Reign Fall

by Michelle Rowen

  I stayed utterly silent, not wanting to hurry her. I didn’t want to hear what she was telling me.

  This couldn’t really be happening.

  “For centuries, there have been people who are trained to guard this world from...from other worlds that exist. I know it sounds bizarre, but that’s what I was told. So there are, like, dark worlds. With monsters and bad things in them. They’re blocked right now and can’t come here—

  haven’t been able to for a very long time. But in case they do find a way to escape, people like me are trained to prevent them from doing any damage or hurting anyone.” Melinda paced back and forth in the room, most of which was taken up by a long oak table. I pressed my back up against the wall near the china cabinet.

  “I didn’t believe it for ages. They showed me these books, old books that were written in different languages, like Latin. They had someone come here to translate it for me and tell me the history of what I am. And they hired Patrick to train me...he’s not really a ballet instructor. I know you were surprised that there were no tutus or ballet slippers. That I was in sweats and was bruised and I looked like hell. That’s because I never was taking dance lessons. I was taking fighting lessons. Weapons lessons.”

  She glanced at me as if to get my reaction so far. Whatever she saw on my face gave her the courage to continue. I guess, facially, “I think I’m going to puke” translated to “please go on.”

  “So that’s what I did for a couple weeks leading up to Christmas break. I trained for hours a day—before and after school—to protect the world from monsters who haven’t stepped foot here in recent history. It was so stupid. How am I supposed to believe in something just from reading it in books and people telling me that it exists? I’m supposed to give up my entire life for that?

  My dreams, my hopes...my friends, even? Patrick thought I should. He’s really serious about this. He’s been training since he was sixteen, too, so for five years. He goes to university, but his main purpose in life is training to fight these monsters. He’s obsessed. And he thought I should be obsessed, too. But I wasn’t. I hated it. I wanted to be given another choice. I wanted my parents to say—if you don’t want to do this, you can do something else instead. But they didn’t.

  My father trained when he was younger. He gave it up when he turned fifty. That’s how it goes.

  You get into it when you’re sixteen, and you retire when you’re fifty.” She blinked. “I know it sounds insane. I’m even more insane than Chris is right now.”

  “You said that you’re training to protect the world from monsters...” I began.

  “Not just monsters,” she said, her voice going cold with fear and so quiet I had to strain to hear her. “Nikki...I—I’m a slayer of...demons.”

  Chapter 11

  And there it was. After all this time of it being a secret, something I could try my best to ignore, she’d finally blurted it out. Right in the middle of a sleepover party.

  I felt sick inside at hearing it out loud. It meant I couldn’t try to deny it any longer. This was real.

  “A...a demon slayer,” I repeated. The words were thick and unpleasant on my tongue.

  She looked at me bleakly. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” My heart thudded hard in my chest. “I—I don’t know what to think right now.”

  “I know how it sounds. I know how I’d feel if someone told me the same thing. If I didn’t know it was the truth right away. It’s so hard to believe. They keep it a big secret. There aren’t very many people at all who know about this. It’s a secret society.”

  “Then why are you telling me?”

  “Because I know I can trust you, Nikki. More than anyone I’ve ever met before. Sure, Larissa and I have known each other longer, but with you—I know you’re my true friend. I know you’ll stick by me in good times and bad. And it’s been bad lately. I’ve wanted to tell you for ages, but I couldn’t.” She blinked. “And I have proof. I can show you downstairs. That’s where I trained.” The last thing I needed was to get a personal tour of the basement of death. “I don’t need proof. I—I believe you.”

  Her eyes widened. “You do?”

  I nodded. “I know you wouldn’t make something like this up. And I know you’re not crazy.

  So take out those two components and I’m left with the fact that this must be the truth. And...and I’m so sorry. For everything you’ve had to go through.” I’d never seen a look of relief quite as profound as what washed over Melinda’s face. Her eyes filled with tears. Mine did the same at seeing her so emotional over this terrible burden she’d been keeping for weeks. We both stood there in her dining room crying, while three other girls waited obliviously for us in another room. “You don’t know what this means to me, Nikki.

  Thank you for believing me.”

  I was about to say something, but she grabbed me into a tight hug, so tight it nearly cut off my breath. She was stronger than she looked. I figured that was a gift with purchase for being from a line of demon slayers. They would need their strength. After all, swords were very heavy.

  “But you’ve quit, right?” I asked when I found my voice again.

  “Yeah, I have.”

  “But they don’t want you to. Your parents. Or Patrick.”

  “No. It’s been rough. I felt really good when I made the decision to quit, but they hound me daily about it. I haven’t seen Patrick for a while, but he was, like, obsessed. He can’t believe I’d be willing to turn my back on this so easily.” She let out a shaky sigh. “As if this is remotely easy for me.”

  “And, um... demons...” I forced the word out. “What’s up with that? You said they’re stuck in other worlds and they don’t come here. Never?”

  “I don’t think so. Demons look different from humans. We’d be able to spot them easily.

  There haven’t been any sightings for ages. Quite honestly, for all I know, there aren’t any demons left at all, which makes all my training a complete waste of time.”

  “But if you saw one, what would you do?”

  “Probably run like hell.” She snorted, but it wasn’t a sound filled with humor. “Hell. That’s where they’re from. And the Underworld. Those are considered the ‘dark worlds’.” Oh, I think I already knew that.

  “What would Patrick do if he saw one?”

  “Slay it. They’re like vampires—not that vampires really exist. But silver—a sword or a dagger—through the heart and they’re dead on arrival.” My stomach lurched. I hadn’t known that.

  I stored this information so I could ask my father about it later.

  “Wow,” I said. “This is...just, wow.”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s a lot of info to take in.” She let out another long, shaky sigh.

  “And you honestly expect me to just go back and hang out with Larissa and the others after a confession of this magnitude?”

  “We don’t have to go back for a minute.”

  “Maybe Larissa’s a demon,” I said. “And if so, maybe you could go ahead and, uh, slay her.

  With my full permission.”

  Melinda laughed, the most genuine laugh I’d heard from her in far too long. It’s what I’d been aiming for by making the joke, despite my knees turning to jelly. “She’s not a demon, sorry.”

  “Darn.”

  “This is amazing, Nikki. I am so glad I told you. You don’t know how long I’ve struggled with this.” Her expression turned serious again. “But you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. I mean anyone. Even though you believe me, other people wouldn’t. I mean, I know it sounds completely nuts. And even aside from that, I’m not supposed to discuss any of this with someone who’s not in the slayer society.”

  I grabbed her hand and looked into her worried eyes. “I’m glad you told me. And I swear, I won’t tell anyone.”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  We headed back to the other room after missing the first part of the movie. The girls watched us as if trying to figu
re out just how big of a fight we’d just had and, if you ask me, Larissa looked disappointed that we weren’t showing any outward signs of distress.

  I tried to look relaxed, but for the rest of the movie, I couldn’t concentrate. My head kept spinning from what Melinda had just confessed to me. I mean, I’d already known it—known all of it, really, except for the silver sword part. There was nothing she said that really surprised me.

  Only that she told me anything at all surprised me. I wondered what she’d think if she found out she’d just bared her soul to a half-demon.

  She would never, ever have to know the truth about me. I swore, from that moment forward, that I’d keep my secret from her forever. It was for the best. Besides, she’d quit her lessons. She wasn’t a demon slayer. Everything was going to be okay now.

  Melinda seemed lighter, happier. I was glad to have helped lighten her burden for her.

  However, now it weighed heavy on my shoulders.

  The rest of the evening slipped by without incident. By the end of the second movie, we were all bleary-eyed and ready to go to sleep. We headed upstairs and set up camp in Melinda’s room and the guest room next door. Clara pulled me aside.

  “Sorry about earlier,” she said. “I was an idiot to even say that about Rhys and you. I guess I just wanted to be part of the conversation so I could try to fit in better. I feel like a major outsider here.”

  “Forget it.” I tried to push away my earlier annoyance with her. She didn’t mean any harm.

  “But a word to the wise, don’t try so hard. Larissa can sense desperation from a mile away. She’s like a shark who smells blood in the water. It just makes her want to sink her teeth in.” She cringed. “How do you deal with all the drama?”

  “I try to deal as little as possible.”

  “And you’re really not interested in Rhys?”

  I gave her a sharp look. “I thought we were going to drop that subject?”

  “I know.” She twisted a finger through her hair. “It’s just that...seeing him the other day...it’s like he doesn’t even fit in around here, even though everyone seems to like him.”

  “Trust me, he doesn’t fit in. Rhys is a mystery. A mystery that can’t be solved by any mere mortal.” That was a pretty good way to put it, I thought. “And don’t fall for him, either. I promise you that he’s trouble. There are plenty of other guys at school who’d make much better boyfriends.”

  “You’re probably right. I mean, it’s not like he even knows I exist. But he is very cute.” She grinned. “Come on, you have to admit at least that much.” I sighed. “Fine. He’s absolutely gorgeous—and he knows it, too. Satisfied?”

  “For now.”

  “Goodnight. Dream of boys who aren’t dating Melinda. Trust me, she might kill you if you try to steal her boyfriend.”

  Possibly literally. The girl did have some weapons training.

  Clara nodded gravely. “Understood.”

  It was almost two o’clock in the morning when we finally shut the lights off, stopped talking, and went to bed. It took me another hour before I joined them in blissful unconsciousness, listening to the other girls’ steady breathing. Brittany, I quickly learned, snored loudly and talked in her sleep. About puppies, strangely enough.

  Finally, I fell asleep. It felt like about five minutes before I woke up, the sun streaming through the window.

  I breathed a small sigh of relief. Sleepover successfully accomplished. Hooray!

  And only one catastrophic admission from Melinda. Plus, too many pieces of pizza. My gut felt like a disaster area this morning.

  After we all got up at a little past noon, got dressed, and had brunch, Larissa and Brittany took off, followed by Clara, leaving me and Melinda alone. I helped her clean up and hung out for most of the afternoon. Her parents had come back late last night and were out again today with some friends.

  “Slayer society members,” Melinda told me.

  I cringed at the mention of the demon killing group. “Sounds exclusive.”

  “I’m sure they’re complaining about their daughter, the quitter. My mother is okay with it, actually, but it’s my father who’s still pushing me to start again. I’m a huge disappointment for him.”

  I hated seeing so much pain on her face. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I’m dealing.”

  There was a knock at the front door. We exchanged a look.

  “Expecting someone?” I asked.

  She bit her bottom lip. “Maybe it’s Rhys. I told him to come over this weekend if he wanted to.”

  If it was Rhys, maybe he had the book I’d asked for. Although, why he’d bring it to Melinda’s house was beyond me.

  Melinda went to the front door and opened it. A guy loomed in the doorway. His hair was dark red and short. His blue eyes flashed. He was over six feet tall, and muscular. I recognized him and every muscle in my body immediately tensed.

  “Patrick,” Melinda said with strain in her voice.

  “We need to talk.”

  “I think I told you everything I wanted to say last time.”

  “Melinda, you have to hear me out.” His gaze moved past her and landed on me.

  Melinda glanced at me, too. “I have company, so this isn’t a good time.”

  “Hey there,” I forced myself to say lightly.

  “You’re Nikki, right?” His gaze shot to Melinda. “Your friend.”

  “My best friend.”

  He gave me another unpleasant look. I’d be surprised if this guy had any friends apart from whatever weapons he trained with. Just being near him gave me chills, knowing what he was and what he could do.

  “Two minutes, Melinda. Let me talk to you alone for two minutes.” The fierce look faded from his face a fraction and his brows drew together. “Please.” He was actually capable of being polite. Shocker.

  I wanted Melinda to say no, but instead she nodded, her expression strained. “Fine. Two minutes. Nikki, I’ll be right back.”

  She walked through the house to the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. Patrick followed after her. He moved with purpose and strength. I’d bet he could run really fast.

  Seriously, he was like some sort of animal—a predator like a lion or a tiger. Just the thought of it made a chill run down my spine.

  They went out to the backyard and I watched through the glass, keeping hidden by the edge of the door. She crossed her arms and shivered. It wasn’t freezing today, but it was still cold. I knew snow was forecast for later tonight. My heart thudded in my chest. He was back to try to convince her to continue on with her lessons. What would it take for him to finally get the hint that she wasn’t interested?

  He sent an unpleasant glance toward the house, then dug into the pocket of his black coat and pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to her. It took her a moment before she took it from him, glanced at it, then shoved it into her own pocket.

  I could tell this wasn’t a calm conversation from the look on their faces. This was heated on both sides. Finally, though, when Patrick gripped Melinda’s shoulders hard, I’d had enough.

  I pushed open the door and walked outside.

  “Your two minutes are up,” I said firmly.

  Patrick glared at me. “This isn’t any of your business.”

  “You harassing my best friend? I’m making it my business.”

  “That would be a mistake.”

  “Just go, Patrick.” Melinda sounded weary. “I heard you out like you wanted. We’re done here.”

  “Trust no one,” he growled at her.

  She rolled her eyes. “Just you, right?”

  “The prophecy is clear,” he said. “The time is drawing closer. You need to be ready.”

  “Maybe my father will come out of retirement and take my place if I don’t want to.” She walked into the house with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

  He made a frustrated sound, his face red from anger at dealing with someone who didn’t want to listen
to him.

  As for me, I’d frozen at the sound of the word “prophecy.” It wasn’t my favorite P word lately, since it usually meant something bad.

  Demon slayers got prophesies, too?

  Patrick followed Melinda into the house. And I followed Patrick, keeping a significant amount of space between us.

  “You know where to find me,” he said with a glance over his shoulder. Then, with a last withering look at me, he left through the front door, slamming it behind him.

  “So,” I said after a few moments of silence passed, “he seems like a lot of fun.” Melinda laughed, but it sounded sharp and slightly hysterical. I looked at her with concern.

  “Just ignore whatever he told you,” I told her. “Put it out of your mind.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “I don’t think he likes me very much. Does he look at everyone with that ‘I think you’re scum’ look in his eyes?”

  “I haven’t seen him around too many people. But he—well, he gets a strange vibe from you.” She shrugged. “It’s stupid.”

  A shiver went through me. “What kind of a strange vibe?” She waved a hand. “It’s nothing. I mean, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He told me I’m supposed to be careful around you.”

  “Around me.” I pointed to myself to make sure we were talking about the same person.

  “Patrick...he’s got skills beyond what he can do with weapons. He’s got, like, some sort of sixth sense that some slayers have.”

  “Sixth sense. That’s like ESP?”

  “I don’t know. I guess. He thinks that he can sense when demons are around. Like, he gets a prickly feeling at the back of his neck. In the old books, it’s said that some of the most important demon slayers had that since it helped them know when their enemies were close by.” My stomach flipped over. “Crazy.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And he thinks he can feel something like that from me?”