Reign Check

“Okay.”

I stood there in place as Melinda walked away, books held tightly in her arms. I tried to breathe normally.

I’d be brave. I’d march right up to him and demand to know what he was doing here. I wouldn’t let the faery king intimidate me.

But when I’d summoned up enough courage and turned to look at him again, Rhys was gone.

Maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe it wasn’t even Rhys. After all, I’d last seen him in a dimly lit forest, where he’d accused me of being evil. But just because I was half demon didn’t mean I was evil. At the time, he hadn’t seemed to understand that. Thus the unfriendly sword pointing and the whole “get out of my forest” thing.

If it was Rhys, why was he here? Maybe he was just sightseeing or something. Half an hour of wandering around in the middle of December …

Of all the places in the human world he could have picked to visit, he chose snow-covered Erin Heights?

Yeah. That made sense.

I exhaled shakily and, turning left to head to my biology class, came face-to-face with Rhys.

“Hi there,” he said. “Remember me?”

My mouth gaped open. “You …”

He ran a hand through his cropped brown hair as he waited for me to say something else. When I didn’t, he continued. “We met in my forest. You were harassing a unicorn.”

“I … I remember. And I … I wasn’t harassing it.” My body tensed, but I stayed as still as possible as I waited to see what he’d do next.

“If you say so.”

“What are you doing here?” I managed.

He shrugged. “I’m on vacation.”

“Right.”

“You don’t seem that happy to see me.”

“Last time I saw you, you tried to kill me.” My voice was so low that even I could barely hear it.

Rhys raised an eyebrow at me. “I didn’t try to do anything. I simply gave you a warning that you were trespassing on my territory. And you were.”

“And now you’re trespassing on my territory. Don’t tell me you’re on vacation because I don’t think anyone in his right mind would want to come here in the middle of the winter.”

“You don’t know me very well, then.”

“I need to get to class.” I walked away from him without saying another word. It only took a moment before I realized he was following me. I tried to ignore him, not knowing any other way of dealing with him at the moment.

Rhys trailed after me into my biology classroom. I glared at him over my shoulder and saw him hand Mr. Crane a piece of paper. The teacher adjusted his oddly fashionable glasses (fashionable for a teacher, anyway). Some girls had a major crush on him. I wasn’t one of those girls.

He nodded. “Yes, Rhys Oberon. I was told to expect a new student today. Welcome to Erin Heights.”

“Thank you. I wonder if it would be possible to sit with Nikki. She’s a new friend of mine.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Mr. Crane looked at me. “Nikki, thanks for making Rhys feel so welcome on his first day here. Of course, I’m not surprised. It wasn’t that long ago that you were the newcomer, right?”

“I …” How was I supposed to react? Words were failing me along with the higher-functioning parts of my brain.

But then Mr. Crane was distracted by several other students asking him questions as a steady flow of kids entered the room.

My gaze narrowed and moved to the faery king. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

He shrugged. “Learning about high school biology. It’s on my schedule. After this I have algebra. Sounds fascinating.”

I went to my desk and sat down with a thud.

Rhys sat down to my left. No sharp sword was currently visible, which was vaguely encouraging. Then again, it was only quarter to nine. He had until ten o’clock if he wanted to kill me during this class.

I clenched my right fist on my lap under the desk, feeling a surge of power flow into it. I wasn’t helpless. I would certainly be more than able to protect myself if I had to. But still, my heart was beating three times faster than normal.

“That desk belongs to someone else,” I informed him.

“The student who normally sits here has left for an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii with his parents. They won it on the radio over the weekend. What amazing luck, don’t you think?”

From what I could see, the class had silent but mixed reactions to the new student now seated next to me. Half weren’t paying any attention at all. The other half looked at the young faery king with varying degrees of curiosity. They had no idea who he really was — or what he was.

“Okay, everyone. We’re going to start in just a moment,” Mr. Crane announced. “I’ll be around to hand out your samples.”

I looked at Rhys. “You need to go back to your home.”

He smiled. “I thought the teacher wanted you to make me feel welcome, Princess Nikki.”

“Don’t call me that here.” My eyes darted around the classroom.

“Don’t worry. No one can hear what we’re saying right now.”

“They can’t?”

“No. I’ve used magic to shield our conversation.” He looked incredibly sure of himself. Cocky, actually.

Now that he mentioned it, I suddenly realized I could barely hear anyone else around us. The chatter in the classroom had become muffled and specific words indiscernible.

I swallowed hard. “You’ve put us into an invisible magic muffle bubble?”

“That’s one way to put it. Thought we could use a little privacy in the center of this human chaos.”

My palms were sweating, but I fought to remain calm. “I’ll ask you again, Rhys. Why are you here?”

He watched me closely for a long, uncomfortable moment. “It’s my job to protect my kingdom from harm and investigate anything that might hurt us now or in the future. So I’m here to investigate you.”

“Investigate me? I’m not planning on hurting your … your kingdom.” Even knowing he was magically shielding this conversation, I nervously glanced around at the class of oblivious students.

“But how do I know that for sure?”

“Because I’m telling you.” I gritted my teeth and glared at him.

The faery king was wearing black jeans and a green button-down shirt — both looked brand-new. The last time I’d seen Rhys, he had pointed tips to his ears and graceful, iridescent wings.

At the moment, however, there were no tips and no wings. He looked entirely human.

As if he’d read my mind, or at least had followed the direction of my eyes, he touched his ears. “It’s called a glamour. Much like I’m able to hide our conversation right now, I can hide certain things about myself I don’t want just anyone to see. That way I can more easily fit in around here. It’s quite simple, really.”

“Magic,” I said quietly. Even after everything I’d seen with my own two eyes, it was still hard to accept.

“Yes. And you …” He took a moment to examine me in greater detail. “I believe you literally shift form rather than using a glamour, yes? I’ve heard of demons changing forms before. It’s”—he made a sour face —“disturbing.”

“You need to leave right now.” My head had started to throb with frustration and growing anger, and that wasn’t a good sign. I had to remain calm or my own, very non-graceful, non-faery black wings might pop out of my back. I was quite sure their presence would disturb more than just Rhys.

He leaned back in his chair. “Your unwelcoming attitude only helps to confirm my suspicions about you.”

“What suspicions?”

“That despite your innocent appearance, you’re actually a dangerous and deadly creature of darkness. Just as I suspected.”

That earned him a full-on glare. It sounded like he was being flippant, yet the expression on his face was