Free Reign Fall by Michelle Rowen Page A

he disappeared. Most recently, she’d moved on with Mr. Crane.
    At least, I thought she had. He actually hadn’t been around the house since Christmas dinner.
    And they hadn’t spent that much time together since they first started dating. A few dinners out.
    A couple at our house. I’d felt obligated to buy him a Christmas gift, which was totally awkward.
     
    I got him a book—a legal thriller. He seemed happy with it. He gave me a gift card to the mall. I was happy with that.
    Same old, same old. I just couldn’t summon up any enthusiasm for my mother’s continuing quest for true romance. Maybe, now that she’d thrown her time and attention into writing her latest book and stopped being quite so social, neither could she.
    But that didn’t mean anything when it came to my father. Even if he did suddenly show up at her door with three dozen roses, she’d never speak to him again after he left her all by herself all those years ago.
    But wait, a little voice piped up inside me. She doesn’t know what really happened. He didn’t abandon her at all, did he? He had no choice. And he thought she was dead, or he would have done anything to find her again.
    “Stop it, little voice,” I whispered to myself. “You’re not very helpful right now.” Not helpful, maybe. But it spoke the truth.
    A few minutes later, Michael returned. My father wasn’t on the balcony anymore.
    “Well?” I asked, anxious for some real answers.
    “King Desmond agrees that there couldn’t be someone who is physically here in the castle.
    It’s impossible. But someone might have astrally projected himself here to spy on him. It’s not likely, but he’s looking into the wards around the castle to see if there’s a malfunction in the primary magic.”
    I stared at him. “I didn’t understand a word you just said. Astrally, what? Primary magic wards, huh?”
    He grinned. “Let’s just say, there’s nothing to worry about. Whatever happened before won’t happen again.”
    While I did prefer not worrying, this didn’t exactly ease my mind. I’d seen that boy and he’d even given me something tangible to prove his existence—the black rock. He knew things from reading minds—Michael’s, my father’s. He could read my mind, too. Unless I was the one going crazy, something was really strange here and I wished I could figure out what it was.
    I suddenly felt like punching something.
    “Are we going to start practice, or what?” I asked. “Tick tock. Got to be back fairly soon or my mother is going to send out a search party for me.” Michael grabbed a plastic shopping bag from behind a tree. “First you need to change clothes.”
    I took the bag and looked at it. It was from the Erin Heights Town Center. “You bought me clothes? At the mall?”
    He shrugged. “I tried my best. Trust me, they’re adequate for this. If you’re going to shift form right now, I didn’t think you’d want to ruin what you have on.” I didn’t know why the thought of shifting form in order to train hadn’t occurred to me. I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it.
    “You’re right,” I finally said.
     
    He nodded and crossed his arms, his lips curving. “To quote you, Princess. Tick tock .”
    “You’re strict, coach.”
    He gave me a mischievous look. “Oh, you have no idea.” I ran into the castle and quickly changed into what was in the bag. Shorts like what I’d wear in gym class and...a halter top. It wasn’t what I’d call a perfect fit, but it was comfortable enough.
    I was pretty sure I knew why he’d chosen a halter top that tied behind my neck and left the majority of my back bare. It wasn’t just so I could look cute.
    One word: wings.
    I ran back out to the courtyard, and Michael swept his gaze over me in an assessing manner. I now wore way fewer clothes than before. I looked perfectly dressed for the beach, not for January in Erin Heights.
    After his gaze moved over my bare skin, his eyes seemed to darken