Page 11 of Heir of the Beast

“To change the heart of the corrupt,” I say quietly, ignoring Barbie.

“Yes.” He glances at us. “This one planet is out to destroy us. We have tried three times already and failed. This has never happened before. Heroes you all will be, as these are not easy missions.”

“Three groups like us?” asks April with a frown.

“Correct.” He takes some steps toward us and exhales. “This is our last chance, so you can imagine how distraught the Fairy Godmother is. She will lose everything we have worked for.

“We were very close to the last mission, getting to 40 percent. But sadly, almost doesn’t cut it. We need to be above half. The Fairy Council is very strict about sticking to the rules that keep this universe in balance.

“Our Fairy Godmother will be replaced with another. A fairy that I shall not name, but that does not believe in what our Fairy Godmother does. The woman is a vile creature and happens to be our Fairy Godmother’s sister.”

“Does our Fairy Godmother have a name?” Destiny asks. “Or are they all called Fairy Godmothers?”

Charming smiles. “Her name is Zora, and you didn’t hear that from me.” He leans back on the desk. “Her bitch sister is Mildred. And yes, she sounds just like her name.”

I can’t help but giggle. So we have a family feud filled with jealousy—how very human of them.

No pressure.

But this confuses me. What’s this talk of missions? I thought we were going on an adventure to find love.

“So, what do you mean you were close? He almost fell in love with a girl in the last mission?” For some reason, that doesn’t sit well with me.

He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. “Not even close.” Charming looks up at me and exhales. “The best way I can describe it, in this short period of time, is like this.

“Think of this as a video game, where certain things you do give you points. Having the main ruler fall in love for the right reasons is like a 40 percent boost. Everything else is minor.

“Like getting rid of the bad guy, solving hunger issues, slavery—the list goes on. We only have three months; that’s all Fate will allow us to intervene.

“So, if you choose to solve their world issues instead of falling in love, that is a tough road to complete in three months. Not to mention dangerous.

“Don’t get me wrong; falling in love is also hard, but much more plausible. And generally, when you fix the ruler, you fix all of the smaller issues as well. It’s like a chain reaction of joy and happiness.

“Therefore, Zora believes so much in true love because it fixes everything else along with it.”

Wow, this is complicated.

It's much different from Disney movies, but kinda of the same.

“So, on the last mission, they tried to fix the world, not their leader?” I ask, my mind spinning in all different directions.

“They had no choice, for their leader was not interested in any of the women we sent. They just tried to make the best of their time and tried to help out Zora the best they could.”

He looks down like he is lost in thought.

Laura laughs and shakes her head. “This guy is picky. I like my men picky, and I like a challenge.”

Charming looks up and stares at her, probably trying to determine if she is serious.

“I guess you can say that he is picky. I have a feeling he is onto us, knowing something about what we are doing.” He pushes off the desk and starts clapping his hands.

“This is the time to tell you the rules. We have very little time to do this because the council gave us only today to send out another team.”

I think I hear him use profanity under his breath. Pierce Charming is not happy about this.

“You each will be in the hands of Fate. That’s how this works—to keep the balance, we must follow what Fate dictates for us.” He holds out his hand, and the ground vibrates.

I sit up in my chair and watch as a stone…birdbath…raises out of the ground. In the bath is a metallic liquid. How very curious. What is this?

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