Reign Check

by Michelle Rowen

  I turned to go back to the kitchen and found Chris Sanders standing directly in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “I really need to have that talk with you, Nikki,” he said. “I’ve put it off long enough.”

  Oh, great. I grimaced. “Now?”

  “Yeah.”

  The gingerbread cookie I’d downed a few minutes before began dancing unpleasantly in my gut. I don’t even want to say what the follow-up jellybeans were now doing at the prospect of chatting with Chris.

  “Hey, Chris.” Larissa approached us and snaked an arm around his waist. She held a glass in her right hand and took a sip. “Great to see you. You’re looking mighty fine tonight. I’ll have to find some mistletoe later, if ya know what I mean.” She hiccupped.

  What was in that glass? Melinda had threatened everyone upon entering the house that this was to be an alcohol-free party, otherwise her parents wouldn’t let her have another one ever again. To me, though, Larissa seemed a bit tipsy.

  In Larissa’s defense, however, Chris was looking mighty fine. He had this effortless attractiveness about him that I couldn’t help but notice from the first day I’d started at Erin Heights. This calm confidence only helped to ramp up his natural good looks a few levels.

  I’d wondered back then if he had any flaws. I now knew they included a major sense of entitlement. If Chris wanted something—no matter what it was—he felt like he should have it. And if he didn’t, he felt he should be able to take it, as evidenced by our situation in the back of the limo at Winter Formal.

  Admittedly, I hadn’t heard any rumors he’d tried anything like that before. If people hated Chris, it was because they were jealous of him, not because he was a bad guy who did bad things. Maybe the incident with me had been a onetime thing—at least, I hoped so. Or maybe nobody had ever said no to Chris before, like I had. Based on the drooling gaze Larissa had trained on him at the moment, it was possible.

  “Hi, Larissa,” Chris responded, although he didn’t look directly at her. He wasn’t looking at me, either. The floor currently held his complete and total attention.

  “Am I interrupting anything?” she asked.

  “No,” I said at the same time Chris said, “Yes.”

  “I didn’t know you were still seeing each other,” she said.

  “We’re not,” I said firmly.

  “I … ,” Chris began. “Look, I need to talk to Nikki in private. Do you mind leaving us alone?”

  Ouch.

  Larissa flinched before giving me the evil eye. “Yeah, sure. No problem.”

  Exit stage left.

  If I hadn’t been feeling a whole heap of uneasiness, I would have found it very difficult not to laugh.

  Chris’s eyes flicked to mine for a moment before he looked away again. It was as if he couldn’t bear to maintain eye contact with me.

  “Follow me,” he said, and started walking over to the dining room, where all the coats were piled on the table. He grabbed his coat and put it on.

  “Where are we going?” I asked suspiciously, not inclined to go anywhere with him just because he told me to.

  “Out to the backyard. I don’t want anyone to hear us talking.”

  He didn’t want anyone to hear us discuss what he’d seen when I’d shifted to my Darkling form, thrown a big glowing ball of energy at him, and launched him out the side of the limo we’d been in when he’d forgotten what “no” meant.

  Right. This was a discussion I had known was unavoidable, but now I’d finally decided how to handle it.

  Denial. One hundred percent. I’d even worked out the convo in my head.

  “Hey, Nikki,” Chris would say. “What was up with you turning all demonic during Winter Formal?”

  “Demonic?” I’d respond casually. “Gee, sounds more like a nightmare than anything that could possibly have taken place in real life. I’m sure you were just dreaming.”

  “But I saw—”

  “YOU WERE DREAMING.”

  “Well, okay.” He’d nod. “You’re absolutely right. Whatever was I thinking? Demons don’t really exist. Oh, and by the way, sorry for being such an unbelievable jerk to you in the limo. You deserve much better.”

  And that would be that.

  Feeling a new surge of confidence, I grabbed my jacket and went outside with Chris. The yard was large and snow covered, with tall wooden fences and lots of trees around the edges. In the center was a pool—covered, since it was December—with a big slide. We didn’t venture too far, instead staying on the patio near the doors.

  Maybe it would be good to start this on a positive note.

  “Here,” I said, thrusting the small wrapped box at him that I’d pulled from my jacket pocket. “I picked your name for the gift exchange.”

  He hesitated before taking the present from me. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

  “It’s not a big deal. Ten bucks or less. Rules are rules.”

  Ain’t that the truth, I thought. And I had to follow them all now, didn’t I? I hated thinking about rules, even little, meaningless ones. They only served to remind me why I was here at this party with Chris instead of anywhere else with Michael.

  Chris cleared his throat and made quick work of the wrapping, revealing the stylish (not really) keychain with a Christmas tree on it I’d grabbed earlier that day at the mall. Could not have been more innocent or generic if I’d tried: $8.95 before tax.

  “Thank you. I need one of these,” he said politely, and tucked it into his pocket. “I have something for you, too.”

  “You picked my name?”

  “Not exactly.” He reached inside his jacket and drew out a rolled piece of paper, which he held out to me.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a drawing I did. I … I do art sometimes.”

  I looked at it skeptically. “You drew me a picture?”

  “Uh, no, not exactly.”

  “Then what is it?” I dug my hands into my pockets and tried to stay warm. Snowflakes were steadily coming down around us, and the backyard was dark except for one overhead light where we stood on the patio.

  “Last week, at the dance,” he began. “When you … you changed …”

  “Changed?” I repeated. Here we go. “Changed my mind about dating you? Yeah, well, these things happen. It’s not a big deal. It was our first date and it didn’t work out. Let’s just forget it ever happened, okay?”

  He laughed a little shakily at that. “I remember exactly what happened.”

  “Not so sure you do.”

  “I do,” he said firmly. “It’s crystal clear in my mind.”

  “You were drunk.”

  “I’d been drinking, sure, but I wasn’t drunk. You changed into something else.”

  “So did you,” I said pointedly.

  He cringed at the reminder. “I’m so sorry about that.”

  “You should be.” I felt a flare of anger then, but I willed it away. I had enough problems to juggle without turning Darkling in the middle of Melinda’s party. The mental image of the sword downstairs was enough to help me push any demon-shifting thoughts away.

  “I didn’t change the same way you did, though.” He sounded so certain that it made me more nervous. “It was the most vivid moment in my entire life. When I saw you—your hair, your eyes … you had wings and horns, and … and a tail.”

  Yikes. I had a tail, too? How had I never noticed that little detail before? I guessed because it hadn’t ripped through my clothes like my wings tended to do.

  I forced myself to smile, but dread crept over me like an army of spiders. “Maybe you were dreaming. You might have hit your head on the pavement and knocked yourself out when you, uh, fell out of the limo. Wouldn’t that make more sense?”

  “Of course it would.”

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  “But I wasn’t dreaming that night.” He held out the rolled paper to me again. “I was dreaming just before I drew this.”


  I studied him, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “I think I’m confused.”

  “I had a dream two weeks ago. It was so clear in my head that I had to get up in the middle of the night and draw what I’d seen in case I forgot it. Everything about it felt so real.”

  Okay. I’d play along for now. I finally took the sketch from him and slowly unrolled it, moving it more toward the light so I could see. I stifled the gasp that rose in my throat.

  The sketch was pencil, detailed, and it was immediately clear to me that Chris was a talented artist. It showed a girl in the forefront who looked a whole lot like me in full Darkling form, black wings stretched out behind her, with the unmistakable Shadowlands castle in the background, dark spires reaching into the gray swirling skies like scary black arms.

  An ice-cold shiver not caused by the winter night zipped down my spine.

  How had Chris seen this? How had he even dreamed about this? Though he’d seen me in Darkling form in the school parking lot outside Winter Formal, he couldn’t have ever seen the Shadowlands. It was impossible.

  “What does it mean, Nikki? Why did I dream about you?” He sounded hoarse and upset and more than a little scared. “And what is that horrible place?”

  “You drew this two weeks ago?” I said, my voice no more than a whisper. It was well before he’d seen me as a Darkling. Well before I’d even known I was a Darkling.

  He just nodded. “I didn’t realize it was you at the time. See?” He pointed at the drawing. “The darkness is blocking half your face. It was the darkness that made me wake up from the dream. It … it freaked me out … the way it started to block the light all around you.”

  Darkness.

  I remembered what Irena had seen in my future. The darkness that surrounded me, that watched me. Was Chris confirming what she’d said? That the second prophecy was definitely true? Fear coursed through my stomach.

  I rolled the sketch back up and handed it to Chris, but he didn’t take it. “It’s not me. I don’t know what that is, but you have a vivid imagination. I guess you have a future as an artist ahead of you. Maybe comic books or something.”

  His brows drew together. “I don’t know what the darkness is, but it wants you. It’s dangerous.”

  “You’re crazy, I think,” I said evenly, trying to ignore the panicky feeling welling in my throat and threatening to choke off my words. “You might want to look into that.”

  When I took a step closer to Chris, he staggered back as though I frightened him. Was this fear the reason he’d been avoiding me since the dance? The thought didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, it made me feel much worse.

  He was quiet for a moment, and then he laughed so suddenly it made me jump. “You might be right about me being crazy.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You think?”

  “Maybe that would explain all of this,” he said, shaking his head. “Maybe I should get my mom to prescribe me some meds.”

  “Your mom?”

  “She deals with insane people on a regular basis. It’s her job.” He shied away from the piece of paper I held out to him. “No, keep it. Please. I don’t want it anywhere near me.”

  “But what about—”

  He put more distance between us. “Let’s just forget we had this conversation, okay? I’m starting to realize how completely nuts I’m sounding. And I … I’m really sorry about what happened at the dance. I know you won’t believe me, but I’ve never done anything like that before. So whatever happened, I deserved it.”

  I thought I’d be the one to walk away first, but it was Chris who left me standing there alone, breathing hard, my heart impersonating a jackhammer. I looked again at the sketch of the Darkling standing in a shadow with the castle behind her. I recalled what he’d said about his mother.

  She deals with crazy people.

  What did that mean? I knew Chris’s father was a lawyer and his mom was a doctor. They had lots of money, just like Melinda’s parents did.

  Wait … Chris’s mother was a doctor? A doctor who dealt with insane people and could prescribe medication?

  My eyes widened. Oh my God!

  I quickly went back inside and found where I’d hidden my purse in one of Melinda’s kitchen cabinets. I dug into it to grab my wallet and pulled out the business card Rhys had given me when we’d left the dragon oracle’s office yesterday. I hadn’t looked closely at it then, but I did now.

  My hands shook, making the card hard to read.

  Irena had mentioned her son—the one who didn’t know the truth about his mother yet. She was waiting for him to be mature enough to deal with the knowledge that she was an immortal dragon living in human form. I’d assumed she meant he was just a kid, maybe seven years old, and she hadn’t wanted to scare him at such a young age.

  Actually, he was seventeen.

  Irena was Chris’s mother.

  And, by the looks of the sketch he’d just given me, Chris had more than a little bit of dragon oracle in him as well.

  13

  I shoved the drawing and business card into my purse and went back to the party, feeling the least festive I’d felt in my entire life. It would take a lot more than fruit punch or finger sandwiches to help me recover from the revelation that Chris Sanders was half dragon and able to glimpse pieces of my life in his dreams.

  “Oh, wow!” I heard Melinda exclaim from the dining room to my left, distracting me from my racing thoughts. “I love it. Thank you so much!”

  I entered in time to see her throw her arms around the newly arrived Rhys—who I’d convinced myself wouldn’t be at the party at all tonight, given how we’d left things.

  “Nikki,” Melinda said when she spotted me lurking nearby. “Look what Rhys got me for the gift exchange.”

  She held a small wooden jewelry box in the palm of her hand. It was delicately carved, with flowers on the lid.

  So Rhys had just happened to pick her name, had he? What a coincidence. Although, I had a funny feeling Melinda had been in full control of who he ended up with. My best friend was definitely determined when she set her mind to a new goal.

  After seeing her basement arsenal, knowing this did not ease my mind.

  “Beautiful,” I confirmed. “Looks like it cost a lot more than the ten-dollar limit, though.”

  “I’ll never tell,” Rhys said. He had a drink clenched in his right hand. Our eyes met for a moment before he quickly looked away, then downed whatever was in the glass in one big gulp.

  He was forcing himself to stay in my presence rather than fleeing the room to get away from me. It was nice to know that was the effect I had on guys now. Really fabulous.

  “Want some more?” Larissa asked him.

  “No, thank you.”

  “Don’t lie. You totally want some more,” she slurred. “It’s sooo yummy.”

  It was now painfully and pathetically obvious that Larissa was drunk. Was she feeling a bit uncomfortable and unwanted here at Melinda’s party and had to find some liquid courage?

  “Oooh, check it out,” she said, pointing upward at Melinda’s decorations. “Mistletoe!”

  She grabbed Rhys and kissed him full on the lips. His eyes widened and he attempted to disengage from her. It took a couple of tries. The girl was strong. He then gave her a look that could only be described as unhappy as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glanced at me.

  I was not going to laugh. It was a struggle.

  “Larissa.” Melinda glared at her. “Can I talk to you, please? Now?”

  Larissa’s cheeks went red. “Uh, okay.”

  They left so Melinda could give her BFF-in-waiting the “keep your hands off Rhys” speech. Which meant Rhys and I now were in the dining room alone. Well, if you didn’t count the fifty winter coats piled high behind us. I threw mine on the top of the heap. Everyone else had congregated in Melinda’s massive high-ceilinged living room toward the front end of the mansionlike house. The music was so loud, I could feel it rev
erberating through the hardwood floors.

  “So, I decided to come to the party, after all,” Rhys said.

  “I see that.”

  He eyed the plastic cup. “I have no idea what I just drank. Wine?”

  “Probably.”

  “I’ve never tried human wine before.”

  “I guess this is your lucky day.”

  “It was kind of disgusting.”

  “Yeah, well, nobody’s saying Larissa has great taste in anything.”

  He touched his lips. “She kissed me.”

  “Congrats. From what I’ve heard, you’re one of many. You might want to floss.”

  He took a step away from me. “So … what’s new?”

  Yeah, this was a great time for awkward small talk with the faery king who hated me. “Irena’s son is here at the party. And I already know him. Small world, or what?”

  “I knew her son attended your high school. Chris, right?”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You knew?”

  “Of course.”

  My head throbbed, letting me know I wasn’t doing a good job of controlling my stress levels. My Darkling form wanted to burst free and party. “Great. Thanks so much for the heads-up.”

  He looked confused. “Is that a problem?”

  “Yeah, it kind of is.”

  I told him what had happened with Chris in the backyard. Despite my history with Rhys, I still felt desperate to confide in somebody who’d understand.

  I showed Rhys the sketch. He studied it carefully before giving it back to me.

  “It seems to confirm the second prophecy Irena told you about.”

  “I know. So what do you think I should do?” I asked, feeling hopeful in spite of myself that he’d be able to help me out or give me some sage advice.

  “Why are you asking me?”

  “Because you’re the dragon expert around here.”

  “Dragons have scales, you know,” Rhys said pointedly.

  I looked at him. “What?”

  “Green scales and spiky tails.” He paused and then started to laugh. “Hey, I made a rhyme!”