Reign Check by Michelle Rowen Read Free Book Online Page B

really not that bad. You’d get used to it if you had to.”
    “I wouldn’t count on it.”
    Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walk by. I jumped. The gray-haired man glanced at us, then disappeared into a room up ahead without saying a word.
    “It’s okay,” Michael said. “The servants have all returned to take care of the castle and the king.”
    “More Shadows like you?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “No, I’m the only Shadow here. The other servants are all demons. There aren’t that many, really, but you’ll see them here and there. They won’t bother you unless you need something from them.”
    “Oh, uh … okay.”
    The last time I’d been here, my aunt had sent the servants away while my father was dying, so they wouldn’t see him in such a weakened, pain-filled condition. It was out of respect for the king’s image. Of course, it turned out that he was only dying because she was slowly poisoning him. Any servants she allowed to stay around might have been witness to that.
    Michael led me upstairs, and I found that my usual feeling of anxiety was now mixed with something more like anticipation. I honestly looked forward to seeing my father again, even though I was really mad at him for keeping Michael a servant.
    My father was waiting for us in his large stone-walled meeting room. He sat alone at the head of a long black table surrounded by heavy high-backed chairs. A huge fireplace blazed across from the archway leading into the room. It seemed to be the only source of light, casting the room in flickering shadows. He stood up and walked over to us when we entered.
    “Nikki,” he said, greeting me warmly. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
    Even though I didn’t want to, I couldn’t help but smile, still shocked by how much I looked like him. My whole life, I’d never really wondered if I did, but now I could clearly see that I resembled my father.
    He had blond hair, a few shades darker than mine, and hazel eyes. He was dressed in black clothes—a shirt and pants that looked surprisingly human, given the medieval ambience.
    Yes, in his human form, my father looked like he would fit in just fine in my world. No one would ever guess for a moment, at least not at first glance, that he was a demon king. However, I knew his demon form was very different from that of the handsome man who currently stood before me.
    “Glad to be here,” I said. “Because we need to talk.”
    “Oh?” He looked taken aback. “About what?”
    “About … a promise you made.” I looked at Michael. He’d already backed away from me, putting some distance between us. What did he think I was going to do? Grab him and start making out with him in front of my father to prove a point?
    Not likely. I might be a rebel, but I wasn’t a stupid one. At least, I certainly hoped not.
    My father glanced at the two of us warily. “There is a more pressing issue to discuss today, Nikki. Can you hold off on anything else until we’ve handled that?”
    “Handled what?”
    “I have a guest who wishes to speak with both of us. That’s why I asked for you to come here today. He promises to be brief.”
    Something caught my eye. Someone else was in the room with us. I hadn’t even noticed him standing over in a corner of the room unlit by the fireplace. It was a man, tall, with jet-black hair. He looked familiar, but it took me a moment to put my finger on who he was.
    “Hello, Princess Nikki,” the man said as he drew closer. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
    I drew in a ragged breath. I’d seen him once before. His name was Kieran. Prince Kieran, from the Underworld. He was my aunt Elizabeth’s boyfriend. The one who’d helped her poison my father in an attempt to take over the throne of the Shadowlands and gain control of the barrier protecting the human and faery worlds.
    “What is he doing here?” I asked my father, taking an immediate step back from Kieran.
    I felt my