Feeling sorry, and somewhat responsible, Mina slowed to walk by her long-time friend. “So is your name even Mei? What about Ken? Are you two even married?”
She shook her head, her voice soft and melodic, unlike the clipped accent she favored. Upon closer inspection, her Fae protector didn’t look that much older than Mina’s own mother.
“It’s Meira, or Mei for short, and yes, we’re married.” Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes twinkled mischievously. They stepped into a golden elevator and pushed the one-gemmed button. The doors closed, and instead of the elevator going up or down, it stayed in one place. The air crackled around them.
Mina kept stealing glances at the smiling Mei when it hit her like a ton of bricks.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You wanted the Story to find me! You posted the pictures of me on your restaurant. You gave me magic tea. And your accent was terrible, by the way.”
Mei looked around in panic.
Constance turned to Mei with her hands on her hips. “Mei, you didn’t? You know better than to get involved too soon. You wait until we know for sure.”
“Constance, forgive me, but the Story was bound to find her. No matter how many times we moved and I changed forms, and Sara changed schools, he always found her. The Story has always been particularly attracted to my Grimm. I knew despite her being a young girl that she would be the next one chosen. My Mina will be the one to break the curse. Just you watch and see.” Mei grinned widely and winked in Mina’s direction.
“This conversation is not over with, Mei. That was a serious breach of protocol.”
The doors opened again, and they were in a large, circular white room filled with mirrors of all kinds: small mirrors, ornate mirrors, and mirrors larger than a pickup truck.
“Here we are.” She smiled proudly and waved her hands around. “I know it’s not much to look at and we run a small operation, but I think the Guild is something any Grimm would be proud of—well, I at least hope so, since you are the first one who has ever been here.”
Mina walked around the room of mirrors and could catch a faint glimpse, or shadow, of activity in each of them.
“What are they?”
Mei walked up and gently stroked the silver edge around the closest mirror. “It’s our looking glass. We can keep tabs on all of the Grimms. See, here’s yours—uh, I mean mine.” She pulled the small handheld mirror off the hook on a wall and handed it to Mina.
At first it was filled with fog, and then the fog thinned to reveal a picture of Mina holding a mirror in a room surrounded by mirrors. She looked up and looked around her for a camera or to find whatever magical object was recording her and projecting her image onto the handheld mirror. The Mina in the mirror looked around the room at the same time.
“So there’s a mirror for every Grimm.” There couldn’t be this many Grimms out there…or could there?
“Well, yes, there are more than you think. There is a mirror for every Grimm and a GM assigned to them…see. But the Story only chooses one at a time, so we keep track of all of them just in case. Even the distant cousins and the in-laws.” She turned the mirror in her hands so Mina could see the name engraved on the back of the mirror. Her small handheld mirror had Meira’s name etched in beautiful cursive letters. Mina put her handheld mirror back on the stand, and something in the next mirror over caught her attention. She snatched it off the shelf and walked away from Meira and Constance. It only took a few seconds for the image to clear up, and a perfect view of her mother vacuuming a house filled the glass. Without thinking, Mina flipped the mirror over to read the name on the back.
Terrylin.
“Terrylin.” She whispered the name out loud. It sounded familiar, and then it clicked. “Terry! Terry is my mom’s,” she announced confidently.
“Yes.” Constance frowned slightly. “She’s your mom’s GM. Although she didn’t pick the most original alias.”
“GM. You keep saying that,” Mina said.
“Yes, Terry and Meira are your Fae Godmothers.”
“You mean she’s my fairy godmother, like in the movies.”
“No, we are not all fairies, although there are a few fairies who have joined our Guild. We’re a group of free Fae. Meira is a brownie, Terry is a house elf, which is why she prefers the cleaning business, and I’m a muse. We are many races united under one cause, and that is to help and guide the Grimms.”
“Where’s Charlie’s?” Mina demanded. “I want to see Charlie’s mirror.”
Constance and Mei looked uncomfortable, and neither one spoke. “You can’t see the dead, Mina.”
“Oh, come on. I know that he’s not dead.”
Mei rushed forward to lay a comforting hand on Mina. “Sweetie, the mirrors can’t see into the spiritual realm.”
She brushed off Mei’s hand and turned on them. “But he’s not dead. A Stiltskin told me so.”
“A Stiltskin!” both women said in unison.
“When did you meet a Stiltskin?” Mei asked.
“Not one, two.” Mina tossed the Grimoire on a white marble table, and Mei opened up the book and looked at the last page thoughtfully. “I took care of this one. The other one has my brother.”
“Well, that explains the mirrors not being able to find him. They can’t see beyond this plane.” Mei looked to Constance with a hint of relief in her voice.
But Constance was more concerned with something else. “Please tell me you didn’t make a bargain with the other one. Please, Mina, no.”
“I—I did, and I would do it a hundred times over if it meant I could save my brother.”
Constance looked to Mei with worry in her eyes. “Well, this changes things, doesn’t it?”
“Changes what?” Mina asked.
“Well, Sara is already wearing a Forget-Me-Not charm. We gave it to your mother to help her forget Charlie…permanently.”
“Why would you do that? Why would you make my mother forget my brother?” Mina choked out.
Constance turned and gently took Sara’s mirror out of Mina’s hand and placed it back on the wall. “Child, listen to me, and listen to me well. Your mother has endured more than most. She’s protected you as much as she could, and she’s already lost your father. And after your brother, we didn’t think she would pull through. We decided it was best to construct the charm so she could survive and be there for you. Right now you are more important than Charlie.”
“You sound just like Jared,” Mina said accusingly.
Constance frowned at Mina. “There are times when the wisdom of our banished prince surprises even us. But in this case, he’s wrong. You made a deal with a Stiltskin, a deal sealed in blood, that only blood can break.”
“So you’ll help me? You’ll help me save Charlie?”
“There’s only so much we can do to help you, child. But know this—we are not doing this to save Charlie. We are doing this to save you. Because if you cannot obtain what the Stiltskin wants, you will become his slave…forever.”
Chapter 15
Mina thought time had stopped. As the world around her continued to move forward, her mind raced a mile a minute as the gravity of what the Godmothers had told her sank in. Her heart slowed, her vision became blurry, and she realized she was going to faint. But Mei grasped her arm and helped calmed her down. Mei and Constance decided to get Mina walking, and they gave her a tour of the facility. They took her out of the room of mirrors and passed down a flight of stairs into a garage of sorts. It was a shop filled with male Fae working on all kinds of different projects. She could see some building an elevator like the one they had previously come down. One corner was alight with sparks, and Mina could see a centaur holding an arc welder.
