That was it; she had thought she was going to be the protector or the hunter who saved the princess from the evil queen. But it was her own bitter jealousy that had turned the tale on her. Mina was the villain! It was the Story using her own emotions against her and trying to harm her best friend. It was probably all set up to entrap Savannah White, who by all means would make the perfect princess, but at the time, it had been Nan with whom she was the most jealous of.

If that was true, then Mina did have power over the mirror. There was only one true way to test it to see if she was the jealous queen in the Snow White tale. Mina slowly walked back to the mirror and stared at her own pale reflection. Her voice quivered with nervousness as she tried to remember what the words were.

“M-m-mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the f-fairest of them all?” She closed her eyes tightly and felt her heartbeat speed up. A small hum began to emanate from the mirror, and a swirling vortex appeared. She dropped her head in shame, and tears of regret poured from her eyes, but she knew she had to open her eyes to see what the mirror was going to show her.

It came as no surprise when a hospital room appeared in the mirror, although the view was skewed as if the mirror could only reflect to her from another reflective surface in the room. It took a minute for Mina to recognize the angle she was viewing from, it was the dark TV screen. She knew the room, had been there the first night, and recognized the sleeping blonde form in the hospital bed. It was Nan.

So the tale was playing out truthfully: Nan was the fairest, and Mina was the jealous Queen. She was about to close the view from the mirror when the hospital door opened and a young, handsome blonde haired boy walked into view. He kept his back to the TV screen and went to sit by the bed, facing Nan and hiding his identity.

He spoke softly, and Mina was surprised when she actually heard his voice through the mirror. Apparently, the sound worked if the mirror was used right. The young man reached out and grasped Nan’s hand, holding it in his own. He whispered the same two words over and over, and finally they reached Mina’s ears.

Mina’s back stiffened in surprise, hurt, and anger. She recognized that voice; she knew the shape of those shoulders. It was Brody. Brody was sitting beside Nan’s bed comforting her and talking to her when it should be her job.

She backed up in anger and waved the image away, surprised when it actually disappeared on command, but, then again, she wasn’t. She paced the small rooftop, clenching her fists and trying not to cry. She had to distance herself from the situation; she couldn’t worry about Nan right now. She knew she was safe, at least for now. Confirming the mirror theory and proving the quest she was in gave Mina the answer of how to save Nan. But it didn’t help her with the task of finding the Grimoire or contacting Jared.

“Okay, think, Mina. Think!” she commanded herself, while trying to calm her nerves and emotions. Quickly, she wiped the tears away and went to stand before the mirror again.

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me the one I hate most of all.”

The mirror swirled again, and Mina gagged and jumped back in disgust as an overly large mouth appeared in front of the mirror. The mouth smiled, puckered, and a giant tube of lipstick appeared and gave another coating of frost pink to the lips.

“Gah!” Mina cried out when the view finally pulled back and she could see that those lips belonged to none other than Savannah White. The image was coming from her makeup compact. “Okay, let’s try that again.” She waved the image away.

“How do I rhyme it to get Jared to appear?” It wasn’t until she sat in the chair and stared at her Sir Nomer statue that she got the final idea. “Thanks to you, Sir Nomer, I think I have it.” She stood up and walked before the mirror, her shoulders straight, and her chin up in forced confidence.

In a loud and commanding voice she spoke once again to the mirror. “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, show me the one who thinks Sir Nomer is a dumb name for a doll.”

She held her breath and waited. The mirror swirled again, and this time another face came into focus, one that was definitely not happy.

“It is about time you figured it out, Mina!” Jared grumbled through the mirror.

Chapter 21

His arms were crossed in annoyance, and his dark grey eyes were stormy. “I can’t believe it took you so long to figure it out. The audio doesn’t exactly work if I try to summon you from my end, if you may recall. But what can you expect when I try and mimic a Disney movie?”

Mina didn’t realize how much she had missed Jared until she saw him before her in the mirror. Despite the annoyed look on his face and his clenched jaw, she was genuinely happy to see him. “Jared, it worked!”

“Of course, it worked. I had been trying to give you hints long enough. I can’t believe it took you this long to speak to a mirror. I thought all girls talked to a mirror. Sheesh!” Even though he played at being angry, she could see the slight twitch in his mouth as he tried to hold back his happiness at seeing her.

“Jared, where are you? Is the Grimoire with you? Are you safe? Are there others with you?” She spoke quickly, nervously, and felt as if she rambled at a mile a minute.

He held up his hands and looked around his surroundings carefully. He looked tired and worn out, but physically unharmed. “I’m all right. Yes, the Grimoire is with me, and no there are no others with me. They are all imprisoned within the book, but I think we can free them.”

“Where are you, Jared? Who’s got you?” Mina whispered in kind, feeling his urgency and the need for quiet.

“Mina, I’m at the hospital. We are leaving, but he’s coming back tomorrow night.”

“Who’s coming back? Who’s got you, Jared? What do you mean you are leaving?”

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I can’t explain everything right now, Mina. It would take too long. You have to trust me on this.”

“Ha, like I’m ever going to trust you again?” She pointed her finger and jabbed it at the mirror as if trying to poke him.

“Mina, I never left you,” he spoke softly. “I’ve never once left your side, unless you left me.”

“But why aren’t you imprisoned within the book as well? Oh, wait. You, you said the book doesn’t work on you. Why doesn’t the book work on you, Jared?”

Jared ignored her. “Mina, it’s going to kill Nan.”

“What? Who would do something that awful? Jared, you should call the police.” Mina began to panic and felt her voice rise in nervousness.

Jared raised his eyebrows to remind her of the obvious reason. “I can’t call the police, Mina.”

“Well, then tell me. Who’s going to kill Nan. I’ll call the police.”

“And tell them what exactly? It’s a Reaper, Mina,” he spoke sadly.

“Reaper? Jared, I don’t know what that is,” she spat out in frustration.

Jared leaned close to the mirror, his eyes filled with sadness. “Yes, you do. You have heard of the Grimm Reaper before, but you never made the connection to your family. The Grimms don’t usually die from failing the quests, Mina. They die from meeting a Grimm Reaper. They are hunters who track and hunt the Grimms for sport. This one, in particular-- I recognized its scent. It was the one who killed your father.”