You have nothing in your arsenal but a pretty face-and a lying one at that."

"Mina, are you down there?" This time it was Ever, who had either heard something or figured out that she'd gone down the manhole into the sewer. Ever's hand squeezed through the opening the light shone through.

"I have enough to fight the likes of you," Mina challenged.

Teague sighed, "You're all talk, and I'm becoming bored. I'm done with you and your pretty little threats to stop me." He started toward her with his hands aimed at her throat.

Mina had no clue to what Teague was referring, but she was scared she was about to die. Desperate to save herself, she tried to use the power she had so little control over. Harnessing what she could, she thrust it all toward him.

Teague flew across the room and cracked his skull into the wall, going limp. Mina used her chance to climb up the rungs toward Ever's voice.

"Don't go up there," he growled from below.

"I'm here!" Mina thrust her hand through a small opening between the chassis of the truck and the wheel. She waved her hand in the air and almost started crying when Ever's hand took hold of it.

"I've got you, Mina. I'll get you out. I promise." Ever called. Mina believed her.

Something grasped her ankle and started pulling her back down. Mina cried out when Teague's hands began to pull on her legs. He was trying to make her fall.

"Ever! Don't let go!" Mina yelled, wrapping her left arm around the rung. It was useless, she knew. She couldn't squeeze out of the opening, and she was trapped underground. Her mind had a sudden moment of clarity. This was so much like her underwater dream. Had she seen the future?

"Mina!" Ever cried, when Mina's hand started to slip through her grasp. Teague had crawled up to the rung behind her and was yanking on her other arm. She knew how this would end.

In her dream she didn't make it to the surface, so she doubted she would now.

"It's okay, just take care of Nan. Take care of Nan," Mina called.

Teague reached up and yanked her arm from around the rung, pulling her backwards. They both lost their footing.

She was falling and Teague was falling with her. The last thing Mina saw was Ever trying to look through the wreckage into the hole. She knew the moment Ever must've seen Teague, because she screamed. "Nooo!"

Chapter 11.

She was lying on something soft that smelled faintly of cat urine. "Gross," Mina grumbled. She rolled over to see that she was resting on a yellowed mattress in an old abandoned runoff tunnel. It took a moment for her eyes to focus on the blob of movement by her foot. She'd thought at first it was an old towel-until it moved toward her. She screamed and kicked at the rat sniffing at her shoes, making it scurry away.

Mina sat up and ran her hands across her body for injuries. Had she blacked out? Had she hit her head? Something disturbed a can, and it rolled over by her foot. She jumped to her feet and prepared to run, but Teague stepped out of another tunnel. A light that came from behind her faintly illuminated him. This time he kept his distance from her.

He seemed to be in an odd mood, simply studying her face silently. His eyes softened as he cleared his throat and looked away from her. "That runaway garbage truck wasn't me."

"What? You didn't try to run me over? That wasn't part of your quest?"

He shook his head no.

"So why warn 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."