Ken Wong separated himself and came over to them, whispering hurriedly to Constance. “Ferah says we have to leave. The police are asking questions, and we are a very large group standing in the open. We’re sure to draw speculation.”
Constance nodded her head. “She’s right. We must leave. But first I need to ask you, Mina, what happened? Why did he leave?”
That was one question she wasn’t ready to answer, especially not in front of her friends and brother.
She turned away. “He’s toying with us, trying to intimidate me by showing he can strike any time and anywhere.” She turned back to Constance. “What I want to know is what about Charlie? Did you know he’s Fae?”
“Part-Fae,” Constance answered. “And yes. So are you.” She grabbed Mina’s arm and walked closely beside her as their troop made a hasty exit, not out the front fair exit, but by the back bus-barns.
“Your mother was a powerful siren. When we learned what our future held, and how it depended on the Grimm family defeating Teague, we tried to strengthen your bloodline with Fae blood.”
“How dare you meddle where you have no business meddling? These are my family’s lives—not your genetic cauldron for creating weapons.”
“Do you think your mother didn’t love your father? Do you think we cast some sort of spell to make him fall in love with her? No, Sara and James fell in love all on their own.” They squeezed through a fence behind the school, skirting the worst of the damage. “Your mother was so in love with your human father that she went to a sea witch to bind her Fae powers so she could be human. We didn’t know at first that it was James Grimm that she was in love with.”
“So she lied to my father?”
“Do you honestly not recognize your mother’s own tale? Where a girl was so in love with a human that she was willing to give up her tail, forget her previous life, and live as a human forever so she could be with him?”
“You mean The Little Mermaid?” Mina scoffed. She followed Constance carefully past a sheer drop-off in the ground, actually the giant’s foot print.
“What do you think a siren is, dear?” Constance smiled sadly. “A mermaid is the human term for them. Once a month, on the full moon, sirens gain their legs and walk on land, usually to cause mayhem. After all, they aren’t the noblest of creatures and are tricksters. It was during your mother’s moon spell when she met your father.”
Mina couldn’t help but think back to the stone siren that guarded the waterways under the Fates’ castle. Nix had said sirens were like sea witches but worse.
“Am I going to sprout a tail?”
In the distance, the fire and rescue crews were still parked around the perimeter of the fairgrounds.
Constance laughed. “No, you and your brother won’t, because that is what your mother sacrificed to become human. So it wasn’t passed down to you. It does seem that Charlie picked up the siren’s call, and you picked up the lure, though.”
“Lure? Don’t you have to sing to be able to do that? You’ve heard me in class. I can’t sing a note.”
“Lure is of the mind. It’s the most powerful of curses, dear. I’m sure you’ve seen it firsthand. You lure others to do your bidding. You’ve been luring the Fae power and controlling it for years. You did it again with the giant, and you’ve done it with your friends.”
Mina let the knowledge wash over her as they headed toward the parking area. She wasn’t human, never had been. Her whole life was a lie—all because her mother was basically the little mermaid on steroids.
“And you just let it happen?”