“That still doesn’t answer my question,” Mina said, her bottom lip shivering from cold.
“Why, I’m Winona, Ternan’s wife. And your grandmother.”
Chapter 25
The vividly colored sails of the ship rose as the siren crew prepared to depart. Mina found a barrel to sit on as she watched her grandparents for the first time, trying to take in this information. Her mother had said to find them, but—she’d never imagined this. A good part of her wanted to reject them for not being a part of her life before now. The other part could see the family resemblance, and it made her want to run and hug them.
But they were strangers, and they’d abandoned her family.
Ternan came and leaned against the railing, crossing his arms. He scratched his beard and tried to make small talk. “You look like her… your mother.”
“And my father,” she shot back.
He looked pained at her answer. “Aye, that you do. You need to realize that it was her choice to leave her mother and me and cut all ties. She felt it was safer that way—for you, for us.”
Mina got up off of the barrel and stared across the water as they sailed away from the small cove. “It would have been better if it stayed that way. You don’t know what you’ve done.”
“We saved you from that lunatic prince,” Ternan answered, his voice gruff. He pointed back the way they had come.
“I made a bargain. I’d stay with him, and Charlie would be safe. Since you interfered, you’ve doomed him and my friends.”
Ternan was about to say something when a wooden hatch slammed open and interrupted him.
“Mina?” Ever shot up from below deck. When she saw her, Ever threw her arms around her. “You’re okay?’
“What are you doing here?” Mina asked.
“I’m saving you, you Gimp. No wait, I can’t call you that anymore.” She cast a worried glance toward Mina’s grandfather. “At least not out loud.” Ever was dressed in siren garb, black pants, white netted tank top over a blue-purple tank.
Mina grabbed Ever by her arm and pulled her starboard and away from the prying eyes of the sirens, who never seemed to stop watching her. “No, what are you doing here, on the Fae plane?”
“Well, you’re the one who abandoned our plan and just surrendered herself to the enemy. We had a perfectly good trap all worked out.”
“I had a vision—a premonition. Our trap would have backfired, and you would’ve ended up trapped inside one of the mirrors with the nastiest part of Teague’s personality and gotten stabbed by the poisoned knife. I watched you sacrifice yourself to trap the two of you in the mirror forever. And I couldn’t go through with it.” Tears of frustration burned at the corner of Mina’s eyes. “I’ve lost too many friends and family to this curse. I couldn’t lose you.”
Ever stood in front of Mina and placed her hands on her shoulders. “There’s something special about you, Mina.” All teasing was gone from her tone. “I don’t know, but when I look at you, I see more than the girl in front of me. I see a dangerous Grimm, a powerful siren, and a leader. Our futures are intertwined, and I know protecting you means protecting everyone I love—Fae and human alike. Giving my life to protect you is not that big of a sacrifice. I’ve found a purpose, and that purpose…besides annoying you…is to protect you.”
“But not if it means your death.”
Ever’s face crinkled in anger. “I’m a pixie. No one ever expects much from us. They see our race as troublemakers, but I’m more than they think. I’m more than the label Fae put on me, and I will prove it.”
“I understand wanting to be more than a label,” Mina answered, “but you have to promise me that you’ll be careful.”
Ever nodded her head. “I’ll try my best. Now about this dream of yours. Is this a new super power or something?”
“Or something.”
“And the plan didn’t work.”
Mina shook her head. “I wish it had. And there’s more. After I watched you die, someone came in and blasted me into the mirror as well.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. I never saw them. But I knew I couldn’t take the chance of all that happening.”
“So you just surrendered yourself to Teague?”
“Yes, and I’d do it again if it meant protecting everyone. That’s the sacrifice I made.” She paused and looked over at Ever’s clothes. “But how did you end up here?’
“Well, you left me with the seam ripper, so the first thing I had to do was come over. But then, instead of storming the castle like I wanted to, I needed help. So I went looking for your family.”
Ever leaned her elbows on the railing and nodded at a cute siren boy with sun-bleached blond hair past his shoulders. “I didn’t know that sirens were this good-looking. It took a few weeks of searching since they spend most of their life sailing and exploring underwater caves. They’re pretty much the gypsies of the sea, and it’s kind of better for all Fae that they are. They’re too powerful in large groups.”