“Yeah, I remember,” she scoffed. “But what do you mean, ‘he couldn’t get past the house’s defenses’? What defenses?”

Jared moved across the room and plopped down on the dust-covered sofa. A small poof of particles floated into the air before settling around him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as if he was taking a nap, purposely ignoring her question.

She stood up and stormed over to him, fully prepared to hit him on the shoulder, when she noticed how tired he looked. His stormy gray eyes were closed in a feigned sleep, and she couldn’t help but fixate on his looks. It wasn’t apparent at first, but if you looked closely at his angular jaw and the way his skin shimmered, it was quite clear that he wasn’t from this world. He was too handsome. His hair was getting a little long and looked like it could use a trim, but it was still messed-up and very stylish. Standing there next to him, she couldn’t help but compare him to Brody. The Fae prince could very well take on her high school crush.

She had been avoiding Jared, because seeing him reminded her of her oath to kill his brother. How could she tell him that she needed to become stronger, to work harder, because, Hey, I want to kill your family. The truth was, she couldn’t. She couldn’t face the truth, and therefore she couldn’t face Jared.

What could she say? Mina decided to forget it. There was nothing she couldn’t tell him tomorrow, in the middle of the day. She had moved away from him to go back to her room when her eye caught the easel and frame that she had almost knocked over. She took a quick glance at Jared and his eyes were still closed, so she moved to the lone picture and raised her hand to pull at the covering.

He spoke without opening his eyes. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not, Jared?”

“Because some things are best left undiscovered...like Spam. Nasty stuff—that should have remained a mystery.” He turned to his side and smiled at her wanly.

Mina wanted to roll her eyes at him, but he stopped her with that haunted look of his. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you that day.”

She tensed up. It wasn’t Jared’s fault, it was hers, but she secretly wanted to blame him for Charlie’s death, for losing their house. But she knew that was a lie. She was to blame. She looked up at Jared and shook her head. “No, I could have called you, and I didn’t. It’s my fault he’s dead…no one else’s.”

Jared looked uncomfortable. “I was ignoring you because you had been ignoring me. So I purposely tuned out your emotions. I didn’t know something was wrong until you fell. I almost didn’t get there in time. I didn’t know about Char…about what happened till after…”

“You caught me, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “I carried you to the alley by the ambulance and left you there. I’m sorry. I was still angry.”

“You should have stayed with me. Not left me and my family alone on the worst night of my life. I thought you’d abandoned me.”

Jared leapt off the couch and stood within inches of her, his breath warm and sweet upon her face.

“I would never abandon you. I will always be there to catch you when you fall.”

She closed her eyes and leaned into him, being careful not to touch him…and careful to shield her heart.

“I’m scared to fall—I’m scared I’m not strong enough for the tasks ahead.

Jared’s jaw twitched with emotion. “Then I shall teach you to fly. It’s time for you to get some answers. Pull the sheet,” he answered.

“You just told me not to.”

“Okay, how about this…pull at your own risk.”

For once she actually didn’t want to know, but he was looking at her with such sorrow in his eyes that she actually was becoming angry at being pitied. She yanked as hard as she could on the sheet, and the easel almost fell over. It settled, and Mina focused on the portrait. A man in his thirties, wearing a brown suit and polka-dot tie, sat on a red lounge chair, facing the artist. His hair was dark brown, and a neatly trimmed mustache framed his nice lips. His eyes were warm and the same boring brown as his hair. It was the same boring brown of Mina’s hair. She was staring at a portrait of her father.

Chapter 6

“Who painted this?” she gasped.

“One of the Fae. I don’t remember which one it was, but it’s a pretty good likeness.”

“Why is his picture in this house?” Mina asked, feeling agitated by this new discovery. “What’s it doing here, Jared?”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet? The house used to belong to your father, although he never lived here.” She stared at him with an utter look of confusion on her face. Jared started chuckling at her. “Okay, now I’m seeing how lacking your training as a Grimm is. Someone should see about that.”

“Yeah, why don’t you work on that?” Mina quipped back, feeling relieved at finding out the house didn’t belong to a serial killer. But it left way more questions that dealt with her father and his death. She wasn’t really ready to delve into that, so she let the plaguing questions drop.

Jared wiped away the tears and sat up straight. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing at you—I just thought you would have been smarter than that.”

Mina was insulted and punched Jared playfully in his arm. “I would be if you weren’t a deceitful, pigheaded prince who plays both sides of the tales and obviously gets enjoyment out of terrorizing me.”

“I like terrorizing you. Your face turns the prettiest of colors.” Jared playfully punched Mina back. In retaliation, she pushed him a little harder. Being a boy, and spurred on by the challenge of a wrestling fight. Jared whooped loudly and lunged for Mina, knocking her onto the couch. She squealed and started hitting Jared when he began to tickle her sides.

“Stop…stop…NOO!” she screamed. He laughed and continued his ambush. She tried desperately to catch her breath. She kicked at his legs and tried to push him off, but all it did was bring his face that much closer to hers, and his eyes widened when he realized it as well. He stopped tickling her, his hands on her hips, and he leaned down and nuzzled her cheek. Mina immediately froze and sucked in her breath. Jared stopped and lifted his head to stare at the door.

A second later, the storage room door opened and the light flicked on, illuminating the room. Surprised, Mina flew off the couch, and something hard fell to the floor. Sara stood in the doorway with a fire poker held out in front of her. Her chest was heaving from running. Her eyes flew to Mina.

“Are you okay?” Sara asked. “I heard screaming.”

Mina stared hard at the plastic mannequin on the floor that moments ago had been Jared. Her cheeks flushed, and she shook her head. “Yes, I was exploring in the dark and knocked this over. It scared me at first.”

Sara looked around the room, unconvinced. Her eyes scanned every inch of the room before she nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s get out of here. There seems to be a lot of breakable items in here. Is that dummy okay? It’s not broken, is it?”

Mina tried not to laugh as she stood up and gently kicked the mannequin. “This old thing? Nah, it’s not broken. It’s as hard as a rock…see?” She took pleasure in knocking her foot into it one more time, a little harder.