Someone called her name, and she came out of her daydream to stare into Brody’s worried eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Hey, I’m sorry about our triple date and—”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Please…don’t mention it...really.”
“We could try again, maybe this next Friday,” he said hopefully.
“Uh, no, thanks. I think the trio has dissolved,” she said, referring to their very empty lunch table the day before. Jared and Ever had been absent, and Mina didn’t think she could sit by Nan and Brody for one more day without them.
The bell rang, and she darted from her chair and out into the hall, then headed to the music room, deciding it was better to get a detention for skipping a class so she could talk to Constance, er, Mrs. Colbert, in between classes. She followed a bunch of girls she didn’t know into the choir room and decided to stick close to a tall brunette with hair down her back and a smattering of freckles across her pert nose. She wore a light blue shirt with a pink elephant on it.
She was listening to music on her iPod and was quietly humming to herself. Mina watched her stretch to her tiptoes multiple times while waiting in line, the sign of a dedicated dancer practicing at every opportune moment. She popped out an earbud, and Mina could hear the faint sounds of country music playing before the girl turned off her iPod and put it away. The line had moved, and it was their time to get music. The brunette picked up a music binder, and turned and handed one to Mina as well. She knew she had picked the right girl to shadow.
“Hi,” the girl said softly. “First time in choir?”
“Yes, and after Mrs. Colbert hears me sing, it will probably be my last,” Mina joked.
The girl laughed. It was soft and melodic. “I’m Melissa.”
“Mina.”
“Are you an alto or soprano?”
“Uh…what are you?” Mina asked.
“Soprano.”
“Me, too,” Mina lied.
“Then you can come sit by me and Bekah. We’ll help you blend, and we’ll poke you if you go off key,” Melissa teased.
Mina followed Melissa to the second row and hesitated. She didn’t want to sit this close to the front of the class. She would have rather have sat in the back, but someone filed in behind her, and Mina was forced to keep moving.
Melissa pointed to the girls on either side of them. “That’s Julianne, Makaylee, and, of course, Bekah.” Each girl waved when she heard her name mentioned and smiled.
“Are you going to audition for the musical?” Makaylee asked.
“Musical?”
“Mrs. Colbert always picks a fairy tale. Last year it was Princess and the Pea, the year before, Rapunzel. I wonder what it will be this year?” Bekah wondered.
“I hope it’s not Red Riding Hood,” Julianne answered.
“Uh, definitely not.”
“I’m sure there’s a kissing scene.” Melissa shuddered. “You never know who would get cast as the prince, and that could be very awkward.”
All the girls nodded in unison, but there was a wishful look behind their eyes.
Mrs. Colbert walked into class and took her place behind the piano. She called out to the class and began to do warm-ups. Mina was altogether shocked by the voice that came out of the Fae teacher. Constance wasn’t kidding when she said she was a muse. She could really sing, and it was obvious that the Fae loved singing. Her face lit up with joy, and she didn’t notice the extra student sitting in on her class.
Music binders opened, and Mina watched Melissa’s carefully to see what page they turned to and tried her best to hide behind the music. They were working on a piece from Phantom of the Opera, and Mina stopped singing to stare at Melissa. The teen girl had closed her eyes and was hitting every one of the notes with ease. Mina was slightly envious and tried to follow along, but her voice cracked, betraying that she was indeed an alto. Melissa opened her eyes and made a poking motion with her finger. Then she smiled widely and winked.
Mina found herself smiling back and thinking how she could see Melissa and Nan being great friends. Halfway into the second song, Mrs. Colbert finally noticed the new addition to her class. She froze for a second and then recovered beautifully. She raised an eyebrow in question at Mina but continued with the rest of class. She ended early and gave the final instructions about the auditions.
“You’ve heard that our musical has been announced. This year we are doing Cinderella. Auditions will be in three weeks after school in the main auditorium. Please come prepared with a solo piece to perform. That is all.”
Since the class ended early, Mina had hoped the students would all disappear from the room, but that wasn’t the case. With the excitement of the announcement of the musical, everyone wanted to stay and talk.
Mina excused herself and squeezed out of the row, and left the girls talking excitedly about the play.
“What are you doing here?” Mrs. Colbert asked, a forced smile on her face. “Is something wrong?”
“No, not really. It’s just that a lot has happened since the other night. Jared destroyed the seam ripper, he’s not talking to me anymore, and I haven’t jumped or whatever in my sleep. I don’t know what to do.”
Mrs. Colbert took off her blue wing-tipped glasses and her glamour faded a little, making her look like the muse Constance more than ever. “Mina, listen to your heart. When the time is right, you’ll know what to do.”
“No, I don’t. I’m too close. I can’t find my way, and Jared’s not helping me.”
The students continued talking amongst themselves, and Mrs. Colbert sat on her piano bench and motioned to the music in front of her.
“Remember what I said about technology not working on the Fae world? Man-made things can’t transfer over there. We don’t know why—it just can’t. It’s a rule, a law of some sort that can’t be changed. And just like that rule, another one always seems to surface in regards to stories.”
She waved her hand over the sheet music, and the notes and lines began to merge and dance across the white paper. She began to play the piano, and the lines and notes formed a story. The more she played, the more the picture continued.
“With every tale throughout time, there are rules. A hero is given an impossible task.” A knight appeared made of the notes on the white paper, sword in hand, bowing before a king. Then the drawing changed into the knight traveling through a dangerous forest alone.
“One that he is sure to fail, but along the way help comes from the most unexpected source.” The knight helped three creatures, and they offered him a boon. “When the hero reaches an insurmountable obstacle, he forgets that he has allies who will come to help him. One by one the creatures in the story help the knight overcome his obstacles and traps, and he reaches his goal. And wins the princess’s hand in marriage.” She stopped playing, and the moving pictures turned back into plain sheet music. “Mina, we are not your only allies, and the Story, as you very well know, is not your only adversary. If the quests were easy, then the curse would have been broken long ago.”
“But how do I know that this is even a quest?”
“Because it’s the loophole of all Fae tales. Whenever you, the hero, get stuck, something or someone will magically aid you on your quest. That you can be sure to count on. The ending of the tale is still very much in your hands, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you already have the answer and you just don’t know it. Don’t forget that the Fae prince is very much a servant of the Fae book. So they all have rules to follow.”
Mina sighed in frustration. “So you’re saying a furry woodland creature is going to come and help me?”
“Mina, all Fae are attracted to you. Help will come to you if it hasn’t already.”
She was about to tell her teacher about the mysterious phoenix feather gifted to her when the second bell rang. Mina looked up to see the next class filing in and pulling out music stands and opening violin cases. Consta
nce’s next class had arrived.
“Oh, I, uh. I’m late,” Mina said sheepishly.
Constance pulled out a pink pad of paper and quickly wrote an excused tardy on her note, and handed it to Mina. “As much as I loved having you drop in today, try not to make a habit of skipping classes. Your education is extremely important.”
“As important as my other job,” Mina hinted.
Constance frowned. “No…yes. Oh, that’s not the point. Get going.”
Mina left and headed to her next class, which was gym. Oh, why couldn’t she have skipped this period instead? Then again, it would have been a lot harder to pretend to play a stringed instrument than it was to slink into choir class. Since she had the pass, she took her sweet time heading to the gym, but came to a sudden halt when she turned the corner and saw him standing, staring at the school’s trophy case. It was Temple.
His back was stiff. He wore a long gray suit jacket trimmed with gold buttons, and gray lambskin gloves.
“A lot of trophies. Too bad they’re just pieces of plastic. Not worth anything. Unlike my prized collection.” He turned to look at her and squinted his eyes in study. “You’ve been straying from your goal, and I’ve become impatient.”
Mina spoke evenly. “They say that patience is a virtue.”
“So is self-control, and I feel that mine may be slipping where your brother is concerned.” He opened his coat and pulled out a small glass globe. He held it out in front of her, and she could see Charlie inside a gold cage, just like her dream. “I have heard some disturbing news. It seems my youngest brother has disappeared. You wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?”
“Maybe he went on a spur-of-the-moment vacation.”
“Maybe I have decided to change my mind about what I want. If you can’t get the Fable, the Fae-plane book, then I want the Grimoire.”
“No, you can’t have it!”
“No one tells me what I can and cannot have,” he hissed, and raised his fist and smashed it through the trophy case. The glass shattered and rained to the ground in pieces. He shook his hand and put it back down by his side. He had lost control and was on the verge of trying to regain it. Temple closed his eyes, and smoothed his vest and jacket back into place. “Be glad that I’m gracious enough to spare yours until our bargain is done. You have until tomorrow at midnight to give me one of the books, or your brother will die and you will take his place in my gilded cage. Don’t disappoint me again.”
He turned and strolled down the hall, his boots making a hollow clicking noise. Mina stared at the shattered trophy case and Temple’s retreating figure, and felt her heart race. She needed to leave before someone came to investigate the disturbance. But something on the ground caught her eye; she stooped down and picked up something he had missed: a shard of gold-tinted glass with a single drop of Temple’s blood on it. He must have unknowingly cut himself on the shard of glass, turning it gold.
A door opened, and she could hear the sound of feet quickly approaching. Mina slipped the shard into her jacket pocket and ducked around the corner just before Principal Hame appeared and yelled, “What in the blazes happened to the trophy case?”
Chapter 18
She was out of options and desperate. Mina sneaked off to her locker and began to work on the combination. Of course, since she was in a hurry, her fingers wouldn’t cooperate with her, and it took her three tries to get the correct combination before she heard the audible click and the locker opened. It was just around the corner from the trophy case, and she knew if she didn’t get moving she would get in big trouble for skipping class. And she didn’t think that saving the world from Fae was an acceptable excuse. In fact, she would probably end up in the school counselor’s office if she tried that excuse.
The commotion was getting louder as more teachers came to investigate Principal Hame’s verbal tirade against delinquents that destroy school property. And how he would find them and they would be expelled.
Come on, she mentally berated herself, and desperately dug around in her backpack for it. Her fingers brushed something warm, and she snatched it out of her bag and slammed her locker door a little too loud.
“Did you hear that? It’s probably our delinquent now.” His voice got louder, and Mina could hear his footsteps drawing closer to her.
She clutched the golden phoenix feather close to her breast and tried the doorknob to the nearest classroom. Luckily, it was unlocked and currently devoid of students. It took her a moment to adjust to where she was because all of the shades had been closed against the heat of the sun. She moved forward away from the door and bumped into the familiar lab table. It was the biology lab. This room always gave her the willies, as she couldn’t help but remember what had happened the last time she was in this room. The creepy specimens in the lab’s glass cases had come alive. She moved to the corner of the room and crouched down behind a tall file cabinet. Would they look in the darkened classroom?
A moment later the door opened, and the light from the hallway spilled into the room. She pulled her knees and shoes closer to her body, and held her breath. Principal Hame stormed into the room and shouted, “I know you’re in here. I heard this door close.” His portly chest heaved in and out from excitement. Even his red face had a slight sheen of sweat. Principal Hame, or Ham, as the students called him, really did in real life resemble the pigs he collected. He had an office full of them. And sure enough, like a pig can sniff out a truffle, this one had found her.
Mina tried to rack her brain to think of an excuse as she slowly began to inch out of her hiding spot, but a familiar voice saved her.
“I heard it, too, but I think it was that door,” Mrs. Colbert’s voice rang out. “In fact, I’m almost positive it was from the south hallway.”
Principal Hame grumbled something and stopped right in front of the filing cabinet. He was two feet from discovering her.
“I don’t know. I’m sure it was this one.”
Constance’s voice became silky smooth as her skin took on a translucent glow. “I’m sure you are right. The culprit ducked into a classroom and is probably cowering in fear behind that filing cabinet right there. Or the culprit is probably heading for the nearest school exit. Think about it. It’s the trophy case. Who would destroy that? My guess is someone from Barlow High School.”
“You are absolutely right.” He clapped his hands together and turned on his heel. “Barlow High has always been trying to steal our thunder. I bet you they’re not done yet. Quick, send security out, comb the halls, the parking lot.” His voice drifted off as they exited the classroom and the door clicked softly behind them.
Mina didn’t breathe or move till she counted to one hundred. She kept her head down and stayed near the ground as she pulled out the phoenix feather, which was still burning slowly. Its miniscule flames danced around the quill.
“I believe you gave this to me to help me. So if you want to help me, then help me,” she whispered to the feather.
The feather continued to burn brightly, and she studied it closely. Acting on intuition, she leaned forward and began to blow on the feather, right near the flames, the same way she would if she was starting a fire. This time, the flames grew brighter and brighter. She tried to hold onto the feather but dropped it when the light became too much. She could hear the fire crackling, and it grew larger and more out of control.
“What have I done?” Mina panicked and ran to the door, and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall. She had never before used one of these and tried to maneuver the hose in the right direction. The fire was burning so hot it turned blue. A scream erupted from the middle of the inferno, and a loud explosion rocked the room. Mina fell backward from the blast and covered her ears. She was going to be caught now. There was no mistaking where that noise had come from.
Mina looked toward where the feather was and saw that the explosion had destroyed two lab stations and transformed them into a pile of ash and rubble. But from the ash an
other ember continued to burn, and a phoenix began to arise from the rubble.
The phoenix craned its neck and flexed its wings experimentally before turning its black beady eyes in Mina’s direction.
“Um, was that supposed to do that?” she asked. The bird just continued to stare. “Okay, I don’t know why you gave me that feather, but I think you want to help me, so can you help me? I need to get over to the Fae plane.”
A voice invaded her mind—not just any voice, but Nan’s. You are a Grimm. You don’t need me to cross over, the bird said.
“How are you doing that? You sound like Nan,” Mina asked, stunned.
The bird shook her head at Mina again, ignoring the question.
“Fine, I know that I’m a Grimm and I should be able to cross over, but I don’t know how to yet. I can’t do it on command.”
This time the voice changed, and it started out as Ever’s voice before morphing into Jared’s. Then you need to pass through the gatekeeper.
“What’s a gatekeeper?”
Brody’s voice filled her mind. I’m the gatekeeper. The phoenix continued to speak to her using the voices of those closest to her.
“So you knew I needed to go to the Fae plane. That’s why you wanted to help me.”
Yes, help you—help me. Mrs. Wong’s Chinese dialect came out. The Stiltskin has me imprisoned and uses my gifts terribly. I want to make my own deal with you. I’m much more valuable than your brother. Choose me instead, Sara’s voice cried out to her, filled with despair.
“I can’t. I have to save my brother.”
The phoenix’s feathers began to dim a little bit in sadness.
“But I will find a way to free you. If not today, then soon,” Mina promised.