Мишель Роуэн - Reign or Shine

I waited until ten thirty before I quietly descended the stairs and slipped out the front door. I started walking down the street, not paying any attention to where I was going.

It had started to snow again and I pulled my coat tighter around me.

I figured it would only take a minute or- "Princess, what are you doing out? It's not safe." — even less before he showed up.

I suppressed the smile that wanted to appear and turned to look at Michael. His dark eyebrows knitted together with concern.

"I'm curious," I said. "What's with the Van Halen T-shirt, anyway?"

He looked surprised by the question and glanced down at his shirt. "When I knew I was coming to the human realm I made sure I found some suitable clothes to wear. Isn't this okay?"

"Maybe twenty years ago. But it's fine, really." I was quiet for a moment. "Is it different here than where you're from?"

"The Shadowlands?" He glanced around the cold, dark street. "It's definitely different."

"How?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Fewer demons here."

I exhaled shakily at that. "So, are you ready to take me to see my father?" I was surprised at how confident I sounded. "Let's go now before I chicken out."

"Are you serious?"

I looked at him. "You're arguing with me?" "No… of course not." He gave me one of his devastating smiles. "He'll be very pleased to see you."

"Probably not after I've had my say."

Michael eyed me for a moment. "So you're not afraid?"

I contemplated how to answer that and decided on the truth. "I'm scared beyond belief. But I don't think I can avoid it anymore."

"Did something bad happen? Did your powers manifest?"

"Still not liking those words much." I had a Technicolor flashback of what I'd forever mentally refer to as the "incident." "But, you could say that. I broke my mother's husband's arm like it was a twig."

His eyes widened at my admission. "Your strength has increased. That's to be expected, of course."

I crossed my arms tightly in front of me. "And my eyes turned red."

He put his hands on either side of my face, pushing my long hair back, and stared into my eyes. I inhaled sharply at how close we now were and it reminded me of our almost-kiss in the alleyway. "They're back to normal."

"I know that."

He didn't move away. "You're feeling better now?"

I nodded and touched his hand. "Suddenly, I'm feeling much better. Not the least bit like a demon princess."

His expression fell and he pulled away from me and started walking, abruptly putting a gap between us. What was that all about?

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked.

"No, of course not. You just reminded me who you are."

"Is that something you forget easily?" I had to hustle to keep up with his long strides.

"Unfortunately, it seems to be." He didn't look back at me. "I have to find a gateway to the Shadowlands. I need to concentrate."

"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.

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."