Free Fable: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3 by Chanda Hahn Page A

himself down. “Unfortunately, I know
you are wrong. My plans are always...perfect.”
    “ How do you expect me…?
How could I possibly…?” She couldn’t finish; she knew nothing about
the Fae world or how to cross into it. It was a hopeless
quest.
    But weren’t all quests hopeless at one time
or another? If her ancestors hundreds of years ago figured out how
to cross over, then how much harder could it possibly be now, in
the twenty-first century?
    “ I don’t know how to go
about it. I don’t know how to cross over,” Mina said.
    “ Ah, where’s the fun in
that? Besides, I’m confident you’ll figure it out. I find that
those with the most to lose tend to be the most motivated. So are
we in agreement?”
    “ I have no choice,” Mina
mumbled. “I have to try to save Charlie.”
    Temple bent down and picked up a bobby pin,
and motioned for her to hold her finger up in the air. She did so,
and he pricked her finger, drawing blood. As her blood soaked the
bobby pin’s edge, it began to turn gold. He smiled and opened his
jacket, revealing an array of pockets and containers with various
gold objects, each with a small bloodstain on them, evidence of
other bargains and transactions he’d made. She could see a pencil,
a knife, a large spindle, and her heart stopped cold.
    “ Lest you not know what
you have done. You’ve made a deal that cannot be undone.” He patted
his jacket happily.
    “ Who are you?” she asked
in dread, knowing deep down who she’d just made a bargain with, but
needing to know if she was right.
    “ I told you my name is
Temple.”
    “ No, what’s your full
name?”
    “ Ah, that. Well, I’m not
as famous as the rest of my family, and I’ve sort of inherited the
family gift. But I would think you know all about that, taking on
the family business and all. So I think you know what I
am.”
    She knew—his words confirmed it. Taking of a
child, items of gold, bargains. “You’re a Stiltskin, aren’t
you?”
    Temple smiled widely, revealing gold molars,
removed his hat, and bowed. “Templestiltskin at your service, and
by the way…I would figure out a way to cross over sooner than
later. Your kind aren’t meant to survive on the Fae plane.
Something happens to them. They change, and not for the better. So
I would get crackin’, because according to my watch, you’re already
two weeks behind. And I want the dark prince’s book.”
    Temple laughed, and disappeared as abruptly
as he’d materialized.
    Mina stared at the single drop of blood
still on her finger, a painful reminder of the bargain she’d just
made with a Stiltskin.
    In seconds, the room was back to normal, the
haze gone as the double doors leading outside burst open and girls
filed in, grumbling and complaining. Mina took the gold sandal on
the floor, and kicked it into the locker and slammed the door while
moving over to her own locker. Hurriedly she changed, not even
bothering to fix her hair or get out of her shoes. Tears of relief
poured out of the corners of her eyes, and she turned to rush out
of the locker room, but not before she heard a loud shriek from
Savannah White.
    “ What in the blazes
happened to my Louis Vuitton sandal?”

Chapter 9

     
    Her mind was numb, her heart beating
uncontrollably, but somehow she made it out of the locker room and
stumbled in a stupor into the hallway. She let her panic rise to
the surface, and she called Jared. He appeared within seconds, took
one look at her face, and grasped her arms as she almost
collapsed.
    “ He’s alive!” Mina rushed
out after the shock had worn off.
    “ Who is?”
    “ My brother. That man, the
one who’s been following me, came here to the school. He told me he
kidnapped my brother, and he’s alive—on the Fae plane. All I have
to do is cross over to the Fae plane and trade an item for him.
Jared, I have to get him back.” Her hands gripped Jared’s jacket,
and he very carefully separated her fingers from the
jacket.
    “ Are you