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

on those thoughts too
long, she took another look at her surroundings. She decided to wait before she
called him savior. Right now, since she couldn’t find an exit, he was her
captor.
    “Teague.”
    Like a flash, he closed the distance
between them and pressed her into the ladder rungs. His forearm barred across
her chest, preventing her from moving. He held his other hand over her mouth.
    “Don’t speak. Don’t you dare say my
name.” His eyes blazed as he glared at her, but something was wrong with them.
It was like they couldn’t decide on what color they were. Shifting between a
furious gray and an even angrier blue. He looked pained, and he momentarily
released the pressure on her.
    Mina lifted her hand to gently brush
across his arm.
    He inhaled in a quick hiss and jerked at
her touch. He was shaking he was so furious.
    But he pushed her against the ladder
again. The back of her head connected with the upper rung, sending blinding
arrows of light into her vision. His arm pressed harder into her body, making
another rung dig deeper into her shoulder blade.
    Tears formed at the corner of her eyes,
and she lashed back in anger. “Get away from me, you freak!”
    His lips formed a cruel smile as he
leaned forward to whisper into her ear. “I could have let you die up there. In
fact, I’m not altogether of one mind why I didn’t…Oh, that’s right. You have
something I want.” He took his free hand and gently stroked the side of her
cheek, running his fingers over her lips. The move sent an unwilling shiver
through her until his fingers moved under her chin. “I want that dagger.”
    “Even if I had it, I wouldn’t give it to
you,” she spat out. She pushed against him to escape, but his fingers dug
deeper into her throat, cutting off her air.
    “Tsk tsk tsk,” he clicked his tongue. “I
thought you would have heeded my warning. I told you your friends aren’t safe
if you don’t give me the dagger.”
    “It was you that attacked Brody.”
    “I thought it pertinent to give you
another warning, to show you I mean business. But it will be your last.” He
pushed away and turned his back on her.
    “No, leave my friends out of this. You
have no right to bring them into our fight.”
    “You are the one doing that. You’re
endangering your friends, not me.”
    “That’s an outright lie and you know it.
You have been controlling me from the very beginning with your games.”
    “Mina, if you don’t want to play my
games, I’m okay with ending this here and now and moving on to the next Grimm.
Your brother.” He turned to face her, and his eyes looked almost black in the
shadows. Something invisible tightened around her neck.
    “N-n-no,” she stuttered, struggling
against the magic. Fear raced through her. Never before had Teague been so
violent with her. Threatened her?—yeah. Tried to kill her through quests?—plenty.
But before, she’d thought she was his equal.
    She used to be able to play the games and
win, but this was someone new. This was the Teague who threatened to tear the Fae
kingdom apart. The one who frightened the Fates and forced their hand. This wasn’t
the Jared she knew or the Story. It was true: divided Teague was manageable.
    This wasn’t a case of Jekyll and Hyde.
    This was Hyde on steroids. The person who
stood before her was terrifying, and he was going to kill her.
    She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t inhale,
and she felt herself starting to black out. “Puh-please,” Mina choked out.
    “You’re the only one who stands in my
way.”
    “Mina?” Nan’s voice echoed faintly from
above her. “Mina, where are you?”
    Teague clearly savored watching her
writhe under his power. At the sound of Nan’s voice, he turned to listen and
released some of the pressure on her throat.
    It was enough that Mina could gasp for
air. Which then set off a round of coughing.
    Teague looked irritated and moved away
from her. Mina fell to her knees as she gathered her strength.