Free Reign Fall by Michelle Rowen

despite being surrounded by all this unexpected beauty—and Michael was rather beautiful himself.
    “No. I mean...yes. Of course. We never seem to see exactly eye to eye on a lot of things”— to say the least —“but that’s not why I’m feeling shaken right now.” He drew closer to me. “Then what is it?”
    While something kept stopping me from sharing my scary “evil Michael” dream with him, I did tell him about meeting the boy in the hallway and our strange conversation. Then I showed Michael the rock he’d given to me before slipping it into my pocket for safekeeping.
    “Who was he?” I asked, worried.
    He frowned deeply during my story, especially at the part where I told him the kid could read everybody’s minds—even his. “I wish I could tell you. I’ve never seen anyone like that before.
    And you’re trying to tell me that he’s been here for years? That he’s been able to observe the king all that time—and read his mind?”
    “It sounds crazy, I know. But I swear it’s true. He was there, talking to me, giving me that rock, and then, poof , he was gone.”
    Michael looked disturbed by this. That made two of us. “No one is permitted to enter the castle without King Desmond’s permission. He’s in control of everything here. He would sense an unknown and unwelcome presence if one existed. The walls of the castle are magically enforced to help him do this.”
    I paced to the willow tree and back, worry churning in my gut. “Then who did I just talk to in there?”
     
    His dark brows were tightly drawn together. “I honestly don’t know. But are you okay?”
    “Okay? Yeah, I’m fine. But I—I might be going completely crazy if I’m seeing people that don’t exist.” I began to shiver and it wasn’t long before Michael moved closer to me. Without thinking twice about it, I hugged him hard for moral support. He hugged me back.
    It felt really good and more than a simple hug of comfort. He smelled like freshly cut grass and warm spice. My arms tightened around him. I never wanted to let go.
    “Princess, your father seems to be observing our training session from the balcony.” I reluctantly pulled back from Michael and glanced over his shoulder at the spot where my father stood, leaning over the stone railing.
    “Don’t worry, we’re not making out yet!” I called up to him. “That was just an innocent hug!” I probably shouldn’t have, but I honestly couldn’t resist.
    My father gave me a very stern look and his shoulders tensed, but he didn’t respond. I almost laughed out loud.
    I glanced at Michael. He didn’t look amused.
    “Sorry,” I said. “Private joke.”
    “Yes, hilarious. That is, if you want me banished from here forever.”
    “He won’t banish you.” Not yet, anyway. Not unless there was something seriously wrong with the Shadow in front of me. And it was up to me to determine if there was. If killing Jonas had done something bad to him deep down, then I had to figure out what it was and how to help him get back to normal as soon as possible.
    Michael kept his attention on my father. “I’ll tell the king about what you saw. There has to be an explanation for it.”
    “A ghost?”
    “Ghosts don’t exist.”
    “Hooray. Finally something that doesn’t exist.” I wasn’t sure if I should feel relieved about that. “After dealing with demons, dragons, and faeries lately, I wasn’t positive anymore.” Michael headed up the stairs and emerged on the balcony a minute later where he spoke to my father. The king glanced down at me again, a frown creasing his brow.
    He was always frowning. I tried to remember if I’d ever heard him laugh. It disturbed me that I couldn’t recall a single time.
    I bet he’d laughed when he and my mother were together.
    Come on, Nikki, I told myself. Let it go once and for all, will you?
    I was making both myself and my father miserable the longer I dwelled on this subject.
    Besides, my mother had moved on when