Read Fable: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3 for Free Online

fear paralyzed her, making it hard for her to
speak. She pushed him toward the window to look for himself, but he
didn’t need to.
    Jared took one look at her scared face and
ran out the door into the hallway, leaving her alone in the
darkened room. The silence of the spooky house, mixed with the
intruder outside, was too much for her nerves. They were shot. She
did the weak thing. She curled up on the ground by the sofa and
wrapped her arms around herself, and tried not to fall to pieces.
Minutes later Jared appeared in the room with her, soaking wet and
out of breath.
    “ Mina?” Jared called out
when he didn’t immediately see her.
    “ Who was it?” she asked
from her hiding spot by the couch.
    Jared saw her and knelt in front of her,
being careful not to touch her.
    “ I don’t know, but they’re
gone.”
    Mina shivered. “You believe me, though,
right?”
    “ Of course I do. There was
someone out there—I could smell them. I just didn’t recognize the
scent.”
    “ You mean they were
Fae?”
    “ Most definitely. I just
don’t know what kind, and that worries me.” He stood up and brushed
off his knees, and turned as if heading out the door
again.
    “ Wait, Jared, don’t leave
me.” She felt silly at being so scared, but this was real. At first
she didn’t know who it was and didn’t know how to fight it, but
now, knowing it was a Fae gave her the knowledge that she could
beat it. But she needed the Grimoire; she needed Jared.
    He stopped and turned to look at her with an
irritated frown. “Oh, so you didn’t need me all summer, and now all
of a sudden you want me around more? Look around you. You don’t
need me when you’ve got all this. Besides, whoever was out there
couldn’t get past this house’s defense, and I doubt that they will
tonight, or any other night. Call it a special gift that comes with
the house.”
    “ Then how did you get in
here?”
    “ You summoned me, dummy.
Where you go, I go. Unless it’s the women’s bathroom.” He made a
face at her. “Or you leave the book somewhere really far away or
lose it, and then that can cause problems, like you already
learned.”
    “ 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