ever opened one eye in disbelief at mina. "that's it?"

mina looked at ever hopefully. "yeah, that was it. so can you tell me what happened?"

ever jumped down off of the bleacher and started walking away. "yeah, stupid, you didn't finish your end of the bargain. get back the grimoire and finish your quest. by the way, that will be fourteen ninety five; i take cash or check."

mina shook her head confused. "but maeve said i failed my quest. so what is there to finish? i thought she would bring my friend back." mina began following ever down the stairs to the field.

"do i have to spell it out for you? we have rules. we like to bend those rules, um, usually to benefit us. but her highness didn't bring your friend back to life because she wouldn't. it's because she couldn't. we aren't all powerful, as some people think we are. but we are pretty good at manipulating things."

mina stopped walking and stood there dumbfounded waiting for an answer.

ever turned back and walked up to mina and began tapping her on the head. "hello, mina! she revamped your quest. instead of your buddy being dead, she put her to sleep, like the old sleeping princess tales, snow white and sleeping beauty. you get another chance to finish this tale, the right way. i'm sure once you complete it, your friend will wake up good as new. just so long as you find the grimoire and stop whoever is trying to kidnap us."

a light went on in mina's head. she had just assumed that she had failed the quest and that was it. she wouldn't get a second chance to save nan. but that didn't help her in trying to find out who took the grimoire.

"so how do i find the person who stole the grimoire? i don't even know how to tell if someone is fae or not. i mean, it could be anybody."

"gimp!" ever dropped her backpack and began to fumble with a keychain that was attached to a zipper. "here, it's not that powerful and you don't want to go flashing it around at just anybody. you can really tick off the wrong kind of fae and get in a lot of trouble. but this will help." she tossed mina a small blue cylinder attached to a keychain.

she looked at it in disbelief. "a laser pointer? how in the world is that supposed to help?" she clicked it on and flashed it at ever and nothing happened until mina waved it over ever's back; the air began to waver, and her purple and blue wings appeared. "hey, i can see your wings."

"yeah, we try to blend in as much as we can, but sometimes a strong laser can cut through both planes and ruin our disguises. it won't work on any of the royals though."

"royals, are they like the fates?" mina asked timidly.

"they are those that are blood relation to the fates. because of that, they are shifters and are powerful enough to withstand a laser pointer." she snorted in laughter.

mina nodded her head, thinking. "hey, ever," mina spoke quietly, trying not to offend the girl. "do you think jared's disappearance is linked to the person who is imprisoning your kind in the grimoire?"

ever snorted and rolled her eyes. "you don't even know the half of what's going on. but i can tell you that wherever the grimoire is, jared is sure to be close by."

"you don't think he is the one behind the kidnappings..."

"no! he is not." ever became angry and turned on mina. "if you knew him, you would know that isn't possible."

mina felt her anger rise to match ever's. "hey, i know it could be possible. he did kidnap me and abandon me in the woods. i'm just asking because i have to." they had walked out of the football field and were next to the bike rack. mina pulled her red schwinn out and put up the kickstand. she paused to look at ever, trying to look beyond her tough exterior. beneath the heavy eye makeup, gelled hair, and black and purple clothes, she saw a young and scared girl.

"why are you still here? i mean, why don't you just go back to the fae world where it's safer?" mina asked.

ever's head dropped to her chest, her dark bangs fell over her eyes, hiding her face. "who said anything about the fae world being safer? we all have things we are running from; besides who says a girl can't attend school? even a human school, for that matter. it's not like there is a law forbidding it," she snapped back testily.

"i didn't mean anything," mina tried to apologize.

"sure you did. you think we don't belong here, that we should go home to the fae world. well, let me tell you something, mina grime. i am home. this is my home. so excuse me if i'm not super excited about helping you finish your quests so we are forced to go back to the fae world. not all of us want to go back. sure, we may have jobs that require us to go back, but a lot of us prefer to live here."

"i'm sorry, i didn't think," mina started.

"you never think. no; no one does." ever shrugged her shoulders and stuffed her hands into her jacket. she waved off mina before putting in her ear buds, making a big deal about turning on her ipod and walking away.

chapter 20

it was a long shot, but the only one she could think of in her current circumstances. she had waited, somewhat impatiently, until her overly protective mother and her younger brother had gone to sleep before slipping into the bathroom and stealing the mirror. it wasn't stealing exactly; she planned on putting their bathroom mirror back, as long as she didn't break it like she did the other one. it was big, but thankfully it had a thick metal frame around it, which made it easier to carry up the fire escape to her retreat.

she had decided to try her idea on the roof instead of talking to the mirror in the bathroom and freaking out her mother and brother. yeah, it was better on the roof. if she didn't break her neck trying to maneuver it up there.

finally, mina got the mirror safely to the rooftop and placed it on the ledge next to her salvaged gnome statue, sir nomer. she took a few steps back and frowned thoughtfully at her own reflection, biting the inside of her cheek in thought. what should she do? normally, he just appeared to her out of the blue at the most inconvenient times, but now she needed him at the moment.

jared was the only clue she had in finding out who had the grimoire. if he was trapped like the others, then maybe he could give her a clue as to his whereabouts or who had kidnapped him. that is, if he ever decided to show his face.

"hello?" mina called warily to the mirror. she waved her hand in front of it awkwardly. "psst, jared. hey, i'm here now. you can come out whenever you want. i need your help!"

nothing. the mirror only reflected her image back at her.

"i knew this would happen; i shouldn't have expected anything different from the likes of you!" she turned her back on the mirror and mimed storming away, peeking over her shoulder to see if there was any change in the mirror. nada.

"this is ridiculous!" mina hissed out loud. she came back to the mirror and touched the frame and thought long and hard about what she wanted. it was not like she had any power over the mirror or anything, and or could turn it on whenever she wanted like a tv, or did she?

her own mother's words came back to haunt her, and she could hear sara, clear as day, saying, "you don't always get to choose the part you play in the quests."