Free Forever by Chanda Hahn Page A

of him, but she couldn’t
stop the tears as they fell.
    “The dagger and…” She let her
voice trail off, knowing the other but unwilling to say it out loud.
    “Your life.” He smiled, one
corner of his mouth pulling up to show his even white teeth.
    Mina took a deep breath and
shuddered. She held out her hand.
    “Deal.”

Chapter
8

 
    She knew the deal had to be
made, but she pulled her hand back at the last second.
    “Changing your mind already?”
He sneered.
    “No, I uh, I’d just like to
add a few conditions.”
    He crossed his arms and
snorted. “Of course you would.”
    “I’d like twenty-four hours
before you collect on your debt.”
    “Two hours.”
    “Twelve. Take it or leave
it.” Mina panicked inwardly, thinking she wasn’t even going to get that.
    “Twelve measly hours isn’t
going to save you from my wrath any more than two. The ending will be the
same.”
    Mina sighed. “I know. I just
want to say my goodbyes.”
    “Your human emotions are so
typical.”
    “They’re not just human
emotions. They’re Fae as well.”
    “Emotions make you weak,” he
said, as if his own jealously and rage weren’t emotions.
    Apparently he only considered
sentimental emotions weak. How interesting. “Twelve hours,” Mina repeated and
held out her hand.
    Teague looked at her offered
hand with a raised eyebrow. He wasn’t sure what to do with it. “So Mina, twelve
hours I grant you. Then I will come for you. You better have my dagger. And no
funny business. He pulled her delicate hand mirror out of the air. “Remember,
I’m watching your every move.”
    He disappeared right before
her eyes—and with him, the bubble holding her thousands of feet above the
ground.
    Mina screamed as she fell out
of the sky. Her hands clawed at the air as if, somehow, she could slow her
freefall.
    She couldn’t inhale, she was
falling so fast. Her destroyed school appeared, and what looked like ants all
around it. But they weren’t ants. They were people—people getting bigger.
    As the ground rushed toward
her face, she placed her hands in front of her, closed her eyes, and prayed.
She imagined two large hands catching her and stopping her fall, saving her
moments before she hit the ground. She pushed every ounce of willpower she had
into her imagination.
    She could hear someone else
scream when they noticed her falling, or maybe she was screaming herself. Then
she slammed into something warm and soft.
    She grunted at the impact and
looked up, but she was surrounded by darkness. Except that it wasn’t completely
dark. A crevice of light opened up, and Mina could see what was left of the day
peering in through the crack in rock. Although it couldn’t be rock. The walls
shifted, opening up, and she realized she was sitting in the palm of the
giant’s hand.
    She looked up into his eyes,
and they looked straight into hers, glowing golden. When Mina turned her head,
the giant turned his head too. She looked up, and the giant looked up.
    Put
me down. She mentally
commanded the giant. Then added, Gently, for good measure.
    The giant bent down and
placed his hand on the ground. Mina scrambled out and gave herself plenty of
space for safety. The giant just stood there blinking at her, awaiting orders.
She wasn’t sure how, but she had taken control of him. His will was hers.
    Very cool, but very scary.
    Teague appeared next to her.
“So you think you can control my army? A giant is the weakest minded creature
here. But tell me, what are you going to do with him now?”
    Mina thought about using him
to destroy Teague, but then she saw all of her friends still at the mercy of
the rest of his army: Brody held captive by Claire, Ever pinned down in the
hands of an ogre, Nix and Charlie surrounded by his griffins, and she still
hadn’t seen Nan. She couldn’t save them all.
    Go
home, Giant. Mina
commanded. Go back to the Fae plane, and
live a happy joyful life. Let no man, woman, beast, or Fae control you again.
You are