Forever

“Teague,” Mina whispered his name. “That dagger is evil. It’s changed you. If you’d let me help you, we could remove the rest, and you’d be back to normal.”



“And why would I want that?” His eyes went dark, and he turned on her. “I’ve never felt so alive… so powerful… so in control of my own destiny.”



“Fine. So does this mean it’s over?” she asked. “That you’ll leave me and my family alone?”



He turned to her, his face lighting up in an evil grin. “I’ll spare your friends, but I’m not done with you.” Within seconds, he was pressed up against her, his hand cupped around her face, his thumb just brushing the corner of her lip.



Mina’s breath caught as he leaned forward to kiss her. She pinched her eyes shut, scared to fight, scared to breathe as his lips barely brushed hers.



“My only wish,” he whispered, “is for you to share my fate.”



Her eyes shot open. The dagger glinted as his arm lifted to plunge it into her.



“No!” Mina screamed and reeled backward falling onto her bed.



Her fall made her even more vulnerable. He smiled.



The door burst open, and Ever exploded into the room flying straight for the dagger in his hand. She grabbed his wrist mid-lunge and yanked backward.



“Now, Mina!” Ever shouted, as she struggled with Teague to pull him closer to the their target.



Mina pulled all of the power through the mirrors into the room. The mirrors glowed, lights flickered, and the paintings on the wall shook.



Teague blasted Ever against the wall, leaving a spidery crack up the plaster. She looked a bit dazed, but the pixie shook it off and flew toward him again, grabbing the hand with the dagger. Teague seized her in a net of power, frozen, her hand still wrapped around his wrist.



Mina didn’t have much time. The mirrors were charged, but Ever was too close to Teague to go through with their plan.



Ever’s eyes flicked to Mina. “Do it!”



The joint attack surprised Teague. He spun his attention on Mina. She aimed the concentrated power from the mirrors at the knife and Teague. Power shot into him, making him glow, turning a bright white.



He screamed in frustration and countered her power with his own. Teague was stronger. He released his hold on Ever.



Screaming, she fell to the floor with a thud.



Teague began to laugh.



That worried Mina.



“Don’t quit, Mina. Keep going,” Ever shouted. “This has to work!” She got back up and flew behind Teague. Grabbing him around the waist, Ever lifted him into the air. He roared as the pixie pulled him toward the center of the circle of mirrors.



“Come on, Mina,” the pixie yelled over the glowing ball of light that now almost engulfed her.



“Move. I can’t do it,” Mina hesitated, desperate to keep from hurting her friend.



“It’s my job to protect you, Gimp. Forget about me. Think of your family!”



Teague slashed Ever across the arm with the poisoned dagger. She yelped and let go to grab her arm.



Mina had no choice. With all her might, she focused the magnified Fae power and, with a metaphysical push, shoved it straight into the center of Teague’s chest.



He released his own burst of power as he started to fade in and out.



“This is for my mother!” Mina screamed.



Her arms and hands tingled as she sent another burst of power into Teague, pressing him toward the glowing circle. He held up his hands and began to separate into rays of light but fought being pushed into the circle.



“Aaahhh!” Ever jumped into the air and charged Teague, knocking them into the bright light. Teague split into seven forms of himself, and Ever and several Teagues were dragged into the mirrors.



The power backlashed, sending Mina spinning through the air to land on her bed. The house shook, and she heard the unmistakable sound of glass breaking.



“No!” Mina ran to the edge of the circle and looked within. Three of the mirrors were cracked and dark. Ever banged at the other side of the intact bathroom mirror.



When the power flowed out of the room, and it was safe for Mina to enter the circle, she ran to Ever’s mirror and pressed her hands to it. Ever met her gaze and slammed her fist into the mirror.



At first, Mina thought the pixie was trying to get out, but then she saw a shadowy figure pull himself up off the bathroom floor behind her. Ever wasn’t trying to get out, she was trying to break the mirror and trap herself inside, with a version of Teague.



It had worked. Ever’s secret plan to try and once again divide Teague’s power and trap him within the mirrors worked. And Mina was the only person strong enough to do it.



Ever had said it was like a prism. Fae were in essence magic, and magic had seven colors—like a spectrum. She had thought of—not just splitting him in two—but using a prism and mirrors to split him seven ways. Each one would weaken a part of him. Then Mina and Ever would simply have to destroy the mirror and trap him inside. He’d never be able to cross over and hurt one of them again.



Except that Ever was trapped in one of the mirrors with him.



Thankfully, she wasn’t split. She hadn’t been in the center with the prism long enough. But she was injured and with a shadow form of Teague. Which one would he be? Would he be evil? Good? Something else?



Beads of sweat appeared across Ever’s forehead, and her eyes started to look glazed.



“Oh no no no no!” The effects of the poisoned dagger were causing Ever to fade fast. Mina pressed herself to the mirror and called out. “What do I do?”



Ever bent down out of sight and stood back up, her right hand hidden out of sight. Ever smiled sadly and mouthed the words. “It’s too late for me. Break the other mirrors.”



She raised her hand and held up the towel bar she’d pulled off the wall.



Teague came into focus, running toward the mirror, just as Ever smashed the bar into it.



It shattered.



What had Ever done? Did she not think Mina could save her?



Mina stared at the broken mirror before wracking her brain for answers, but she didn’t have any. Ever sacrificed herself for the plan by destroying the mirror from the other side.



Then her bedroom door burst open with a flash of light as someone blasted her in the chest. Pain surged through her body as she flew through the far mirror.



Chapter 16



Mina landed on something cold and hard. The glow of the portal she had been hurled through closed up, leaving her in pitch black. What mirror was she in? It wasn’t the bathroom, hall, or kitchen. The darkness surrounding her made her shiver. Was it the house trying to help her again? Where had Nix even found this mirror?



She sat up and groaned in pain, her foot scraping across what sounded like stone. Mina felt around her and along the freezing cold floor. There. A wall. Better to have that to her back than be wide open to who knew what. As she shifted, she heard something slide across stone. Someone or something was in the darkness with her.



“Who’s there?” she called out softly.



No one answered, but she heard a slight cough. Terrified of being attacked in the dark, she scrambled along the wall until she felt a somewhat familiar shelf. She sighed in relief when she felt a paint can, toolbox, and next to it a flashlight. Nix had found a mirror in the basement. Clicking it on, she swung the beam in an arc while she kept her senses on high alert.