Free Atone: A Fairytale (Fairytale Trilogy) by Jessica Grey Page A

huffed out a breath. “Sorry. No, I’m not kidding. I’m being totally serious. I don’t know if it has something to do with the mirror, or if they’re separate spells…he’s not being very forthcoming, but I think I can get him to…well...let me help him, I guess.”
    “Where are you right now?” Alex’s voice had taken on an edge.
    “At Nicholas’s house.”
    “Yeah, I got that part. Where?”
    “Um, one of the upstairs guest bedrooms. The one across from the office where we found that file. Alex? Are you there?” Becca pulled her phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. “Did the call drop?”
    “No, I hung up on you.”
    Becca jumped back half a foot, looking up in time to see Alex walk through the bedroom door.
    “I was a bit off. I thought of the other bedroom.”
    “Are you serious?! Are you making a habit of this now? Just popping around, breaking the laws of physics?”
    “In emergencies.”
    “Cause you couldn’t have just driven here? How much power does that take, anyway? I haven’t seen you do it in over a year.”
    Alex shrugged a slim shoulder. “Not much. That first time we all did it together, it felt like it took everything we all had, but when it’s just me, it’s not that hard to flicker into places.”
    “Flicker? Is that what you’re calling it?”
    “Well, that’s what Luke calls it…cause I guess I kinda look like a flickering image before I get all the way solid.”
    “Uh-huh.” Becca raised her eyebrow. “So what you’re telling me is you use your ‘flickering’ ability to go visit your boyfriend on the other side of the country, not just for emergencies.”
    Alex blushed as she pushed at her bangs. “It’s more eco-friendly than air travel. No carbon footprint.”
    “Hmm. I’m sure. Do I even want to know how often—”
    “You’re trying to distract me from the point.” Alex folded her arms over her chest and leveled a glare at Becca. “What exactly is going on here?”
    “Well, like I said, Nicholas is currently not in Nicholas form.”
    “Can I see him or talk to him?”
    “You can try. He’s barely tolerating me. He has some unresolved anger against us.”
    Alex pushed up her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. “How long has he been like this? Did he say? Is the curse emanating from the mirror or is it a separate entity? Did he piss off some angry fae in France, or what?”
    “I have the answer to none of those questions.”
    “But you’ve talked to him?”
    “Yeah, our conversations have consisted basically of ‘tell me what’s going on’ and ‘no, damn you and your little fairy princess, leave me alone!’ And some growling.”
    Alex gaped at her. “Like actual growling?”
    “I’m not joking about the beast thing.”
    “And you’re here without me and Lilia why? You don’t have a lot of love for Nicholas.”
    “Well, at first I thought I was probably the furthest down on his hit list. I mean, we’ve never gotten along, but I felt like it was just our normal levels of animosity, whereas he really has it out for Lilia. I don’t want her anywhere near him.”
    “And you’re still worried about me.” It wasn’t a question.
    “I don’t think you still have a crush on Nicholas. I mean, come on, Luke is your true love, certified by magic and everything.”
    Alex smiled as she absently rubbed the mark around her wrist—the faint tattoo of the friendship bracelet she’d made Luke when they were kids and had been wearing when she entered the Fae Realm to save him from the sleeping enchantment. It had burned into her skin when she’d kissed Luke and saved them from Briar Rose, the evil fae behind the sleeping curse.
    Becca fought back a small twinge of jealousy at the dreamy expression in her friend’s gray eyes. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in true love; Alex and Luke were an obvious example. But she was aware of her family’s record. True love wasn’t something her family did.
    “I know you