The hotel door opened, and a short girl with black spiky hair stepped out. She was wearing all black, except the violet glittery skull barrette in her hair and the purple gloves on her hands.
“Jared? Holy periwinkle! It is you!” She jumped up and flung her arms around his neck, pressing her face close to his. “I’ve missed you! You haven’t been by in such a long time.” When he didn’t immediately return her embrace, she slowly slid down and looked at him. “Wait, what’s wrong? Someone found the book didn’t they?”
It had been a very long time since he’d allowed himself to see Ever. When he’d been banished from the Fae plane, she’d followed him and had been here as his guardian ever since. But he hadn’t spoken to her in a while.
He swallowed, “Yes, someone found the book.”
Ever looked at him, her big dark eyes round with worry. “Well, it will be fine. After a few quests they’ll lose, just like all the others, and the book will go back into hiding. No biggie.”
“No, it’s not that simple. I don’t think…I don’t want them to fail. Not this time.” He knew the words would hurt her, and they did. At one time, Jared had thought he was in love with Ever. It was obvious that she loved him, but he could never be sure of his true feelings. They weren’t always his own.
“Jared, of course we want them to fail. Then you will be safe.” Ever grabbed his hand, closed the door, and started to walk with him away from the motel.
He savored holding her small and familiar hand in his large one, and he could sense the flutter of her invisible pixie wings. She made him feel stabilized, grounded.
“Ever, it’s about a certain quest that the Grimm was given. I don’t think it was meant for her.”
Ever stopped walking and jerked her hand out of his. “Her? The Grimm’s a girl! Why in the world would the Story choose a girl?” And then she surprised him. She went from being angry about it to laughing hysterically. “Oh this is priceless. We have nothing to worry about. We’ll be safe in no time.” She latched onto his right arm and squeezed possessively.
Jared let her hang on to his arm. It was the least he could do for ignoring her for so long. He looked down at her dark head and felt a pang of sadness. She’d given up so much for him, and he hadn’t been kind to her.
“It’s not that simple, like I said. This quest isn’t for her. It’s for me.”
She pulled away only slightly and looked up at him. “Why do you think so? That’s not how it works.”
“Do you really think the Story cares about following rules? He’s sending a message to me. There’s a Fae that is turning human boys into frogs.”
Ever threw her head back and giggled. “So what? I always thought boys were toads anyway.”
Jared thought back to how many names had been on the paper and how many frogs were swimming in the creek. “We’re talking dozens of boys missing.”
“Wow…that many, huh?”
“Ever, we’re talking about a Croanoak here,” Jared stopped walking and turned to face her.
“What?” She stopped and turned her face up to his. “Oh, yeah. They can be a pain.” Her mouth quirked. “So what do you want me to do? I left my toad stomping boots back at my place.” She pointed back to the parking lot and motel they’d just left.
“No, I want you to pretend to be my girlfriend and enroll at Lincoln Heights with me,” Jared answered casually.
“And what about the Grimm? She can’t help you with this?” Ever simpered and batted her lashes, taunting him.
He closed his eyes and slowly breathed out. “I would like to try and leave her out of this as much as possible. The less she knows about me the better. We will try to bring her in at the last possible moment, okay? To close the deal.”
Ever brightened, “Yeah, the gimp would probably slow us down anyway.”
They slowly walked back to the motel talking about the old days, the Fae plane, both being careful not to talk about their families. He walked up to her motel door and waited for her to open it. “So make sure that you dress the part tomorrow,” he gently reminded her.
Ever stuck her tongue out at him. “Jared, I will make the best girlfriend you’ve ever had.”
He nodded and smiled. “I bet you will.”