Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

right as someone else pressed their
face to the same window and looked in to the room.
    Mina gasped, her heart pounding, and
debated her options. She could open the door screaming like a banshee, and
chase the intruder away with the fire poker. Or she could cower on the floor
and call the police. Her imagination running wild, she didn’t stop to think
whether she’d locked the front door. And then she couldn’t remember. She kept
low and crawled to the door of the library. Just on the other side were the
foyer and the front door. Four more steps and she could turn the deadbolt. She
was about to make a run for the lock when she heard it.
    The loud squeak of the rusty hinges from the
screen door. Usually, she complained about the annoying noise.
    All alone in this house, that simple
sound was terrifying.
    Her heart thumped loudly, and all she
could do was plead in her mind. No no no.
Don’t try the door. It’s locked. Nobody’s home.
    But all her inner dialogue did nothing to
persuade her visitor. Too late. The old metal knob jangled and turned.
    Utter silence followed as the well-oiled
inner door pushed open.
    Frozen, she had to make a completely illogical
decision.
    Attack!

 
 
    Chapter 5
    Mina rushed around the wall, poker raised
above her head in the most intimidating pose she could muster. She closed her
eyes and swung at the dark figure invading her foyer—there was a whoosh
of air followed by a gasp and a thud on the floor.
    Still in a state of panic, she opened her
eyes. Nix lay sprawled out on the ground and staring up at her, his hands
protecting his red head from being decapitated. A pair of shocked green eyes
greeted her.
    When he recognized her expression, his
turned amused. “Honey, I’m home,” Nix quipped, mimicking one of the old TV
reruns he’d been obsessed with lately.
    “Nix, what in the world are you doing
sneaking into my house?” Mina said, still brandishing the poker over her
shoulder like a baseball bat.
    “Careful, Lucy, I’ve brought company.”
Nix said still lying on the floor. He gestured with his laughing eyes to the
doorway.
    Mina looked up in confusion to see Brody
filling out the doorframe very well. He appeared entertained at the situation
and the fire poker in her hand. She let out a small gasp and dropped the poker.
    A soft thud and a yelp told her she
dropped it on Nix’s foot.
    “Serves you right,” she muttered under
her breath. “For breaking and entering.”
    “I didn’t break anything. You, on the
other hand, could’ve broken my head if I hadn’t ducked. Besides, I knocked. You
didn’t answer,” Nix whined, as he sat up and nursed his injured leg.
    “That’s because nobody’s home.”
    “Of course you’re home. I saw you walk by
the window.”
    “Maybe I didn’t want company, did you
think of that?” she mumbled between clenched teeth.
    “Why wouldn’t you want company? Now
that’s just dumb. No one likes being alone.”
    Mina sighed loudly in frustration. Nix
still didn’t understand human etiquette. Since Nixies didn’t have doors on
their underground caves, they were used to just letting themselves into each
other’s dwellings. And since Nix only one of his friends and family that hadn’t
disappeared or turned into an evil Sea Witch, being alone was a terrible thought.
    “Well, I happen to like being alone,” she
answered.
    “Being alone isn’t good for the soul. It’s
not healthy. I should know.”
    “Nix, this isn’t really the time to be
debating this,” Mina hissed under her breath as Brody just leaned against the
wall and watched the whole exchange with a bemused expression.
    “And you,” she turned on Brody. “Were you
going to let him just walk into my house?”
    Brody shrugged his shoulders and started
to chuckle. His hair was slightly damp, and his shirt clung to his shoulders. He
seemed wetter than he would have been from walking a few feet in the rain from
the car to the house. They must have driven here straight