Мишель Роуэн - Reign Check

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 anything but.

“I’m not dangerous or deadly,” I said. “Or particularly dark.”

His eyes narrowed. “Well, that’s what I’m here to find out.”

“At my high school using a glamour.”

“Consider me undercover.”

“And there’s nothing I can do about this?”

“Less than nothing.” He was close enough now that I saw his brown eyes also contained gold flecks.

“And what happens if you mistakenly decide you’re right about me?” I had to ask.

All feigned friendliness vanished from his expression. “Then I’ll do what I have to in order to protect my kingdom.”

A shiver raced down my spine as I got another flashback of that sharp sword nearly touching my throat. If he decided he was right — that I was evil — was he seriously going to kill me?

I really didn’t like this guy.

While I tried to figure out what to say next to make him leave me alone, I noticed Mr. Crane standing directly in front of us. He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear what it was for a moment.

“ … it’s like you’re not even listening to me.” His words suddenly became loud and clear. “I don’t want to have to repeat myself again.”

“What?” I said. “Sorry, uh, I was focusing on something else.”

“Yes, I see that, Nikki.” Mr. Crane looked at me sternly. “But you’ll have lots of time to get to know Rhys better after class. Okay?”

He thought I was so taken with the new student that I was oblivious to everything else going on. How embarrassing.

A small frog, smelling of formaldehyde, was plunked down between us. Belly up. Greenish gray, dead and slimy.

“Rhys, I’m not sure if they already covered this in your previous school,” Mr. Crane said. “Let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, I’m sure Nikki will be happy to help you out.” He then moved on to the next pairing.

“Happy” definitely wouldn’t be the word I’d use when it came to the undercover faery king.

Deadly, dark, and dangerous . That’s really what he thought I was? How could I prove I wasn’t anything like that?

I’d been told there hadn’t been any other human-demon offspring in a millennium. That’s a thousand years Darkling free until I was born. It was forbidden for humans and demons to have children together due to the whole “Darklings are dangerous” thing. Also, it was very rare for a demon even to be allowed to enter the human world, to prevent their meeting any humans to mate with.