Reign or Shine

by Мишель Роуэн

  "So you can just sense it?" I asked as I caught up to him. "Yes."

  "Does it have something to do with your amulet?" "Yes," he said again.

  I eyed the odd pendant lying against his closed jacket. "And you're saying that you're not a demon." "That's right." "You're human?" "Not exactly." "Then what are you?"

  "I live in the Shadowlands and I help your father when he asks me to. Isn't that enough?" His shoulders went up and down as he sighed. "You're not giving me much of a chance to concentrate here. Look, I'm. . what I am doesn't really matter."

  "It matters to me."

  "Why?"

  I couldn't very well just come right out and say that I was starting to like him. A lot. Even though it had to be obvious, didn't it? "Just because," I said instead. "Your amulet. . what's it made of?"

  "Magic."

  "Magic," I repeated. I already knew that, but to have it confirmed was something completely different. "Okay. So you're not a demon, you're not a human, you're this Shadow thing. But I don't know what that means. Hey, aren't you supposed to answer my questions?"

  "I'm supposed to answer your questions about where we're going, take you there, and assure you that you'll be safe. I don't need to tell you about me in particular, though."

  "Even if I ask really nicely?" I tried to smile at him.

  "Please stop asking me. You'll find out soon enough.:: The shock of hearing his voice in my head again was enough to make me stop talking. For now.

  His amulet flashed brightly once with green light and he brushed his fingers against it. "Here we are." He stopped next to a sewer grate. "Home sweet home."

  "The sewer?" I said, stunned as I looked down at it. "Are you kidding me?"

  "Not everything is what it seems, Princess. Remember that."

  "You're not going to stop calling me Princess, are you?"

  "Probably not." With a little effort, he pried open the cover, looked down into the pitch blackness below, and then back up at my stricken expression. His brow lowered. "You don't have to be afraid."

  I wanted to tell him that I wasn't afraid, but that would have been a total lie. He must have seen the fear in my eyes because he moved closer to me and reached down to take my hand in his.

  "It'll be okay," he said. "I'll be with you."

  "Promise?"

  "I promise." He glanced at the opening. "Do you want me to go first?"

  I looked down at the black hole, aka the dimensional gateway. "I think that would be a good idea."

  He fixed me with another one of his sexy dark-eyed gazes that made my insides turn to jelly. Even though he was standing next to a stinky sewer, wearing clothes that weren't exactly the height of current fashion, he still looked knee-weakeningly hot to me. I had a funny feeling I could be convinced to follow him just about anywhere.

  "Follow me," he said. "I'll see you on the other side."

  And with that, he jumped into the sewer. One moment he was standing beside me and the next he was gone.

  My eyes widened and I looked down into nothing but darkness. I waited, but I didn't hear a splash. Or a scream. There was only eerie silence.

  Follow me, he'd said. By jumping into a sewer? I thought he was going to climb down inside, not jump into it like it was the deep end of a swimming pool.

  And he wanted me to do the same thing?

  Um. . unlikely. Very unlikely.

  I watched for another minute, frozen in place, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.

  I don't know if I can do this, I thought. He didn't telepathically project anything back to me. I guess he was out of range now.

  I looked back in the direction of my house. It was around the block and I couldn't see it anymore but I knew it was there. I could go home and crawl into my warm bed and pretend this had never happened. I didn't have to meet my father. I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to do. But I did want to.

  I turned back to the sewer and, without thinking twice about it, I jumped.

  Chapter 7

  I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself to land in a pool of unmentionable ickiness, but instead my feet touched down lightly onto something soft and springy.

  I opened my eyes and looked around.

  Grass. It was green grass.

  I blinked and looked up to see that I was standing in a field next to a forest in the middle of the day. A moment ago it had been a cold, snowy December night, but now the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and it was very warm- especially since I was wearing my long pink winter coat and scarf, which I quickly removed.

  The green stone of Michael's amulet glinted under the light.

  He smiled at me.

  "What?" I managed.

  "You're braver than I thought you'd be." "Brave?"

  "For a second I thought I'd have to go back to get you. I'm impressed."

  I squinted at him while my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. "Now that I think about it, I guess jumping into a sewer is a little bizarre."

  Michael looked at me a moment longer, shaking his head. "I can't remember the last time somebody from the human realm visited the Shadowlands."

  There was a forest ahead of us. The field of grass was spotted with wildflowers-orange, purple, and yellow dots of color across the vast field of green. A butterfly fluttered past me and I felt a warm breeze against my face. It smelled like spring.

  "Wow, it's beautiful here," I said. "I'd almost forgotten what grass looks like, I've gotten so used to snow. It's like something out of a fairy tale."

  He moved to stand next to me. "You think so?"

  I shook my head and smiled at him. "When you said we were going to the Shadowlands, I think I was expecting something else. Hearing all that stuff about demons and Hell, I guess… I don't know. I'm glad I was wrong. Do we need to go into the forest? Is that where my father is?"

  Michael didn't answer for a second.

  "Well?" I prompted.

  "This area isn't the Shadowlands itself," he said.

  I frowned. "Oh. Well, where are we going, then?"

  "The Shadowlands are actually behind you."

  I slowly… very slowly… turned around and felt the blood drain from my face.

  "Okay," I managed. "That's much more what I thought it would be like."

  There was a castle about a half mile away from where we stood. A big one. But definitely not a Cinderella-type castle from Disney World that looked lovely and welcoming and part of the fairy-tale landscape I stood in at the moment.

  The green grass and sunny skies stopped just before the castle and turned to ominous storm clouds that swirled around the castle. I could see the jagged edges of gray mountains in the distance. The castle itself consisted of sharp black spires that reached high into the dark clouds overhead. The entire structure seemed to be made of some kind of black stone. There were no windows that I could see.

  Michael touched my arm. "It's really not as bad as it looks."

  I swallowed hard. "Well, that's good to know. Because it looks very bad."

  Dracula could totally live in that castle. Or some other monster.

  Like a demon king.

  Yeah, I thought. Seems fitting. Definitely. I was so going to throw up.

  I tore my gaze away from the castle and looked back at the forest. "I think I'd rather go in there."

  Michael shook his head. "Not a good idea."

  I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we'd just jumped into another dimension. "Why not?"

  He glanced at the thick patch of trees a hundred yards away from us. "That's the faery realm."

  "Seriously?" My eyes widened. "I love faeries. They're cute. They have wings."

  Also, I had no idea they actually existed. I wondered if I should have brought a notebook, or even a camera, so I'd remember all of these bizarre facts.

  Faeries were real. Demons were real.

  Okay.

  I realized I was clutching Michael's arm very tightly and I loosened my grip. "Sorry."<
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  "It's fine. I can take it." He smiled at me. "The faeries in that forest you wouldn't like so much. They're territorial. Anyone who comes onto their land is in big trouble. They can be vicious when they need to be."

  I blinked. "Evil faeries?"

  He studied the line of the forest with a bit of apprehension. "Not evil, exactly. Just not something you'd want to come face-to-face with if you can help it.

  They really don't like demons, so I don't think we should stand here for much longer."

  "But I thought you said you weren't a demon?"

  He met my eyes. "I'm not."

  "But-" And then I shut up. Oh, right. Half-demon princess present and accounted for.

  I looked at Castle Dread again. "And you're trying to tell me that there's nothing to be afraid of."

  He turned completely to me. "I promised your father that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. Nothing will. Everything is going to be fine, Princess."

  "And you promise to stay with me?"

  A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "As the Princess wishes."

  "The Princess definitely wishes."

  His smile widened and I got that annoying little twist in my stomach again. Even here with the prospect of trekking across fairyland to go to a monster castle, Michael was making me all mushy inside.

  No guy had ever made me this mushy before-not even Chris.

  "Then let's go." He held out his hand to me. I took it.

  "Your hand is sweating," Michael commented, raising an eyebrow.

  "That's because it's scared."

  With every step we took across the field I tried to will myself to be courageous, but it was a struggle. Even though I was seeing the proof that everything Michael had told me was true, I couldn't wrap my head around it. Why didn't anybody seem to know about this place? I mean, sure people knew about Hell and the Underworld, at least in theory, but the fact that it was all 100 percent real? My mind boggled. Why hadn't I ever heard about the Shadowlands before?

  I asked Michael the same questions.

  "Humans are best kept from this sort of knowledge," he explained. "For their own good. The Shadowlands is like a buffer zone at the furthest edge of the Underworld and keeps the demon worlds separate from the human and faery realms. Nobody can pass through the Shadowlands and beyond without King Desmond's permission. That way, humans are kept safe from evil they don't even know exists."

  "The Shadowlands are like the tollbooth between countries?"

  He looked at me curiously. "I guess you could explain it that way."

  "And my father isn't an evil demon. He's one who keeps the real evil demons away?"

  That sounded like more of a gatekeeper than a king. But I guessed it was one and the same. Even though we were getting closer to the ominous-looking castle, the thought that my father wasn't a horrible, evil demon set my mind slightly at ease. Slightly.

  Plus, holding on to Michael's hand helped, too.

  It didn't take very long (unfortunately) for us to walk to the massive, black front doors. It had gotten colder as we drew closer, the green grass slowly becoming gray, uneven rock, and I put my coat back on.

  "Is there a doorbell?" I asked.

  Just then the doors creaked open all by themselves. I looked at them suspiciously.

  "Who just did that?" I asked.

  "You did," Michael said, his smile a bit out of place in such an ominous setting. "The castle recognizes you as its princess."

  I swallowed hard. "Terrific. I'm like a half-demon garage door remote control."

  Since my feet weren't working anymore, Michael had to pull me along with him across the threshold.

  The interior was just as friendly as the exterior. As in, not at all. Black marble floors. No furniture. There was a huge spiraling staircase in the middle. Black, of course, since that seemed to be the sum total of the decorating palette.

  I forced my feet to keep moving even though all they wanted to do was turn around and run back to where I'd come from. But I had to remember that I'd asked for this. I wanted to meet my father. I needed answers… to questions that had suddenly slipped right out of my mind because I was too stunned by what was going on.

  "Where is everyone?" I whispered to Michael as he led me up the staircase.

  "The Shadowlands isn't that populated to begin with, but recently the king has sent nearly everyone away except for a few servants."

  "Why is that?"

  "You'll have to ask him yourself."

  I knew I wasn't the biggest social butterfly in the world, but even I couldn't imagine living in a place like this. Maybe having some friendly faces around would help, but to put up with solitude in such a dark, dreary place? That would be too much.

  And Michael lived here?

  I touched his arm. "It must be very lonely here."

  "It can be." His eyes met mine for a second before he focused again on the stairs. "But you get used to it."

  I wondered who he hung out with. Did he go to school? Were there any girls around here his age?

  The thought made my stomach tighten.

  No, I wouldn't be jealous. That was ridiculous. I was already with somebody-Chris. My perfectly wonderful sort-of boyfriend at school.

  I decided to focus on something else. "How many stairs are there? I can't even see the top."

  "A lot. But we're almost there."

  When we finished climbing the stairs-about a hundred of them-we reached a large, cavernous room that had a huge lit fireplace on one side. It was still ominous, but at least the fire gave some light and heat to the otherwise dark and dreary blackness.

  Michael squeezed my hand. "You don't have to be nervous."

  "Who me, nervous?" I tried to smile but failed. "I'm not."

  The corner of his mouth turned up into a slight smile. "You're so lying."

  "Am not." I felt a chill go down my spine. All right, so I was lying. Big-time. I glanced around the room. "So… uh… what happens now? Do you announce me or something? I'm just wearing jeans and a sweater. Maybe I should have picked out something nicer. I probably look terrible."

  "No, you look good."

  That made me smile. "Really?"

  "Michael's right," a deep voice behind me said. "You're just as lovely as I expected my daughter to be."

  Chapter 8

  I turned slowly to see a handsome man leaning against the frame of the entranceway. He was taller than Michael by a few inches and dressed casually in black pants and a dark gray button-down shirt. His hair was a few shades darker than mine and cut short. He had straight eyebrows over hazel eyes, high cheekbones, and a mouth that curved up at the side in a slight smile. I felt even more stunned than I had before.

  My father looked more like me than I ever would have imagined.

  And not the least bit demonic.

  He took a moment to stare at me like I must have been staring at him, and then blinked and straightened his tall frame.

  "Nikki," he said simply. "I'm very pleased to finally meet you."

  I didn't say anything. I think I'd lost the power of speech completely. I'd figured I'd have a little more time to mentally prepare before actually seeing him, but I guessed I'd been wrong.

  My father looked at Michael. "You may leave us now."

  I grabbed Michael's arm before he even thought about abandoning me. After all, he'd promised to stay with me, hadn't he?

  He tensed and glanced at my father.

  My father's eyebrows went up a little. "I see. Well, in that case, you are more than welcome to stay for as long as my daughter requires your presence."

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Michael nodded and didn't pull away from me. But his arm remained tense.

  "I expected you to arrive yesterday," my father said, looking at Michael.

  He cleared his throat. "I apologize for the delay."

  "No, it was my fault," I managed, relieved that my voice didn't come out like a squeak. "I gave Michael a hard time because I didn't want to come at
all-I didn't believe any of what he was telling me. But I'm here now."

  My father glanced at my wrist. "You're wearing the bracelet I sent."

  I touched it. "Yes. Thank you. It's very pretty."

  "It's more than just a piece of jewelry. It will help you."

  "With the half-demon thing?"

  "That's right."

  No one said anything else for a very long moment. Then my father cleared his throat, breaking the silence among us.

  "This must all be very overwhelming for you, Nikki." Something about the way he said it, all apologetic, made a thick lump show up in my throat that was very hard to swallow. Overwhelming. Yes, this was definitely overwhelming. My brain couldn't process it all. I'd come here wanting to confront my father and ask him a million questions, but now I could barely find the words to speak. But, at least I hadn't turned and run screaming out of the castle yet. That was something.

  I was using Michael as my anchor. Sure, I didn't know him very well, and the fact that he still hadn't been terribly forthcoming about who he really was didn't help. But I trusted him when he said nothing bad was going to happen.

  He looked at me now with concern in his green eyes. "You okay?" he asked quietly. I nodded. "So far so good."

  My father's expression grew more serious and his eyebrows knitted together. "I will assume that you hate me."

  I shook my head. "I don't hate you."

  Surprisingly, it was true. This was the man who I'd assumed I was supposed to hate for the past sixteen years, the man who'd abandoned my mother and who I wanted to give a good piece of my mind to. And yet, now that I was finally face-to-face with him, I couldn't summon up that emotion at all. Fear? Sure.

  But not hate.

  He looked taken aback at my answer. "You don't?"

  "Um. . hating you is actually far down on the list of importance for me right now. I… I need some answers."

  "Of course."

  I finally let go of Michael's hand and he took a step back from me. I looked at him with alarm.

  "It's okay, Princess," he said. "I'll be right here."