“I’m not sure what that was.” She shrugged, turning in her seat to face him. “What were you doing there? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you showed up when you did, because I couldn’t have outridden that thing on my bike.”
“Following you.” He glanced at her quickly.
“What?”
Now it was Brody’s turn to shrug. “Well, Ever, Nan, and I kind of promised to never let you be without a guard. And since Ever left to try and track Teague, it was between Nan and me, and I drew the short straw for today.” He sighed, trying to make it sound like a huge inconvenience.
“I’m not a straw,” Mina said.
“No, but you are short.” He tried to hide the smile, but Mina smacked him in the arm with the back of her hand. “I followed you this morning when you took off on your bike. I almost lost you a few times, but I figured out where you were heading. You wanted to say your goodbyes.”
Her gaze dropped to her folded hands. Her heart swelled with the pain of her loss. “It’s not fair,” she mumbled, not expecting an answer.
“No, it’s not. I know you cared a lot for her.”
“She was like a second mom to me.”
Mina looked over her shoulder and noticed the white handle and red metal frame in the backseat this time. “You grabbed my bike.”
“Yeah, it took a bit of finagling, but I got it in.” Brody reached out with his right hand to hold hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Mina looked at their clasped hands on the seat between them, and she was filled with mixed emotions. This was everything she wanted, but she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with guilt. She had been forced to face her true feelings about Teague in the tower, and—given the choice—she had chosen to stay.
But she wasn’t quite herself then. Right?
“What are we going to do if that thing shows up again?” Brody’s mood got serious as he faced the fact that the encounter with the Reaper would not be their last.
“We have to be prepared, ’cause what you saw is only one of many Reapers. And I don’t know how many are coming.”
“What do you need me to do?” He pulled up her driveway and turned the car off.
Mina studied her house. It looked as if it had been pieced together from various eras, because, in fact, it had. This was the house that had traveled across an ocean with magic, the sanctuary of the Grimms. It was the safest place for her now.
But for how long? Teague’s army destroyed the Godmothers’ Guild, and that had been warded and guarded. Inside were her mute brother Charlie and her mom. Was the house strong enough to protect them? She felt sick to her stomach. Even Brody’s question made her reel.
“You shouldn’t have to do anything. It’s not your fight. I’m so sorry you got dragged into this.” She touched his shoulder.
Teague’s warning about taking each of her friends away one by one was making her question the wisdom of getting Brody and the others involved.
He looked taken aback. “No one forced me. And this isn’t just about you. I mean it is, but if there’s a threat to you, my friends, and our world, then you can be sure I’m going to fight it.”
Chapter 2
She inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn’t relieve the immense feeling of pressure that built around her. Instinctively, Mina looked around the car and outside. The back of her neck prickled.
“Go, get inside. Now!” She pushed Brody toward the driver’s door, and she leapt from her side and ran toward the front door, as the dog howled somewhere—not far enough—behind them.
Brody raced to her front door, opened it, and beckoned her to get inside. As soon as her feet crossed the threshold, he slammed the door.
The house shook as something large slammed against it.
“I didn’t even see it.” Brody pressed himself against the door. “How did it get here so fast?”
“It’s Fae,” Mina yelled over her shoulder. She ran to the back of the house and locked the back kitchen door. She peered out the curtains and didn’t see anything, but she could hear it—the terrifying howl of the beast. There was a Reaper here. On their property. All she could do was hope the wards held better than the Godmothers’.
Charlie came around from the side room and stood in the kitchen, his face a mask of fear.
“Get Mom!” she yelled.
He nodded and took off running up the stairs, but their mom was already on her way down.
“Mina, what’s going on?” She had a laundry basket full of clothes, and her hair was pulled back and secured with a clip. She wore jeans with an oversize men’s flannel shirt—Mina’s father’s.
“It’s a Reaper who’s also a giant black dog.”
“A what?” she pressed her hand to her forehead with a confused look on her face.
Her gold charm bracelet dangled from her small wrist. A new charm from Pandora’s box was attached to it. When and how this new charm appeared on her mom’s arm was something Mina would have to worry about later.
“Charlie,” she called to her brother. “The bracelet.”
Her younger brother didn’t need any more direction. He ran to his mom, grasped the charm bracelet, and pulled with all of his might. Her mother yelled out as the chain broke, and small golden charms scattered across the floor. Mina recognized the memory charm and the forgetting charm, and she kicked the new one that looked like an apple under the stove. It rattled as it rolled around.
In only a few seconds, the haze in her mother’s eyes cleared up. The beast howled again, and her gaze snapped to the window.
She froze, her breath caught in her throat as her eyes darted between her kids and Brody and back outside, where another long howl pierced the air. The sound spurred her into action. She rushed to the cupboards and began to dig through the spices.
“Have you seen it?” Her mom rushed about her hands shaking as she pulled out pepper, flour, and sugar and slammed them down onto the counter.
“Yeah, it’s a Reaper.
“No,” Sara turned and gave Mina a stern look. “Did you see the dog? What’s it look like?”
“Uh, it’s large black beast.”
“Mina. The eyes. Tell me about the Reaper’s eyes.”
The fear combined with resignation in her mother’s voice—that tone—scared her more than the horrifying howl.
“White as death.”
Her mother gripped the countertop, and her head dropped. “An omen,” she exhaled.
This time, it was Mina’s turn to be confused. “What?”
“An omen, a Death Reaper.” Her mother’s eyes lit with anger, and she reached into the back of the cupboards and grabbed a large container of salt, which she pushed into Brody’s hands. “Sprinkle it in a circle. A big one.”
“Charlie,” she said, “get me the hand mirror from the bathroom.”
His feet pounded up the stairs.
“But it can’t cross the wards, right?” Mina asked, looking out the window.
“Don’t count on it. Nothing can stop Death,” Sara said firmly.
The howling stopped, replaced by low growling. First it sounded far away, then by the front door, and then the beast started to ram itself against the door. Thump. Thump. Thump.