“Holy cow! Did you hear that?” He blurted out.

Mina punched Jared in the arm. “I’m hungry, which happens to be your fault too.” Ignoring him, she crawled into the small cave and tried to curl in a ball to sleep.

“Hey, is there room for me?” Jared looked into the cave expectantly.

“NO!” Mina growled at him. “Don’t even think about it. And just because you got us into this, you can keep watch and tell me if you see anything. ”

“Fine,” Jared stated and leaned against the outer wall of the cave.

A few moments of silence passed, and Mina was almost asleep when she heard Jared speaking out loud in a droning voice. “I’m keeping watch, and I see the river. I see the moon rise over the trees. I see that the forest looks really, really creepy right now. I bet you there is some sort of killer vampire turtle slowly crawling toward us out of the woods. Yep, I can almost hear its little turtley steps inching closer to us.”

“Jared?”

Mina had no idea where Jared’s sense of humor suddenly came from, but it seemed to pour out of him in the most annoying boy fashion. Something about being outdoors and away from people brought out a different side of him. He didn’t seem so surly and angry. Maybe it was because something had changed between them, or he didn’t feel like he was hiding from her anymore. He was finally free to be himself. Mina would bet anything that there still were loads of things he wasn’t telling her…but it was a start.

“Yeah?” he answered a little too brightly.

“Are you going to shut up?”

“Nope,” he answered back. She could hear the grin in his voice.

“Will you shut up if I said please?”

“Probably not!” he chuckled. He was enjoying teasing her.

“Fine, then you can sleep in the cave if you promise me that nothing is going to eat us during the night.”

“I promise that if something comes to harm us during the night, I will eat it, instead.” Jared crawled into the small cave, being careful to not touch her. He turned on his side and faced away from her. Mina mirrored the action. She watched the dying fire cast shadows on the cave wall.

All of a sudden, Mina couldn’t sleep with Jared so close to her. For some reason, questions kept plaguing her and they were ones she was pretty sure he wouldn’t answer. She shivered again from the cold as her pants were still wet. But you could bet to high heaven they were staying on.

“So how come you never told me you’re an Ogre?” she asked quietly, her finger tracing circles on the ground.

“You weren’t ready,” he stated simply.

“And what made you decide to tell me now?”

“I was tired of you always being angry with me because there are some things that I can’t tell you. And, in a way, I wanted you to know. You also have to remember that I’m not gonna win homecoming king in my Fae form.” There was something in his voice that sounded vulnerable. Gone was the tough biker Jared, replaced by a young teenage boy who just wanted to be liked, to fit in. But she could tell he was still withholding something.

“So how come the Grimoire didn’t work on you? Isn’t it supposed to protect me when I’m in trouble?”

“It won’t work on me,” Jared sighed loudly, trying to sound annoyed, like he was the one that was almost asleep.

“Why not?” Mina asked.

“Cause, I’m cool like that.” He laughed.

Mina snorted. “Really? You’re going to evade the question? I actually thought that you were going to be truthful with me.”

“Mina, I don’t know what to tell you other than the Grimoire can’t harm me. Call it Ogre power if you must.”

She pondered what he said for a moment before asking, “It can’t or won’t?”

“Both… neither. I don’t know what you are trying to get at.”

Mina worried at her bottom lip before speaking again, this time it came out at a whisper. “I just need to know that the Grimoire is still going to protect me. I want to know that, next time, it is going to work. I don’t know what my father did wrong, but the Grimoire wasn’t able to help him and he died during one of these stupid God forsaken quests.

“Today, when I opened the book and tried to use it on you, it didn’t work. I panicked and really believed I was going to die, like my father.”

“Oh…” Jared became quiet. “You wished I would’ve gotten sucked into the book then. Boy, you really must not like me!”

Mina was annoyed. “I didn’t know it was you, remember! And yes, truthfully, like right now, I almost wish the book would suck you in it.”

Jared made a noise that sounded like laughter. When she became quiet, he apologized. “I’m sorry, I can tell this is really bothering you.”

“Yes, it is. The Grimoire came to my Uncle Jack, and he died. My father had it and became obsessed with ending the curse on our family. Even with the help of the Grimoire, he wasn’t strong enough. I just…” Mina became choked up. “I thought today was it. The end...and I’m not ready to die.”

***

Jared could hear her crying softly, and guilt like he had never felt before overcame him. “Mina,” Jared spoke softly, turning toward her in the cave; he leaned up on one elbow to look at her.

“Mina, look at me.” She turned to look at him; her brown eyes looked even larger with tears in them. “It will work next time. I promise.”

Her voice sounded small, like a child’s, “How can you be sure?”

For once in his life he really wished he could believe his own words as he tried to comfort her. “I’m just sure.”

She nodded halfheartedly and turned back to looking at the wall. A few minutes later, she had cried herself to sleep. He watched her sleep, and when she continued to shiver, he slid closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, spooning her while she slept. He knew that she would never allow this while she was awake, but it was the only comfort he could give her. He breathed in her hair. Even after the dunk in the river, she still smelled faintly of strawberries.

He had to be better at shielding himself from her. She was breaking down his walls and leaving him vulnerable. He knew that he couldn’t always protect her, that one day he would be commanded to leave her side. He just hoped, beyond hope, that those commands would never come. But more than that, he was scared that she was being tracked.

It was one of the reasons he brought her out here, to hide her scent trail from that which hunts the Grimms. But he didn’t think he could ever tell her how her ancestors really died. It was easier to let her believe it was the Grimoire’s fault. Sometimes, people were better off, not knowing about the things that went bump in the night.

Chapter 9

Mina dreamed of Ogres. Being chased by Ogres, eaten by Ogres, and finally caught and smothered by an Ogre. She dreamed that she was wrapped in its arms and it was hugging her to death. When she awoke, she was in the cave alone.

Sounds of a crackling fire drew her attention to the cave opening. Jared was cleaning a fish, and there was one already cooking over the fire.

“How did you catch those?”

“I was a Boy Scout.” Jared held up two fingers in imitation of a Boy Scout salute.