Reign Fall

by Michelle Rowen

  “Michael...” I couldn’t breathe. It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach.

  His mouth worked, but no words came out for a moment. “I can’t believe...Princess, I don’t understand why you’d do this.”

  I struggled to find the words. “I had to tell him.”

  He looked devastated.

  Tears burned my eyes. Guilt was a knife twisting into my heart, but it didn’t change anything.

  I hated that he knew what I’d done, what I’d had to do, but he would have found out soon anyway. “I did it to help you. You know how much you mean to me.”

  “Do I?” His words were sharp, but his expression held only pain. Didn’t he realize that we wanted to help him? He’d lived within this castle all his life; my father had pledged to protect and take care of him. Didn’t that earn my father any trust of his own?

  “Nikki, leave now,” my father said firmly. “I will deal with this. I promised I’d help Michael, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

  Michael shot a look at him. “You’re sure about that? I know Queen Sephina would love it if you banished me from this kingdom to hers. She could throw me into her dungeon and set a date for my execution.”

  “Banish you?” My father’s voice grew louder and there was no mistaking how angry he was.

  “If you were anyone else, I would do just that for keeping something this important from me. I allow you to live here with more freedom than any other and you betray my trust. You attacked my daughter in my own home.”

  “I would never attack her,” Michael snarled. “I would never hurt her! I would rather die first!”

  “What would you call it then? Only by a miracle were you able to stop in time. No, we will discuss this in private. And then I’ll decide how best to deal with this.” Michael didn’t look defeated by this, he looked fierce. Ready to fight. His fists were clenched at his sides. He cast another look at me—one filled with disappointment, pain, and...a sliver of understanding.

  He hated that I’d told on him. But he also knew why I’d had to do it.

  “Michael, I can stay. I can help.” I moved toward him, my hand reaching forward.

  “No. Stay back.” My father turned to me. His eyes flashed demon-red.

  “But I have to—”

  “Go home, Nikki. Now!” His voice boomed and I felt something hit me. A wave of energy knocked me off my feet.

  The next moment I was swept away in a vortex of light and swirling darkness. My stomach lurched, and then, suddenly, my breath was knocked out of me as I hit the ground hard.

  I looked around with shock. It was dark. And cold. And familiar.

  I was back in Erin Heights.

  “No!” I scrambled to my feet, turning around in a complete circle to get my bearings. I was near the mall, which was closed since it was now after six o’clock, its Saturday closing time.

  Then I grasped my wrist and focused all my attention on my dragon’s tear. I tried my best to channel its energy into creating another gateway so I could go back. But just as my father predicted, it didn’t work. I let out a frustrated scream.

  What was happening? I had to know.

  The rock! I dug into my pocket and pulled out the black rock, squeezing it so tightly it nearly drew blood. But nothing happened. No spinning, no shifting of worlds. Nothing at all.

  I’d been shut out and cast away. Anger and frustration slammed through me. I could barely see straight. I didn’t know what to do now. I was completely powerless.

  My father asked me to trust him when it came to dealing with Michael. But he’d seemed so angry, maybe he’d change his mind about helping. And Michael had been upset and ready to challenge him. What if my father banished him to the Underworld? Or, even worse, to Hell itself?

  He swore to me he wouldn’t. He said he’d help him.

  I had to believe him. I had no other choice.

  All I could do now was wait and see. I hated that more than anything else I’d ever had to deal with. I hated feeling completely helpless.

  My father had cast me right out of the Shadowlands. I hadn’t even known he could do that. If I had to make a bet, I’d say it took a whole lot of his power to magically eject someone right out of his castle.

  I heard something then, but it took me a moment to place the familiar melodic chiming sound.

  Then I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

  I had a text message.

  I have your boyfriend’s book. Meet me at Castile’s if you want it.

  Rhys. How did he know my phone number? I’d never given it to him.

  Rhys had the book. And that book could help Michael now that he desperately needed help.

  My heart jumped about five feet in the air at that realization.

  Maybe I wasn’t so helpless after all. If I could get that book, then I could have the answers to save him. I could make everything okay again.

  I texted Rhys back: I’m on my way.

  Ignoring the fact that I wasn’t wearing a coat—my thick, knit sweater was good enough to block out most of the chill—I quickly headed downtown without giving it a second thought.

  Castile’s was an Italian restaurant I’d been to a few times with my mother. Nice place, but a bit overpriced. Normally the smell of the food—spaghetti, lasagna, garlic bread—would make my mouth water. At the moment, my stomach felt too queasy to be interested in eating anything.

  Through the front window, I spotted Rhys immediately seated at a booth to the left. As I stood on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant I realized it had started to snow. Soft white flakes drifted down from the black blanket of sky above and landed on my shoulders.

  “Nikki, hey!” Someone called to me from further down on the sidewalk. It was Clara. I tried to push away my distress at the confrontation between me and Michael and my father and paste a shaky smile on my face.

  In Erin Heights I wasn’t a demon princess with a demon king father about to go ballistic on her Shadow servant boyfriend in another world. I was just a teenager who needed people to think I was as normal as possible. If I didn’t, then my narrowly avoided disaster with Melinda earlier today would only be the prequel to the trouble that lay ahead.

  “Hey, Clara.” I forced myself to sound friendly when I felt anything but.

  “Going for dinner?” she asked.

  “No...I need to meet someone.” There was no reason to say who it was.

  “Cool. I just had to run an errand. I’m headed home now.” She glanced through the restaurant window and her gaze quickly came back to me. By the look in her eyes, I knew she’d seen him.

  “It’s not what you think,” I said immediately.

  The last thing I needed was more drama tonight.

  “Is Melinda joining you guys?” she asked.

  My face hurt from trying to keep it calm and neutral. “No.”

  “So you’re meeting Rhys for dinner behind her back?”

  “Rhys is a friend of mine. And this isn’t anything weird, trust me.” But she didn’t trust me. Not as far as she could throw me. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Nikki.

  Rhys is cheating on Melinda with you.”

  Frustration hit me. I didn’t have time for this, I needed that book. “Look, Clara. I know you mean well. I do. But just do me a big favor and mind your own business, okay? For all you know, me and Rhys are meeting to plan a surprise party for Melinda. You don’t know anything about what’s going on here. And if you feel like you have to tell her this, feel free. I don’t really care.”

  She studied me for a moment. Considering how nervous she’d acted before, her gaze was unflinching. “I can’t figure you out. I keep trying, but I can’t.” I didn’t want her to even try to figure me out. She didn’t want to know what lay just below the surface, especially not right now. It currently resembled lava. “I don’t know what to say to that.

  You don’t have to figure me out. We don’t have to be friends if you don’t want to be. But I have to go.”

&n
bsp; With that, I turned my back on her and went into the restaurant, feeling stressed and annoyed.

  I plunked myself down in the booth across from Rhys.

  He studied me for a moment. “Bad night?”

  “You have no idea. How did you get my phone number?”

  He shrugged. “Magic.”

  I just stared at him.

  “Okay, fine,” he said. “I pulled your phone out of your purse yesterday during class and looked.”

  “So, not magic. Snooping.”

  “That would definitely be more accurate.”

  “You’re not in your realm right now. I thought you frolicked with unicorns and your fellow faery friends on weekends and holidays.”

  “I know you’re jealous of the unicorn. Can’t keep your hands off it.” I shrugged and tried to focus. “It was pretty. And friendly.”

  “You’re the only demon who’s ever been able to touch one.”

  “Half-demon,” I corrected. “And you already told me that when you pointed your sword at me and threatened my life.”

  “Such memories we’re making together. It’s incredible.” He gave me a wry smile. “So what’s wrong with Melinda today? She’s not answering her phone.” I glanced at the waiter as he brought me a glass of ice water and a menu. I sipped the water and pushed the menu to the side. I knew I couldn’t come right out and demand the book from him if I wanted him to be all willing to help me, so I had to try to relax and wait for him to offer it up. “She’s not having a very good day.”

  “No? The girls’ night didn’t go swimmingly?”

  “She finally found out my little secret and had a complete meltdown. Before she could slay me I convinced her that she was delusional.”

  Surprise flickered on his face. “Okay. That’s not good.” The memory of how close I’d come to having my secret revealed—that moment I’d stood in Darkling form, and she stared at me like I’d just been launched out of a horror movie and into her front foyer. She’d looked at me with fear and shock that had made my blood run cold.

  “No, it’s not good at all. It was a spell her trainer gave her that made my horns pop out when I least expected them to. But I convinced her the spell caused a hallucination. She believed me...eventually. But she’s still having a tough time with everything.” He nodded sagely. “Humans are delicate creatures.”

  That was very true. I was still half-human, so half-delicate. That was the side of me that wanted to run away and hide. To fall asleep and hope tomorrow everything would have fixed itself. Maybe it was my demon side that kept me going. “So you called her, huh? So you two could go out?”

  “No, I was calling her because I thought you might still be at her house. I’d tried your cell phone a couple of times, but there was no answer.”

  “I was out of range.” Very out of range. I couldn’t wait any longer. So much for being cool about this. “Do you have the book?”

  Rhys nodded again. “I do. I’m told it isn’t easy to get.” I let out a sigh of relief. “And yet you managed to get it in only a day. I’m impressed.” He studied me. “Are you?”

  “Incredibly, amazingly impressed.” I only put a little sarcasm into it, since with Rhys I honestly couldn’t help myself. But then I got very sincere and reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “Thank you. I mean that.”

  He shrugged. “My advisors are newly invested in my reign. They acquired the book for me. I really didn’t do much except wait for it.”

  “So your advisors like you again because of the prophecy about us.” I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the extra tension that raised inside me. It was just another reminder of something problematic I’d pushed to the sidelines of my life, hoping it might eventually disappear all by itself.

  He nodded. “Wait until you see the wedding invitations. The calligraphy is done with unicorn-hair brushes to give it a little extra shimmer.” At my look of horror, he laughed. “Just kidding. Things haven’t progressed nearly that far.”

  He was a comedian. Fantastic. Just what I needed tonight.

  “I did meet another demon princess on my trip to the Underworld,” I told him. “Kassandra.

  She’s full demon, not half, though. Very pretty in her human form. You might like her. I can set up a blind date if you’re interested.”

  “Sounds excruciatingly horrific. So...no thank you.” He picked up his menu and scanned it.

  “Have you had dinner yet? Feel free to order anything you like.” I was definitely not hungry. But there was something in the way he said it...

  I frowned at him. “This isn’t a date, you know.”

  Rhys lowered his menu. “Pardon me?”

  “This. Me meeting you here. It’s not a date.” I blinked. “You don’t think this is a date, do you?”

  “Of course not. It’s a business meeting between two royals from different kingdoms. This is all very political, Nikki.”

  “Now you’re making fun of me.”

  “Me make fun of you? I wouldn’t dream of it.” He put the menu down and swept his gaze through the restaurant. “Fine. We can go. In fact, yes, we should go. There’s no reason to waste more time here.”

  I couldn’t agree more.

  I followed him out of the restaurant much to the dismay of our waiter. Ice water didn’t have a price tag, after all, although I noticed that Rhys still left a hefty tip. But I really wasn’t hungry and the very idea of being on a date with Rhys, especially after what happened with Michael, just didn’t sit well with me.

  What was happening in the Shadowlands? Had my father and Michael spoken about the problem? Had they argued? Was everything okay?

  Even if I did get the book, how was I supposed to get back there if my bracelet wasn’t working properly? How long would I have to wait? A day? More than that?

  “It’s snowing.” Rhys looked up at the light flakes that had started to drift down.

  “Yes, it is.” I grimaced as I got smacked in the eyeball with a large wet flake when I looked up.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  I glanced at him as I rubbed my eye. “Welcome to Erin Heights in January. It’ll be like this for February, March and most of April, too, from what I’ve heard.” I crossed my arms as we walked and glanced at him. He wore a black wool jacket that fit snugly to his lean frame, a scarf I’d bet cost more than my entire outfit, but he wasn’t carrying a bag. “So, where’s the book?”

  “Patience, Nikki.”

  “I’m fresh out of that today.”

  “Are you just cranky because of what happened with Melinda, or is this something else?” he asked. “I’m sensing... else.”

  “It’s nothing.” That was a major understatement.

  “You’re not having difficulties with your Shadow, are you?” The very thought seemed to amuse him. “It is so hard to find good help these days.” I wiped the melting snowflakes off my face with the sleeve of my sweater. I hoped very hard that we were headed toward the book. I’d figure everything else out once I had it. Still, it was difficult to remain even tempered at the moment. Rhys pushed my buttons, but he was also my only way of getting that book that could help Michael.

  A thought occurred to me. Maybe he could help in another way, too. “Hey, are you going back to the Faery Realm tonight? And when you do, can you just open up a gateway by yourself or is one already open for you somewhere here in town?” That could be my answer. I could take the long way through the Faery Realm to get back to the Shadowlands.

  “Evading my question,” he mused. “That tells me that you’re definitely having problems with your one true love.”

  He said it so sarcastically that it set my teeth on edge.

  “You don’t know anything about Michael.”

  “I know that he has a short fuse—although not as short as yours. I know that he oversteps his bounds. I know that he’s a lousy dresser. So I think I know lots about him. More than you might think.” He kept his gaze on the street. “I did peek into the book. So I also know
that Shadows have some very acute issues.”

  I felt cold and I didn’t think it had much to do with the temperature. “Like what?”

  “I heard what Michael did in the Underworld. To the other Shadow.” My breath caught. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t really want to pursue this topic of conversation if I could find a way to avoid it.

  But I seemed to be having some serious trouble avoiding any kind of unpleasantness today.

  “Do you know who that Shadow was?” he asked me. The humor was gone from his voice.

  “Do you?” I returned carefully.

  “His name was Jonas. He was in the Underworld dungeon for murder.” I swallowed hard. “Yes, he was.”

  Rhys’s expression was tense. “He was the one who murdered my parents.” Chapter 16

  I stared at Rhys, shocked. I didn’t think he knew that. I hadn’t wanted to tell him the truth—it wasn’t my place. We had our difficulties, but I knew losing his parents had destroyed him. I felt his grief even now, emanating off him in waves. It brought tears to my eyes at the thought of losing my own parents in such a horrible and tragic way.

  Rhys continued to speak, his voice low but steady. “It happened when they were at the Underworld castle to meet with Queen Sephina. They were there because they wanted to develop new friendships between our worlds. And Jonas murdered them—he drained their energy and that killed them.”

  He said this all matter-of-factly, almost chillingly so.

  “How long have you known?” I asked.

  “Not all that long. Over the school break, I’d heard some rumors. Funny thing I’ve recently learned, no matter how ornery my advisors get, they must still take a direct order from their king.

  When I demanded the truth, they had to tell me.”

  I fought not to let myself cry. I hated that he’d found out like this, that he’d needed to demand the truth when it should have been told to him before this, out of respect. “I’m so sorry, Rhys.”

  “I thought it was a demon who’d done it. I knew they were in the Underworld when it happened so...I just assumed. I had no idea it was a Shadow.” He glanced at me and I saw the pain in his eyes. “I hated demons to start with, but I despised them as a whole for what happened to my parents. That’s why I hated you when we first met.”