The Reign

Copyright © 2016 Kaitlyn Kroner

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1533658142

ISBN-10: 1533658145

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior written consent of the author except where permitted by law.

The characters and events depicted in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Cover Design: Murphy Rae, www.murphyrae.net

Editing: Murphy Rae, KD Phillips, and Megan Gunter, www.murphyrae.net

Interior Formatting: Elaine York, Allusion Graphics, LLC/Publishing & Book Formatting, www.allusiongraphics.com

All Endings Begin

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

I squeezed my hands to stop them from shaking, needing to show this wouldn’t kill me—even if it was. The floor was covered in debris; parts of the house lay dormant after the long months. The others were already up ahead; I could hear their coughing as they walked through the dust. Their low murmurs bounced off the walls, but I ignored them. I closed my eyes and chanted I can do this over and over in my head. Taking a deep breath in, I could feel the dust particles slip up my nose, and slowly I let the breath out. This was it; there was no turning back. The future depended on me being strong; the people depended on me. My feelings were no longer in play—no matter how much I was hurting.

Mia. The voice vibrated off the walls—well, the walls that were still left standing. I opened my eyes and bit my lip; I had no choice.

As I walked through the house I’d grown up in, I could feel tears start to swarm my eyes. I batted them away, blaming the dust, but really it was the memories: the good and the bad. My parents were gone—both a blessing and a curse. There was so much hate and guilt churning inside of me for so long, but as I looked around the decrepitated room I felt loss. My parents were dead, my sister was an enemy, Agathy was gone forever, and the one person I had put my complete trust in was a stranger to me. The voices floated closer to me as I walked towards the opening of the room. Everyone was shifting books, bricks, and trash out of the way, looking for a piece of paper that might not even exist. Stepping inside the room, I felt a chill; a cold current that slithered down my spine. I didn’t want to be here, but it wasn’t up to me anymore. I was a puppet, and it was a much larger game than what I would ever be prepared for.

Do you remember what book she said it would be in? Gregory’s voice hit my ears, feeling as if a thousand knives were gutting me from the inside out.

I looked at him. Really looked at him. He wouldn’t even look at me. But then again, why would he? I was just a puppet, something that didn’t mean anything to any of these people in here. An expiration date lingered above my head; I just didn’t know which one would have the guts to take me out—the enemies that showed their true feelings or the friend who hid his?

"She said it would be in the book called Grimm Fairytales." My voice came out as a croak. All I could do was open and close my hands. I wouldn’t let any one of these traitors see me cry.

Maybe she heard her wrong, Shelly spoke up. Her eyes pinched together in a glare as she looked at me. Or, maybe she isn’t telling us the truth.

Why would I lie? I asked, squeezing my hands into fists. Gritting my teeth, I kept my eyes on Shelly to see if she would crack from the lies, but I knew better. She had a better poker face than anyone I had ever known—even my dead father. It’s not like I can run far with cuffs on my wrists. I could run, but it would be too difficult with these cuffs, especially if I needed to get through places.

Lying is what you do best, Gregory quipped, anger laced in his words. Just hurry up and get in here. We can’t be here all day.

My heart crashed against my chest. The one thing I had been sure of from the beginning was Gregory. But then again, people were never who they said they were. I shook my head and moved past everyone, to where the back wall used to be. With my eyes on the ground, my feet swept across the floor as I moved; just in case the book had made its way to the front of the room. I ignored the nasty remarks that were spilling out of Shelly’s and Mandy’s mouths. Pages littered the ground; some burnt, others smudged. A corner of a picture caught my eye, and I stopped. Using my foot, I slid papers off the rest of the picture and just stared. It was a picture of my parents and me. It wasn’t a very old picture, maybe a year or two. We were smiling, mine the largest. Of course, the largest smile hid the most pain. My lungs started to ache, and I finally let go of my breath. Times had changed, and so had I. After pushing papers back over the photo, I moved my way down the room wondering what else I might discover before finding what I actually needed.

When my gaze skimmed the floor and caught on the one book everyone needed, I kept my mouth shut. Quietly, I walked towards the object that would either finish me off or help set me free. I didn’t make a noise; I barely let myself breathe, too afraid of them hearing me. Looking back, I could see the others throwing books and brick into piles. Voices turned into static. This was it. I turned back to the book and slowly crouched down. Keeping my back to the others, I pulled out the small pack of matches, and I moved an inch closer to the book. My heart thundered painfully against my chest, and sweat beaded on my forehead. Mandy’s voice bounced off the walls much closer than I wanted her to be. Flipping open the matchbook, I took the last match out and swiped it across the black stubble of the book, an orange flame erupting at the end. After moving another inch, I was finally at the book. This had to be the book, or I was dooming everyone in this room—which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I tossed the match onto the books that were hiding behind the only standing bookcase in the room. Quickly, I grabbed the book and opened it up. A folded piece of paper lay neatly inside. With quick hands, I snapped it out and tore it open. My heart felt as if it was just about to push out of my chest as I read the page. And then it stopped. My brain had a hard time processing the words written in cursive on the page.

What is that? Gregory’s voice boomed behind me.

Jumping, I turned around. The others were still at the front, but they stopped what they were doing the minute Gregory spoke. Slowly, I stood up and faced him. I licked my lips, ready to do the one thing I never thought I would do, and I crumpled up the paper and threw it in the flames. I smiled. I’m saving my life.

Gregory rushed forward, but the fire had already eaten up the paper and was starting to eat more of the surrounding trash. What did you do? He grabbed me by the shoulders, and his eyes had a scary look to them, a look I’d never seen on him before.

You want to know what was on that paper? I asked. Well, you’ll have to keep me alive.

Gregory shoved me aside as he yelled and started pushing everything in sight to the floor. The others came rushing forward. Brandon grabbed Gregory’s large frame and stalled him. Gregory’s green eyes pelted me with daggers. You just screwed us all.

No. I tried crossing my arms, but the cuffs wouldn’t let me, so I kept my arms hanging. I saved myself, while you doomed the others.

I stretched my lips into a smile, one that I wasn’t feeling on the inside. It looks like we will all have to work together. And— I walked to Gregory and put a hand over his heart —this time, I won’t put my trust in something so fickle. His eyes flared and I removed my hand. Pushing past Gregory, I walked to the front of the room. They were all talking, this time in worried voices. Gregory’s voice was the loudest, but I blocked out his words. As I stepped through the doorway, my heart shattered into a million pieces.

Six weeks earlier

Water splashed the counter. I was trying to keep the water contained to the sink, but it was difficult trying to wash my hair in a small basin and not get the surrounding areas wet. It was early when I woke up. The sun had barely hit the horizon, making the black sky look as if it had started to bleed. The cold water helped wake me up, but I still wanted to go back to the comfort of my bed. Well, a bed made of straw. I hadn’t slept on a real bed in two months. In the beginning, I’d had a rough time trying to get myself comfortable enough to sleep on the makeshift bed. Now, it felt like a real bed, or at least as close to a real bed as I was going to get. Nothing was real here; it was always just close to being real.

Looking up, I stared at my face as I squeezed out the lingering water from my hair. My eyes had dark circles underneath, showing the lack of sleep; the bed didn’t bother me anymore; it was the nightmares. My face looked gaunt and haunted. My cheeks were sunken in, and my skin had a gray tint of paleness. The blue in my eyes became so clear that it created an illusion that one could peer into my soul. It was a great illusion, especially since those around me thought they could read me and knew what I would do. My long strawberry-blonde hair hung tangled down my back. Just looking at my face, anyone could tell I was broken.

My eyes opened slowly, as my body bumped up and down on a cushioned seat. I blinked a few times, but one of my eyes was having a hard time opening. The window my head was leaning against was cold, but it felt nice against the ache in my skull. The dirt road rushed past as the vehicle drove, hitting potholes in the process. I didn’t know they would allow a prisoner up in the front seat. A clear voice came next to me, and I turned towards it. A smile greeted me. Pushing up from the window, I turned towards him.

How’s your head?

Shrugging I looked down at my hands, the cuffs were no longer there. Why wouldn’t they cuff me? As I looked back up at my prison guard, I felt unease. Something didn’t feel right. Was he going to take me straight to Kieran? He looked calm, calculated. What’s going on?

He looked away from the road and back over at me. You’ll find out. Remember, he smiled, his white teeth shining beautifully against his smooth brown skin, there are plenty of people who are rooting for you.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I jumped at the banging from the door and my thoughts scattered. Squeezing the rest of the water out of my hair, I turned and opened the door. Shelly stared down at me. Everyone stared down at me. I liked to think it was because of my height and how I was so much shorter than everyone else, but it wasn’t. These people hated me, but the feeling was mutual. Shelly slammed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. She was tall, taller than most of the men on the team. Her short brown pixie hair was slicked back, and her dark brown eyes grew darker in irritation. When I said people hated me, I didn’t mean Shelly. Shelly despised me. When we had meetings, she would constantly make nasty remarks, and of course no one stopped her. No one admitted it, but I knew she scared the others more than me.

Sorry, I mumbled as I moved past her. She rolled her eyes at me and slammed the door in my face. I wrapped the large dark blue jacket closer to my body, a sudden chill dancing down my back. As I slipped back into my closet-size room, I shut the door behind me and slid down until my butt hit the floor. Pulling my legs closer to my body, I hugged them with my arms. Voices were starting to bounce off the walls; everyone was starting to get up.

We had driven for two hours before we finally stopped. The man sitting next to me didn’t speak, and neither did I. I didn’t know what to say. Yes, I had plenty of questions about what was happening and what was going to happen next. But I couldn’t get myself to say anything. I was still processing what had happened back at Emma’s house and how she had betrayed me. Deep down, it hurt terribly that she offered her own sister up to a monster. But it didn’t surprise me, nothing had surprised me anymore.

We’re here. The man’s voice was deep and floated roughly into the air of the vehicle.

Where is here? I asked, looking around. Tan metal buildings blended together in the sunlight. People were walking around in tan trousers and white shirts, scarves covering their mouths. Nothing looked familiar. The driver door opened, the truck slightly moving as the man got out, and it slammed shut. The driver walked over to a group of men and started talking. Of course, since I was still in the truck I couldn’t hear what was being said, but with the look on the other men’s faces it didn’t look like I was going to be welcomed with a hug. There was no way this place was Kieran’s headquarters; Kieran never came across as someone who liked dirt, dust, and tumbleweeds.

After a few heated minutes, the man walked back over to where I sat. He opened up the door and smiled. Ready?

No, I said. Where are we?

The Outlands.

My brows bunched together, and I scratched my head in confusion. What the hell is the Outlands? More like where.

Don’t worry, you’ll find out everything soon enough. He had an easy smile playing on his face, but deep in my gut it told me not to trust it. I’m Brandon, he held out his hand and hesitantly I took it. I’m here to help you.

Nodding my head, I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to believe there were others out there, who truly wanted to help me, but this was too much of a coincidence and I knew things were only going to get worse.

Closing my eyes, I pictured Gregory and what he might be going through, if he was still alive. It had been two months since the last time I’d seen Gregory being taken and beaten until he grew unconscious. Since coming here, I’d been terrified for Gregory. One day I knew I’d have to realize that Gregory was likely dead, and I was doomed to live here in the Outlands. But for now, I still had hope I would see his beautiful green eyes and annoyingly cute stupid smirk. I just had to bide my time. Determination was my