“No, rude is not saying thank you.”
Mina blinked taken aback. Was he being mean to her only because she hadn’t said thank you? “I’m sorry, you’re right. Thank you for saving me.”
The boy looked only slightly appeased. “It doesn’t mean as much if I have to remind you.” He turned his head, and his dark hair flew over his eyes in a rakish manner. He was remarkably good-looking, with dark somber gray eyes and a perfectly formed jaw. Thin, but with strong shoulders and a graceful stance.
“You won’t last a week,” the boy said to her now, his eyes studying her. “The first tale that the Story throws your way will be the end of you.”
“I could, if you helped me.”
He shook his head slowly in response, then turned his back to her and began to walk away. Mina reached for his shoulder, and he spun around almost instantly. One minute they were standing in the middle of the alley, and the next he had her pinned against a brick wall, his hand around her neck.
“Do not touch me!” he growled out between clenched teeth.
Mina knew she should be afraid, but she wasn’t. “Why won’t you help me?” she pleaded, daring to stare him in the eyes.
“I. Can’t.”
“Can’t, or won’t?”
“Both.” He let go of her, and Mina slid down the wall to land on her knees in the dirt. “Can’t because you’re in over your head, won’t because you’re a lost cause. So you’re not worth the effort. Today proved that.” He stepped back and looked at Mina, crouched in the dirt.
Tears fell freely down her cheeks. He was confirming her worst fears, but she had to survive. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m never wrong,” the boy answered, kneeling down to look at her closely.
“You have to be. I have to break the curse. I have to finish the tales!”
“Why? What’s in it for you? What have they promised you that would make you so determined to risk your life?”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t been promised anything! I’m trying to protect my brother, Charlie. He’s too young. I won’t let him be the next victim.” Mina gritted it out, her fingers digging into the ground in anger.
It was one of the first times in her life that Mina had ever felt this angry. She was usually the passive-aggressive student who avoided confrontation, but it was as if something in her had been broken and would never be the same. “I will survive—I will be the Grimm to finish the tales and live. I will beat the Story.” Mina stood and looked heatedly in his eyes. “With or without your help.” With strength that Mina didn’t know she had, she pushed the boy in the chest so hard he stumbled backward but did not fall.
The boy stepped away from Mina, giving her room to pass. He cocked his head to the side and answered, “Well, maybe there is a chance for you after all.”
“Leave me alone!” Mina yelled, and turned angrily to face him, but the boy had disappeared.
Mina ran the rest of the way home and burst through the door to find Nan sitting on her couch, eyes red from crying. Nan flew to Mina and grabbed her around the neck.
“You’re alive. I’m so sorry—I should never have left your side. I went outside to look for a number, and as soon as I turned around, the door, window, everything was gone. It was a brick wall.” Nan stepped back away from Mina, and her hands went into overdrive as she explained what happened. “I went into the pottery store and asked them about the building, and they gave me a blank stare. Apparently there has never been a shop there. Same with Rosie’s Flowers. Mina, they thought I was crazy, but I knew better. I knew that the building was there and it had eaten you!” She hiccupped with anxiety.
“Nan, I’m fine,” Mina consoled her best friend, getting her to sit on the couch once again.
“I waited. I waited on the sidewalk for hours, but you never appeared. I searched the whole block and alley for you, and I couldn’t find you.” Nan began to cry. “I didn’t know what else to do but to come back and wait for you. I’m just glad your mom and brother weren’t here. I wouldn’t want to explain to them how you were eaten by a building.” Nan’s hands flew through the air with her growing anxiety. When she had a moment to settle down, she pinned Mina with a wary glance. “What did happen to you?”
“I found the Grimoire.” Mina smiled widely and pulled out the red spiral notebook to show Nan.
Nan frowned at the notebook. “That sure doesn’t look like a Grimoire. But then again, how should I know?”
“It was in that building, I had to solve a few puzzles to find it, deep underground. But it was like it wanted me to find it. You wouldn’t believe it.”