Мишель Роуэн - Reign or Shine

Michael looked at me a moment longer, shaking his head. "I can't remember the last time somebody from the human realm visited the Shadowlands."

There was a forest ahead of us. The field of grass was spotted with wildflowers-orange, purple, and yellow dots of color across the vast field of green. A butterfly fluttered past me and I felt a warm breeze against my face. It smelled like spring.

"Wow, it's beautiful here," I said. "I'd almost forgotten what grass looks like, I've gotten so used to snow. It's like something out of a fairy tale."

He moved to stand next to me. "You think so?"

I shook my head and smiled at him. "When you said we were going to the Shadowlands, I think I was expecting something else. Hearing all that stuff about demons and Hell, I guess… I don't know. I'm glad I was wrong. Do we need to go into the forest? Is that where my father is?"

Michael didn't answer for a second.

"Well?" I prompted.

"This area isn't the Shadowlands itself," he said.

I frowned. "Oh. Well, where are we going, then?"

"The Shadowlands are actually behind you."

I slowly… very slowly… turned around and felt the blood drain from my face.

"Okay," I managed. "That's much more what I thought it would be like."

There was a castle about a half mile away from where we stood. A big one. But definitely not a Cinderella-type castle from Disney World that looked lovely and welcoming and part of the fairy-tale landscape I stood in at the moment.

The green grass and sunny skies stopped just before the castle and turned to ominous storm clouds that swirled around the castle. I could see the jagged edges of gray mountains in the distance. The castle itself consisted of sharp black spires that reached high into the dark clouds overhead. The entire structure seemed to be made of some kind of black stone. There were no windows that I could see.

Michael touched my arm. "It's really not as bad as it looks."

I swallowed hard. "Well, that's good to know. Because it looks very bad."

Dracula could totally live in that castle. Or some other monster.

Like a demon king.

Yeah, I thought. Seems fitting. Definitely. I was so going to throw up.

I tore my gaze away from the castle and looked back at the forest. "I think I'd rather go in there."

Michael shook his head. "Not a good idea."

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we'd just jumped into another dimension. "Why not?"

He glanced at the thick patch of trees a hundred yards away from us. "That's the faery realm."

"Seriously?" My eyes widened. "I love faeries. They're cute. They have wings."

Also, I had no idea they actually existed. I wondered if I should have brought a notebook, or even a camera, so I'd remember all of these bizarre facts.

Faeries were real. Demons were real.

Okay.

I realized I was clutching Michael's arm very tightly and I loosened my grip. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I can take it." He smiled at me. "The faeries in that forest you wouldn't like so much. They're territorial. Anyone who comes onto their land is in big trouble. They can be vicious when they need to be."

I blinked. "Evil faeries?"

He studied the line of the forest with a bit of apprehension. "Not evil, exactly. Just not something you'd want to come face-to-face with if you can help it.

They really don't like demons, so I don't think we should stand here for much longer."

"But I thought you said you weren't a demon?"

He met my eyes. "I'm not."

"But-" And then I shut up. Oh, right. Half-demon princess present and accounted for.

I looked at Castle Dread again. "And you're trying to tell me that there's nothing to be afraid of."

He turned completely to me. "I promised your father that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. Nothing will. Everything is going to be fine, Princess."

"And you promise to stay with me?"

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "As the Princess wishes."

"The Princess definitely wishes."

His smile widened and I got that annoying little twist in my stomach again. Even here with the prospect of trekking across fairyland to go to a monster castle, Michael was making me all mushy inside.

No guy had ever made me this mushy before-not even Chris.

"Then let's go." He held out his hand to me. I took it.

"Your hand is sweating," Michael commented, raising an eyebrow.

"That's because it's scared."

With every step we took across the field I tried to will myself to be courageous, but it was a struggle. Even though I was seeing the proof that everything Michael had told me was true, I couldn't wrap my head around it. Why didn't anybody seem to know about this place? I mean, sure people knew about Hell and the Underworld, at least in theory, but the fact that it was all 100 percent real? My mind boggled. Why hadn't I ever heard about the Shadowlands before?

I asked Michael the same questions.

"Humans are best kept from this sort of knowledge," he explained. "For their own good. The Shadowlands is like a buffer zone at the furthest edge of the Underworld and keeps the demon worlds separate from the human and faery realms. Nobody can pass through the Shadowlands and beyond without King Desmond's permission. That way, humans are kept safe from evil they don't even know exists."

"The Shadowlands are like the tollbooth between countries?"

He looked at me curiously. "I guess you could explain it that way."

"And my father isn't an evil demon. He's one who keeps the real evil demons away?"

That sounded like more of a gatekeeper than a king. But I guessed it was one and the same. Even though we were getting closer to the ominous-looking castle, the thought that my father wasn't a horrible, evil demon set my mind slightly at ease. Slightly.

Plus, holding on to Michael's hand helped, too.

It didn't take very long (unfortunately) for us to walk to the massive, black front doors. It had gotten colder as we drew closer, the green grass slowly becoming gray, uneven rock, and I put my coat back on.

"Is there a doorbell?" I asked.

Just then the doors creaked open all by themselves. I looked at them suspiciously.

"Who just did that?" I asked.

"You did," Michael said, his smile a bit out of place in such an ominous setting. "The castle recognizes you as its princess."

I swallowed hard. "Terrific. I'm like a half-demon garage door remote control."

Since my feet weren't working anymore, Michael had to pull me along with him across the threshold.

The interior was just as friendly as the exterior. As in, not at all. Black marble floors. No furniture. There was a huge spiraling staircase in the middle. Black, of course, since that seemed to be the sum total of the decorating palette.

I forced my feet to keep moving even though all they wanted to do was turn around and run back to where I'd come from. But I had to remember that I'd asked for this. I wanted to meet my father. I needed answers… to questions that had suddenly slipped right out of my mind because I was too stunned by what was going on.

"Where is everyone?" I whispered to Michael as he led me up the staircase.

"The Shadowlands isn't that populated to begin with, but recently the king has sent nearly everyone away except for a few servants."

"Why is that?"

"You'll have to ask him yourself."

I knew I wasn't the biggest social butterfly in the world, but even I couldn't imagine living in a place like this. Maybe having some friendly faces around would help, but to put up with solitude in such a dark, dreary place? That would be too much.

And Michael lived here?

I touched his arm. "It must be very lonely here."

"It can be." His eyes met mine for a second before he focused again on the stairs. "But you get used to it."