The Council of Mirrors (16 page)

“I would love nothing more than to give my nose the attention
it deserves, but if I did, you’d be dead within minutes,” Puck said. His head suddenly morphed into that of a lion and he roared angrily.

Sabrina roared back, though it lacked the ferocity. It sounded ridiculous, but what was worse was the realization that the entire crowd was watching her and Puck. She had never been so embarrassed. Puck had an almost magical ability to get her to make a fool of herself. He could always find something that she was sensitive about, sometimes something she didn’t even know bothered her, and then poke at it until it made her crazy.

“Ahem,” Veronica said, then turned her attention back to the crowd. “We have come here with an invitation. Join our cause.”

There was a moment of silence and then an uproarious laugh so loud it hurt Sabrina’s ears.

Veronica waited patiently until they calmed. “We know there are those among you who have been pressured through violence or threats to join the Hand. We know that you aren’t sure where you can turn. We have a place where you can be safe. You don’t have to live in fear any longer!”

More bottles came crashing onto the little stage until Mordred had to step forward and cast a shield to protect the group.

“The Master has turned his back on you,” Veronica shouted over the bedlam.

“Who are you to question the Master?” Heart barked into her megaphone.

“Because he is a liar,” a voice said, and the crowd grew deathly quiet. Sabrina turned and saw her uncle Jake climbing the steps to the gazebo. She looked to her father for an explanation, but he seemed just as confused.

“Watch your tongue, Grimm, or my blade will remove it,” Nottingham raged.

“Two years ago, your savior kidnapped my brother and his wife, then cast a sleeping spell on them. Veronica was pregnant, and while they slept a baby grew inside her. Once that baby was born, the Master stole him for a sick and perverted purpose. He wanted to put his spirit inside the child. Now, why would he do that?”

“If you must know, he wanted to escape the barrier in the body of a human being,” Heart snapped.

Jake smiled sympathetically. “How would that help you?”

Heart stammered as if the question had never crossed her mind.

“Once he was on the other side, he could find a way to lower this magical cage your family built!” Nottingham howled.

“Once he’s on the other side? Nottingham, you’re a smart man. How could he turn it off from the outside?” Jake said to
the crowd. “There’s no magic button on the other side. If he can’t lower it on this side, he can’t lower it on the other. He was playing you all for fools. He’s not going to set you free. He’s going to betray you the same way he did my family.”

“He told me himself he had no plans of freeing you,” Sabrina said. “You would be too much competition for power.”

“You lie!” Nottingham growled. “The Master will free us all, and together we will wipe out your foul, inferior race. This world will belong to Everafters, as it was intended.”

“I know you don’t all believe that,” Jake said, scanning the crowd. “I can see it in your faces. You know that what is happening here is wrong, but you’re too afraid to stand up to this mob. You can stop. I am extending the olive branch myself. Join us.”

Sabrina was flabbergasted. What happened to her uncle’s broken heart and anger? Where was his hostility and promises of revenge? Even Heart was speechless.

Nottingham took the opportunity to speak. “Don’t listen to this liar. He wants to keep us in this cage like dogs! We can’t know the Master’s plan, but he deserves our loyalty for opening our eyes to the truth! For too long our destiny has not been our own, and there is no one to blame but this family who now stands here begging us not to kill them. They know
they cannot beat us this time, so they come arrogantly waving the white flag for truce. Well, they should be waving it in surrender.”

“The Master said he was all-powerful,” the White Rabbit cried. “He said if we helped him with his plans, he would free us. But we are still trapped here.”

Nottingham seethed. “Then perhaps he needs some more help! The spell that keeps us here says that when the last Grimm dies the barrier falls. If we kill them now, we’ll be free.”

The crowd grew louder and more excited.

“Except that killing us won’t get you what you want at all, you moron,” Jake said. “The Master is inside my mother’s body. He thought he could just walk out of town but it hasn’t happened. He can’t escape any more than you can—in fact, he’s making it worse on you because now he’s a Grimm too. Even if you were to kill everyone in my family, there would still be one Grimm alive—and who here is going to kill your all-powerful savior?”

The crowd grew silent.

“Now you’re getting it,” Jake continued. “The Master can’t get his freedom and he can’t give it to you, either. There’s only one person in the world who will give you your freedom. Me!”

“You?” the Frog Prince cried.

“Fifteen years ago I tried to do my brother a favor by letting his then-girlfriend out of this town. I snuck into Baba Yaga’s house, found Wilhelm’s spell in one of her books, and stole it. Then I turned the magic off long enough for her to leave.”

“It’s true,” Goldilocks said as she stepped forward. “He let me out. I lived outside of the town for fifteen years before I came back to help save Henry and his wife.”

Jake reached into his pants pocket and took out a well-worn piece of paper. He unfolded it gently and held it up so everyone could see it. “Turn your back on the Master, help us save my mother, and I will free you. This is the spell to lower the barrier.”

“Jake, what are you doing?” Mr. Canis said. “You’ll ruin everything.”

“What do you mean?” Sabrina asked the old man, but he brushed her off in frustration.

Nottingham took the megaphone and was ready to hurl more insults, but Heart snatched it back. “Sheriff, let him talk,” the queen said.

Sabrina looked out on the crowd. The angry faces were fading. People were considering Jake’s offer.

“We will join you,” said voices from below. The Three Blind Mice pushed forward, their canes clicking on the ground as they
walked. As they climbed the stairs, a number of threats were hurled at them.

“Traitors!”

“You will pay for betraying the Master.”

“You have signed your own death warrants!”

“Wonderful!” Veronica cried, ignoring their anger. “Who else?”

“Can you protect me?” a lion said, though he was bigger than any lion Sabrina had ever seen in the Bronx Zoo. This one was as tall as a horse and wore a shiny gold medal with the word
COURAGE
around his neck.

“Ab . . . abso-solutely,” Sabrina sputtered before the gigantic beast.

“Then I’ll come with you,” the lion replied as he leaped onto the stage.

“Good to have you, old friend,” the Scarecrow said.

Sabrina shook her head in disbelief. Had her father been right? Would the Everafters do the right thing if presented with the opportunity?

“Please, James,” Beauty said to her husband, who stood defiantly within the crowd with his overgrown daughter, Natalie, at his side. “Bring our daughter and come up here and join us.”

Beast shook his head and Natalie looked at her mother with disgust. Poor Beauty’s face fell.

Several goblins and a troll pushed through the crowd on their way to the stage before Nottingham stopped them.

“You fools! This is the Grimm family,” Nottingham said. “They can’t be trusted.”

For a moment, Mayor Heart looked as if she was ready to take Jake’s extended hand, but Nottingham pushed past her. He had his dagger in hand and murder in his eyes. “I’ll put a stop to these lies for good!”

Charming pulled his own sword and waved it in Nottingham’s face. The sheriff stumbled backward, fearful of the prince’s deadly blade.

“My quarrel is with them!” Nottingham shouted.

“Then your quarrel is with all of us,” Charming said. “This man extends his hand in peace and you move to slice it open? You disgust me.”

“I will kill you, Charming,” Nottingham seethed.

“Is there courage in those words, Sheriff? Perhaps you should prove it.”

“If it’s courage you seek, little brother, I have it in spades,” said a strange, deep voice.

“Who said that?” Charming asked, scanning the crowd. Sabrina did the same and spotted the mane of greasy red hair moving through the mob.

“Atticus,” Sabrina gasped. She turned to Bunny, who stepped in front of her daughter. Mr. Seven joined her.

“Don’t you remember me, brother?” Atticus cried. “You destroyed my family and stole my rightful seat at our father’s side. But your most wicked of crimes was stealing my wife while I have been away.”

“I am not your brother, and I have never stolen any woman,” Charming said.

Atticus leaped onto the gazebo. He stared at Charming for a long time, his face contorted with amused hatred. For the first time, Sabrina could see the resemblance between the two men. They had the same eyes and jawlines. Their cheekbones were identical, as were their lips, but while all of Charming’s features combined to make him handsome, Atticus’s features were twisted and rough, making a person want to look away in disgust. Charming stared back, mouth agape, at the strange man. Atticus reached for his sword but then seemed to think better of it. Instead, he turned to the crowd. “The Master has sent me with a message, people. He is disappointed in you and wants you to know that being here, speaking to your jailors, is treachery. Turn away from the Grimms or blood will spill.”

“Who in the blue blazes are you?” Charming asked.

“Who am I?” Atticus said, then snatched Snow White by the wrist and pulled her close to him. “Surely you remember me, my dearest. Surely you remember your husband?”

“Let go of me,” she said. “You’ve lost your mind.”

Charming grabbed Atticus’s hand and pulled it away from his love. “Don’t touch her.”

Atticus laughed, then with a burst of ferocity, he slugged Charming in the nose. The prince fell backward, blood spraying across his face. Atticus drew his long silver sword and hovered over the fallen man, looking to attack, but Snow stepped between the two men.

“You’ve made a mistake. This man is not your brother,” she said, but Atticus slapped her and she fell to the ground next to Charming.

“You filthy harlot!” he bellowed at her. “You do not argue with me. You are my property!”

“That’s enough!” Mr. Seven said.

“No, it’s not enough. Not enough at all,” Atticus said, and with all the effort one might make to cut a pat of butter for some toast, he stabbed Mr. Seven in the belly. The sword slid through him and out his back. Then with an irritated jerk, Atticus pulled his weapon free.

“Nooo!” Morgan le Fay cried. As Mr. Seven fell to the ground,
she raised her hands above her head. A ball of vicious red energy formed in between them.

“Morgan, no! Save the magic for Seven! Get him out of here,” Henry barked, taking control. He raced forward and clocked Atticus in the face. The villain staggered, but only temporarily. His sword was in the air sailing toward Henry’s head when a blast of white energy slammed into Atticus. Sabrina turned to find the source.

“I told you once I would kill you if you touched my daughter again,” the Wicked Queen said. Her hands were growing red with ancient arcana. She loosed the power on Atticus and it sent him flying through the crowd, knocking people aside as if he were a runaway truck.

Sabrina rushed to Morgan’s side. The poor woman hovered over her husband, sobbing. Sabrina forced Morgan to look into her face. “Find Nurse Sprat!”

Morgan looked bewildered.

“Nurse Sprat can help him,” Sabrina said. Morgan nodded and went to find the nurse.

Goldi and the Three Bears rushed forward. “What should we do?”

“Crowd control,” Sabrina said. “Find Beauty and try to calm down this mob before anyone else gets hurt.”

Goldi crawled onto Poppa Bear’s back and they charged into the madness.

“Puck!” Sabrina cried. “Get Canis and the rest of my family to safety.”

“Fine, but just so you know, you’re not the boss of me.”

“What should we do?” a voice said. Sabrina turned and found the Frog Prince, his wife, and their daughter, Bella—all members of the Scarlet Hand and bitter enemies of the Grimms. At first Sabrina stumbled back, but then realized they were sincere.

“You’re joining us?” Sabrina asked.

The Frog Prince nodded. “If you’ll have us.”

“Fine! Help anyone who is in danger of being trampled by this crowd.”

Bella and her father sprang into the air and leaped around the crowd, hoisting people off their feet and planting them safely on the outskirts of the melee. Sabrina had no idea that a person could jump so high, but she reminded herself that father and daughter were part amphibian. Now she knew why Charming put them on his wish list.

When she turned to see if there was anyone else in need of help, she saw Nottingham hovering over her with his twisted knife and even more twisted smile. Mayor Heart stood by his side, watching the action with bright eyes.

“One Grimm down, six to go,” he hissed as he thrust the blade at Sabrina.

“Not today, you psycho,” Uncle Jake said, punching the villain in the belly and then kneeing him in the face. Nottingham fell over, gasping for air. His dagger slipped from his grasp and Uncle Jake snatched it up. He stood over the struggling villain, his hand squeezing the dagger’s handle until his knuckles were white. For a moment, the dark, tragic expression he had worn for many days returned. Sabrina was sure he was going to kill Nottingham. Then, with a flick of his hand, he threw the blade to the ground.

“The offer still stands, Ms. Heart,” he said, extending his hand to the former queen. “The Master is no friend of yours. I’m not asking you to do the right thing. Just do the right thing for you.”

Heart eyed him with curiosity but did not take his hand. Instead, she snapped up her megaphone and dashed back into the mob.

An explosion shook the gazebo, nearly knocking everyone to the ground. The Wicked Queen’s battle with Atticus had escalated. Bunny blasted him repeatedly, and he slammed into the mob like he had been fired from a cannon. He flew past Sabrina and smashed into the gazebo behind her, tilting it off its
foundation. But within moments he was on his feet, chuckling as if he were being attacked by a child.