The Sisters Grimm Truth or Dare: Puckabrina

Chapter 43

Daphne's POV:

Ember walked in through the door to my room and sat down next to me on my bed. She was holding a box of Apples to Apples.

I raised an eyebrow. "You guys have that stuff?"

She nodded. "Erift gave it to me, thought it could help me pass time. He obviously didn't know that it's a more-than-one-person game."

I frowned. "Well, it's not only for two people either."

"I know. But maybe one of us can just be the judge and the other finds funny combinations with the green card? It's either improvising like this or dying of boredom."

I nodded. "Good point. You be the judge."

She grinned in excitement, and her eyes flashed a light grey color.

I frowned. "Why'd your eyes just change color?"

She grinned wider. "It happens when I'm excited. What color did you see?"

"Your eyes can be different colors? Oh, um, I saw a grey with maybe some light green?" I furrowed my brows. "Is that bad?"

Ember laughed so hard she doubled over and slid to the floor, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. "Nope! That's amazing! Wonderful!"

Sabrina's POV:

Pin glanced at Puck and me, his grey eyes flashing with worry and surprise.

"Do... do you have any idea of what's happened?" I asked slowly. "And... how's Uncle Jake?"

"And where's Briar?" Puck added.

"Is she here?" I asked.

"Does she know she died?"

"Puck, that would be rude to tell her!"

"Well, how else is she supposed to find out? She'll be walking around and someone will see her and think she's a ghost and like, run away screaming."

"That's true. We should probably explain to her what happened."

"Unless they already explained it," Puck reminded me.

"Right," I nodded, "Granny, did you explain everything to her?"

Granny looked slightly overwhelmed by mine and Puck's conversation, but she shook her head. "No. We've kept her oblivious, drawing her away from the subject of Jake for now. We don't know what her reaction will be."

"So what have you told her?" I asked. "Does she know anything?"

"She's in the dining room. I made her some hot chocolate since it's a bit cold outside. And no, we've explicitly avoided the subject. We have basically been distracting her." Granny smiled grimly.

"What?" Puck complained. "She gets hot chocolate?"

"And it's normal?" I added, frowning at Granny.

She sighed. "I'll make you some. We can all sit and talk."

Pin raised his hand slowly. "Can I have one?"

"Of course, liebling," she replied and headed downstairs.

"Liebling is German for 'sweetheart,' right?" Pin asked Puck and me.

Puck shrugged as I said, "Yes." I looked at him incredulously. "After all the time you've known Granny Relda, you never knew what liebling means?"

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p.'

I shook my head at him, exasperated, but smiling all the same because of how he blatantly admitted to that.

"So, we're supposed to go to the dining room to Briar Rose?" Pin asked.

"Right." I led the two of them downstairs, where Briar glanced up from where she was staring at the mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

"Oh." She smiled at the three of us. "Hello. How are you doing?"

While we stumbled for something to say, she continued, "I'm confused. Jake's reaction to when I showed up here was... interesting, to say the least."

Granny came in with the three more mugs of hot chocolate for us. She set them down at the table and took a seat next to Briar, gesturing for us to do the same.

We did, and there was a moment of awkward silence.

"What?" Briar finally asked. "There's something you guys aren't telling me, I know there is. What's wrong? Why did Jake react to me like that?" Worry flashed in her wide green eyes.

Puck coughed and I glared at him.

"How are we supposed to say this?" Pin asked from next to me.

"Oh!" Briar grinned at him. "Pinocchio! I haven't seen you for a long time! Have you... gotten taller?"

Pin looked uncomfortable but also slightly triumphant. "Thank you for calling me by my given name."

She frowned. "Why, what does everyone else call you?"

"Pin," he mumbled.

Puck snorted with laughter and I shushed him. "Anyway, onto more important matters than Pin's name... Briar, do you really not remember...?"

"Remember what? I feel like I've just slept a while, which, given the circumstances, must be slightly odd, but..." She shrugged. "My memory's intact."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Pin asked, leaning forward slightly, looking actually interested. I also realized that he used a contraction and I tried not to grin.

Briar frowned at him. "Weird question." She thought for a minute. "Actually, the last thing I remember is when Sabrina, Daphne, and... Jake"—she hesitated at her (ex?)boyfriend's name—"rescued me from my home."

Granny and I exchanged worried glances.

Briar kept talking. "And the rest feels like...huh. That's weird. Was I put in the same kind of cursed sleep as when Charming rescued me...?" She shook her head. "No, that doesn't make sense. It doesn't explain Jake's reaction. So what happened while I was out?"

Puck shifted in his seat uncomfortably and I couldn't blame him. How were you supposed to tell someone they had died? Well, I guess just by ripping the band-aid off, as they say.

"You died," I rushed out.

"Sabrina!" Granny exclaimed, gaping at me. "You can't just say that."

Even Puck and Pin cringed a little.

Briar paled. "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

There was no going back now. I took a deep breath and recounted the story of how we'd taken the magic carpet to rescue her. I carefully left out the part of Briar finding an engagement ring in one of Uncle Jake's pockets, hoping she wouldn't remember. It would be too much right now.

But she did. "The engagement ring!" she exclaimed. It was the only thing she was focused on at the moment.

Granny looked confused. "What engagement ring?" she asked, along with Puck and Pin.

"I... I found an engagement ring in Jake's pocket when he was passed out," Briar explained, grinning despite the situation. She turned to look at me. "Did I really... you know."

I nodded.

She took a deep breath and smiled. "Well, looks like we have to find out how. And explain to Jake that I'm not a shapeshifter or anything evil."

I almost did a double-take. How was she taking this so easily? I'd just told her the story of how she died, for heaven's sake.

"Are... you okay?" I asked carefully.

Briar nodded. "I know it's surprising, and there's a lot of gaps to fill. But as long as I still have Jake I'll be okay."

"I hope that wasn't the author foreshadowing anything," Puck whispered to me.

"Nah, she wouldn't do that," I whispered back.

"Or would she?"