“No!” Ever shouted and grabbed her side in pain. “We need to get far away from here as fast as possible.”
Mina was torn. Ever was right—she needed to get Charlie out of here. But she couldn’t abandon her friends. Finally, she understood the decision the Godmothers faced, trying to protect those who were injured or unable to protect themselves.
But she could make a different choice. Her path could be different. “Ever, stay here with Charlie,” Mina commanded and then nodded to Nix.
Within moments, they were picking through the mob of bystanders trying to get to the main street.
“This is chaos!” Nix shouted over the crowd. “Hey, I see something!” He pointed to a side alley, but Mina wasn’t as tall as Nix, so she couldn’t see what he saw. She broke through the edge of the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief. Brody was making his way toward them, carrying someone. Long blonde hair spilled over his right arm. Mina recognized the blue shirt as belonging to her best friend.
“Nan!” Mina ran to them both.
Brody gave them an accomplished grin. “She’s heavier than she looks.” He sounded out of breath.
Nan’s hand came up and slapped Brody upside the head. “Am not, jerk. Now put me down.”
“You’re wounded.” Brody shifted her body so he could hold on to her better. His eyes were filled with joy as he looked down at Nan’s frowning face. There was something else there too, some emotion he was trying to hold back.
“Only my pride, Brody Carmichael.” Nan laughed and tried to squirm out of his grip.
Brody leaned forward and gently placed her feet on the ground, holding Nan’s arm as he tried to steady her. She had a large bruise on the side of her face and a few scratches had torn through her shirt.
The minute Nan tried to move on her own, she started to fall, and she instantly turned back to Brody for support. His strong arm wrapped around her waist, and he didn’t let her go.
“He saved me, Mina.” Nan touched the bruise on her cheek.
“Not really,” Brody confessed. “Right before those wolves attacked me, I saw some sort of beast dragging Nan into the school. I wasn’t sure if she’d still be there, but—when we were freed—I needed to be sure.”
“That horrible bear took me into the school, but then the building started to come down around us.”
“I found her in the hallway outside the cafeteria. The bear was dead, killed in the collapse. Nan was trapped under a steel beam.”
“I thought I was going to die, but once Brody found me, he wouldn’t even leave to get help. He just started lifting the debris off until he could pull me out from under the beam—a regular knight in shining armor.” Nan beamed at Brody.
Mina knew that look. She’d seen it plenty of times on her best friend’s face. Smitten. And for some reason, Mina didn’t feel a pang of jealousy. Her best friend would never intentionally try and fall for Brody. In fact, Nan tried to stay as far away from him as she could, but they were friends. It seemed like, if Mina let it, and without the Story pushing them, they might become more on their own. Without Brody being lured to fall for her.
Brody blushed at Nan’s comments and met Mina’s eyes, swallowing nervously. Mina just smiled and gave a slight nod in understanding.
Who was she to try and stand in the way of love, especially when it could happen between the two people she cared about most? Besides, she’d just agreed to sacrifice her happily ever after, so theirs might be possible.
The dark cloud of her soon-coming demise loomed over her, and she couldn’t help but feel sad.
Ever noticed and came over. “Do you want me to dump him in the nearest lake?”
Mina chuckled. “No, I think this is their happy ending that I’ve been too selfish to see. They deserve each other. I think they could be happy, if I just stepped out of the way.”
“You can’t really be serious.” Ever groaned.
“No, I think I am,” Mina admitted. “I think I’ve been taking away his choice and making him like me, and I’ve done terrible things to them on accident. I see that now. I’m not a nice person, Ever.”
“That’s bull. You are about the sappiest and nicest person I know. You can be a bit lame at times, but you’re always nice. It’s why I love hating you.” Ever turned and gave her a goofy grin.
Mina wasn’t so sure, she could feel that darkness from down inside her, the jealousy that would sometimes surface. She’d used it to manipulate Fae power and the Story to get what she wanted. She even let it turn her into the evil queen during one quest. It had been so easy, since she had a bit of siren deep within her.
Understanding why the Fae power came to her so easily did give her some relief. Finding out that her mother was Fae in her own right was a little disconcerting. What it meant, though, was that she really had belonged in the choosing ceremony among the others. She was Fae.
“Ever, we’ve got to talk. Is there anything we can do to keep Teague from hearing us?”