Forever (15 page)

Suddenly,
two hands reached into the water, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her up
through the bubbles.

Mina
gasped in shock as bubbles ran down her face. She sputtered and splashed in the
water when she realized Teague was in the same room as her. Mina quickly
checked the bubbles, glad to see the tub was still full of them. They were high
enough there was no way he could see anything.

Teague
stood there, furious, his shirt and pants soaking wet and covered with bubbles.

“What are
you doing in here?” Mina yelled at him. “Get out!”

“Not
until I’m sure you’re not drowning yourself in the bathtub!” He flicked the
bubbles off of his arms and tried to roll up his wet sleeves. Water dripped
from him and puddled all around him on the stone floor. A moment later, his
face paled and then turned bright red. He spun his back to her.

“Of
course I’m not drowning myself! I was only under for a few seconds.”

“Few
seconds! A few seconds. More like a few minutes.”

“That’s
impossible,” Mina answered.

“No, it’s
not!” he pointed up at the Fae light that bobbed up and down. “You had been
under for five minutes. “I’m not sure if a Siren can even stay under that long.
The Fae light wouldn’t have alerted me if it didn’t believe you were in
danger.”

It was
certainly clear she’d upset him. She wanted to get out, but she couldn’t with
him in the room. “Can you hand me a towel?”

Teague’s
shoulders hunched as he tried to look to the side to find a towel for her, but
he realized how undignified it was. In a fit of temper, he blasted through the
wall and left her in her warm tub of bubbles alone.

The Fae
light bobbed up and down, visibly distressed.

“You’ve
been spying on me?” Mina accused it in an annoyed tone, even though she had
assumed it was. The light bobbed sadly in affirmation. “Shame on you.”

The light
softly dimmed.

Mina
couldn’t hold a grudge against her silent light protector, so she quickly
added, “It’s fine, just… is there no one else for you to go to for help but
him?”

The light
dimmed again, and she assumed that meant no.

“What
about guards? Are there guards?”

The Fae
light brightened in an affirmative.

“So can
you go to them?”

The light
dimmed. No.

She tried
to not show her frustration as she dried off and went back into the room with
the large towel around her. The Fae light danced for joy by her bed. Mina was
pleased to see clothes—clean clothes. Teague hadn’t provided a red dress
this time, like he had during the betrothal process, and she was thankful he
remembered.

Chapter 20

Mina was
getting used to long days of solitude. She didn’t know day from night anymore,
because she just slept whenever she was tired, and the Fae light would dim.

So maybe
she hadn’t been in the prison that long, maybe it was just days instead of
weeks. She couldn’t really judge it by her meals, because when she ate Fae food
it was quite filling.

She
started to talk her little Fae light, since it seemed to understand her, or at
least blink and flicker in response to her questions. And it seemed to
anticipate her mood and needs pretty quickly.

One time
she actually mumbled out loud, “I’m actually starting to miss his company.” The
light began to head for the wall, and Mina stopped it. “Don’t you dare tell
him. Remember he’s the one who wants to make me suffer and punish me. Don’t let
my soft side fool you.”

The light
bobbed and flickered up toward the ceiling. She thought it seemed awfully dim
and wondered if maybe she had hurt its feelings.
Look at me, worried about a magic light’s feelings!
The
imprisonment must be getting to her more than she thought. Teague was watching
out for her. All she had to do was wait and he’d come…eventually. Hopefully
before she starved to death. Still, it was hard to not get depressed and worry
about how many days or nights she’d live before he’d put an end to it.

It was
also hard not to worry about Charlie.

The time
for eating had long passed, and the wall opened up with another tray of food.
Mina ignored the tray and curled up in her bed and waited until the food
disappeared. A few hours later, another tray appeared with even more appealing
food. The smell of roasted chicken, spices, and fruit tempted her to move from
her bed, but she didn’t give in. The tray moved from the wall to the small
table in her room with invisible hands.

Mina just
closed her eyes and pretended it wasn’t there. An hour later, the food was
gone. Her stomach grumbled with hunger, but it was easy to forget about it with
sleep. Sleep and hunger were interchangeable in her book.

The sound
of the bricks moving told her there would be another attempt to coax her to
eat. And then the smell of her favorite food wafted to her nose—homemade
dumplings and chocolate cake. Back home, Mina would never tire of eating them,
but this time? They didn’t make her hungry. They only made her miss her Godmother
more. Tears filled her eyes.

“Please
stop it. I’m not hungry.” Mina spoke out loud to the room. “Make it go away.”
This time it didn’t take hours. It took seconds for the tray of food to
disappear with the scraping sound.

“Thank
you,” she whispered softly to no one.

Her Fae
light dimmed.

“Are you
dying?” His irritated voice spoke in the darkness.

“No.”
Mina rolled her eyes, but she wouldn’t turn to look at him. She didn’t know
where in the room he was anyway.

“Are you
sick, then?”

“In a
way.”

The Fae
light illuminated the room, and she could see Teague standing next to her bed
looking down at her. He wore pants, brown leather boots, and a green
long-sleeved tunic.

“Well,
get better,” he demanded, as if that command alone could solve her problems.

“I’m
homesick.”

“Oh.” Her
answer seemed to startle him. “Of course you are. You’re in my prison. You’re
here to be miserable.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“And I
am.” Mina rolled over on her other side, so she didn’t have to look at his
face. “Why would you tell me to get better? Isn’t this exactly what you
wanted?”

“Yes?” He
answered as if he doubted his answer. The bed dipped as he sat next to her. She
heard his long drawn out sigh. “I think so,” he said.

Silence
followed. The bed shifted again, and she turned her head to see that he had
made himself comfortable. His boots were crossed at the ankles, his right arm
cushioned his head, and his left lay across his stomach. He stared up at the
ceiling.

“What are
you doing?”

“I’m
relaxing.”

“In my
bed?”

“No my
bed. The bed is mine. That rug is mine, the chair is mine. It’s all mine.” He
turned to look at her, and she saw a glint in his eye. “You’re mine.”

“Only
because of this.” She held up her wrists to show him the iron cuffs. By now she’d
grown accustomed to them and could ignore them, but she hated what they
represented.

“So
you’re saying if I removed them, you’d leave?”

“No,
because I promised I wouldn’t. To save my friends. I’ll stay here with you
forever, or until you chose to end my life.”

“But
you’re unhappy.”

“I’m
lonely, and I miss my brother.”

“Why do
you miss him?”

She
closed her eyes and counted backward from twenty as she tried not to snap at
him. “Because he’s family, and I love him. Haven’t you ever missed someone so
much it hurts?”

He didn’t
answer her right away. “Yes, and as you’d say, it drove me crazy.” He turned on
his side and leaned his head on his elbow studying her. “Why do you think I’m
not happy?”

“You can
never be happy, because your heart has been poisoned by the dagger.” Mina
turned back, unwilling to look at him while he relaxed in her bed. It may be
his cell and his prison, but he was invading her sanctuary, her bed, and she
didn’t like it.

“No,
there were moments when I was,” he spoke softly. “When I dethroned my parents
and banished them to the swamplands for what they had done to me—that
made me happy. When I finally found you after a hundred years, and I began to
spin your life into tales, like I had done to your ancestors—that made me
happy. When I wreaked havoc on your school—that made me happy.”

“That’s
because you’re a monster.” She didn’t care if she angered him and brought out
the beast.

“You’re
right,” Teague answered his voice going low. “It seems that I’m happiest when
I’m tormenting the Grimms. Now that I have you, I’m bored. Thank you for
reminding me that there’s still another Grimm left to torment. I’ll say hello
to your brother for you.” He sat up abruptly and left.

“No
wait!” Mina cried out in desperation, but it was too late. She was left alone
in her cell to ponder what horrible fate would befall her younger brother and
her friends.

***

She paced
constantly now and worried her thumbnail as she watched for signs of Teague’s
return. She was desperate to hear whether he’d found Charlie and the others
and—if he had—what he was doing to them. Mina had even begged the
Fae light to bring Teague to her, but he never came.

She had
cried enough tears to last a lifetime, and she couldn’t cry anymore. She spent
hours trying to summon Fae power to her to open the wall, but nothing happened.
She screamed at the wall and wished she had her brother’s gift. She pounded,
and dug her fingers into the mortar, trying to pull out the brick, but only
ended up with bruised and scraped hands. Before she had tried to play the
obedient servant, to live a quiet and solitary life, and to avoid angering
Teague, but those days were gone.

“There’s
your fire.” Teague said appearing beside her.

She
turned, fist raised and tried to hit him for being away so long, but he caught
her wrist mid-strike. Mina fell into Teague and buried her face in his chest,
fresh tears surprising her. Maybe because they came from a well of relief
rather than worry. She clung to his jacket.

The shift
from attacking to clinging took Teague aback. He didn’t know how to fight her.

“Please
tell me he’s still alive. Please just tell me he’s okay. Even if he’s not, lie
to me and tell me he is,” she gasped out between sobs as she held onto his
shirt.

His grip
on her wrist loosened, and he let go of it, gently placing his hands on her
shoulders. He didn’t push her away, but paused a few moments. Then Teague very
slowly wrapped his arms around her and touched his chin to her head.

“He’s
alive,” he answered.

Mina
gasped in relief. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeated into his
chest. She could smell the scent of his clothes, the faint smell of the soap he
used. As she looked up along his jaw, her heart raced. It had been so long
since she had human contact, she didn’t realize she craved it.

It was so
easy to pretend he wasn’t evil, but she knew so very much of him was. Even as
her ear pressed to his chest, she could hear the heartbeat pounding softly,
quickening in excitement. Her hand was pressed ever so softly over his chest,
right over where she knew the scar was, and she wondered just briefly if she
could use her power to lure the poisoned tip out.

But that
could destroy him if she wasn’t careful. Maybe what she could focus on was
slowly pulling the poison from him. But clearly, she couldn’t do that from
within this warded prison. She needed to be free. She needed to earn his trust,
but he’d see through her if she lied. So she couldn’t lie to him, ever.

She let
her fingers brush against his chest and thought about her feelings for
him—for Teague—back during the choosing ceremony. They were
conflicted, but when given the choice at the time, she did choose to stay with
him. And right after she had had chosen him, someone else had come in and
ruined things, poisoned his heart against her. Why should she not fight for
what they could have had? Shouldn’t love conquer all?

Mina
lifted her gaze to Teague, only to see he was already staring down at her, his
eyes half-closed, his face a mask. She ached to know what he was feeling. Was
it in any way similar to her feelings? He swallowed, and she did the same. He
leaned forward, his head bent low, so she closed her eyes and lifted her mouth.

“What are
you plotting?” he whispered into her ear. It wasn’t said in anger, but in a
teasing tone.

“I’m
plotting my own demise,” she teased, keeping her eyes closed. “Because I know
that falling for you will be the death of me.”

She heard
a swift intake of breath, as his hands dropped from her shoulders.

And then
she was left standing alone.