Free Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4) by Chanda Hahn

family-owned
businesses. They were heading to Nan’s favorite café for a bite to eat while
they decided what type of dress she should wear. Mina wanted simple; Nan wanted
something spectacular, and jaw dropping.
    “You don’t want any old dress. You need a
dress fit for a queen.”
    Mina shivered. “Don’t say that too
loudly. I have no desire to be queen of anything.”
    Ever snorted loudly.
    “Fine. Then you’ll be the belle of the
ball.”
    Mina inwardly groaned. Now it sounded
like Beauty and the Beast . The last
time she’d gone dress shopping, she was stuck in a Red Riding Hood tale. “No
belles, no queens. Just a dress. A simple one, with not too much stuff on it.”
    “Boring. Got it,” Nan answered.
    “No, not boring. I just don’t want any
extra attention on my date with Brody.”
    Nan looked to Ever and wiggled her
eyebrows. “You heard that. We got our marching orders. We are on a mission to
make her as unattractive as possible.”
    Ever smirked. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”
    “Hey, watch it!” Mina bumped her shoulder
into Ever playfully. Ever withdrew and moved away to walk on the other side of
Nan. That hurt.
    Mina wanted to say something, but Nan
pointed to a sign above a store with a bunch of old clocks. “Hey, I’ve never
heard of this one. Hickory Dickory Dock! We should—”
    “No!” Ever and Mina answered
simultaneously.
    Nan’s eyes went wide and she was about to
ask why, when Mina noticed the traffic. A large garbage truck barreled toward
them. She thought it would slow down for the light.
    Only it didn’t. It continued picking up
speed.
    “Watch out!” Mina shouted. The garbage
truck hit the curb and vaulted onto the sidewalk. It was heading straight for
them.
    The ground rumbled and noise split the
air as the driver blasted the horn in warning. The world moved in slow motion
as the faded green garbage truck crashed through a newspaper stand, scattering
papers into the air. The license plate came into focus. After all, she was only
feet away.
    Mina saw Ever grab Nan and try to fly up
into the air, but the Pixie wasn’t going to be fast enough.
    Instinctively, Mina stretched out her palm
and used power to launch her friends out of harm’s way. That was it. She knew
it. Save her friends or save herself. She turned and saw the driver’s terrified
expression as he raised his arm to cover his face, prepared to slam into her.
    But right before impact, she heard the
sound of metal scraping across cement. And it wasn’t from the truck.

 
 
    Chapter 10
    “Stupid! You’re so stupid. I can’t
believe you didn’t try to save yourself. How dumb can you be?” A male voice
growled into her ear as her rescuer carried her, pressed tightly to his chest.
    Mina couldn’t see the person who spoke.
Her arms were wrapped awkwardly around his neck, and she didn’t let go for fear
of being dropped.
    It was dark, and the sounds of the city were
faint. Where was she? It had happened so fast. One minute she’d been facing
death, the next she’d been pulled downward into someone’s arms. The person
holding her stopped and tossed her roughly to the ground.
    She slid across the cement in something
slimy and let out a pathetic yelp.
    The voice continued to berate her for her
stupidity as her rescuer walked back and forth in the darkness. “You helped
them instead of yourself.”
    She kept quiet and let her eyes adjust to
the lack of light. It took almost a minute, but light trickled down through a
hole in the ceiling, circular like a manhole. After a few more seconds, she saw
rungs in the wall near her and made out that the top of the manhole was
partially blocked. From this distance, she could see part of a wheel and the
undercarriage of a car up there.
    Now that she could see, she stood and
glanced over to spot Teague only a few feet away, his chest heaving in anger,
his hands clenched into fists. The look he shot her was pure disgust.
    Had Teague just saved her? Why?
    Before she dwelt