Reign Fall

REIGN FALL A Demon Princess Novel by Michelle Rowen

Copyright 2012 Michelle Rowen Smashwords Edition This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portion thereof, in any form. This ebook may not be resold or uploaded for distribution to others. This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE DEMON PRINCESS SERIES REIGN OR SHINE REIGN CHECK REIGN FALL

Prophesies, demon slayers, dragons, homework… It’s going to be a hell of a week!

It’s been a dangerous ride for Nikki Donovan since she first learned she’s a demon princess. And the ride isn’t over yet! She’s just found out that her best friend is a demon slayer in training, one who doesn’t know that Nikki is exactly the prey she’s sworn to hunt. Nikki’s demon king father has signed her up for lessons on how to master her erratic half-demon powers, and that’s on top of her regular homework! Also, she’s torn between two boys—Rhys, the faery king she’s prophesied to marry, and Michael, a Shadow whom she’s forbidden to love. To top it all off, a dark force is haunting Nikki, something mysterious and evil that wants the demon princess dead…but who—or what—is it?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me to make this third Demon Princess book possible: Eve Silver, Jennifer Black, Bonnie Staring, Cecily Cornelius-White, and Lori Devoti. You all rock!

And thank you to every single reader who e-mailed me wanting a book three. You guys were kinda relentless. I like that! This book would never have happened if I didn’t know there were awesome readers out there who wanted to read it. I appreciate your love for the series more than you know and I hope you think it was worth the wait!!

Intro

My name is Nikki Donovan, your normal, everyday sixteen-year-old. At least, I was normal until a month ago when I found out the truth. I’m actually a princess. A demon princess. I know. It’s hard to believe. But it’s all true. When I turned sixteen, I finally got the chance to meet my estranged father, a demon king, who is stuck in his castle and can never leave. He rules over the Shadowlands, another dimension which sits right between the light and the dark worlds. If it wasn’t for my father, the dark worlds —the Underworld and Hell—would be able to spill over to the light worlds—the Faery and Human ones. I learned that some demons really wanted to visit here. Or, in other words, dominate, enslave, and destroy the Human world. Not necessarily in that order. That was what the Shadowlands worked to prevent. No demon could get through to the light worlds without permission from King Desmond, my father. Since I’m only half-demon that makes me something called a Darkling—the first of my kind in a thousand years. Half-human/half-demons aren’t welcomed with open arms in the dark worlds. Or any other world for that matter. I just wish I could tell my mother that my father hadn’t purposely abandoned her when she was pregnant with me—he had absolutely no choice in the matter. And that he loves her to this very day. He refuses to admit it, but I know he does. He, of course, has sworn me to secrecy about all of this. I’m kind of getting sick of keeping secrets just because I’ve been told to. We’ll have to see what happens next...

Chapter 1

It’s not easy being best friends with a demon slayer. Not when you have a secret like mine. In the hall by our lockers, Melinda looked...upset. Seeing her so unhappy made me unhappy. The first day back at school after the winter break was turning out to be worrisome, and first class hadn’t even started yet. I’d last seen Melinda on New Year’s Eve. Instead of going to a big party, she’d been asked to babysit her cousins, five kids all under eight. She’d agreed, which was my first indication that something was wrong. The Melinda I knew would have made any excuse to get out of that obligation so she could go to a party instead. Since I wasn’t really feeling in a partying kind of mood myself, I’d stopped by and helped out, putting the kids to bed by eleven and then we watched the new year ring in on TV. She’d looked at me then and said, “This is going to be a good year, Nikki.” It wasn’t said with enthusiasm. It sounded way more desperate than that. Like she hoped against hope that things would be better. It made my heart break. Then I said something I had a feeling I would come to regret. “You know you can tell me anything, Mel. Right? Anything at all. No matter how difficult it is.” She stared at me so long that it began to make me nervous, like she could see right through me and know what I was holding back from her. She reached over and clutched my hand so hard it made me flinch. “You’re my best friend in the whole wide world, you know that?” Her voice broke a little as she said it. “And you’re mine.” I wanted to help, but I knew I couldn’t be honest with her about my own problems. If a demon slayer—even one still in training—found out her best friend was half-demon, things wouldn’t end very well. So that was my little secret she didn’t know. But I knew hers. And that made life complicated for me. I also knew she’d recently stopped her intense training sessions, uninterested in the commitment it took to follow through. I didn’t understand how it worked, really, but I knew her decision wasn’t acceptable to her trainer, Patrick. He’d promised to come back and try to convince her otherwise. For all I knew, he’d been successful.

So here we were, back to school. Back to normal. Only...I wasn’t totally sure what normal was anymore. “What are you doing Friday night?” Melinda asked as she grabbed her binder for first class from her locker. “Friday? No plans so far. What are you thinking?” “Sleepover. At my place.” I shrugged. “That sounds like fun.” “Brittany and Larissa are coming too.” It was getting less fun by the minute. Brittany and Larissa were two of Melinda’s long-term friends. Two friends that didn’t approve of my sudden inclusion to their social circle—although Larissa had been way more vocal about it. I was still the new girl here and had only moved from the States to Canada and enrolled at Erin Heights High School in the fall. Some people resisted anything new and unfamiliar—and Larissa had resisted me. She’d mostly ignored me lately, deciding the part of “Melinda’s best friend” would be up for grabs again very soon. If Melinda ever found out I was a little bit demonic, it would be. Because I’d be dead, either by Melinda’s hand or by her trainer’s. Let’s not think about that. Hard not to. My life used to involve homework and trips to the mall. Now it involved deception and potential destruction. And stress. Lots of stress. “Okay, here he comes,” Melinda said nervously under her breath. I think she was speaking to herself, not me. I turned to my left and tensed immediately at the familiar form moving down the hallway toward us. Tall and very cute, with chestnut-colored hair and chocolate brown eyes, he looked vaguely uncomfortable in a casual T-shirt and dark jeans. They were human clothes, after all. And Rhys, the king of the Faery Realm, wasn’t all that used to playing human. And yet he still tried. Rhys’s parents had recently been murdered, which meant he had to become king at sixteen without having any say in the matter. Then he learned about me, the demon princess who was prophesied to be the “destroyer of worlds.” That prophecy had thankfully turned out to be false, manufactured to get me in serious trouble. Last month, he came here to investigate if I was a threat. And also enjoy life as a “normal” teenager before taking over his throne full-time. I hadn’t seen him since the last day before school break, which was almost two weeks ago. It was the day he decided he and Melinda were going to officially start dating. She’d had a crush on him from the moment he started here as a “foreign exchange student.” Melinda had no idea this meant he came from a different world, one that had to be accessed through a magical gateway. It was a place where there were a lot of trees, a lot of bubbling streams, and at least one unicorn wandering freely about. But he was back. I wasn’t totally sure he would be.

“I’m glad to see you. You look beautiful today,” Rhys said. I opened my mouth to reply, but he leaned in and...kissed Melinda. He hadn’t been talking to me. “Thanks. You look great, too,” she said when they parted. She pushed her light blonde hair back over her shoulder and jostled her binder and book in her arms. Then Rhys glanced at me out of the corner of his eye as if to gauge my reaction to his public display of affection. I just stood there placidly. Patiently. With what I hoped was a very “who cares?” expression. His eyes narrowed and it felt as if we had a wordless conversation. Jealous? his eyes asked. Not even remotely, my eyes replied. Seen your boyfriend lately? Not for a while. Too bad. I know you think you two are meant for each other. You know, if you don’t take our prophecy into consideration. The prophecy that you wanted to ignore? You can’t ignore prophesies, Nikki. Not forever. If that’s so, then why are you stringing my best friend along and trying to treat me like crap? Ditch your Shadow boyfriend and maybe we’ll talk. Since I wasn’t a mind reader, and Rhys and I weren’t bound by any telepathic abilities, this was all just my imagination talking. But still, given our history, I didn’t think I was too far off. “Talk to you later,” Rhys said to Melinda and gave her another quick kiss before he took off to first class without a backward glance. The entire time, not counting our intense eyeball exchange, he hadn’t said a word to me. Not even a “hello.” He was so annoying, I couldn’t even believe it. He wanted to make my life more difficult than it already was. This was a different prophecy than my “destroy worlds” one that stated that the faery king, namely him, would one day marry the half-demon princess, namely me. Since faeries hated demons, he hadn’t been happy to hear this. Neither was I. Not only wasn’t I interested in him like that, we were both sixteen years old. I wasn’t marrying anyone for a very long time. Period. My mother had been married four times. That example alone was enough to turn me off the prospect of saying “I do” in the foreseeable future. Besides, I was seeing someone else. Sort of. I had a complicated and completely forbidden relationship with Michael, a guy I also hadn’t seen since before Christmas. But, for me, the difference between Michael and Rhys was a big one. Just the thought of Michael made me miss him desperately and wish he was here. Michael was a Shadow, a servant to demonkind. My personal servant, to be exact, assigned to me by my father for protection and guidance. Of course, Michael was also completely gorgeous

and I fell for him before I learned such feelings were forbidden. Let’s just say, demons have a lot of stupid rules and interspecies dating was a big no-no with some nasty penalties if anyone found out. But just because we couldn’t be together officially didn’t mean we couldn’t be together unofficially. At least, I thought we were. It had been a long two weeks. I suddenly realized Melinda hadn’t said anything after Rhys walked away. Her face was haunted. I touched her arm. “Hey, you okay?” She seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in and gave me a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.” “So, you and Rhys, huh? You’re officially together?” She blinked. “I don’t know.” I frowned. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Two weeks ago you were head over heels for him. Now you two are...together, right?” I only winced a little saying it out loud. “He’s using me,” Melinda said, as if she’d read my mind. I tried not to gasp out loud. “What?” “He doesn’t really like me. He likes you. I’m not stupid, Nikki. I can see that for myself. He’s using me to make you jealous.” Oh boy. My stomach churned. “He doesn’t like me. And I don’t like him. Not like like.” “If you say so.” “I do.” I cringed at my bad choice of words when wedding prophesies were involved. “So...I don’t understand. You just kissed him. You’re still going to date him, even feeling this way?” She shrugged. “Sure. For now. I want people to think I have a boyfriend. Maybe then...” Her expression shadowed. “Maybe then he’ll finally leave me alone.” “Who are you talking about?” Melinda shook her head. “Forget it. It’s nothing. I...I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” “Yeah, okay.” I watched her walk away. It didn’t take me too long to clue in to who she was talking about. Patrick, her trainer. He seemed very possessive of her when they’d been together —almost as if he was an older, overbearing boyfriend. Being with Rhys might get Patrick to keep his distance. Was that what Melinda thought? The bell rang, which meant I was now late for class. I grabbed my books, shut my locker, and hurried to my right— —only to bash right into someone. I clutched my books tighter to my chest and looked up with surprise—and dismay— at who it was. Chris Sanders stared at me, his brows drawn tightly together. He didn’t move, he didn’t speak. He just stared.

When I first came to Erin Heights, Chris was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen in my life. Dark-blond hair, blue-gray eyes, a killer smile, broad shoulders, a fantastic body. He was a year older than me, a senior. Absolutely perfect. And, total shocker, he’d asked me to Winter Formal, during which—while drunk—he showed me just how non-perfect he really was when he tried to attack me in the back seat of a limo. He thought he could get whatever he wanted, whomever he wanted, whenever he wanted. But he couldn’t have me. I’d managed to shift to my “Darkling” form, which was the term for a half-demon/half-human like me. Let’s just say: wings, horns, and about twenty times more strength than I normally had. Plus I could throw energy balls—both destructive and great self defense against drunk dates who outweigh you by seventy pounds. I’d kicked his butt and chased him away. Later, however, I’d been afraid he’d tell everybody my secret. He hadn’t. Chris, too, had a few secrets of his own. His mother was a dragon oracle—a dragon-shifter who could foresee the future. This made Chris half-dragon, something he hadn’t known. I wasn’t sure if he even knew it now. But the side effects of being half-dragon were beginning to weigh heavily on him. Gone was the perfect appearance he’d had before. Now he looked...crazy. And scattered. His very unfashionable gray sweatshirt had a rip in the sleeve. The old Chris never would have worn something like that. I had no idea what was going on in that brain of his, but it wasn’t good and it wasn’t anything he could control. That his mother was also a licensed psychiatrist didn’t seem to be helping matters at all. “Chris—” The halls were empty except for the two of us. “How are you?” “You’re in danger, Nikki.” I blinked. “What?” He drew closer and I forced myself to stand my ground. “You need to be watchful. Wary.” “Two things I am lately, so don’t worry.” He shook his head. “I see it. Sort of see it.” He brought his hands to his temples. “It’s coming. And it wants to hurt you. You have something it wants.” A shiver went down my spine. “What? Who?” He glanced over his shoulder. “I need to go. But I have something for you. I dreamed it and I drew it. It’s fuzzy and I can’t see anything clearly, but it might help you.” He pulled something out of his back pocket, a dirty piece of paper that had been folded multiple times. He pressed it into my hand. “What is—?” He clutched my wrist and my eyes shot back to his. “Destroyer of worlds,” he whispered, “you must survive. No one else can find the truth but you.”

And then he let go of me and walked away, disappearing around the corner at the end of the hall. I stood there in stunned silence. Destroyer of worlds? That was a false prophecy; knowing that gave me closure and confidence. But Chris had seen it in a vision. Him just saying the words out loud had been enough to trigger a sick feeling in my gut. Shifting my books to tuck them under my arm, I unfolded the piece of paper Chris had given me. Cold fear slithered through me. It was a roughly drawn sketch of a dark figure with large black wings stretching out behind it. I didn’t know what it meant, but it felt like something I shouldn’t just ignore, even though I desperately wanted to do just that. What Chris had said repeated in my brain, over and over again, even though I desperately wished I could block it out. “It’s coming. And it wants to hurt you. You have something it wants.” So much for this being a shiny new year.

Chapter 2

Biology was one class I couldn’t skip, but I wished I could. Rhys was in it with me. Our teacher, Mr. Crane, gave me a questioning look as I slunk in through the door five minutes late, interrupting him in the middle of whatever he’d been saying. “Nice of you to join us, Ms. Donovan.” “Happy to be here,” I replied easily, earning a couple laughs from the back row. I wasn’t normally a smartass, but it still came easily to me. He gave me a stern look, which I tried to ignore as I took my seat. I’d spent more time than I would have liked with Mr. Crane over the break, including Christmas dinner, since he was currently dating my mother. Talk about awkward. And I didn’t think it would help me earn an easy A. I figured he was going to take the opportunity to be extra strict with me to show that his relationship with my mother had no influence over his grading. Luckily, today it seemed as if he was going to give me a break and not make a big deal over my tardiness. He started talking again, about everything we’d covered so far in class, and how it was all leading up to our big exam at the end of the month. I tried not to think about it too much. I’d been focused on a lot of things lately, but studying wasn’t one of them. Before long, it all became background noise as my problems swirled in my head. The sketch Chris gave me freaked me out. What was that supposed to be? Something with wings? I’d only seen two things that had wings in person—faeries and demons. Despite being fierce, dangerous, and territorial, faeries had delicate-looking wings. Rhys used a glamour to cover up any noticeable faery traits he had. Namely his wings and the pointed tips to his ears he had in his own world. And demons—they had large leathery wings unless they were in human form. “You must survive. No one else can find the truth but you.” Chris Sanders = crazy. That was probably all this was. I wondered, should I try to help a guy who’d made my life more difficult, or should I just stand by and watch him self-destruct? Something caught my eye and I turned just a little to see that Rhys had placed something in the very center of our shared desk. A small white box. I stared at it for a moment, but didn’t make a move to touch it. He finally tore his seemingly undivided attention away from Mr. Crane to give me a sidelong glance. “It’s a gift.” My heart started to pound. “Why?” “Do I need a reason? Open it.”

Instead, I turned my eyes straight forward but soon realized that Mr. Crane’s voice had become muted and impossible to understand. Rhys had the ability to magically put a privacy bubble around us, so no one could hear what we were talking about. It was helpful a lot of the time, but right now I didn’t want to be private with the faery king. “You shouldn’t be buying me gifts,” I said. “I didn’t buy it.” I hissed out a breath. “Then you shouldn’t be stealing me gifts.” “It’s not bought or stolen. Cross my heart.” I glanced at the little white box again, hating that I felt curious about what could be inside. “You should be giving presents to your new girlfriend, Melinda. Remember her?” “I did get her something from the mall as a belated Christmas present. This, however, isn’t from the mall. I thought you’d like it.” He was silent for a moment. “It’s not an engagement ring, I promise.” I relaxed a little at hearing that. Stupid prophecy. Finally, when the room didn’t become unmuted, I knew he was going to keep the bubble over us all class if I didn’t open the box. I dragged it in front of me with the tip of my index finger. “It’s not going to bite you,” Rhys said with amusement. “It’s just a little something from the Faery Realm.” Great. Maybe it was a miniature unicorn. I’d always wanted a pet. I exhaled slowly, then finally took off the lid and raised the box so I could see what lay inside. It was a single red rosebud. Perfect and beautiful. It had a sweet, fragrant scent—I’d never smelled anything so incredible in my life. “It’s so pretty,” was all I allowed myself to say. “It’s not just any rose. It’s very rare: a faery rose. It will never die. It will always be as beautiful as it is at this very moment.” I looked at him with surprise, but his attention was back on Mr. Crane and the room’s volume increased, which meant he’d lifted the privacy bubble. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say anything else. What was I going to say? He’d just given me a tiny, rare piece of immortal beauty while he’d given, or would be giving, Melinda something he’d picked up at the mall. He spoke again, without meeting my gaze, “Probably a lot better than what the Shadow could ever give you, right? Then again, I am a king and he’s only a lowly servant. You should try to remember that.” Whatever mildly warm and confusing feelings I’d started to feel for the boy seated next to me went frosty at the edges. “Thanks for the rose. And for the reminder that you’re an elitist jerk.” I supposed I could have refused the gift entirely, but instead I put the lid back on the box and tossed it into my bag hanging off the back of my chair. I was glad he reminded me why I didn’t like him all that much. For a moment there, I’d completely forgotten.

o0o I didn’t look at the rose again that day. Rhys’s attitude had successfully put a sour taste in my mouth. I wondered when he planned on going back to the Faery Realm permanently. The sooner the better, as far as I was concerned. By lunch, Melinda seemed like she’d snapped out of whatever funk she’d been in that morning. She was friendly, smiling, laughing with friends and looked at Rhys as if she really did like him every bit as much as she had before. I resolved to keep a close eye on her and make sure she was okay. She, however, wasn’t the talk of the school. I listened to Brittany and Larissa discuss another important subject over the lunch table. They were both part of the “Royal Party,” or what the more popular kids at Erin Heights High had named themselves. Kind of ironic that me, a princess, and Rhys, a king, were now a part of it, and nobody knew except the two of us. Brittany and Larissa were both beautiful, the kind of girls you’d expect to be cheerleaders, but they’d decided they didn’t have time for things like that. Larissa had dark hair and tanned, flawless skin—no freckles on her nose like I had—and Brittany was a redhead whose only major appearance flaw was that her favorite color to wear was pink, a color that inevitably clashed with her hair. “What is up with Chris lately?” Larissa asked. “Did you see him this morning?” “Yeah.” Brittany nodded, then twisted a finger through her long red hair. “I heard he had a mental meltdown a few weeks ago.” “Then he should go somewhere else. Like a hospital. Doesn’t his mother work with crazy people? I mean, how could she let him leave the house wearing that today? He used to be so hot.” “So hot,” Brittany agreed. “And now he’s”—Larissa grimaced—“so not. Such a waste. I would have gone out with him in a minute before, but now he’s definitely not a prospect.” Her gaze moved across the table and fell on me. “What did you do to him, anyway? You’re the last girl he went out with before he got all weird.” I just shrugged a shoulder. “No idea.” “Really helpful, thanks.” Her expression tightened. “And then there’s Melinda...” I looked at her sharply. “What about Melinda?” Larissa sent a look down the table to the girl in question who was currently out of earshot. “I don’t know. She’s acting so distracted lately. I’m starting to get worried about her.” Yeah. That made two of us. But I wasn’t going to share that with Larissa. Melinda laughed at the end of the table and I shot a glance toward her. The laugh sounded fake, but no one else seemed to notice. Her laugh was in response to something Rhys said as he gave her the belated mall-bought Christmas gift: a silver bracelet with a heart charm. He glanced in my direction as if to see if I was paying attention to how happy Melinda was with him.

This wasn’t going to be a fun week. o0o Chris didn’t bother me again over the next couple of days, instead choosing to stay at the sidelines of the school and act strangely. Not strangely enough to require a guidance counselor intervention, though. There was no love lost between the two of us, nor was I remotely interested in him anymore, but I still worried about him since I knew what was causing his recent problems. Had his mother finally told him the truth about his origins? Not everything could be swept under the carpet forever. Some of those things started to creep back out all by themselves whether you wanted them to or not. As I got ready to leave school on Wednesday afternoon, I passed Melinda and another girl at the end of the hallway sitting on the steps to the parking lot exit. “Nikki!” Melinda called out to me. “Need a ride home?” “That would be great. Thanks.” It wasn’t that far of a walk, but touching base with Melinda at the mid-week point might be a good idea. Despite her near-misery on Monday morning, she’d really been keeping up a shiny, happy exterior ever since. I just didn’t know if it was real or not. “Hey, do you guys know each other?” she asked, turning her attention from me to the other girl. “This is Clara. She’s new to Erin Heights. Clara, this is Nikki, my best friend.” Clara was very pretty, with long dark hair and bright blue eyes. She gave me a smile. “Hey, Nikki.” I smiled back at her. “Hi. Where did you move from?” “Los Angeles.” I grimaced. “My condolences. I’m sure you miss the palm trees and beaches. Ontario snow storms and icy sidewalks aren’t exactly a nice consolation prize, are they?” She laughed. “You sound like you speak from experience.” “I do. I’ve lived a bunch of places, including San Diego. It was gorgeous there.” “Erin Heights is cool too.” “Cool being the important word in that sentence. Very cool. Freezing, actually.” My mother had grown up in this area so this was like a homecoming for her, but I was new to cold winters like this. Spring couldn’t come soon enough, in my opinion. We’d moved here when she married her most recent husband, a marriage that only lasted a couple of months before she threw him out for being an abusive jerk. Only one problem—we were still living in his house while he stayed with friends. Eventually we’d have to find somewhere else to live, but I knew Mom liked it here and thankfully had no intentions of picking up and moving us across the continent again. Despite the weather and the drama I’d had to face since moving here, I didn’t want to leave. “Clara’s coming to the sleepover at my place on Friday night,” Melinda said, standing up and brushing off the front of her jeans. She swung her leather bag over her shoulder.

“Sounds good to me,” I said. And I meant it. Anything to divert Larissa’s attention from me at the party would be a very good thing. “My mom’s picking me up in five minutes out front,” Clara said. “See you later, Melinda. Great meeting you, Nikki.” “You too.” With a wave, she took off down the hall to our left. “She’s really nice,” Melinda assured me. “I’m sure she is. How did you meet?” “She’s in my English class.” She smiled. “What can I say? I like to be nice to the new girls.” I laughed. “This new girl appreciated it, too.” “So it’s the three of us, is it?” Rhys asked. I jumped a little and looked to my right to see him approach. I deflated a little. I thought I’d be able to spend some quality alone time with Melinda to help me figure out how she was coping this week. “You know what?” I said. “On second thought, I think I’ll walk.” Melinda frowned. “You sure?” “Positive.” “Don’t go on my account,” Rhys said with a knowing grin. “I don’t want to get in the way,” I said, faking a friendly smile toward him. “Three’s a crowd.” “Maybe you should give your boyfriend a call,” he replied dryly. “We could do a double date over the weekend. Seen him yet?” I tried to control my glare. Not only hadn’t I seen Michael since before Christmas, but it was also starting to bother me. It was as if Rhys could sense that and wanted to rub my nose in it. “Sounds like a plan,” I instead said sweetly. “Are you still seeing that guy?” Melinda said. She’d met him in passing at a party. “Michael, right? I haven’t seen him around lately.” “Uh, yeah. We are still...seeing each other. Now and then. But it’s not serious or anything.” I cringed as I said it even though, based on his absence, it was obviously the truth. “He doesn’t live here in town and can’t get away to visit me all that easily.” Michael was at the mercy of my father when it came to getting permission to come to the human world. I had a gut feeling that my father was keeping him away on purpose. Melinda grinned. “He was a little strange, but so hot.” “You’re right,” I said pointedly. “Michael’s probably the hottest and most amazing guy I’ve ever met. He’s just a little shy. But guys who aren’t all vain and showy are more my type anyway.” “He sounds delightful,” Rhys said, a thin smile on his face. “Please give him my regards if you do see him again soon.”

“I’ll do that.” And that was about all I could take of this particular conversation. “See you tomorrow.” “Bye Nikki,” Melinda called after me as I took off. It was good to get some fresh air. The cold helped me focus on one thing, which was getting home. There’d been some mild weather over the holidays to clear away most of the snow, leaving brown lawns and clear streets behind. But the temperature had plunged. It was sub-zero today and I wrapped my red scarf around my face as I made my way home. A quick walk, since I took the shortcut, so it wasn’t too bad. Once home, I passed my mother’s office on my way up to my room. “Hey Nikki,” she said when she caught a glimpse of me. “Just let me finish another chapter and then maybe we’ll order pizza for dinner. Sound okay?” “Sure. How’s the writing going?” “Pretty good. Trying to get into the new book. It takes a while to get the momentum going.” My mother wrote paranormal romance novels for a living. She’d written more than twenty of them, actually, and was able to do it full time. Her chosen vocation described her personality pretty well. She loved love. Loved romance. Loved the idea of the “ideal” hero who swept the heroine off her feet and they got to have a happily ever after, even if my mother had become jaded over the years about it happening for her in real life. No, real life romance didn’t seem quite as perfect or dependable as fiction. Thus her four marriages and divorces, her most recent currently in the works. She wanted to meet the perfect man who would make everything wonderful and love her back like the vampire heroes in her books loved their heroines, but so far it hadn’t worked out so well for her four ex-husbands. I hated to think Mr. Crane might be on his way to becoming number five. Not that I had anything against him. He was nice enough, way nicer than a couple of the others had been. He was smart and, for an old guy of around forty, reasonably good looking. Plus, they were taking things really slowly. But... Well, he wasn’t my father. That was who I knew my mother was meant to be with—why she couldn’t find true happiness with anyone else. Only I couldn’t say anything. He would be furious if I did since their relationship from the very beginning was forbidden by demon law and any contact now would put her safety in jeopardy. He’d had no idea she’d even been pregnant—and he’d had no clue I even existed until just last month. My mother had her heart shattered into a million pieces when he disappeared without a trace over sixteen years ago, leaving her as a single mother who’d had to support both herself and me from the time she was only eighteen—not all that much older than I was now. Even though I now knew why he hadn’t been able to say anything or stay in touch, I understood how she must have felt then. How she still felt now. Betrayed. Abandoned. Heartbroken.

I wished I could tell her the truth. I wondered if it would make any difference to her. Was there a chance she could still love my father, even after knowing the truth about what he really was? Just because she wrote about vampires in love didn’t mean she could deal with a real live demon. Even if he was a demon king. In my room, I eyed the two things on my nightstand in silence. The little white box containing the faery rose on one side, and the drawing Chris had done on the other. Both freaked me out, but not enough to throw either away. They’d just sat there for the last few days, taunting me. “You don’t scare me,” I told them. Finally, as if to show just how much they didn’t scare me, I looked at each one up close again. The drawing of the ominous winged figure was still as creepy. Chris had drawn it in pencil, pressing so hard in some places that it had torn right through the paper. It made me shiver as a weird sensation of dread filled me. I folded the drawing back up and slid it into the drawer so I wouldn’t have to see it and worry about what it might mean. After all, it could mean absolutely nothing. Then I lifted the lid off the faery rose and its sweet scent hit me immediately. It was as beautiful and fresh as it had been on Monday morning, but, oddly, it wasn’t red today. It had changed to a soft pink color. This surprised me, but didn’t fill me with dread like the drawing did. It filled me with happiness that I’d been given something so exquisitely beautiful. Which, really, was still disturbing, considering who’d given it to me. It also went into the drawer. After pizza and an evening of mind-numbing TV, I went to bed at eleven. My room felt warm since Mom had cranked the heat all day. She liked to work in shorts and a tank top, so she kept the house warmer than I preferred it. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to fall asleep, but knew it would be difficult. I must have tossed and turned for at least an hour before...I heard it. A tapping. On my window pane. Since my room was on the second floor, this wasn’t exactly normal. I clutched my sheets. My heart began to race. More tapping made me sit straight up and swing my legs out of bed. Slowly, I made my way over to the window. I clenched my fist at my side, and I could feel the tingling as I summoned a little energy into my hand. Not enough to create an energy ball—I had to be in Darkling form to do that—but enough to help give me some courage. I held my breath and pulled the curtain slightly away from the window. I peeked out, half expecting to see only a tree branch brushing against the glass. It wasn’t a tree branch. Someone sat on the ledge of my window sill. I relaxed. A little. Then I unlocked the window and slid it open. Cold air rushed in. Michael smiled at me. “Hello, Princess.”

Chapter 3

I wanted to be angry with him for scaring me. And for disappearing completely from my life for nearly two full weeks. But I wasn’t angry right now, just elated to see him again. Still, I didn’t want to be overly friendly. “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” I asked. “You look really familiar, but I can’t quite place you.” His smile slipped and a frown creased his brow. He pushed the dark hair back from his forehead and away from his vivid emerald-green eyes. My heart skipped a beat. “It’s me, Princess. Michael.” He looked so serious that I had to laugh a little. “I was just kidding.” “Oh. I...knew that.” “No you didn’t. You really thought I’d forget you that easily?” I shrugged a shoulder. “I mean, it has been a while.” His smile hadn’t returned yet. “I know.” “No visits. No lurking. Nothing at all. Total silence.” “I wanted to come here...” “Did you?” “Of course I did.” He slipped a little on the window ledge, which was too narrow to hold him for long. It was meant more for squirrels and birds and maybe a flower pot or two, not for a sixfoot-tall seventeen-year-old boy. “You’re going to break it,” I warned, opening the window wider. “Come in, but just...be quiet. If my mother finds you in here she’s going to lose it.” Quiet was definitely one thing a Shadow could be. He swung around and slid his long legs through the open window in two seconds flat to stand next to me in my bedroom. This immediately made me self-conscious and fully aware that I was wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top and had just emerged from my very messy bed. He’d never been in here before. His gaze moved over the dark interior as if assessing the area for potential danger. In the darkness of the room, his amulet glowed a little, pulsing with a soft, green light. He always wore it. An oval stone, about two inches tall, which looked like an emerald—an exact match to the color of his eyes. All Shadows had one. And all Shadows had green eyes. From what I’d been able to understand about the very enigmatic Shadows, the stone was

essential to their existence. Without it, they lost solid form and became, just as their name suggested, formless shadows. They could also summon energy through the stone and use it as a weapon—but that was forbidden. Plus, it was exhausting and draining for them. If Shadows lost their amulet, lost form, then it wouldn’t be long before they lost their hold on the world completely and faded away to nothing. In other words, it would kill them. Shadows had been servants to demonkind for ages. Well, maybe “servant” was the wrong word, even though that was the term everyone used. Shadows had no choice in what they were and were punished if they tried to rebel. To me, that made them slaves. It was a thought that turned my stomach. Michael had lived in my father’s castle since his parents died when he was only a baby. His father and my father had been good friends. But, despite those close ties, my father still considered Michael a servant. Embarrassed by this lowly status, it took Michael a long time to come clean to me about who he was and what it meant. By then I had developed some serious feelings for him. None of which involved me ordering him around like a haughty princess would. He was my equal. All Shadows were my equals. I refused to think of them any other way. However, nobody seemed to feel this way except for me, and I had no idea why. I guess some stigmas and traditions were hard to shake, even if they were wrong. “Why are you here?” I asked, breaking the silence between us. Just being close to him made my heart twist into crazy shapes. I was ready to forgive him way too quickly. “Did my father send you?” “No. I came on my own.” I frowned. “You did? I didn’t even know you could do that.” “Sometimes I can. I am allowed some freedoms.” Which made his absence even more troubling. “I guess you’ve been really busy lately.” “I have.” My forgotten anger began to bubble up. “Two weeks, that’s how long it’s been since I last saw you.” “I know.” “Rhys is back at school with me.” I wanted some sort of reaction out of him—he didn’t like the faery king. It was totally petty of me, but I’d have been grateful for even a little jealousy. It would have meant Michael still cared about me the way I cared for him. “He even gave me a present. A faery rose.” “How generous of him. Faery roses are very rare.” I was disappointed by his calm tone. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” He studied me for a moment. “You’re mad at me.” “You’re smart.” I thought he might smile at that, but he didn’t. He grew more grave. I glanced out the window to the dark street past the driveway. “I stayed away for a reason, Princess. A good one.”

I turned from the window. He’d drawn closer. He was way taller than me and always dressed in dark hoodies and faded T-shirts. It was as if he was trying to look like a human teenager who would fit in with everyone else but hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet. “I want to show you something.” His expression darkened. “It’s a secret. You have to promise not to tell anyone about this.” “Of course.” Concern gnawed at the edges of my mind. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine. Better than before. Are you watching?” I nodded, finding it difficult to breathe for a second. He took a step back from me, his gaze fixed on my face. He pulled his amulet from around his neck and tossed it to the side. It landed on my nightstand. I stared at it with horror. “Michael, what are you doing? You can’t take that off!” “I can.” A smile stretched over his face. “I figured it out, Princess. They’ve been lying. We’re not what they think; what I’ve always thought we are.” “What are you talking about?” He closed the distance between us and reached for my hand. I was surprised when he was able to take it. He was still solid, even without the amulet. The feel of his skin against mine made me shiver. “See?” he said. “I’m still here.” My eyes widened. “I can’t believe this.” “Believe it.” “How is this possible?” “It’s the reason why demons have tried to keep Shadows repressed for so long. They’re afraid of us because they know what we can do. How powerful we can be.” My head spun. I knew demons had rules and laws about Shadows, mostly due to fear. Most Shadows had no idea how strong and powerful they could be. But none of this had been confirmed, especially when it came to their amulets. “Please put it back on. I’m afraid you might be wrong.” “I’m not wrong.” He took my face between his hands. Strong hands. Warm skin. His eyes glowed green in the darkness of my room just as his amulet had before. “I need to show you something else, too.” The night was full of surprises. I didn’t think I could handle another one. “What?” I saw something then in the darkness of the room. Behind Michael. Stretching out behind him on either side. Were they shadows? Dark forms, stretching, spreading. Oh, my God. They were wings...black wings. “Isn’t it incredible?” he whispered. He still had my face in his hands, his eyes staring deeply into mine.

“The sketch,” I whispered. Chris’s sketch of the form with black wings. Had it been a drawing of Michael? “I came here tonight to show you this. And to kiss you.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against mine. It felt good, but it still filled me with a strange fear. “I’ll only take a little, I promise. I can’t be near you anymore without wanting this from you. I need it more than anything.” I felt him drawing something out of me through his hands on either side of my face. They’d heated up so much that they almost burned me. I began to feel weak and I couldn’t seem to break away. I began to fear him as I grew dizzy as my energy drained away. This suddenly reminded me of something that had happened before. Another Shadow—he’d absorbed the life force of a demon right in front of me. And then he’d tried to do the exact same thing to me. But he’d been in full Shadow form at the time. Michael...wasn’t. His green eyes burned into mine. His hands moved down to either side of my throat. “Michael...stop,” I managed to say as I began to feel weak. “I can’t. Even if I wanted to, I can’t.” Suddenly, he staggered back from me. There was a dark look on his face now. It was greed. It was hunger. And it was directed at me. He reached toward me in the darkness. His hand glowed with green light, like his eyes did, and cold fear raced through me. “More.” Just then, someone clutched my arm. “Princess,” Michael said. “I got here just in time.” It was another Michael standing there next to me. “What the hell?” I managed, panicked and confused. “What is going on? What is this?” “You can’t trust him.” The new Michael grabbed my shoulders. “He’s a liar. He’s evil. And he will hurt you. Do you hear me?” “But he is you. Isn’t he?” His expression tensed. “Don’t look at him.” But I did look. The Michael now standing in the corner of my room had grown darker, his shape becoming less familiar. Those dark wings grew bigger. Soon, it was just a black silhouette with piercing green pinpricks of light where his eyes had been. I bit back my scream and turned to the other Michael, the one still wearing his amulet. “What do we do now?” My voice shook. “Now,” he said, reaching out his hand to me, “we run.” The two of us ran out of my room and thundered down the stairs to the front door. I grappled with the handle, but it was locked. Of course it was locked. It was after midnight. “This is all my fault,” Michael said as I tried to twist the lock. My hand kept slipping.

I shook my head. “That’s not you. You’re not like that. That was a monster who was trying to look like you.” “Nikki,” my mother called down from the top of the stairs. “What’s going on?” I looked up to see her staring down at me over the railing, bleary-eyed. She tied her blue bathrobe tightly at her waist. I was about to say something, but the words stuck in my throat. The black winged thing approached from behind her. She didn’t even sense anything was there until those scary black wings wrapped around her. Her scream filled the air. Terror gripped me like a clawed hand. “Mom! No!” Then she disappeared. The shadowy winged thing disappeared. And Michael disappeared, leaving me standing there all alone. I finally woke up from my nightmare. My eyes shot wide open and I stared at my bedroom ceiling, sweat pouring down my face, my heart pounding like a jackhammer. A moment later, my mother opened my door and peered in at me. “Hey, Nikki. You okay in here?” “Yeah.” I was so relieved to see her that I almost started to cry. “Just a bad dream.” “It’s not every night I get woken up by a scream from my daughter. You almost gave me a heart attack! You sure there’s nothing else wrong?” I took a ragged breath. “I’m fine. Sorry.” “Okay. Well...goodnight, honey.” The door shut with a soft click. Just a bad dream, I told myself again and again until I started to believe it. Just a stupid, stupid dream. If only it hadn’t felt so real. o0o Thursday. School again. Melinda was acting distracted, but fakely happy. Rhys was ignoring me to the best of his ability, even though I still caught him looking at me frequently. Chris was lurking at the edges of the hallway, scribbling in his ever-present sketchbook. Nothing new here. Today, however, when I left school to walk home after a long and tiring day—especially since I wasn’t able to get much more sleep after my nightmare—there was someone new waiting outside. When I turned the corner, I found Michael leaning against the wall. My heart began to hammer hard in my chest. His smile faded little by little when I didn’t immediately return it. And I didn’t slow down to give him a proper greeting. Without a word, he followed me, quickly catching up so we were side by side. “Happy New Year, Princess.”

It was January the sixth, but whatever. “Let me guess,” he said when I didn’t reply. “You’re not speaking to me.” I stayed silent, keeping my focus on putting one foot in front of the other and ignoring the cold. The temperature never bothered Michael. Even today, all he wore for protection against the sub-zero temperature was a black hoodie. Faded jeans encased his long legs. I couldn’t see what color T-shirt he wore, but his amulet was clearly visible on the outside of the zipped-up garment. Slightly reassuring that he wore it. But not by much. Despite the nightmare I’d had, I was thrilled to see him. I fought hard not to show it, though. A ton of emotions stormed through me at seeing Michael again—a flood of happiness just by the sight of him, a trickle of fear from the dream, a lightning bolt of anger from feeling abandoned. ::Princess, are you going to say anything to me?:: The telepathy almost froze me in my tracks. It wasn’t mind reading. We had to willfully project what we were thinking toward each other, which meant our private thoughts could be shielded, but it was a handy tool when we were near each other. It didn’t work long-distance. It came along with the bond created between us when my father had officially assigned Michael to me as my servant. I assumed it was to make ordering him around easier. Not a nice thought. We reached the park that was part of my shortcut to get home. This was where Michael and I had first met, actually. He’d followed me here to tell me my father was a demon king and I was a half-demon princess. I’d thought he was dangerous at the time—not to mention crazy—and hadn’t reacted well. I ran for my life at my first opportunity. It took a while for me to accept everything. Quite honestly, I was still working on the acceptance. Avoidance, however, hadn’t gotten me anywhere. I felt his gaze on me as he waited for me to say something. I finally stopped walking and faced him. “Where have you been?” This time, he was the one who didn’t answer for a moment. “Pardon me?” The ache in my heart I’d been trying to ignore all this time increased. “Two weeks, Michael. Two weeks and nothing. Not a word. Even if you didn’t want to see me socially, aren’t you supposed to be protecting me? Watching over me like some sort of guardian or bodyguard? Where have you been? Or have you been here lurking in the shadows and not saying anything like you used to do. If so, I don’t appreciate that very much.” He was silent for a moment, his gaze locked with mine. His brows drew together. “I wanted to see you. Trust me, I did. But I couldn’t.” “Why? Did my father ground you?” He didn’t answer me. If my father had been the one to keep him away, he didn’t want to just come out and say that. My father was a king, after all. And tattling on a king, even to his daughter— especially to his daughter—wasn’t necessarily a smart idea. His jaw tightened. “You’ve been safe?” “I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are.” He exhaled slowly. “Just for the record, I’m glad to see you.” My heart skipped a beat, but I refused to forgive and forget quite that easily. I tore my gaze away from his and forced myself to start walking again. “So he just refused to let you come here? He’s such a jerk.” “Don’t say that. He’s trying to protect you.” “He didn’t protect me for the first sixteen years of my life, so now he’s trying to make up for all that time by making me miserable?” He studied me. “You were miserable not seeing me?” I opened my mouth to say yes, but closed it. While I really liked Michael— more than liked him—I didn’t want him to get all cocky about my feelings toward him. “No, I mean...whatever. It doesn’t matter. It was only two weeks.” “Your father wants to know if King Rhys is still going to your school,” Michael said a moment later. “Is he?” I hesitated before I nodded, then flicked a glance at him to see if this meant anything to him. It did. His face tensed and his eyes flashed with anger. “Has he been bothering you?” he asked. I couldn’t help but smile at his fierce look, so different from the reaction of the Michael in my dream who didn’t seem to care if Rhys and I were friends. “Constantly.” Michael clenched his fists at his sides. “Have you been spending a lot of time with him?” “He’s dating Melinda now.” It was sort of a non-answer, but it would do. “A human?” “She is.” Among other things I didn’t feel ready to disclose. He nodded, as if satisfied by that answer. “I’m not here only because of the faery king, Princess. I’m here because your father has sent for you. He wants to see you immediately.” “So you definitely can’t come here without his permission. You can’t just slip through any gateway?” That was what Evil-Dream-Michael had basically said. “King Desmond must create the gateway and give me permission to use it. There’s no other way to get here.” I wanted to tell him about my nightmare, but I held back. It was just a dream, anyway. Maybe having him gone for so long had made me start to doubt things. Doubt him. And seeing Chris’s sketch had burned that particular image of an ominous winged figure into my mind. My unconscious mind had simply blended the two. “Nice of him to make an exception after all this time,” I said dryly. “After you meet with him, he’s asked me to do something else.” “Oh? What’s that?” “Your Darkling powers. I know they’re new for you and still hard to control. He’s asked me to help you practice with them.” I raised my eyebrows. “You’re going to coach me on how to be a Darkling?” He nodded and gave me a smile that made my heart twist. “I’ve been studying.”

“Is that what you do with all your spare time in that big, empty castle?” “Reading. Lots of reading. I have a training program all organized for you.” I considered this. “Sounds like extra homework.” “Aren’t you interested in doing this?” Learning how to use my Darkling abilities properly and also getting to spend time with Michael with full permission from my father? I couldn’t think of anything better, actually. “I guess I can spare an hour or so.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “I do have one question I’ve always wondered about.” “What’s that?” “The wings.” I tried to ignore the images of Chris’s sketch and “evil” Michael’s wings that popped into my head. “Demon wings. Darkling wings.” “What about them?” “Are they just for show or do they actually work?” I twisted a finger through my hair. “I mean, can I fly?” He kept his expression neutral, but his now-mischievous smile grew. “I guess you’re just going to have to wait to find out.” I glared at him, but my mood had brightened substantially in the last five minutes. Being with Michael felt good—too good. I wanted to forgive him for everything and put the last two weeks out of my mind forever. Then I had a thought. “Do...Shadows...have they ever had wings, too?” Michael was silent for a moment, frowning. “No. Never.” “Good.” He looked at me curiously. “So you want to be the only one here with the impressive wingspan, is that it?” “I’ll have the wingspan, you can have the shiny green bling around your neck.” “Sounds fair.” Finding out that Shadows didn’t have wings helped to ease my mind. I hadn’t realized exactly how disturbed I’d been at the thought of it until it had been proven false. “Okay fine. Then let’s go. As long as I’m back by dinner, my mother won’t worry. Besides, I’m looking forward to having a little talk with my darling father, anyway.” He raised an eyebrow. “For some reason, I suddenly feel sorry for King Desmond.” His green eyes were so beautiful, it made it very hard for me to look away. “That makes one of us.” “Be kind to him, Princess. He only does what he must because he cares about you. Every decision he’s made recently has been with that in mind. Even the things that seem harsh he’s done to help you.” I wasn’t so sure about that. I decided I was more angry at my father than at Michael—after all, he was the one who prevented Michael from coming to see me. “Fine. I’ll go easy on him. Although I still think it would have been nice for us to be together on New Year’s Eve. I ended up helping Melinda babysit. It wasn’t fun.”

He looked skeptical. “You think it would have been more fun with me?” “At midnight it would have been.” A kiss from the boy I liked more than any other would have been a really nice way to welcome in the New Year. I studied his lips for a moment, resisting the urge to pull him to me and make up for lost time. I cleared my throat and ran a hand through my hair. “Okay...um...let’s find a gateway.” I started walking, but he grabbed my arm to pull me to a stop. His touch sank into me and my breath caught. I looked up at him. “I wanted to be there,” he said very seriously. “I want you to know that.” I nodded, feeling the burn of tears that had come from absolutely nowhere. I fought to hold them back. “I know. It’s just...we’ve been through so much together in such a short time. Not seeing you—” “Feels like we’ve taken a big step back.” I blinked, nodding. “Yeah. It feels like I need to get to know you again from scratch. I mean, not that I really knew you all that well to begin with.” “You know me.” He swallowed hard, his hand still circling my wrist. I didn’t pull away. “You know me better than anyone else.” “Do I?” “I think so.” I hissed out a breath and tried to hold it together. ‘This is all my father’s fault. He refuses to accept that I...” “That you...?” he prompted after I trailed off. I met his gaze. “That I want you as my boyfriend.” His expression grew serious. “I’m a Shadow.” “And I don’t care. You know I don’t. You know I consider you my equal, not a servant.” “I know.” He moved his hand to my chin to tilt my face up. He leaned closer and my breath caught. I thought he was going to kiss me. His eyes darkened. “Princess...” Then he blinked and stepped back from me. “We need to find a gateway now.”

Chapter 4

Disappointment thudded through me. He so was going to kiss me just then, but something stopped him. Michael led me out of the park and down a laneway by the Erin Heights Town Center where I spotted a soft glow at the far side of the mall’s parking lot. A gateway to the Shadowlands opened up when it was needed—such as when someone like Michael was here for a quick visit and needed a way back—but shifted position frequently. With focus, he could sense where it was. Humans couldn’t see the gateways at all, which was good. Having humans randomly go through glowing magical doorways to find themselves in another world wouldn’t be a good thing. This one was very visible to me and it flickered like a faulty light bulb. That usually meant that it wouldn’t last very long. Michael must have sensed that too because he grabbed my hand and pulled me quickly toward it. It could take a while before we found where it would appear next. “Ready, Princess?” he asked. I nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” He reached down to take my hand firmly in his and a nice shiver went through me from his touch. Then, the very next moment, we jumped. Before the jump, we stood on the pavement next to a rusty Toyota. After the jump, we fell through a vortex that made my head spin. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath. A couple seconds later, we touched down on soft grass. The gateway from Erin Heights always led to the same place: a grassy field directly between the Faery Realm and the Shadowlands. To my right a green forest represented the border of Rhys’s kingdom. To my left the green grass and wildflowers gradually morphed into a gray, rocky, barren landscape, featuring a scary-looking black castle that had tall spires reaching up into swirling storm clouds overhead. Two very different worlds. Two very different races. Such close neighbors could borrow a cup of sugar from each other whenever necessary—if they were on friendlier terms. I knew demons weren’t welcome past the border of the Faery Realm. I’d experienced it personally when I’d first met Rhys—and his sword pointed in my direction as he kicked me out.

I looked at the sprinkling of colorful flowers across the blanket of green grass. “I always forget how beautiful it is here. And these flowers...” I had a thought. “Are any of these faery roses or are those only found in the forest?” Michael looked at me curiously. “You’ve seen a faery rose?” “I have one, actually. A gift.” His expression darkened immediately. “Really. Gee, I wonder who gave that to you?” He crossed his arms and swept his gaze across the field. “No faery roses out here. Only deep in the Faery Realm. I’ve heard it’s against the law for anyone to remove one unless it’s by royal decree.” “Interesting.” I guess that’s what Rhys meant when he said he hadn’t bought it or stolen it. He was king, so he was the only one allowed to give one away as a gift. “Very,” he said, but there was an unpleasant edge to his voice that made me think he didn’t really mean it. Talk of Rhys and roses, especially when they pertained to me, put Michael in a bad mood. Very interesting. He moved close enough that I could feel the warmth of his body. “Come on, let’s get to the castle. Your father’s waiting.” We began the ten minute walk to the front doors of what I had previously nicknamed Castle Dread. Once we reached the rocky part I had to watch my footing so I wouldn’t twist my ankle. Michael offered me his arm and I was happy to take it, but then became even more distracted by being so close to him. “So King Rhys gave you a faery rose, huh?” Michael said after a minute of silence. “He did.” I watched him carefully for his reaction. “Why would he give you such an extraordinary gift if you’re not his girlfriend?” The weight of his gaze fell on me. “Unless he believes the prophecy about the two of you?” I froze. “Prophecy?” “That the Darkling princess is fated to wed the faery king. You knew this already, didn’t you?” He noted that my expression was one of dismay, not surprise, and his lips twisted into an unpleasant smile. “Demon servants love to gossip. I guess King Rhys has been sharing the news with anyone who’ll listen.” “Does my father know?” I asked. I wished I’d shared this particular information with Michael when I’d had ample opportunity. Now I felt guilty he’d learned it from someone else. He nodded. “A marriage between you and King Rhys would be beneficial on many levels. This would help forge new alliances between faeries and demons.” I crossed my arms, my stomach churning. “I guess all I need to do is pick out my wedding dress.” That earned me a look from him so sharp it almost cut into me. Still, his jealousy toward Rhys was kind of...reassuring. It meant that the feelings between Michael and me didn’t go one-way. “You don’t honestly think I’m getting ready to marry him, do you?”

“Maybe not now.” “Not ever. That guy is arrogant and elitist. I can’t stand him.” “Dragon oracles are rarely wrong in what they prophesize.” “I don’t care what the prophecy said. I’m not in love with Rhys.” His jaw clenched and he averted his gaze to stare up at the tall black front doors of the castle that, as soon as they sensed my presence, began to slowly open. The castle automatically recognized that I was the king’s daughter, which was kind of cool. “A royal marriage isn’t always about love,” he said simply. That, I didn’t have an answer for. In fact, it left me with my mouth hanging open, now that I had something new to worry about. One more stomach-churning thing to add to the list of topics to discuss with King Desmond. Inside the castle, directly past the doors, was an expansive foyer with a shiny black floor. I couldn’t even see the ceiling, it stretched so far up that it became darkness high above my head. A huge, winding spiral staircase led up to the main castle, including the chambers and the meeting halls. Not many people lived here—just my father, some servants, and Michael. My aunt Elizabeth used to live here, but after she tried to kill both my father and me to gain power for herself and her nasty demon prince boyfriend, Kieran—the one who’d made up the world-destroying prophecy about me—she’d been banished to the Underworld. Then, when Kieran tried to kill me, he’d been banished to Hell. I wondered what my mother would think of this cold and empty castle. We’d stayed in some pretty lousy places over the years that were bleak and depressing when we’d moved into them. But she’d pitched in and decorated them as best as she could on a tight budget and made every place feel like home. Maybe that was her magic. My father waited for us in a familiar room, one with a large fireplace. The glow gave the otherwise cold and dark room a surprisingly warm feel. My father sat at the end of a long black table and he stood as I entered the room. “Nikki,” he greeted me. “I’m glad to see you.” Me and my father—we looked a lot alike. His hair was short and a couple shades darker blond than mine. Our faces were a similar shape. Our eyes the exact same shade of hazel. I wondered if my mother still saw him whenever she looked at me; if I was a constant reminder of what she’d lost. A reminder of being abandoned. I really didn’t want to think about that. I didn’t like to dwell on things I couldn’t change. “Happy New Year,” I said. He drew closer to me, a smile on his face. I wanted to be mad at him, just as I’d wanted to be mad at Michael. But it was clear in his expression that two weeks for a man like King Desmond wasn’t that long at all. It was only a brief time between visits, not a sign that he was ignoring me. “I think I know why you wanted to see me,” I said. “Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “Why?” “The prophecy about Rhys and me. Just for the record, I don’t want to marry him.”

His gaze flicked for the briefest of moments to Michael before returning to me with understanding. “No, I don’t suppose you do.” “Is that a problem?” “Not particularly.” “But I thought...” I trailed off, uncertain and surprised by his blasé reaction. “You thought I would force you into an arranged marriage at your age to help relations between demons and faeries? What kind of a father do you think I am?” “I really don’t know,” I replied honestly, feeling deeply relieved. He glanced at Michael again. “If I might have a little privacy with my daughter, I’d appreciate it.” “Certainly, Your Majesty.” Michael looked at me, holding my gaze for an intense moment before he left the room. I paced to the fireplace, which was so huge it would take up an entire wall of my living room at home. My arms were tightly crossed over my chest as I studied the flames for a moment before I spun around. “You should have let Michael visit me.” He leaned against the table, his own arms crossed. “I wondered how long this would take. Less than a minute and a half. It must be a record.” “What?” “You challenging me on the decisions I make. Just so you know, Nikki, no one else does that.” “Who else would? You live here like a confirmed demon bachelor. A few servants aren’t exactly going to second-guess you, would they?” “No, they wouldn’t. For very good reason. I am king here.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “Michael deserves to be treated better.” “I treat him better than you might think. I believe we’ve been through this before.” He sighed. “Ad infinitum.” “You’re right, we have been through this before, ad whatever-ium.” Anger flashed through me. “But, bottom line, he should be able to go wherever he wants to, whenever he wants to. I mean, I can. Nobody’s stopping me. I know my bracelet can open a gateway whenever I want one.” Apparently dragons cried one crystal tear at the moment of their deaths and that tear contained all of their magic. Since dragons could also move between worlds with ease, the tear allegedly also had that ability. Kieran had wanted my bracelet for that purpose, which was why he’d tried to kill me. Of course, his goal had been to dominate and rule other worlds, starting with the human one. I shuddered at the thought. “Then,” my father said, weighing my words, “it’s too bad that Michael isn’t my strong-willed sixteen-year-old daughter, isn’t it? He could go wherever he wishes to.”

The thought of Michael as a sixteen-year-old girl was almost humorous. “Don’t try to make fun of me.” There was a glimmer of amusement in his otherwise serious hazel eyes. “I’m not. I wouldn’t dream of it, Nikki.” “And I’m not marrying Rhys,” I said again, in case it needed restating. “I believe you should marry whomever you wish to. However...” “Here it comes,” I groaned. “However what?” “An oracle has the ability to see the truth of the future. Even if that future is difficult to accept.” “I wonder what a dragon oracle would say about you and my mother?” I said under my breath. “Excuse me?” His tone lost any of its previous amusement. A chill went through me at the look on his face. He didn’t like me bringing up the subject of my mother. At all. In fact, “didn’t like” put it mildly. “Nothing,” I said lightly. “Nothing at all.” His jaw was so tight that I was sure he couldn’t speak with it stuck in that position. He didn’t try. He moved back to the end of the table and sat down heavily in his chair again. “So,” I began after an uncomfortable silence passed between us, “Even though you’re trying to keep me and Michael away from each other by any means possible, you’ve still okayed his coaching me on mastering my powers, huh? Sounds a bit strange to me.” Perhaps I could have put that a little better. Too late now. When he spoke, his words were clipped. “I think you would benefit greatly by gaining some control over yourself.” His meaning couldn’t be more clear. “Aren’t you afraid that we’re going to be too busy making out for me to learn anything?” His eyes turned demon-red and his fist clenched on the top of the table. “Why do you insist on aggravating me, Nikki?” I wasn’t sure. Maybe part of me wanted to really see him lose it and get mad as hell, even if it was directed at me. Maybe then I could walk away and forget all about this place. Maybe then I could go back to the life I’d had before and forget that my relationship to the demon across from me put my life in danger over and over again. Huh. I had no idea I was so mad. But I guess I was. As I got angrier, he seemed to cool off. He studied me carefully, as if gauging my shifting moods. “How is your mother?” he finally asked. “Do you really care?” I spat out. His expression darkened a shade. “Of course I do.” “She’s fine.” I chose not to offer more than that. I could see that it bothered him. So much for coming here for a friendly father/daughter chat.

“Why else did you want to see me?” I asked tensely. “Was it just to get an overview of how messed up my life is? How I can’t officially date who I want to date? What Dragon Oracle Weekly is saying about me? Or was it something else?” “Nikki...” he growled. “You’re sure you’re okay with Michael coaching me one-on-one? I mean, you and my mom weren’t much older than us when you got her pregnant. And that was a forbidden romance, too, just like mine and Michael’s.” “Stop.” The one word was enough for me to finally do as he suggested. There was a dark menace in his voice. It was as if he could channel into his voice all the pain and grief I felt inside —and that he felt it, too. A desperation and a feeling of helplessness to change anything. As if both he and I were being swept along by fate and destiny, and we had no say in what happened in our own lives. I drew in a ragged breath and felt the sting of tears as my bravado faded away. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m saying these things. I don’t mean them to hurt you.” “I understand your pain, Nikki. None of this is easy for either of us. Please try to understand that. I wish with all my heart that things could be different. But they’re not and we must continue on to the best of our ability. Being king means I need to sacrifice for the greater good.” “You’ve sacrificed enough.” My voice broke. A brief sadness crossed his expression. “I know you don’t understand why I haven’t sent Michael to check on you in the last couple of weeks.” “I know it’s only two weeks, but...but it was Christmas. And New Year’s. They’re holidays. Like, family holidays.” He exhaled and studied me for a moment. “I know you are young, but I think you understand more than you realize. While you give in to your anger and frustration, I think deep down you understand why I must do what I do. Know this—everything happens for a reason, even though that reason might not be clear. Please, try to trust in me even if the truth is difficult to see at first glance. Will you do that?” I blinked a couple of times to hold back my tears before I nodded. “Okay. I—I’ll try.” “I am concerned about your closeness with Michael because of the demon law that forbids it. It is not because I disapprove of Michael himself. I trust him implicitly in all ways.” He grimaced and raised an eyebrow as he glanced at me. “Almost all ways. I truly believe he will be a valuable tutor for you.” I let out the breath I’d been holding. Maybe my father was more evolved than I thought he was when it came to Shadows. “Okay. So that’s why I’m here? For the tutoring?” “That is part of it. The other part is to do with Michael himself.” His gaze moved to the door and then returned to me. “I’m concerned about him.” That surprised me. “Why?” “I know everything that happened during your visit to the Underworld,” he said simply. “Even the parts you didn’t give me great detail on.”

My stomach sank. A lot had happened during my trip to the Underworld two weeks ago. The demon council wanted to meet me and to assess how great of a threat I was to the universe after my nasty but fake prophecy. Michael had gone with me and came face to face with another Shadow. An evil one. His name was Jonas and he’d demonstrated how a Shadow, in their disembodied state, could absorb the energy of a demon to grow more powerful, but it could kill the demon. Jonas had wanted Michael to join him in his revolution against demonkind. Instead, Michael had absorbed Jonas’s energy when the other Shadow attacked me, killing Jonas and saving everyone else. “Michael’s a hero,” I said firmly, turning my gaze from the roaring fire to face my father. “He saved my life.” “I know.” He didn’t speak for a moment. “But what happened...I believe it took a toll on him.” “What, you think he should go into counseling or something?” “Not that kind of a toll.” His hands closed over the edge of the table and his knuckles whitened. “It is said that if a Shadow takes another’s life, their heart begins to grow darker. I’ve never seen hard evidence of this, but I believe that is what happened to Jonas. He couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong. He didn’t care who he hurt.” I knew Jonas was a murderer—and not just of demons. He’d also been the one who’d killed Rhys’s mother and father and was the reason Rhys had to become king at only sixteen. Rhys believed a demon had killed them. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I hadn’t yet. I shook my head. “Michael’s not like that.” “No, he’s not. Not yet.” “Not ever,” I insisted. “All I’m asking, Nikki, is for you to keep a close eye on him. He’s on his best behavior with me, but he could be hiding something. With you, however, he might open up. If he tells you anything is bothering him, anything is troubling him, if he’s having dark thoughts...you need to let me know.” I found it difficult to breathe all of a sudden. “So you can punish him?” “So I can help him.” He stood from the table and came to my side. My arms were so tightly crossed that I could barely feel my fingers anymore. “Will you do that? Will you let me know if you notice anything? I swear to you, I am on Michael’s side in this.” The way he said it made me shiver. “What are you saying? There are others who aren’t on his side?” “Queen Sephina and the other council members are...” he hesitated, “... concerned. Michael was pardoned and allowed to leave after killing the hellhound—” “Again, to save my life!” I protested. “That nasty thing nearly chewed my face off!” “They don’t see it like that.”

“Of course not.” A horrible thought occurred to me. “Queen Sephina sees him as a danger, a threat. She wants him back there so she can lock him up in her dungeon again. Is that right?” His jaw tensed, but his gaze didn’t waver from mine. He nodded once. “She seems particularly fixated on Michael after his run-in with Jonas. She’s requested he be returned to the Underworld and placed under her... care.” My stomach twisted. “She can’t take him.” “No, she can’t. Not yet. This is my kingdom, my rules. But unless I can convince her that there’s nothing wrong, she might take this into her own hands.” “You can’t let her!” “Then I need proof that he’s okay and not a threat to anyone. And if he isn’t, then I need to take the necessary steps to help him. Handing him over to the queen will never be an option for me. But to avoid that, I need your help.” “Why can’t you just tell him this yourself?” I asked. “If he knows the queen has it out for him then he can protect himself.” His face was tense. “If Michael is trying to hide any darkness from me, then he’s doing so because he doesn’t trust me.” “Should he?” I demanded. He looked at me patiently. “I want to help him. But if he feels backed into a corner, he might not take it well. I’d rather test the waters first and see if there really is a reason to be concerned. Telling him the whole truth will be the next step, but for now I believe it should be kept from him for his own peace of mind.” I considered that and decided that my father might be right. If there wasn’t a reason for panic, why panic? This could be nothing at all, and then nothing bad would have to happen. I imagined that Queen Sephina was quite excited about an experiment like this falling right into her hands. She, and her demon council, could find out what happened to a Shadow who killed somebody—even if it was another Shadow. Would he turn dark and evil? Become out of control? And if my father didn’t handle things this way, by getting me to spy on Michael during our training sessions to find out if there was a real problem, then I had no doubt the queen would send her representatives here to take Michael forcibly. “He’ll need to know soon,” I said quietly. “You can’t keep this from him forever.” “Soon,” he agreed. “But not yet. So, will you agree to help me in this matter, Nikki? By helping me, you’re helping Michael.” I searched his face, trying to see if there was any deception there. I couldn’t find any. However, demons were known to be amazing liars—at least, according to Rhys who considered faeries super-truthful in comparison. My father wanted me to spy on Michael and let him know if Michael was slowly turning evil because he’d killed another Shadow in order to save my life.

Queen Sephina wanted to lock him away and study him. I had no doubt that this experiment would lead to Michael’s death. In my short experience with her, that was how the queen dealt with most problems. My father could help Michael if there was a problem. He’d promised me he would. Finally, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Of course,” I said. “I agree.”

Chapter 5

Relief briefly touched my father’s face. “Thank you.” He squeezed my hand. “Go now. Find Michael. And keep me informed of your progress with him.” And that was the end of my meeting with my father, King Desmond of the Shadowlands. I was left reeling as I walked into the hallway outside of the meeting room. I was about to call to Michael through our telepathic bond, but I wasn’t ready yet. I needed a little more time to cool off. I really didn’t want to have to spy on Michael. I cared about him too much. What I wanted to do was tell him everything and see what he had to say. The list of things I hadn’t or couldn’t tell him was getting longer. But I also agreed that my father was right. If his suspicions were unfounded, Michael might be upset anyone had doubted him. However, if the suspicions were right—and I didn’t think they were—he would feel trapped, especially when he found out Queen Sephina was out to get him. This was complicated, but I felt I had no other choice but to do what my father asked to prove that Michael was absolutely fine and not a threat. If only I hadn’t had that stupid dream where he was a threat. If only the dragon oracle hadn’t already foreseen another prophecy for me that I’d tried very hard to forget—one in which I’m surrounded by darkness, by shadows that wanted to devour me. I had previously assumed it was Jonas—after all, he’d tried to absorb my energy when in shadow form. But I couldn’t forget that Michael was also a Shadow and able to do the exact same thing if he wanted to. I moved along a long hallway, lost in my thoughts. I passed two demon servants who scurried away as soon as they saw me, bowing their heads as a sign of respect to me, the visiting princess. Too weird. This whole castle was weird. And repressive. And empty. And horrible. “Oh, come on,” a voice drawled to my right, “it’s not that bad.” I froze, scanning the area, but there was no one there. “I’m here,” the voice said. “You want to play hide and seek?” It was a male voice, an unfamiliar one. Maybe it was a servant, one who didn’t scurry away at the sight of me. “Believe me, Princess, I’m no servant.”

A shiver went through me from head to foot and my heart began to slam against my ribcage. Whoever this was could read my mind. “Show yourself,” I said, making my voice sound as strong as I could. “Who are you?” Something caught my eye and I spun to my left. It was a figure moving down the hall and disappearing behind a corner. “Follow me,” he said. Not a chance. “What do you mean, not a chance? What are you, scared? I’m not going to hurt you.” Yeah, like I’d believe that. I didn’t have a good track record when it came to the halls of this castle and my own personal safety. “But I have a secret that I’ll tell only to you. Isn’t that even vaguely intriguing for you?” My breath caught. I didn’t like this guy, whoever he was. Not a servant. And he could read my mind even though I wasn’t projecting telepathically like I did with Michael. He had a smug tone to his voice that made even Rhys seem modest. “Secrets, Princess. Seeeecrets. Just between you and me.” He laughed. “C’mon. Aren’t you even a little bit interested?” I clenched my hand at my side and felt energy flow into it. I could shift into my Darkling form quickly if I wanted to. At least, I thought I could. I hadn’t shifted since before Christmas. “Do it,” he urged. “Your Darkling form fits in great around here.” “I don’t have time for this crap,” I told him flatly. Someone peeked out from behind the corner he’d disappeared behind. Dark eyes glittered in the soft light of the hallway. Dark skin, black hair, black eyebrows. He looked to be my age or maybe a bit younger. “No time?” he asked. “You’re sure about that?” “Positive. Who are you?” “Who are you?” “You’ve been calling me Princess, so I figured you already knew.” “Yeah, but...who are you really? Down deep? Where it matters? Strong and brave like those who make a difference in the world? Or weak and scared like those who don’t?” This guy was a jerk. Some servant’s kid who was bored and wanted to be annoying when I had better things to do with my time. “He’s pacing right now,” he said, thrusting a thumb behind him. “Waiting for you to call him through your bond. He’s worried that you’re still mad at him. It eats away at him. So does the jealousy he’s feeling about you and the handsome and powerful faery king.” I frowned. “Who? Michael?” The kid cocked his head. “He studies all day. Reading books he thinks might help you. I can’t read his mind as well as the others, but I get enough.” I began to feel less annoyed and more cautious. “Who are you?” “Who are you?”

“This is going to go in circles until I get a response.” “I agree. You should respond.” My jaw clenched for a moment before I forced it to loosen. “I’m Nikki. Half human, half demon. I’m the king’s daughter.” “Yeah, I know all that. Yawn. King Desmond. King of the Shadowlands. So dour, that one. So stubborn. Sees only one answer to problems, no multiple choice. And his thoughts...” The boy grimaced. “They come through loud and clear to me compared to the Shadow’s. And they’re pretty dark at times.” I crossed my arms. “So that’s what you do? Lurk around here and read people’s private thoughts? That’s unbelievably rude.” “Wish I had a choice. Trust me, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t. But if you’re in the castle, I get to see what’s in your mind.” “Are you a demon?” I swept my gaze over him as he emerged further from behind the corner. He wasn’t much taller than me and very thin. “Or are you a faery?” “Neither.” “You’re a Shadow?” “Nope.” “Dragon?” He leaned against the wall. “Afraid not.” I wanted to call to Michael through the bond, but I couldn’t help but be curious about this guy, whoever he was. Did my father know there was someone in his castle who could read minds as easily as he could read the newspaper? “Your father, Princess Nikki, has absolutely no idea that I even exist.” I glared at him. “Stop reading my mind.” “Like I said, I wish I could. But I can’t. So I won’t.” “This is ridiculous.” “He thinks about her, you know.” My breath caught a little. “Who?” “Your father. Thinks about your mother. A lot. For years he tried to block her from his mind as much as he could, but the moment he felt your presence on your sixteenth birthday— boom. Susan, Susan, Susan. Front row center in the theater of King Desmond’s mind. In case there was any doubt, he was crazy about her.” He paused. “Do you have any idea how they met?” I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. “He was on vacation in the human world before he had to become king here. He went to her university for a couple months. It was love at first sight.” He snorted. “Maybe attraction at first sight. Of course he’d tell you the short version. And yeah, that was the location. But how they met, that’s a different story. He dated a lot of girls in the human world. He was having a lot of fun, but it was all throwaway stuff. None of them really mattered to him. He bullied and intimidated other kids who got in his way because it amused

him. He had an ego the size of—well, a demon prince’s ego. They’re basically just spoiled rich kids who think they rule the world—any world.” I just stared at him with shock as he continued speaking. That sounded more like Kieran—or maybe even Rhys—than my father. “Susan hated him the first time they met. She told him off, which nobody had ever done before. Who yells at a demon prince if they know what’s good for them? He wanted to mess with her a little after that since she’d definitely piqued his interest and sparked his anger for making him look like a fool in public, but then they got into some trouble together. She ended up saving his life when they came face to face with a demon slayer. Susan almost found out what he really was, but luckily he was able to hide it in time. Even though it still seemed like she hated him, he was a total goner for her. It changed him. Got rid of the mask he wore that made him feel powerful and almighty. He pursued her until she finally admitted that she felt something in return. He’d never been in love before and neither had she, but they had it bad for each other. And the rest, as they say, is history.” My throat tightened as the story of my parent’s history washed over me. “You got all this from reading his mind?” The boy nodded. “When his father was close to death, he forcibly summoned Desmond back here before he was able to tell Susan anything, I’d never seen anything like it. He was beyond furious. He was ready to move mountains to get back to her—and stay with her in the human world, even if it meant turning his back on his duties here. He sent a scout—his best friend at the time—to the human world to check. It was this friend who told him that Susan died in a car crash. Since it came from a reputable source, he believed it. It destroyed him, but he believed it.” I gulped a mouthful of air, trying to clear my head. “How did you—I mean, you’re not that old. How did you see this? You make it sound that this isn’t just mind reading, that you actually saw it with your own eyes.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I see stuff. And I’m not nearly as young as I look, Princess.” That was disturbing. “When he sensed that I existed, how did he react to that?” I had to know. I wasn’t sure if I believed anything that came out of this guy’s mouth, but I had to know. “Disbelief. Denial. But not for long. His best friend, who then worked as his closest advisor, was called before the king to answer some tough questions. His friend finally admitted that he’d lied about Susan’s death—that the previous king had given him no choice, and he’d been afraid ever since of telling the truth. King Desmond banished him to Hell about fifteen seconds later. It wasn’t pretty. But I guess he was lucky the king didn’t actually kill him. I know he wanted to.” I raked my hands through my hair and paced the hallway. This would have happened only a month ago, just after my birthday. “Served him right. If he was really a friend, he wouldn’t have lied in the first place.” “I totally agree.” “But is he lying to me?” I asked quietly. “Is my father lying about anything he’s told me?”

“Your father has been very honest with you. Too honest, if you ask me. Lies might make things easier.” “Why does he refuse to let my mother know he’s here?” “You know why, but you keep trying to deny it.” He was right, I did know. My father had accepted that pursuing a reunion with my mother would put her life in danger, thanks to the outdated laws of the demon world that prevented demon/human relationships. In other words: no humans allowed. Ever. “He has been trying to change that law,” the boy said, answering me as if I’d spoken aloud. It was extremely unnerving. “But he hasn’t had much luck. Queen Sephina likes things her way— only her way. Handing any power over to King Desmond might make her seem weak to her subjects. But you know who might agree with your father and help change things?” “Who?” “Sephina’s ex-husband. He despises the queen.” That possibility made my stomach clench with fear. I’d never met him, but the queen’s ex was the most powerful being in all the dark worlds. He was the king of Hell. Apparently he went by a lot of names. I wasn’t positive, but I thought I already knew a couple of them. “Has my father contacted him?” I asked. “Not yet. There’s bad blood between them. King Desmond hasn’t even tried...but sometimes he wants to. Right now his first priority is to keep you safe and figure out what’s wrong with Michael. Changing laws can wait until all is well again.” The boy gave me a big grin. “It’s so great to talk to somebody. You don’t know how boring it can be here.” I tried to digest all the info this kid had provided to me. I felt battered. “Why don’t you talk to anyone? I mean, Michael’s not much older than you—” I eyed him uneasily. “At least, he doesn’t look much older than you—and there are the other servants.” “Can’t show myself to just anyone. They need to be special.” “I’m special?” “You are. You’re the princess here. That makes all the difference. I could show myself to the king, too, but I haven’t.” “Why?” “Just haven’t. I need to choose carefully, you see. There’s a lot at stake here, Princess. More than anyone even realizes. So I wait, I watch, and it’s been so very long.” He yawned. “So very, very long. But here you are. Finally.” I shook my head, more confused now than at the start of this strange conversation. “What are you talking about?” “Patience, Princess. I mean, I’ve been patient. Why shouldn’t you be, too?” He studied me for a moment, the smug look lifting from his face. “I need to give you something. I think it might help you.” I took a step back from him. “No gifts. I’ve had enough trouble with gifts from boys this week.”

“This is different. Besides I’m not exactly a boy.” He looked like a boy to me. A short, skinny one. There was no way he was a girl. He held his hand out. A small black rock was in his palm. “Take this.” I eyed it warily. “What is it?” His gaze met mine. “I promise that I mean you no harm, Princess. I mean it.” “Sure, why wouldn’t I believe you? I only met you five minutes ago. We’re like best friends now.” Despite my better judgment, I closed the distance between us and took the rock from him. It was cool to the touch, a bit heavy, but didn’t feel strange otherwise. “What is it?” “Just a little piece of me. Use it well, Princess.” “What?” I frowned and looked up at him. “A piece of—” But he was gone. He’d disappeared completely in the blink of an eye.

Chapter 6

“Okay,” I said slowly. “What just happened?” He’d disappeared into thin air. I searched up and down the hall for him but there was no sign where he’d went. Then I stared down at the small black rock in my hand. Who was he? Why could he read my mind like that? How did my father not know he even existed? And where did he go? What was going on here? After wandering the empty hallways completely bewildered for another five minutes looking for the kid, I finally stopped walking and concentrated. Michael? Where are you? It only took him a moment to answer. ::Princess? Are you finished talking with your father?:: My fingers closed tightly around the rock. Yes, all finished. ::I’m in the courtyard setting up our first lesson. That is, if you’re still interested in starting our training today.:: Tell me how to get there. He did. The spot wasn’t that hard to find. A few turns and down another flight of stairs I’d never seen before and I emerged into the courtyard, which was surrounded by the black walls of the castle. Still the castle, but... not the castle either. In fact, the courtyard took my breath away when I saw it. The area was outside, despite being walled. A balcony looked down on the grounds, which were ten times the size of my backyard at home. While the rest of the Shadowlands was dark and gloomy and rocky, I was surprised to see that this area wasn’t. The green grass I recognized from the field between here and the Faery Realm lay across the ground like a blanket. Flowers like violets, hydrangeas, and sunflowers bloomed in well-tended and groomed gardens running the circumference of the enclosed space. A large willow grew in the middle of the area along with many oak trees and evergreens. The courtyard was warm and it felt like a summer’s day rather than the chill of the rest of the Shadowlands. I took off my winter jacket, which I’d been wearing since I’d arrived, and placed it at the top of the six steps leading down to the courtyard. Michael stood there waiting, watching my reaction to the beauty before me. My heart did a flip-flop at seeing him again, but I still hesitated a bit after what my father and I had discussed. I

had to watch him carefully and see if he was different. I’d do whatever I had to in order to protect him from nasty Queen Sephina. “You like?” he asked. I nodded, still shocked. “You’ve been holding out on me.” “I’ve wanted to show you this place for a while, but whenever you’ve been here you haven’t stayed very long.” “You come out here a lot?” He nodded. “Frequently. It’s my job to look after the garden.” That almost made me smile. He was a gardener. And, by the looks of those flowers, an incredible one. My gaze moved upward and widened. “Wait a minute. The sky is blue. What happened to the storm clouds of misery?” He looked up. “It’s magic. The sky is the same as before, but this gives the illusion of a bright summer’s day.” “It’s amazing. All of it.” I couldn’t stop staring at the sky. Bright blue, but no sun. My father had once told me that he hadn’t seen sunlight in over sixteen years. I guess fake sky didn’t count. Still, it sure was convincing. “What’s wrong?” Michael asked with concern. “Did you have a difficult conversation with your father?” The look on my face must still have been bleak from before, 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 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 slightly as they locked with mine. “You look good.” A shiver went through me and it was hard to breathe for a second. “Thanks.” He finally tore his attention away from me. “Let’s begin. There are three main components to being a Darkling—which is just like being a demon, powers-wise. You can shift your form. Darklings remain half-human in appearance, though.” I tapped my foot. “I know this already, coach.” “Secondly, you have strength and speed, which can be practiced and assessed. Thirdly, you have the ability to manifest energy and use it as a weapon.” “Fourthly,” I said, “flying, which I can do because I have really cool wings.” “Sorry to break this to you, Princess, but unlike dragons, most demons actually can’t fly.” I deflated a little. “Most demons isn’t all demons. I could be one that can.” “Baby steps. The potential of taking flight will not be our first lesson.” “You read all this in books?” He shrugged. “I’ve lived around demons all my life. I’ve observed what they can do. But, yeah, I’ve been reading a lot the last couple of weeks. King Desmond has a lot of books in the castle library I can read whenever I like.” Maybe I’d been too hard on my father where Michael was concerned. From him getting to spend time in this beautiful courtyard, having the pick of anything from the library to gain knowledge, and my father’s concern about Michael’s current well-being and state of mind, it wasn’t as if he was a slave who spent most of his time chained up in the dungeon. And if my father really thought there was a problem with Michael’s inner darkness, then that would be a very good justification not to let him travel between worlds. There were two sides to every story. Sometimes it was difficult to see both right away. “So, you can shift form now,” Michael said as he crossed his arms. I tensed. “Just like that? You think it’s that easy, do you?”

“I know it’s normally happened when you’ve felt a surge of emotion—panic, fear, anger. But I think you can do it whenever you like. Thus, the practicing. And remember that if you concentrate on your dragon’s tear bracelet it will help focus your energy.” I couldn’t help but smile at him. “You’re kind of a natural at this instructor thing.” “You think?” I nodded. “I feel inspired to give it a shot, even knowing that it’s going to hurt like hell to change back.” His brows drew together as if he was disturbed at the thought of me being in pain. “I’ve asked the other demon servants here in the castle if shifting form hurts and they said it only did in the beginning.” I’d been watching him carefully ever since I came out here, and I couldn’t see any sign that he was any different than he’d ever been before. I wasn’t ready yet to relax, though. I needed to find out the truth. I took a couple steps closer to him. “How are you feeling, Michael?” He looked at me curiously. “Feeling?” I shielded my eyes from the fake brightness out here. “We haven’t had any time to talk about what happened. With...Jonas.” I wasn’t going to tell him what my father feared or what he’d asked me to do, but there was no reason for me not to approach this problem head-on. It might save us all some valuable time. He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” “You don’t?” That was troubling. I dug my toe into the grass. “Why not?” “Because you haven’t shifted form yet.” He gave me a sly smile. “You do something for me and I might feel a bit more talkative.” “That’s not fair.” He shrugged. “I’m the coach here. My rules.” “I think you’re enjoying this a bit too much.” “And you, Princess, are trying to delay.” “Fine.” I shut my eyes and tried to concentrate on shifting form without being angry or scared first. I did this for about five minutes and nothing interesting happened. I opened one eye. Michael raised an eyebrow. “Tick tock, Princess.” “I know! I’m trying, okay?” I glared at him, then I squeezed my eyes shut again and tried harder. I inhaled the scent of green grass and flowers—and the distractingly amazing one of Michael himself—as I summoned that part of me that was very new, but also very familiar. Come on, I can do this. It doesn’t control me, I control it. I felt a burning and tingling on the side of my head. And then a single pop. “Well done,” Michael said. “That’s one horn. Only one horn. Keep going.” I clenched my fists. I didn’t want to be stuck with only one horn. I would look like a lopsided unicorn, and that would be very embarrassing. I concentrated even harder this time, focusing all of my energy and trying to summon my Darkling powers until I felt a pop on the other side of my head. The energy crackled through me

and the more I focused on the dragon’s tear, the easier it was. I felt my body begin to change— but the changing was never the hard part. It was the changing back that hurt the most. I was used to hearing my shirt or coat rip when my wings sliced through them. Today that wouldn’t be a problem. I opened my eyes. “Well?” Michael swept his appreciative gaze over me, which made my skin warm wherever he looked. “Good job. I think you can eventually get that down to a few seconds total.” Had to say, I felt good in this form—once I got here. Strong and powerful in every way. I held my hands out in front of me to see that my normally short, pink-polished nails were now long, black, lethal-looking talons. I reached up to touch my small spiral horns protruding from either side of my head. My blond hair had changed to become longer and a bright, fiery red. And, with a bit more concentration, I was able to stretch out my black wings to either side of me like previously unknown limbs. I took a moment to focus on my tail now extending from the left leg of my shorts, a long thin appendage that ended in what looked like an arrowhead. After a moment, it swished. My tail swished! Cool! I looked at Michael with a big grin that would show off my small, sharp canines, like what you’d expect a vampire might have. “Okay, I shifted form just like you asked me to. Now answer my question. How are you feeling after what happened to Jonas?” His gaze snapped to mine. “Fine.” “Just fine? You don’t feel any different? I mean, that was the first person you ever killed, right?” “He was trying to kill you. I had to protect you. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” “And I’m grateful. Really.” My voice softened a little. “But I know he was the first Shadow you ever met. It would have been great if he hadn’t been a power-hungry jerk and you could have learned things from him. That must hurt.” His expression hardened. “It does.” I wanted answers, but I wasn’t totally heartless. I hated that he was in any kind of pain. “Is there more information you can find? About what you are?” “We should get back to our lesson.” “You killed the only person who could tell you more about what you are and you’re trying to tell me you’re fine with that?” I pressed. “Like it means nothing to you? Come on, talk to me. I want to know.” He frowned at me, but then his eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute, I think I get it. This form makes you act different than normal. I hadn’t really noticed it the other times.” My little secret was out, but I didn’t mind. “I guess I say whatever’s on my mind in this form. It’s like a layer of weakness and uncertainty peels back. Maybe I’d like to be like this all the time.” “Might be dangerous.”

“Oh?” I regarded him with interest. “Dangerous how?” “Depends who you’re talking to. Who you’re pushing.” I put my hands on my hips. “Will that somebody push back? Will they say what’s on their mind without hiding anything?” “Maybe. So go ahead and push me as much as you want to. I can push back too.” My wings stretched out further so I could see them out of the corners of my eyes. I gave him a wicked grin. “You know, I am stronger than you in this form. Maybe I can push harder.” He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be so sure about that.” “I guess we’ll soon find out.” His serious expression changed to something much more devilish. “I guess we will.” “You seem a little different right now too,” I observed. “Does my Darkling bring out a new side of you? One ready to challenge me back no matter what, rather than play dutiful servant boy?” His eyes flashed, but not with pain. More like a sharp edge of interest in this new side of me he’d just discovered. “Sharp tongue, Princess. Sharp as those talons of yours.” I walked a slow circle around him and he turned to keep our eye contact going. “How about you call me Nikki while we’re training?” “Okay. Then how about you not call me your dutiful servant boy?” I flashed him a mischievous grin of my own. “Don’t act like one and it’s a deal.” Michael’s gaze didn’t flinch away from my own. “Be careful what you wish for, Nikki. You just might get it.” Sounded very interesting. “All right, enough talking. Lesson two, strength and speed.” He stepped back a couple of feet from me. I hadn’t realized how close we’d gotten during our exchange—nearly close enough to touch. “What should I do?” I asked. “You said you think you’re stronger than me. Let’s find out.” His smile widened. “Hit me, Nikki. Or, at least, try to.”

Chapter 7

I attacked. Michael deflected me so easily it was like I was about five years old, and I went flailing in the opposite direction. “You move fast,” I said with surprise once I got my footing again. He looked at me with amusement. “You have no idea how fast I can move.” Intriguing. I clenched my hand into a fist, feeling the pinch of my talons. Then I lunged at him again, not holding anything back. He ducked and pushed me back a little. I staggered and almost fell over. “You pushed me!” I gasped. “How else are you going to learn if I just let you win? However, you should be able to get a punch in. But nothing? I guess you really do need me around to protect you.” “You haven’t been around,” I growled. “You’ve been a no-show for two weeks. No postcard. No Christmas gift.” His grin faded. “You probably would have been disappointed anyway. Can’t afford a faery rose. You’ll have to depend on your other boyfriend for that.” I eyed him. “Are you jealous of Rhys?” “You’re now juggling the interest of a faery king as well as your dutiful servant boy.” His words were sharp. “Why ever would I be jealous?” He easily sidestepped my next lunge at him as if he did this every day. If I’d been in human form, I’d probably be out of breath by now. “I like sarcasm,” I said. “I like honesty even more, so this is good. I want to know how you feel.” “So do I.” He met my gaze. “So let’s be totally honest with each other.” We moved slowly in a circle as if testing for weaknesses. I wanted to win, to prove that I wasn’t a weak teenage girl with only a fearsome-looking exterior at the moment. That I could protect myself without anyone having to swing in to save me in the nick of time. “Agreed,” I finally said. “You first. Does Rhys make you jealous?” Michael’s green eyes narrowed. “Insanely jealous. He gets anything he wants and doesn’t have to work at it. He’s a spoiled brat with a bad attitude who doesn’t appreciate what he already has. And, for the record, when I saw you kissing him at that party I wanted to kill him.” He

watched me carefully. “So, if you were wondering, my murderous tendencies started way before Jonas.” I blinked, surprised. That had been one of the many things I’d been wondering about Michael since my chat with my father. “That’s really honest.” “Your turn. Were you trying to make me jealous with that kiss?” I blanched at the memory. “Of course not. I didn’t even know you were there. I was mortified that you saw that—something totally unplanned and not something I even asked for. Stupid mistletoe.” He nodded slowly. “So that kiss was unplanned and totally blamed on mistletoe, but...did you like it?” I forced myself not to look away from him. He wanted honesty. “I didn’t hate it.” His expression tensed. “And how do you feel about him?” I didn’t answer for a moment, but felt my cheeks heat up. “I don’t know. How’s that for an honest answer? I honestly don’t know how I feel about Rhys. He confuses me.” “Maybe I should still kill him,” Michael growled under his breath. I winced. “Bad idea.” “Anything else we should be honest about right now? Let’s see...” Michael’s jaw tightened and his shoulders tensed. “If you’re confused about Rhys, then how do you feel about me after I’ve been nowhere near you for two whole weeks?” “Also confused.” As uncomfortable as this line of questioning had become, if I wanted to keep Queen Sephina from demanding Michael be sent to the Underworld to be at her mercy, then I needed to keep this going so he’d feel comfortable about giving me the truth about himself in return. “I wanted you to visit me over the holidays and it hurt my feelings that you didn’t seem to care. Did you even try to come see me?” He didn’t speak for a moment. “I met with resistance. But...I could have fought harder than I did.” My wings twitched. I wanted him to say he fought hard and lost rather than just gave up. “Why didn’t you?” “Many reasons. I felt strangely for nearly a week after Jonas.” “What do you mean? Were you sick? Weak?” I remembered him after he’d absorbed Jonas’s energy. He’d never looked so healthy and strong, so filled with power. His eyes actually glowed bright green with it. He shook his head. “I wasn’t sick or weak. But I didn’t feel like myself. It took me a while to recover. I’m better now.” He wasn’t making a big deal over it, but I wondered if that’s what had gained my father’s attention and concern. “When I felt normal again,” he continued, “I asked King Desmond if I could visit the human world. He said no. After what happened in the Underworld I didn’t want to give him a reason to send me back there, so I didn’t get mad. Time passed. And here you are.”

I took this in, studying the grassy ground before I lifted my gaze to meet his. “Okay. But did you miss me at all?” His brows drew together. “Every day.” A moment later, he attacked me, trying to take me by surprise, but I saw it coming and managed to spin out of the way. “Well done,” he said, the smile returning to his face. “Thanks.” Maybe I wasn’t so bad at this after all. He didn’t give me a second to catch my breath. He came at me so fast I didn’t have time to duck it this time. He grabbed my arms and pushed me back against the castle wall. The length of his body was pressed against mine. “Point for me,” he said. My breath caught at our proximity, but I wanted to stay focused if I could. “I could knee you right now in a very painful location.” “Try it.” “I’m not that mean, even in this form.” “Maybe you should stop being so nice, Nikki.” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you want me to win? Are you accepting defeat, just like that?” Defeat? By being nice? My eyes narrowed. Challenge accepted. I attempted to do exactly what I threatened, but he twisted away from me just in time and he turned me around. My wings were pinned against his chest and my front was flat against the smooth black façade of the castle. “Point for you,” I conceded with annoyance. He was stronger than I expected him to be. I was annoyed that he was able to restrain me like this so easily. Another part of me really liked the chance to be so close to him. Full body contact was okay with me when it came to Michael— more than okay. I’d just like to be the one in control at the moment. “I’ll take it,” he said. “Want to move on?” “Yeah, okay. Fine. Let go of me.” As he loosened his grip, I took my chance and spun around to grab his shoulders, shifting our positions so his back was pressed up against the wall. “Point for me,” I told him. “It’s yours.” Michael didn’t try to get the upper hand again, or move directly into our next lesson. He just stayed against the wall, breathing hard. His hand was now free and my breath caught as he brushed a long fiery-red lock of hair off my face and tucked it behind my ear. He kept his hand on the side of my neck, sliding down to my collarbone and my skin tingled where he touched me. His gaze moved to my lips. “This suddenly doesn’t feel like training,” I whispered. He leaned closer to me. “No?” “No.”

“I guess we’re lucky there’s no mistletoe in the Shadowlands.” “You’re hilarious.” I gave him a sharp look and he gave me a grin in return. Definitely a point for him. “You know,” Michael said, his fingers sliding warmly over the back at my neck, under my hair, making me tremble a little. “You really are gorgeous like this.” My heart pounded and I wasn’t doing a thing to move away from him yet. “You’re just saying that so I’ll let down my guard again.” “Gorgeous,” he said again, undeterred. “But you’re beautiful in both forms. It makes it very difficult for me to concentrate when I’m this close to you.” “It’s not working. I won’t let you distract me.” Still, I felt a whole lot of my resolve and most of my fight start to slide away. In the beginning, I’d felt ugly in Darkling form. I still looked mostly human, I knew that. More than my father did when he shifted form to full demon. But there wouldn’t be too many teenage girls who wanted horns and a tail, or felt all that pretty carrying around a set of leathery wings. But the way Michael looked at me then would put a blush on my cheeks if I was in human form. In Darkling form, it just made me... Okay, I was still blushing. A little. Finally, Michael let me out of his very distracting embrace and I immediately felt disappointed despite my claims of not letting him get to me. He took a few steps back onto the main courtyard’s grassy surface. I cleared my throat and tried to focus again. “All right, lesson three: fire power.” He gestured toward a target he’d set up to the far side of the courtyard. It looked like something that would be used for archery practice. “Stand here.” He pointed at the ground to his left. “Throw an energy ball at the target and try to get as close to the bull’s eye as you can.” We stood about twenty-five feet away from it, so it wasn’t going to be easy. I focused on the target instead of the very attractive boy next to me. Darkling form heightened my honestly and bravery, but it also heightened my emotions. And when I say I wanted to kiss him...well, I really wanted to kiss him. Like, desperately. Michael put his hands on my upper arms to direct me to the right spot. “Here,” he said in my ear, so close that his lips brushed against my skin and made me shiver. “Perfect.” My smile returned. “You know, I think I like Darkling lessons. They’re way better than math class. How often should we practice?” He shrugged, his lips curved to the side. “I’ll have to see if I can fit you in to my incredibly busy schedule.” I laughed. “So busy. Gardening, reading...being bossy. Actually, that sounds more like a vacation to me.”

His gaze suddenly grew distant. “I just wish I could find some information about Shadows in the library. But there’s nothing at all to help me. And, to answer your question from earlier, yes, I wish I’d been able to talk more with Jonas, even though he was a crazy murderer. I want to know more about what I am. Who I am.” That brought me back to my current task like a glass of cold water thrown in my face. Why was I letting myself forget that I had to watch for signs of trouble with him and do whatever I could to help? “I totally understand. What about asking my father?” An edge of bitterness slid through his gaze. “He thinks it’s better that I don’t know much. He seems to think Shadows are dangerous and I’m the exception.” His lips thinned. “Although, sometimes I think he’s wrong about that.” Uh-oh. My stomach sank. “Why? Do you think you’re dangerous?” His gaze flicked to me. “You saw what I did to Jonas.” Yes, I had. He’d been in shadow form, as had Jonas. Two swirling patches of darkness who’d battled it out in a mini-tornado of violence. “I’m still not totally sure what I saw. He was there and then he wasn’t.” “I absorbed his energy, which is what stopped him. It was something I didn’t even know I could do until it happened.” His jaw clenched. “Just another example of how information about Shadows has been kept from me all my life.” Just because he was disappointed and frustrated that he couldn’t find information on Shadows didn’t mean there was anything really wrong with him. I held on to that belief tightly with both hands. “I wish I could help.” His gaze shot to mine. “You can.” “I can? How?” He opened his mouth, then seemed to hesitate before he spoke. “I’ve recently heard a rumor that there’s a book. One book with all the information about Shadows in it. All other information has been destroyed or lost over the years. It’s only accessible by kings or queens, though. There’s no way I can get my hands on it. I wouldn’t ask your father. I know he’d say no.” More hesitation, and then, “But Rhys could get it. As king of the Faery Realm, all he’d have to do is ask for it.” It surprised me that he’d even bring the faery king into this since I knew he didn’t like him. “You want to ask Rhys to help you get this book?” His expression darkened. “Well, no. I’m positive he wouldn’t do it if I asked him.” Oh. I understood. “You want me to ask him to get the book.” He looked pained at the very thought of it. “I figure he’d be willing to do just about anything for you right now. All you have to do is ask him nicely.” Bitterness returned to his expression. “I mean, you are his betrothed.” My concern and curiosity turned sour at the edges. “Keep bringing up that prophecy, Michael. I just love to be reminded about it every five minutes how I might not have any control over my own future.”

He snorted humorlessly. “Forget I asked. It doesn’t matter.” He broke our gaze and looked toward the target instead. “Let’s get back to practice. Throw an energy ball, Nikki. Got to get you back home soon.” But I didn’t move. We stayed there next to each other. He was so close that he was touching me, so close that when he finally dragged his fierce gaze back to lock with mine, all I wanted to do was kiss him until all the pain and sadness finally left his green eyes. As if he’d sensed what I wanted to do, he leaned closer. Closer...until our lips were only an inch away from each other... But then, with a deep frown, he took a big step back from me and turned away. He waved a hand at the target. “Anytime you’re ready, Princess.” No kiss. And officially back to “Princess.” I could take a hint, even if it stung really badly. Tearing my attention away from him and trying to ignore my annoyance and frustration, I focused instead on the target. I held my right hand out in front of me and focused, willing power into my outstretched palm. I felt the tingle gather there and solidify. A swirling red and orange ball of fiery energy about the size of an orange manifested out of nowhere. I shot a look in Michael’s direction. “If looks could kill,” Michael said wryly. “Just remember, Princess, try to hit the target. Not me.” I put my other hand on my hip. “Not sure about that. You’re kind of asking for it today, aren’t you?” “My amulet would deflect it. It protects me from demons, remember?” He pulled his amulet out from where it had been tucked underneath his hoodie. I remembered. If I ever touched his green amulet with my bare skin, it gave me a painful shock like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket. “Want to put that to the test?” I leisurely tossed my energy ball up and down in my hand. He tilted his head as he studied me. “Your call. However, I am closer so I’d be an easier target. Are you saying you don’t think you can hit the real one?” Hardly. I turned and threw the energy ball at the target. It caught the side of the circular board and sloughed off a piece of the wood. “Not bad,” I said. “It’s the center you’re aiming for, not the edge.” “I know that.” I blew out a frustrated breath and tried to focus. “One more time and then I really have to go.” “Aim for the center. You can do it.” “Yes, sir.” I narrowed my eyes and turned to the target again, launching my second energy ball. And, yes, this time I aimed first. It hit dead center and burned a hole in the round board so I could see clear through to the other side. “Woo hoo!” I felt so victorious that I did a little dance right where I stood.

Michael just watched my celebration with amusement, his arms crossed. “Congratulations. Now all you have to do is shift back to human form and you can go home.” My victory dance stopped. This was the part of our training session I’d been looking forward to the least since it hurt so much to shift back. I sighed heavily. “Maybe I’ll just stay this way forever.” “You think it’s that easy?” “I feel good like this. Sure, why not?” I didn’t really mean it of course, but I was stalling for time. “Not the best idea. If you keep that form in the human world you might come face to face with a demon hunter. Trust me, that would be a bad thing.” I paled at that and suddenly lost any remaining concentration over holding form. The next moment, it receded like a very quick tide. My form shifted involuntarily and I yelped in pain. It felt sort of like when Mom and I experimented with wax strips last summer. She normally went to a salon to have her legs done, but thought she might save money by getting the drug store kind. And she shared some with me. Let’s just say, shifting from Darkling to human form felt like a hundred wax strips being simultaneously ripped off my body. Luckily, it didn’t take long. Ten seconds at the most, but I wasn’t counting. I slumped to the soft grass. Michael was at my side, kneeling beside me and grabbing hold of my arms. He looked worried. “Princess, are you okay?” “Ouch. Yeah, I’m fine. You say that hurts less with practice?” I inspected myself. Normally my clothes would have tears in them from my wings, but the halter top covered that. And the shorts worked perfectly for someone who sometimes had a tail. No rips in either. “So I’ve been told. I’m not a demon so I really don’t know for sure.” He cringed. “But it sure doesn’t look like fun.” “It’s not.” “What happened?” he asked, studying my face and pushing the back-to-blond hair away from my face. “Something distracted you and you just lost it.” Yeah, he mentioned demon slayers and I immediately thought of Melinda. I let out a shaky breath. “Demon slayers. What do you know about them?” “Not all that much. Just that they’re rumored to be in the human world. They slay demons if they find them. But since there haven’t been any there, at least not in any form but human, they’ve probably been bored for centuries.” He frowned deeply. “I shouldn’t have said that before about demon hunters. I didn’t mean to scare you.” “What happened to being honest?” “Sometimes too much honestly can be overwhelming.” He held a hand out to me. “Lesson over. I’ll take you back to the gateway now.”

I took his hand and he helped me to my feet. Back in human form for less than two minutes, and the majority of my Darkling bravery had already vanished. I felt very normal and selfconscious again. “How did I do, coach?” His serious expression faded a little. “I think you did great. Your father will be pleased.” I hadn’t confessed anything about Melinda. He was right about too much honesty being overwhelming—that could be the tipping point. She’d quit her own lessons and was no longer a threat in any way. Mentioning her would cause problems I didn’t want to deal with. She could continue to keep her secret, and she seemed to be doing better with it with every day that passed. But I knew somebody else with a different secret who wasn’t dealing quite so well. “What do you know about dragons?” I asked. “Or, more specifically, the offspring of a dragon and a human?” “No such thing as a half-dragon. Usually it’ll be full human.” “What if it isn’t?” “Then it’s full dragon, but that’s very rare.” He eyed me. “Why? You know somebody like that?” I nodded. “I don’t think he knows it yet. His mother’s been keeping the truth from him for some reason. But lately he’s been having some problems. And he’s been having visions of the future.” “So he’s a dragon oracle.” “Yeah, I think so. His mother is one, too.” He considered this. “Has he shifted form yet for the first time?” “I have no idea.” “If you’re friends with him, you’d probably know. When a dragon shifts, it’s not as easy as getting the right shirt to wear when your wings appear. It’s bigger than that. And the firebreathing myths...they’re all true.” I shuddered at the thought. That sort of thing would be very noticeable in Erin Heights—like front page of the newspaper noticeable. It wasn’t a big town. “You’ve seen one before?” “Not personally. But there are books about dragons in the library.” His brows knit together. “Do you want me to do anything about this?” I wished he could help, but I didn’t think he could. Especially not if he was stuck here with only rare permission from my father to visit. “No, it’s okay. I’ll handle it. But thanks for the offer.” “Who is it?” he asked after a moment. “Chris.” His expression hardened. “Your ex?” “We were never really going out seriously. And after what happened at Winter Formal, I wouldn’t consider it again.” “Someone else I had the urge to kill,” he said darkly. He’d been there after I kicked Chris’s butt, but he knew why I had to do it. To protect myself.

“That makes two of us.” I chewed my bottom lip. “He felt really guilty about what he did. He was drunk. Said it was the first time he’d ever tried anything like that—which isn’t a great excuse, I know. I’m not saying I forgive him, or anything, but he’s in a really bad place right now. He’s confused, scared...and going crazy, I think.” Michael’s expression was fierce for another moment at the mention of Chris before easing off a little. “Yeah, he’ll be confused until his first shift. When the visions begin, they’re too much for a normal human brain to process. The shift will help with that.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, making my breath catch. “Stay away from him, Princess. He’ll be dangerous now. He already is dangerous, if you ask me.” I looked up at Michael, again remembering the dream I’d had. I’d never felt so scared in my life than when I’d seen the black wings stretch out behind him, and I immediately thought of Chris’s sketch. But it hadn’t really been Michael—it was just a dream. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him about the sketch, but I stopped myself. I guess a part of me was worried that all of this might be related—the sketch, Chris’s visions, my dream, my father’s suspicions about Michael. I was worried that if I said anything, it would just be used as more evidence that my father was right. And maybe another part of me, on some level, did worry that that drawing had been of Michael. But he would never hurt me. I knew he wouldn’t. Still, I didn’t say anything. Our eyes met and I nodded. “I’ll take it under advisement, coach.” Quickly, I changed out of the workout wear and back into my jeans and sweater and winter coat. I touched the rock in my pocket that the strange boy had given me to make sure it was still there. My father met us at the front entrance of the castle. “Michael will see you to the gateway,” he said. “Just to the gateway?” I asked. He raised an eyebrow at my immediate look of annoyance. “Do you have something to say, Nikki?” I opened my mouth to complain, but the fearless part of me that would have thrown the words out just to annoy and challenge my father had diminished. I didn’t feel like any more arguments. Not today. “Forget it,” I grumbled. “How did your training session go?” he asked pointedly. I knew what he was really asking me. If I’d found some secret about Michael’s grip on his dark side. I glanced briefly at Michael before returning my attention to my father. “It went fine. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.” He nodded. “I’m very glad to hear that.” After we said good-bye, Michael walked me back across the gray, rocky ground to the field of grass. Waiting for us there was a swirling vortex in the shape of a door. While the ones formed in

Erin Heights showed up when Michael—or anyone else—was there for a short trip, this one was specifically created by my father for yours truly. “It’s stupid that you can’t come through with me.” I still felt incredibly sullen about that. “What if you come through anyway? It’s not like he’s here to stop you.” Michael studied the gateway. “If I try to go through without the king’s permission, it will kill me.” I gaped at him. “You’re kidding.” He shook his head. “Unless you have a dragon’s tear, you’re at the mercy of the gateways.” His lips thinned. “So I have to respect the king’s decision.” “But you don’t like it.” His expression darkened. “No, I don’t like it at all. I didn’t like it for the weeks I was forced to stay away from you, and I don’t like it now.” This new info was enough to take my breath away. He hadn’t forgotten about me. He’d wanted to see me. But he couldn’t. He was basically stuck here unless my father gave him permission to leave. He couldn’t seek more information about Shadows, even if he wanted to. And he did. I knew I had to help him in any way I could. “I’m going to ask him,” I said. At Michael’s questioning look, I clarified, “Rhys. I’m going to ask Rhys to get the Shadow book.” The tension in his face eased a little. “Thank you.” I knew it had taken a lot for him to ask me to do this. He didn’t like Rhys and having to rely on him for information had to be hard to accept. And finding out more about Shadows might help ease my father’s mind about Michael as well. “It’s your reward for bossing me around during our training session.” A smile tugged at his lips again. “If you think that was bossy, just wait till lesson number two.” I looked up at him and our eyes locked. I remembered what it was like when he pressed me up against the wall. I’d come very close to kissing him then and making up for New Year’s Eve. “Princess,” he began as I took hold of the edge of his sweatshirt and pulled him closer to me. Closer and closer... “Yes, Michael?” He stepped back from me and looked at the gateway as he crossed his arms, his face stony and unreadable. “Have a safe trip back home.” Way to ruin a moment, Shadow-boy. I was confused by his swift shift in attitude. Intense and extremely kissable one moment, cool and aloof the next. “No mistletoe,” I murmured, only half-joking. “I guess I’ll have to bring some with me next time.”

Then I walked through the gateway backwards, holding his gaze the whole time. I could have sworn I saw something in his eyes then—something that looked like pain and regret. I had no idea why he’d look at me like that. And by the time I opened my mouth to ask him, I was already back home.

Chapter 8

Considering that I hadn’t been in the Shadowlands very long, a couple of hours max, a lot had happened. And I had no idea how to process most of it. Meeting the boy in the halls of the castle was strange, although I hoped there was a good explanation for it. He didn’t seem threatening or dangerous. I think he’d just been messing around with me, although I had no idea why. I mostly worried about Michael. I didn’t think he’d been affected by Jonas’s death like my father feared. He’d recovered and whatever power surge he’d experienced by consuming Jonas’s energy had since faded. He was fine now. Everything was fine. Other than the fact that he hadn’t kissed me, even though I’d really wanted him to. Next time. Definitely next time. Quite honestly, I didn’t think my inner Darkling would be able to hold back. The gateway had let me out only a few blocks away from my street, which was nice. Compared to the warmth and beauty of the castle’s courtyard, the bleak, cold, gray streets of Erin Heights were a return to reality. Home sweet home, I thought. I walked up my driveway just as Mr. Crane was leaving, headed for his car in the driveway. He shot a look over his shoulder toward the front door. “Well, when you figure out what you’re looking for, Susan, you have my number.” “You don’t have to be like that.” My mother crossed her arms. “I told you I’m sorry.” “So am I.” Mr. Crane finally noticed that I was standing just a few feet away. He looked at me and the anger on his face faded away to a sheepish look. “Sorry, Nikki.” “Everything okay?” I asked with concern. “I thought so, but I guess I was wrong. Your mother,” he said, then hissed out a sigh. “She’s challenging.” I couldn’t argue with him there. Without another word, he got in his car and pulled out of the driveway. I finally glanced over at my mother, feeling uncomfortable about what I’d just witnessed. She gave me a pinched look. “Welcome home, honey.” Looked like Mr. Crane was not going to become husband number five after all. I could never predict these things. I tentatively moved past her and into the house. “Trouble in paradise?”

“We were supposed to go out for dinner tonight, but...” She exhaled shakily as she closed and locked the door behind us. “Oh, I don’t know. I just feel like he was moving too fast for me.” “He didn’t do anything bad to you, did he?” I said, feeling an immediate crackle of power run down my arms. Her last husband—the one who owned this house—had been an abusive jerk. When I witnessed him hit her one night, I’d turned around and broken his arm. It was one of my first clues that I might be a little bit different from other kids. Frankly, he should be glad that breaking his arm was all I did to him. “Oh, no. Nothing like that. Nathan’s a good man, just not the right one for me.” I relaxed slightly. “I’m taking it that you two aren’t going out any more?” “Afraid not. Too bad, really. He seemed perfect—good looking, nice, smart, good job, you two seemed to get along well, but...” She sighed. “Something was missing.” “What?” “I think I was. I’m not ready for a new relationship just yet. It’s too soon.” That was a surprise. My mother always had a boyfriend...or a husband. I wasn’t sure she could function without one, actually. Which sounded mean or an exaggeration, but trust me, after what I’d witnessed in sixteen years, it wasn’t far from the truth. “You took your time getting home from school,” she said. “Were you out with Rhys?” I grimaced. My mother was under the mistaken impression that me and Rhys were dating. Since it was more trouble to explain why we weren’t, I’d let it slide. “No, I had some extra studying to do after school.” That was the truth. She smiled. “My little bookworm. Okay, I’m ready to move on and put that unpleasantness with Nathan out of my mind. He’s better without me, quite honestly. He deserves a woman who will give him her undivided attention and unconditional love.” “What kind of a man are you looking for?” “I’m not looking for any man right now.” “But if you were?” I remembered vividly what the boy at the castle had told me about how my parents met. I had no idea if it was true or not. It hadn’t felt like a lie. Every part of me had sensed that it was the truth. And if so, that meant that kid really could read minds, and he knew way too much about my father’s personal life. “Not sure about that,” she replied, opening the fridge in the kitchen. She pulled out a can of Coke for me and a bottle of wine for her, from which she poured a glass. “Handsome?” I asked, cracking open the can. “And tall?” She grinned. “Both would be nice.” “You’d like someone who is confident, smart, and can make you laugh?” She took a sip from her glass. “Now you’re talking.” “How about someone that you might think is a real jerk in the beginning, maybe someone you don’t like at all...but then some crazy things happen and you get the chance to see that his being a jerk is mostly an act. That he’s deeper than that, that he’s actually really amazing. Like that?”

Her face paled and her lips thinned. She took another sip of her wine. “Sounds complicated. Is that how Rhys was with you?” “Well, sort of. But I wasn’t talking about him.” He was definitely a jerk and totally full of himself—but as a faery royal, I figured he came by it honestly. Plus, I wasn’t sold on Rhys being all that amazing. Annoying was more like it. When she didn’t reply, I continued. “Is that how my father was? A jerk first and then you fell for him when you saw the real him underneath it all?” I couldn’t help myself. It must have been residual Darkling courage that made me ask it. Her eyes shot to mine and widened a little. “Your father—he was...” She blinked and took another sip from her wine glass. More like a gulp. “He was complicated.” “But you loved him anyway.” That hard edge I was used to seeing in her eyes whenever this subject came up arrived right on schedule. “I was young and stupid.” “You were seventeen. Almost eighteen.” “Exactly. When you’re that young you don’t know what love really is. Everything seems more intense then, but it doesn’t mean it really is.” “I totally disagree.” “Of course you do,” she said with a sigh. “You’re sixteen.” I ignored that. “Did you try to find him when he disappeared?” She was being way more open on this subject than she’d ever been before. I was going to get as much information as I could while it lasted. “Of course I did.” “Because you were pregnant.” “I didn’t know I was pregnant until a few weeks later. But yes, of course I looked for him. I searched...you don’t know how long. I never found him.” My heart wrenched at seeing the pain on her face. I didn’t want her to have to relive that pain, but I wanted the truth. “If you met him again, what would you do?” She let out a slow breath and looked at me straight on. “I wouldn’t care. It was so long ago, Nikki, that I’m over it. Over him. Time has moved on. I’m not that naïve seventeen-year-old girl anymore. And Desmond...well, I don’t know where he is. All I know is that he broke my heart, and it mended a great deal stronger than it was before.” She said it so firmly that it hurt me. She was serious. She was long over him and had moved on. If she felt anything now, it was just a gnawing sense of betrayal and anger. “I’m sorry.” It was all I could think of to say. And I was sorry. I wished things could be different in so many ways. But continuing to prod at her about this was only going to lead to two things—misery for both of us, and by the look of that rapidly emptying bottle, a cranky mother with a big hangover. “It’s okay, honey.” She ran a hand through her long dark hair as if tidying it. “Everything happens for a reason. And there’s always a silver lining. Right now my silver lining is my new

book. I’m really starting to get into it. Best hero I’ve written in ages.” Her smile returned. “He’s really sexy.” I started to leave the kitchen. “Great. Hope it sells a ton of copies. Another vampire?” “No. I was inspired to write something a little different this time. And I had this dream, a really vivid dream about my new hero. He’s a demon.” I froze at the doorway and slowly looked back at her over my shoulder. I almost dropped my can of Coke. “Wait. A demon?” Her smile grew bigger. “I know, it sounds crazy, doesn’t it? A demon as the hero of a romance novel. But why shouldn’t I try a demon? They’re the ultimate bad boy. Readers love alpha heroes.” My mouth was dry. “And you say you dreamed about him first?” She nodded. “I can barely remember anything from the dream. All I know is that he’s trapped in a big, scary castle somewhere, far, far away. He wishes he could get back to his soul mate that he lost a long time ago, but there are so many obstacles in his way. It was just the spark of an idea, but it’s really blossoming for me on the page. I think I’ll head up to my office and write a few more pages tonight.” Without another word, she breezed past me, wine glass in hand, and went up the stairs. I just stared after her in shock. My mother was having dreams of a demon hero stuck in a scary castle, unable to return to the woman he loves. Was it just a coincidence? No, I didn’t think so either. o0o Later that night, I fell asleep almost immediately—no nightmares, thankfully. I think finally seeing Michael and that he seemed fine and sane and not dark and scary at all had eased my subconscious. Also, I think I was exhausted from my training session with him. I hadn’t forgotten what I’d promised to do for him, either. I got to biology early on Friday morning and sat down at my desk. Mr. Crane entered the room, cast a look in my direction, and his shoulders immediately tensed. Not a good sign. I really hoped he wasn’t going to take out his romantic woes on me or my grades. I felt bad for the guy, though. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with him. Another month, another year, he might even have been perfect for my mother. Not as perfect as my father, but definitely in the running. Shortly before the bell rang, Rhys entered the room and took his time coming to sit down next to me at our shared desk. “Morning,” I said. He leaned forward and rested his head on his hand. “Really?” “What?”

“That sounded almost like friendliness, Princess.” I forced a smile. “Please don’t call me that here.” He shrugged. “Sorry, I forgot.” “No you didn’t. You just use my title to annoy me.” He rolled his eyes. “You know me so well. I exist to annoy you.” The rest of the students filed into class. “Can you do that privacy thing?” I asked, eyeing them warily. I didn’t want anyone to overhear us. “I need to talk to you.” “Are you flirting with me today?” He gave me a grin I immediately wanted to wipe off his face. “Privacy? Just the two of us? I’m flattered.” “Not flirting.” I tried to control my rising anger, but he really pushed my buttons. “I need your help with something.” There was a short pause before the voices all around me muted. Privacy bubble activated. “Do tell,” Rhys said. “So you’re willing to help me?” “Depends what you need.” “Information.” “About what?” “Shadows,” I said bluntly. His relaxed expression became a bit pinched. “I can give you information on Shadows. They’re servants. They work for demons. They’re meaningless workers who take orders and bring tea and clean toilets.” I shook my head. “I should have known better than to ask you anything.” “What? I’m telling the truth. Faeries do that.” “Bite me, Rhys.” “Where?” he asked, then he grinned. “Oh come on, Nikki. Don’t be grumpy with me. You ask a stupid question, you get a stupid answer.” I felt my face go red from how frustrating he was being. And it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. I think he’d already met his daily quota for being annoying. “I really hate you sometimes.” “There’s a fine line between love and hate.” I glared at him. “Dream on.” He shrugged again, clearly finding my aggravation hilarious. “Why are you asking about Shadows? Let me take a wild guess. Michael wants to know more about his lowly heritage?” “Can’t you be nice for once?” “Sure I can. I’m one of the nicest people I know. But not toward him.” “You’re just mad because I have clearly chosen the lowly Shadow servant over the high and mighty king.”

“Ah, vanity. Thy name is Nikki Donovan, thinking all boys are dropping at her magnificent royal feet and begging to date her.” He snorted. “Besides, whoever said you had a choice in the matter?” “What’s that supposed to mean? And, by the way, I’m not vain.” He leaned back in his chair, his lips thinning. “Look, I know you’re mortified about the prophecy. That makes two of us. I have issues with demons, you already know that. When I told my advisors about the prophecy, I expected that they’d go ballistic and forbid me from ever seeing you again. But, no. They’re actually thrilled, which is why they didn’t make a huge deal over me coming back here for a while longer. They think this is the opportunity for relations between the light and dark worlds to improve. They’re already planning the royal wedding.” I felt the color drain from my face. “Please tell me you’re joking.” “Not joking.” “I’m not marrying you.” “I never asked you to. But let’s just say, in the grand scheme of things, whatever emo angst your servant boy is going through pales in comparison to the mess I need to deal with over this fiasco.” “Maybe you shouldn’t have said anything to your advisors. You told me that they don’t like you very much to begin with. Not that I blame them at all.” “The lady,” he muttered, “doth protest too much, methinks.” “What is that? Shakespeare? Really? You are so lame.” “I can’t help it if I’m well read.” He was silent for a moment, but the privacy bubble didn’t let up. We only had another minute before class started. “What do you need to know about Shadows?” I didn’t say anything for a few seconds, waiting for the punch line. Then I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “You’re willing to help me?” “Maybe. What do you want?” I took a deep breath and decided to be completely honest with him. It seemed to be the theme of the week for me. “I need a book that only kings and queens have access to. It’s the only book about Shadows that hasn’t been lost or destroyed. It’s something that could give Michael the details about what he is. Shadows are kept in the dark about most of their history. So can you do that? Can you get me that book?” He studied me. “Ask me nicely.” I restrained myself from coming back with a cutting remark. I exhaled slowly and willed myself to remain calm and polite. “Please, Rhys. Help me find this book about Shadows.” He appeared to consider it for a moment before he nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it. But I want something in return. Faeries barter. It’s kind of our way.” Why wasn’t I surprised? “What do you want?” He was silent so long I wondered if he’d actually reply. “A kiss,” he finally said.

I blinked with surprise. “Excuse me?” “For delivering this hard-to-get book of information for your lowly boyfriend that might just contain his sordid family history, I want you to kiss me of your own free will.” He held up a hand. “And not because I’m just dying for another taste of your half-demon lip gloss. It’s just that at Melinda’s party, under the mistletoe...” Oh boy. I really didn’t need the reminder of that right now. “...I wasn’t exactly myself. I’d had some of your human wine and my mind wasn’t working right. It was all cloudy. Another kiss would prove to me whether or not what I felt that night was...” He trailed off, any of his previous amusement leaving his expression. “Let’s just say, it’s important.” He’d felt something after that kiss, that was what he was trying to say. And he was confused about what it meant, considering how much he thought he disliked demons...or half-demons. “So you think another kiss, a sober one, sans mistletoe, would show you if what you felt for me was just wine clouding your mind?” “Just in case you need a reminder, you did kiss me back. It’ll be a two-way experiment. Maybe you’d like to know the answer to that, too.” I ignored the heat that immediately came to my cheeks. “That sounds vaguely scientific.” “Well, this is biology class.” I grimaced. “I’m not kissing you right now.” The grin returned to his face. “So you’re agreeing to my terms.” “Get the book and then we’ll negotiate terms.” “No, that’s not how it works. You agree now and then I’ll get you this definitive book on Shadows. Payment upon delivery. No take-backs.” I just glared at him. “In case you need a reminder, you are dating my best friend. I don’t think she’d be too thrilled to learn that you’re asking me to kiss you, experiment or not.” “Melinda doesn’t need to know.” “Oh my God. You are such a lousy boyfriend.” “And she’s a lousy girlfriend. I know she’s just using me to keep her demon slayer trainer at a distance.” I grimaced at the reminder. Rhys knew Melinda’s secret, too. He, just like I, had found (through snooping) that the basement of her house was set up like a gym for training, complete with sharp weapons and dusty old illustrated tomes dedicated to the subject of demons. “Why don’t you break up with her?” I asked. He shrugged. “It amuses me to help her when she doesn’t even realize I’m helping. For now, anyway.” Mr. Crane had started talking at the front of class, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. “So, what’ll it be, Princess?” Rhys prodded, using my title again annoyingly. “Yes or no?”

Information that could help Michael in return for giving Rhys a kiss as payment. Which, no matter what his real motivation, sounded like a really bad idea. Never in a million years would I admit to this out loud, but Rhys was right about one very disturbing thing. That kiss under the mistletoe... Well, I’d be lying if I said I felt nothing. No, I’d definitely felt something. Something I’d tucked away and barely glanced at—just like the faery rose Rhys had given to me. Did I want to kiss Rhys again? Ugh. I didn’t even like Rhys, so why was I even considering this? I should just think of it as a way to barter for something I wanted. Something totally meaningless to me. I mean, why would I even resist if this was enough to get me what I wanted? Maybe because I was afraid I was going to feel something again. Something that would make my life way more complicated than it already was. But that wasn’t a strong enough reason to say no. “Fine,” I muttered, now keeping my eyes on the front of class. “I agree.” “Good. Nice doing business with you.” The privacy bubble vanished and I could hear everyone around us again, which was probably a good thing since Mr. Crane had just asked me a direct question. “Nikki,” he said sharply. “Try to keep your mind on class and not on Rhys, okay?” I slumped down further in my chair, embarrassed, while the rest of the class laughed at me. So glad this was Friday.

Chapter 9

Morning classes dragged. And then lunch was uncomfortable since Rhys seemed all over Melinda more than normal. Gag. Although, in his defense, she was piling on the fake “we’re so happy together” romance just as thick. He was trying to make me jealous. And a very tiny part of me actually was. I really hated my life right now. “They are so cute together,” Brittany said. “So cute,” Larissa agreed. “What do you think, Nikki?” Color me surprised, she’d actually asked for my opinion on something. “So adorable I could puke,” I said. “So, sleepover tonight. Fun, right?” Brittany said, cheerily. Out of the two, she’d always been the moderately friendlier one. Larissa and I had an unspoken agreement to despise each other, which we both adhered to. Brittany, though, was a bit of a friendship wild card. “Should be interesting,” Larissa said. “Despite the guest list.” I shot her a withering look. “Talking about me?” She frowned. “No, actually. I’m talking about this Clara chick. Do you even know her?” “I met her earlier this week. She’s also in my geography class,” Brittany confirmed. “She seems really nice.” “If she’s Melinda’s latest recruit to the group, then where is she for lunches this week?” “I don’t know.” I shoved my half-eaten sandwich away. “Are we required to eat lunch all together on a daily basis? Sounds restrictive. Chris doesn’t eat with us anymore.” “No, but Chris is a total psycho now.” “That’s harsh, Larissa,” Brittany said with a frown. She shrugged. “It is what it is. Saw him a minute ago outside the guidance counselor’s office. He was sent there by his art teacher, who looked through his sketch book and got disturbed by what he’s been drawing. A friend of mine’s in his class and told me all about it just before lunch. You should watch out, Nikki.” A shiver went down my spine. “Why?” “She saw at least one sketch of you. I think he’s obsessed with you, although, no offense, I have no idea why. He might be a good artist, but he’s a serious freak of nature now. His mother’s

been called to come get him. Maybe she can have him committed somewhere so he doesn’t hurt anyone.” More sketches of me? I wondered if he’d had another vision, or if this was just more of the same—the winged darkness that was after me. “It’s coming. And it wants to hurt you. You have something it wants.” Nothing had happened like that, outside of my nightmare. But I still felt like something was wrong—well, other than everything. A dark sense of foreboding had slowly but steadily crept over me this week from the moment Chris had said that to me. “I need to go.” I stood up from the table. “I—I have to grab something from the library. I’ll see you at Melinda’s later.” I left without another word or a good-bye. I didn’t even glance over at Melinda and Rhys again. Rushing through the halls, I headed for the guidance counselor’s office. I had to see this sketchbook. If things had progressed so much that Chris was getting in trouble for his sketches to the point that his mother had been called to get him, that didn’t bode well for them being happy drawings of rainbows and flowers. No, they’d be disturbing pictures, much like the one he’d given to me. I now had two works of art by Chris Sanders in my personal collection. He’d given me another one at Melinda’s holiday party that wasn’t much shinier. More darkness surrounding me that I assumed related to my third prophecy. Maybe they were connected. That didn’t ease my mind one little bit. He’d probably be taken out of school. He probably should be taken out of school. Thankfully, I wasn’t too late. He sat on a wooden bench outside of the guidance office, leaning forward with his head in his hands. “Chris.” I approached him cautiously. He didn’t move. After a moment, I touched his shoulder. He jumped and pulled his hands away from his face. I inhaled sharply at what I saw. Chris’s eyes used to be blue-gray. At the moment, though, they were bright amber. All dragons had amber eyes. Just like all Shadows had green ones. “Nikki,” he said. He sounded tired, but not crazy or incoherent, which was mildly encouraging. “Hey, you okay?” “I’ve been better. My head’s all messed up. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I guess I’m going insane.” I frowned. “No, you’re not. You’re going to be okay, but...what do you mean you don’t know what’s wrong with you? How can you not know yet?” “What are you talking about?” “Your visions...” I glanced around to see if anyone was within listening distance. “Where’s your sketchbook?” He jutted his thumb in the direction of the office behind him. “Ms. Matthews took it away from me.”

I hissed out a breath of frustration. “Larissa said somebody saw your book and there were sketches of me in it.” He tensed a little and the look he gave me was wary. “You seem to be the feature of most of my visions. Guess I feel guilty for what happened the night of Winter Formal. I swear, Nikki, I’ve never tried to do anything like that before.” I cringed at the memory. “Ancient history. Let’s try to forget about it.” “I can’t.” His brows drew together. “That guy...that guy I was...I’m not him anymore. I think he died that night.” “I’m not all that sorry to hear that. I like this Chris better, even if he is a bit confused.” I crouched down next to him and grabbed his hand. He looked so distressed. I wanted to help him. And it wasn’t just so I could get more information about his visions starring yours truly. I honestly felt bad about what he was going through. He should know the reason behind it. Why hadn’t he been told anything yet? “What are you, Nikki?” Chris asked. “What did I see that night when you changed? The wings...and your eyes...why do I keep having visions of you? Maybe they’re all just delusions.” “No, they’re visions and I need you to tell me what they are, in detail. It’s important. You have an amazing gift.” “This isn’t a gift, it’s a curse. It’s messing my life up.” “Why hasn’t your mother told you anything yet?” I asked, frustrated by all of this. “Can’t she see you’re in trouble here? I mean, your eyes...” He frowned at me. “What about my eyes?” “Princess?” a female voice said from behind me. I jumped a little with surprise at hearing my official title in the human world, but then looked over my shoulder to see Chris’s mother approach. I’d met Dr. Irena Sanders once before at her office. Rhys had an appointment with her for his official kingly prophetical reading, and he’d taken me along with him. Irena was a dragon oracle living in the human world. She was the one who’d given the prophecy about us getting married one day. Also, the one about the shadows surrounding me and wanting to devour me. I stood up and faced her. “Hi Dr. Sanders. And, please, it’s just Nikki here.” “Of course. My apologies.” She lowered her head a bit with respect although there was something glittering in her eyes that told me she wasn’t too thrilled to see me again. “You know my son?” “Yes, I do.” “Thanks for waiting with him until I got here.” “You haven’t told him anything about what he is.” I couldn’t keep the edge of accusation out of my voice. Her amber-colored eyes flashed, a bit of the initial distrust shifting into actual anger. “With all due respect, this is not your concern. I’ll take care of Chris. He’ll be just fine.” “He should have been told a long time ago so he could prepare himself.”

“You don’t know anything about this.” “Mom?” Chris asked, confused. “What are you talking about? And how do you two know each other?” “Come, Chris, we’re leaving.” She held out her perfectly manicured hand to him. Irena was well-dressed in a designer pantsuit and looked impeccable in every way. Not a hair was out of place. I never would have guessed if I’d just met her that she was capable of shifting into a firebreathing dragon at will and also of seeing the future. By appointment only. Chris looked toward the guidance counselor’s office. “I need to get my sketchbook.” “Leave it,” she said sharply. “I’ll take you home. You’ll rest for the weekend and then you’ll feel better. I’m sure of it.” “Dr. Sanders,” I began, “this isn’t right. You have to tell him everything. Can’t you see that he’s in trouble here?” She gave me a thin smile. “Lovely to see you again, Nikki. But I’m sure you have plenty to keep you occupied without interfering in my son’s life.” Chris cast another confused look over his shoulder at me, a deep frown creasing his brow, as his mother firmly led him away from the guidance counselor’s office. I watched him leave, not knowing what else I should do. Of course, she was right. This wasn’t my business. And for all I knew, she was going to take him home and finally have the talk that, as far as I was concerned, should have come years ago. I hadn’t known my father was a demon because he lived in a different world. He didn’t even know I existed until I turned sixteen. Chris had grown up with his mother, and she’d still kept the secret of what she was—and what he could potentially become himself—away from him. It wasn’t fair. Despite our differences, I did hope he was going to be okay. I hated seeing anyone in that kind of distress. The next moment Ms. Matthews, the guidance counselor, exited her office with an empty coffee mug in hand. She didn’t even look at me as she walked down the hall toward the teacher’s lounge. I didn’t hesitate. I slipped into her office, scanning it quickly. I didn’t see anything on top of her desk or on her bookshelves, so I went to her filing cabinet and opened up the top drawer. There you are. I grabbed Chris’s sketchbook, closed the drawer, and left the office with the stolen merchandise clutched against my chest. I mean, I was half-demon. I might as well do something evil. o0o The sketchbook weighed heavily in my bag all afternoon, but I didn’t dare pull it out and look at it yet. I kept expecting Ms. Matthews to come bursting into my classes and demanding that I

give it back. But she probably had no idea where it went, if she’d even realized that somebody had taken it. Finally, school was over for the week, which was a huge relief. I headed straight to the washroom, locked myself in a stall, and pulled the sketchbook out of my bag. I flipped through the pages quickly to get an overview of the contents. Almost every page was filled. Chris was a good artist. But these were some disturbing pictures. I saw why his art teacher would have been concerned about his current mental health. I’d expected to find different stories here, kind of like a comic book. But all I got was the same thing over and over, just drawn differently. Me. Darkness. Me as human Nikki. Me as Darkling Nikki. Darkness. The Shadowlands castle behind me. To my left. To my right. More darkness surrounding me. That scary dark figure with the outstretched wings on several pages. A close-up of my face, but I’m looking to the left as if trying to see who or what is behind me. I looked scared. More darkness. On the last page, there wasn’t a sketch, but words he’d scribbled down before going over and over them with his pencil to make them dark and ominous. THE SHADOWS WILL REIGN. Pushing back against my fear, I shoved the sketchbook into my bag and went to my locker to drop off my books. “Nikki?” It was all I could do to stop the scream that rose in my throat. I spun around to see Melinda standing next to me. “Oh, hey. Melinda. Hi.” “Thank God it’s Friday,” she said. “You can say that again.” I tried to put what I’d just read out of my mind. It could mean a lot of things, I didn’t even want to guess. But I did want to talk to Chris again as soon as I could. She opened her locker and shoved her own books and binder into it. “So when are you coming over? The others will be there by seven-thirty and we’re going to order pizza then, but feel free to come earlier.” “Right, the sleepover.” I really wanted to try to get out of it, since I had too many other things on my mind. But I wouldn’t. I’d go and be a good friend. I’d try to get along with Larissa and Brittany. I’d hang out with the new girl, Clara. Maybe for a few hours I’d feel normal again. It was a goal. Anyway, there wasn’t much I could do that night. About Michael, about Rhys, about Chris, about my father. About anything. “You are coming, right?” she asked after I didn’t speak for a moment. “Yeah, of course I am. Wouldn’t miss it.” She looked relieved. “Well, good.” I frowned at her. “Everything okay with you?”

“Me? Sure, never better. Why?” “I mean, New Year’s Eve you were beyond depressed. Monday morning you were really angsty about being back. And even with Rhys hanging all over you, you didn’t seem too thrilled about everything. Remember?” She waved a hand. “That was a momentary glitch. It’s over. Everything’s great now. Better than great. I’ve never been happier.” I eyed her skeptically. “Okay.” “You don’t believe me?” “I don’t know. If you say you’ve never been happier, then who am I to argue?” “So the sleepover?” she asked cheerily. I wouldn’t push her right now. I would try to be as happy about this evening as I could. For Melinda. I really think she needed this. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I said. “I just need to pick up a few things at home first.” And to find somewhere to stash Chris’s sketchbook of doom. She nodded. “Good. And don’t worry about Larissa. If she acts up, I’ll let her know that you’re my best friend and nothing is ever going to change that.” “Nothing?” “Nothing,” she confirmed. She grabbed me and gave me a tight hug that I returned. I hoped I looked suitably enthusiastic. A part of me did wish I could tell her the truth about everything—after all, that’s what best friends did. But another part of me knew that my being half-demon was a secret I could never share with her. I had to keep reminding myself that she wasn’t a demon slayer any longer. She’d told Patrick to get lost. Everything was better now with her—at least, I really hoped it was. All the other crazy stuff in my life could wait until tomorrow. Tonight I would be Melinda’s best friend forever. And all was right with the world.

Chapter 10

I got to Melinda’s just before six o’clock with my overnight bag in hand. She opened the front door to her parents’ huge house with a big smile on her face. And, for an hour and a half, we caught up on everything that had happened this week. I’d been so busy with my own problems that I’d barely spent any time with her in person or on the phone. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her. Suddenly, I was normal Nikki again and it felt pretty great. The others arrived right on schedule at seven-thirty and we ordered pizza. Melinda’s parents were out for the evening, giving us plenty of privacy. I knew they wanted Melinda to be a demon slayer and had been the ones to arrange her lessons with Patrick in the first place. Demon slaying was allegedly something that was passed down through family lines. She was the latest in her line. I didn’t know if her parents—either one —were also trained slayers. They encouraged her, that was all I really knew. Her parents didn’t look like demon slayers. They looked like Melinda’s parents—an accountant and a magazine editor. But, for all I knew, that could only be their cover identities. And the closed door that led to the basement where her training had taken place was something I tried very hard to ignore every time we passed it. Clara seemed very uncomfortable at being around Larissa and Brittany—not that I blamed her —so I tried my best to make her feel welcome. She was really pretty with gorgeous long dark hair and really nice blue eyes. I was quite sure, if she got over her shyness, that she’d be readily accepted into the Erin Heights social scene way faster than I had been. Not that I’d been accepted fully yet. It was only my friendship with Melinda that earned me a spot at the Royal Party’s cafeteria table. “Clara’s from Los Angeles,” I said to the others, using my inside information to get a conversation going that involved the timid girl. We sat in Melinda’s big living room, which had a huge flat screen television we planned to watch a couple movies on later. We sprawled on two oversized sofas facing each other. This info was met with looks of interest. “Why did you move here?” Larissa asked. Clara crossed her legs next to me and took a sip from her can of Sprite. “Not much of a choice. I had to come here. I like it better back home, the scenery is a bit more lush and green all the time, and there’s never any snow, but you have to do what you have to do.”

Brittany nodded sagely. “It’s so annoying to be forced to go wherever your parents want to go. Like we have no say at all until we’re eighteen.” Clara shrugged. “I’m getting used to it. People have been really nice to me so far.” “We need to get you a boyfriend,” Melinda said. “And you’ll be as happy here as the rest of us are.” “Who says we’re all happy?” I asked, wryly. She sent a grin in my direction. “Nikki, you need a boyfriend who actually lives in town. Then you might be happier.” I didn’t really need the reminder that Michael lived nowhere close to me and couldn’t visit me of his own free will. It was so unfair. “And you need one who isn’t a foreign exchange student.” “Rhys is a foreign exchange student?” Clara asked. “Where’s he from?” “Not sure, actually,” Melinda replied. “He’s never told me. I know he has a room at the hotel in town and goes home on weekends and holidays. England seems too far for that.” “And he doesn’t have an accent,” Larissa pointed out. She shrugged. “I guess he’s from the States.” “I’m from the States originally,” I said. “And I’m not considered an exchange student. Same with Clara. Rhys must be from some other magical land.” Yeah, I was being a troublemaker when it came to the faery king. I couldn’t help it. “Well, I don’t know.” Melinda frowned a little. “I guess the difference is you guys moved here permanently with your parents. Rhys is going back home eventually.” “When might that be happening?” I asked with a thin smile. Melinda shot me a look. “Hopefully not soon.” “His parents must be really rich if he can afford to stay at the Erin Heights Inn every day rather than staying with a family in town like most exchange students would. Plus, how much fun could it be to stay in a hotel all the time?” I didn’t know why I felt like talking about this tonight. Maybe there was something in the pepperoni. She shrugged. “I guess you’d have to ask him yourself.” I had. Rhys hated staying at that lonely hotel all by himself and avoided it as much as possible. Now that his advisors were okay with him being here—thanks to the stupid marriage prophecy—maybe it was easier for him to go back to the Faery Realm after school every day. It was possible he was there right now looking for the Shadow book for me. “Maybe he’s got a private jet and can go wherever he wants on the weekends,” Brittany said. “I mean, he dresses great. His clothes are all designer. He’s probably rich. Plus he’s super hot. You’re so lucky, Melinda.” “I know. I am lucky.” Melinda had a forced smile on her face. “Want to watch the movie now? Or...I don’t know. Maybe we can play a game first?” I looked at her skeptically. “Like Monopoly? Or Trivial Pursuit?” She shrugged. “Or something on the Wii. I have bowling. That’s surprisingly fun, you know.” I laughed. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“How about Truth or Dare?” Brittany suggested. We all looked at her. “What? We used to play that all the time back in ninth grade, remember?” Melinda nodded, then a smile came to her face as if she was reliving the memory. “Right. You always picked dare. And you always got in trouble.” Brittany laughed. “I’m a rebel.” Melinda and I exchanged a glance. I wanted her to say no, that it was a stupid game that nobody really liked playing anymore, but instead she said, “Fine with me.” Great. “Okay with me, too,” Clara said. They all looked at me, demon princess and potential destroyer of fun times. I shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Brittany, it’s your idea so you get to go first. Truth or dare?” She twisted her index finger through her long red hair and shifted on the sofa. “Dare.” “As if there was any other choice,” Larissa said under her breath. I wracked my brain. Brittany was best friends with Larissa who’d made my life very uncomfortable since coming to Erin Heights High. She’d never done a thing to defend me. And now her immediate fate was in my hands. Very tempting. But what should I dare her to do? Then I got a wicked idea. “I want you to call Peter Hollings and ask him out on a date.” She blanched and her excited grin disappeared from her face. “Peter Hollings? As if Brittany’d ever look twice at that loser.” Larissa snorted. “Actually, now that I think about it, that’s pretty funny. Do it.” Unlike Larissa, I wasn’t quite cruel enough to pick a dare that would humiliate a guy from school, even one I didn’t know very well. Yeah, Peter was not a part of the Royal Party. He was a total genius. He wore glasses. He’d been assigned to tutor Brittany so she had half a chance at passing Algebra. Some might consider him a geek. And I had a pretty good hunch, from the way Brittany watched him every lunch hour across the cafeteria, that she had a massive crush on him anyway. Brittany looked directly at me as if begging me to take it back. I fixed her with a confident smile. “Well?” I prompted. Everybody had secrets. Some were just better at hiding them than others. And some secrets were only dangerous if we kept them to ourselves. Slowly, the color returned to her face and a look of determination lit up her eyes. “Fine.” I nodded. “Good.” She bit her bottom lip and pulled out her cell phone, hitting a few keys before she held it to her ear. Her knuckles were white as the rest of us watched. “Peter?” she said, her voice a bit hoarse. “It—it’s Brittany. Uh, yeah. Hi.” She cleared her throat. The sound of his voice had already brightened her expression. “Listen, I have a question for you. Do you...want to go out with me? Tomorrow night?” A small smile softened her tense expression. “No, not for more lessons. For, like, dinner maybe?”

There was a pause and a momentarily worried look slid through her eyes, but then she brightened again. “Great. I’ll see you then. Bye!” She hung up and glanced at me with giddy expression. “There, I did it.” I smiled back at her. “Well done.” Just call me a half-demon matchmaker. Larissa yawned, obviously bored that something more dramatic didn’t happen. “Okay, Brittany, your turn to ask.” She did. She asked Larissa, who also picked “dare.” Brittany got Larissa to eat two dill pickles—Larissa’s absolutely least favorite food. The sour and disgusted look on her face made almost everything in my entire life worthwhile. “Okay,” Larissa said, after downing a glass of water to get the taste out of her mouth and we returned to the game. “My turn. Nikki, truth or dare?” Groan. “Truth.” “I’ve been wondering this for a while...do you like Rhys as more than just a friend?” She couldn’t keep the grin off her stupid face. I sent a withering look her way. “Really, Larissa? Are you trying to cause trouble here or something?” “That wasn’t a yes or no answer.” Melinda watched me carefully. “You have to answer it, Nikki. It’s the rules.” Rules, shmules. “No, I don’t like Rhys as more than a friend.” “Truth means you can’t lie,” Larissa said. “I’m not lying.” Or maybe I was. Crap. Didn’t matter. Even if I was lying a little about my ridiculously confusing and complicated feelings toward Rhys, demons—or half-demons—were very good at it. Therefore, Larissa could kiss my butt. “My turn,” I said. “Larissa, truth or dare?” She raised an eyebrow. “Truth.” “Do you really hate my guts so much that you want to ruin my friendship with Melinda?” What could I say? She’d decided to move this game into a less fun area. I was just keeping up the pace. “Come on, guys.” Melinda grabbed her can of Diet Coke off the coffee table and took a sip from it. “Let’s try to keep things friendly here.” I gave her an innocent look. “I’m asking in a friendly way.” Larissa leaned back in her seat and sent a pensive look toward me. “Do I hate your guts? No. Do I want to ruin your friendship with Melinda? Sometimes.” “Why?”

“Mostly because you coming here from nowhere and barging into our group annoyed me. You hadn’t earned the right to be her friend. So you first met when you saved her life when she was choking. Does that mean you automatically get a free pass to friendship and popularity?” It was true, that was how we’d first met. I was very glad my mother had sent me on that first aid course instead of day camp. “I very strongly vote yes,” Melinda said. “But that’s not why we’ve stayed friends. And that’s not why Nikki’s popular.” “I sure don’t feel popular.” Other than being Melinda’s best friend, I still felt like an outsider at school. Stuff like that might have bugged me more in the past, but lately, I honestly couldn’t care less. “Even Chris asked you out. You were his date to Winter Formal.” Larissa said it snidely, as if she still couldn’t believe it. “Do you know how many girls wanted to go out with him?” “Past tense,” Brittany added. “Well, yeah,” Larissa agreed. “Chris is a freak now. Totally off the market.” “Don’t be mean to Chris,” I said sharply, immediately rising to his defense. “You want all the boys to yourself. Chris, Rhys...” “I don’t want Chris and I definitely don’t want Rhys. He’s dating Melinda.” “He is.” Melinda held out her right hand. “He bought me this bracelet.” It was a nice bracelet. He hadn’t cheaped out on it, that was for sure. However, the bracelet wasn’t exactly a rare and immortal faery rose like he’d given me... I really didn’t want to think about gifts from Rhys right now. And I especially didn’t want to think about how much I liked that stupid rose. “Yeah, he sees you at school. You hang out at lunch. But have you actually gone out with him otherwise?” Larissa studied Melinda. “Truth or dare, Melinda.” She took another gulp of her drink and cast a glance around at the rest of us. “This game sucks.” Clara watched all of this with wide eyes. “What is going on here? This is starting to feel really uncomfortable.” I looked at her. “This is conflict between friends in the form of a fun party game.” “I thought that’s what it was.” “Truth,” Melinda said finally. Larissa looked thoughtful. “Oh, so many things I want to know the truth about. But let’s start with this—why have you been so weird lately? You’re all distracted and you’re nothing like you used to be. Is it Nikki? Does she have some sort of negative effect on people...first Chris and now you...to strip them of their previous awesomeness?” “Those were a few questions,” she said thinly. “How about just one?” “Okay, fine. What’s wrong with you lately?” Melinda snorted. I half-expected her to throw Larissa out for being rude, but they’d been friends for a while. I figured Larissa’s behavior didn’t shock her anymore, not as much as it

shocked the rest of us. Me and Clara, and even Brittany, sat on our sofa staring at the two of them on the other side of the coffee table. They glared at each other. “What’s wrong with me?” Melinda said. “I quit my ballet lessons. They were taking over my life. And now everything is slowly getting back to normal even though my parents are furious with me over it. It’s no big deal, but there’s been a ton of drama.” Larissa studied her carefully for a moment before she leaned back in her seat. “Oh. Well, that makes total sense. Parents can be so annoying. Is it better now?” Melinda nodded. “It’s getting there.” I let out the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. Crisis averted. For a moment there, I thought Melinda was going to pick this incredibly awkward time to confess everything. “So,” Clara said, “This game of truth or dare seems to have turned into all truth and no dare.” Melinda looked at her with a smile. “Okay, you’re up next, Clara. Who’s the one guy at school you’d want to date if you had the chance?” “Rhys,” she said immediately. Then she let out a nervous giggle. “Hey, you wanted the truth.” Melinda stared at her with shock for a moment before she started to laugh, too. “You have good taste. But hands off, he’s mine.” Clara pulled her legs up so she could casually cross them yoga-style. “I don’t know about that. The way he looks at Nikki, you’d think they were planning their wedding.” The sip of Coke I’d just taken nearly shot right out of my nose. “Excuse me?” Melinda said, icily. “I—I mean, I haven’t even met him yet or anything. But I just noticed the other day in the halls that he was looking at Nikki like...well, I thought they were going out. But they’re not. He’s totally going out with you, of course. I know that now. Sorry.” I wiped the Coke off my face with a napkin as my previously eaten pizza did an unpleasant back flip in my stomach. Planning their wedding? What an unfortunate choice of words, especially considering the you-know-what. But what difference did Clara’s opinion make, really? This was a non-issue. Melinda even said herself on Monday that she wasn’t into Rhys like she’d been before Christmas break. I glanced at Larissa, who looked very amused by this exchange. Brittany was scarfing down another piece of pizza as if this was nothing to concern herself over. “Forget it. It’s okay,” Melinda said after a few very silent and uncomfortable moments. And that pretty much ended our short but rousing game of Truth or... Truth. Melinda seemed to brush off her annoyance over Clara’s statement and re-establish her previously cheery outlook. She went to fetch a bowl of potato chips that she set on the table between us and put in the first movie of the night— Avatar. I had to agree, it was a good idea to end any further questions and start some entertainment that kept the talking to a minimum. And Avatar was good for three hours of reduced chat. Tall blue aliens were a great distraction. “Nikki, can I talk to you for a minute?” Melinda asked. “In private?” Uh-oh.

“Sure thing.” I stood from the sofa. Clara gave me a pained look that clearly said she was sorry for sticking her foot in her mouth and causing trouble. I forced a grin to let her know it was okay. It wasn’t, but whatever. Now was the time for damage control. Larissa just looked amused about the entire situation. My opinion on her had not changed so far this evening. Forget demons. She was evil incarnate. “Follow me,” Melinda said. She led me toward the dining room, clear on the other side of the house so we wouldn’t be within hearing distance of the others. “I’m not interested in stealing Rhys away from you if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said immediately. I didn’t feel the need to mention that I’d promised to kiss him in exchange for his getting me something I wanted. “Clara seems nice, but I don’t think she’s too smart. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” “Sure she does. Rhys does look at you sometimes in a way that a girlfriend wouldn’t be too happy about.” My throat tightened. “That’s not my fault.” Or maybe it was. I wasn’t so sure anymore. “I know. Which is why you shouldn’t worry about it. I have bigger issues right now than boy problems, Nikki.” “Oh. Okay.” I frowned, the tension in my chest easing off a little. “Then what is this about?” She wrung her hands and paced back and forth. “That kind of sucked just now. All those questions. And it wasn’t very nice of Larissa to put you on the spot like that.” “Larissa isn’t nice,” I said simply. That explained pretty much everything to do with the girl. “It did make me realize how weird I’ve been acting lately. I honestly thought I’d hid it really well, but that Larissa noticed it—that you’ve noticed it—tells me I’m lousy at hiding my feelings. I’ve struggled with this, Nikki. For weeks. And I’m about to burst from keeping it inside. I don’t want to anymore. I know this is probably a bad time, but I just need to get this off my chest.” I didn’t think I liked where this was headed. “Melinda...” “You said at New Year’s that I could tell you anything, right? Did you really mean that? Can I tell you anything and you—you’ll believe me? Even if it sounds really crazy?” Say no, I commanded myself. Tell her no! “Of course I meant it,” I said instead. A cold line of perspiration slid down my spine. “Tell me anything you need to tell me. I’m your best friend. But maybe we should wait till the others are gone? Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable then?” And give me a chance to make my excuses and escape? “No, it needs to be now. I just feel like I’ve held this in for too long already. It’ll be better when I get it out, I know it.” She moved to the door and glanced outside, as if checking if anyone

was eavesdropping. Then she let out a very long, shuddery sigh and turned to face me, her expression bleak. “Just after my birthday in November, my parents sat me down and had a long talk about family history and duty and responsibility. It sucked. I didn’t understand any of it. But it changed my life whether I wanted it to or not.” She swallowed hard and ran a nervous hand through her long platinum blond hair. “Honestly, it’s like something out of a television show. But it’s not nearly as cool or glamorous.” I stayed utterly silent, not wanting to hurry her. I didn’t want to hear what she was telling me. This couldn’t really be happening. “For centuries, there have been people who are trained to guard this world from...from other worlds that exist. I know it sounds bizarre, but that’s what I was told. So there are, like, dark worlds. With monsters and bad things in them. They’re blocked right now and can’t come here— haven’t been able to for a very long time. But in case they do find a way to escape, people like me are trained to prevent them from doing any damage or hurting anyone.” Melinda paced back and forth in the room, most of which was taken up by a long oak table. I pressed my back up against the wall near the china cabinet. “I didn’t believe it for ages. They showed me these books, old books that were written in different languages, like Latin. They had someone come here to translate it for me and tell me the history of what I am. And they hired Patrick to train me...he’s not really a ballet instructor. I know you were surprised that there were no tutus or ballet slippers. That I was in sweats and was bruised and I looked like hell. That’s because I never was taking dance lessons. I was taking fighting lessons. Weapons lessons.” She glanced at me as if to get my reaction so far. Whatever she saw on my face gave her the courage to continue. I guess, facially, “I think I’m going to puke” translated to “please go on.” “So that’s what I did for a couple weeks leading up to Christmas break. I trained for hours a day—before and after school—to protect the world from monsters who haven’t stepped foot here in recent history. It was so stupid. How am I supposed to believe in something just from reading it in books and people telling me that it exists? I’m supposed to give up my entire life for that? My dreams, my hopes...my friends, even? Patrick thought I should. He’s really serious about this. He’s been training since he was sixteen, too, so for five years. He goes to university, but his main purpose in life is training to fight these monsters. He’s obsessed. And he thought I should be obsessed, too. But I wasn’t. I hated it. I wanted to be given another choice. I wanted my parents to say—if you don’t want to do this, you can do something else instead. But they didn’t. My father trained when he was younger. He gave it up when he turned fifty. That’s how it goes. You get into it when you’re sixteen, and you retire when you’re fifty.” She blinked. “I know it sounds insane. I’m even more insane than Chris is right now.” “You said that you’re training to protect the world from monsters...” I began. “Not just monsters,” she said, her voice going cold with fear and so quiet I had to strain to hear her. “Nikki...I—I’m a slayer of...demons.”

Chapter 11

And there it was. After all this time of it being a secret, something I could try my best to ignore, she’d finally blurted it out. Right in the middle of a sleepover party. I felt sick inside at hearing it out loud. It meant I couldn’t try to deny it any longer. This was real. “A...a demon slayer,” I repeated. The words were thick and unpleasant on my tongue. She looked at me bleakly. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” My heart thudded hard in my chest. “I—I don’t know what to think right now.” “I know how it sounds. I know how I’d feel if someone told me the same thing. If I didn’t know it was the truth right away. It’s so hard to believe. They keep it a big secret. There aren’t very many people at all who know about this. It’s a secret society.” “Then why are you telling me?” “Because I know I can trust you, Nikki. More than anyone I’ve ever met before. Sure, Larissa and I have known each other longer, but with you—I know you’re my true friend. I know you’ll stick by me in good times and bad. And it’s been bad lately. I’ve wanted to tell you for ages, but I couldn’t.” She blinked. “And I have proof. I can show you downstairs. That’s where I trained.” The last thing I needed was to get a personal tour of the basement of death. “I don’t need proof. I—I believe you.” Her eyes widened. “You do?” I nodded. “I know you wouldn’t make something like this up. And I know you’re not crazy. So take out those two components and I’m left with the fact that this must be the truth. And...and I’m so sorry. For everything you’ve had to go through.” I’d never seen a look of relief quite as profound as what washed over Melinda’s face. Her eyes filled with tears. Mine did the same at seeing her so emotional over this terrible burden she’d been keeping for weeks. We both stood there in her dining room crying, while three other girls waited obliviously for us in another room. “You don’t know what this means to me, Nikki. Thank you for believing me.” I was about to say something, but she grabbed me into a tight hug, so tight it nearly cut off my breath. She was stronger than she looked. I figured that was a gift with purchase for being from a line of demon slayers. They would need their strength. After all, swords were very heavy. “But you’ve quit, right?” I asked when I found my voice again. “Yeah, I have.”

“But they don’t want you to. Your parents. Or Patrick.” “No. It’s been rough. I felt really good when I made the decision to quit, but they hound me daily about it. I haven’t seen Patrick for a while, but he was, like, obsessed. He can’t believe I’d be willing to turn my back on this so easily.” She let out a shaky sigh. “As if this is remotely easy for me.” “And, um... demons...” I forced the word out. “What’s up with that? You said they’re stuck in other worlds and they don’t come here. Never?” “I don’t think so. Demons look different from humans. We’d be able to spot them easily. There haven’t been any sightings for ages. Quite honestly, for all I know, there aren’t any demons left at all, which makes all my training a complete waste of time.” “But if you saw one, what would you do?” “Probably run like hell.” She snorted, but it wasn’t a sound filled with humor. “Hell. That’s where they’re from. And the Underworld. Those are considered the ‘dark worlds’.” Oh, I think I already knew that. “What would Patrick do if he saw one?” “Slay it. They’re like vampires—not that vampires really exist. But silver—a sword or a dagger—through the heart and they’re dead on arrival.” My stomach lurched. I hadn’t known that. I stored this information so I could ask my father about it later. “Wow,” I said. “This is...just, wow.” “Yeah, I know. It’s a lot of info to take in.” She let out another long, shaky sigh. “And you honestly expect me to just go back and hang out with Larissa and the others after a confession of this magnitude?” “We don’t have to go back for a minute.” “Maybe Larissa’s a demon,” I said. “And if so, maybe you could go ahead and, uh, slay her. With my full permission.” Melinda laughed, the most genuine laugh I’d heard from her in far too long. It’s what I’d been aiming for by making the joke, despite my knees turning to jelly. “She’s not a demon, sorry.” “Darn.” “This is amazing, Nikki. I am so glad I told you. You don’t know how long I’ve struggled with this.” Her expression turned serious again. “But you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. I mean anyone. Even though you believe me, other people wouldn’t. I mean, I know it sounds completely nuts. And even aside from that, I’m not supposed to discuss any of this with someone who’s not in the slayer society.” I grabbed her hand and looked into her worried eyes. “I’m glad you told me. And I swear, I won’t tell anyone.” She nodded. “Thank you.”

We headed back to the other room after missing the first part of the movie. The girls watched us as if trying to figure out just how big of a fight we’d just had and, if you ask me, Larissa looked disappointed that we weren’t showing any outward signs of distress. I tried to look relaxed, but for the rest of the movie, I couldn’t concentrate. My head kept spinning from what Melinda had just confessed to me. I mean, I’d already known it—known all of it, really, except for the silver sword part. There was nothing she said that really surprised me. Only that she told me anything at all surprised me. I wondered what she’d think if she found out she’d just bared her soul to a half-demon. She would never, ever have to know the truth about me. I swore, from that moment forward, that I’d keep my secret from her forever. It was for the best. Besides, she’d quit her lessons. She wasn’t a demon slayer. Everything was going to be okay now. Melinda seemed lighter, happier. I was glad to have helped lighten her burden for her. However, now it weighed heavy on my shoulders. The rest of the evening slipped by without incident. By the end of the second movie, we were all bleary-eyed and ready to go to sleep. We headed upstairs and set up camp in Melinda’s room and the guest room next door. Clara pulled me aside. “Sorry about earlier,” she said. “I was an idiot to even say that about Rhys and you. I guess I just wanted to be part of the conversation so I could try to fit in better. I feel like a major outsider here.” “Forget it.” I tried to push away my earlier annoyance with her. She didn’t mean any harm. “But a word to the wise, don’t try so hard. Larissa can sense desperation from a mile away. She’s like a shark who smells blood in the water. It just makes her want to sink her teeth in.” She cringed. “How do you deal with all the drama?” “I try to deal as little as possible.” “And you’re really not interested in Rhys?” I gave her a sharp look. “I thought we were going to drop that subject?” “I know.” She twisted a finger through her hair. “It’s just that...seeing him the other day...it’s like he doesn’t even fit in around here, even though everyone seems to like him.” “Trust me, he doesn’t fit in. Rhys is a mystery. A mystery that can’t be solved by any mere mortal.” That was a pretty good way to put it, I thought. “And don’t fall for him, either. I promise you that he’s trouble. There are plenty of other guys at school who’d make much better boyfriends.” “You’re probably right. I mean, it’s not like he even knows I exist. But he is very cute.” She grinned. “Come on, you have to admit at least that much.” I sighed. “Fine. He’s absolutely gorgeous—and he knows it, too. Satisfied?” “For now.” “Goodnight. Dream of boys who aren’t dating Melinda. Trust me, she might kill you if you try to steal her boyfriend.” Possibly literally. The girl did have some weapons training.

Clara nodded gravely. “Understood.” It was almost two o’clock in the morning when we finally shut the lights off, stopped talking, and went to bed. It took me another hour before I joined them in blissful unconsciousness, listening to the other girls’ steady breathing. Brittany, I quickly learned, snored loudly and talked in her sleep. About puppies, strangely enough. Finally, I fell asleep. It felt like about five minutes before I woke up, the sun streaming through the window. I breathed a small sigh of relief. Sleepover successfully accomplished. Hooray! And only one catastrophic admission from Melinda. Plus, too many pieces of pizza. My gut felt like a disaster area this morning. After we all got up at a little past noon, got dressed, and had brunch, Larissa and Brittany took off, followed by Clara, leaving me and Melinda alone. I helped her clean up and hung out for most of the afternoon. Her parents had come back late last night and were out again today with some friends. “Slayer society members,” Melinda told me. I cringed at the mention of the demon killing group. “Sounds exclusive.” “I’m sure they’re complaining about their daughter, the quitter. My mother is okay with it, actually, but it’s my father who’s still pushing me to start again. I’m a huge disappointment for him.” I hated seeing so much pain on her face. “Sorry.” “It’s okay. I’m dealing.” There was a knock at the front door. We exchanged a look. “Expecting someone?” I asked. She bit her bottom lip. “Maybe it’s Rhys. I told him to come over this weekend if he wanted to.” If it was Rhys, maybe he had the book I’d asked for. Although, why he’d bring it to Melinda’s house was beyond me. Melinda went to the front door and opened it. A guy loomed in the doorway. His hair was dark red and short. His blue eyes flashed. He was over six feet tall, and muscular. I recognized him and every muscle in my body immediately tensed. “Patrick,” Melinda said with strain in her voice. “We need to talk.” “I think I told you everything I wanted to say last time.” “Melinda, you have to hear me out.” His gaze moved past her and landed on me. Melinda glanced at me, too. “I have company, so this isn’t a good time.” “Hey there,” I forced myself to say lightly. “You’re Nikki, right?” His gaze shot to Melinda. “Your friend.” “My best friend.”

He gave me another unpleasant look. I’d be surprised if this guy had any friends apart from whatever weapons he trained with. Just being near him gave me chills, knowing what he was and what he could do. “Two minutes, Melinda. Let me talk to you alone for two minutes.” The fierce look faded from his face a fraction and his brows drew together. “Please.” He was actually capable of being polite. Shocker. I wanted Melinda to say no, but instead she nodded, her expression strained. “Fine. Two minutes. Nikki, I’ll be right back.” She walked through the house to the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. Patrick followed after her. He moved with purpose and strength. I’d bet he could run really fast. Seriously, he was like some sort of animal—a predator like a lion or a tiger. Just the thought of it made a chill run down my spine. They went out to the backyard and I watched through the glass, keeping hidden by the edge of the door. She crossed her arms and shivered. It wasn’t freezing today, but it was still cold. I knew snow was forecast for later tonight. My heart thudded in my chest. He was back to try to convince her to continue on with her lessons. What would it take for him to finally get the hint that she wasn’t interested? He sent an unpleasant glance toward the house, then dug into the pocket of his black coat and pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to her. It took her a moment before she took it from him, glanced at it, then shoved it into her own pocket. I could tell this wasn’t a calm conversation from the look on their faces. This was heated on both sides. Finally, though, when Patrick gripped Melinda’s shoulders hard, I’d had enough. I pushed open the door and walked outside. “Your two minutes are up,” I said firmly. Patrick glared at me. “This isn’t any of your business.” “You harassing my best friend? I’m making it my business.” “That would be a mistake.” “Just go, Patrick.” Melinda sounded weary. “I heard you out like you wanted. We’re done here.” “Trust no one,” he growled at her. She rolled her eyes. “Just you, right?” “The prophecy is clear,” he said. “The time is drawing closer. You need to be ready.” “Maybe my father will come out of retirement and take my place if I don’t want to.” She walked into the house with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. He made a frustrated sound, his face red from anger at dealing with someone who didn’t want to listen to him. As for me, I’d frozen at the sound of the word “prophecy.” It wasn’t my favorite P word lately, since it usually meant something bad. Demon slayers got prophesies, too?

Patrick followed Melinda into the house. And I followed Patrick, keeping a significant amount of space between us. “You know where to find me,” he said with a glance over his shoulder. Then, with a last withering look at me, he left through the front door, slamming it behind him. “So,” I said after a few moments of silence passed, “he seems like a lot of fun.” Melinda laughed, but it sounded sharp and slightly hysterical. I looked at her with concern. “Just ignore whatever he told you,” I told her. “Put it out of your mind.” “I’ll try.” “I don’t think he likes me very much. Does he look at everyone with that ‘I think you’re scum’ look in his eyes?” “I haven’t seen him around too many people. But he—well, he gets a strange vibe from you.” She shrugged. “It’s stupid.” A shiver went through me. “What kind of a strange vibe?” She waved a hand. “It’s nothing. I mean, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He told me I’m supposed to be careful around you.” “Around me.” I pointed to myself to make sure we were talking about the same person. “Patrick...he’s got skills beyond what he can do with weapons. He’s got, like, some sort of sixth sense that some slayers have.” “Sixth sense. That’s like ESP?” “I don’t know. I guess. He thinks that he can sense when demons are around. Like, he gets a prickly feeling at the back of his neck. In the old books, it’s said that some of the most important demon slayers had that since it helped them know when their enemies were close by.” My stomach flipped over. “Crazy.” “Yeah.” “And he thinks he can feel something like that from me?” “I know, it’s ridiculous. Especially since he admits he’s never felt it before in his life.” She snorted softly. “Yeah, like you’re a demon. Right.” I needed to throw up. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Melinda shook her head and fished into her pocket to pull out the piece of paper. “He even gave me this. It’s some sort of spell that can help reveal a demon’s true form. Apparently they have human forms they can hide behind. I mean, how crazy is that?” Totally crazy. Yup. One hundred percent. “Um, let me see that...” I held out my shaky hand toward her, hoping that she’d give the paper to me. Like, immediately. It sounded beyond dangerous if it really worked. But instead of letting me see it, she started to read it aloud. It was only a sentence long. I had no idea what she even said, I think it was in Latin. All I heard was a bunch of gobbledygook and then... Pop. “Ow.” I gasped for breath after the short burst of pain.

Melinda stared at me with wide eyes. Her hands started to tremble and she dropped the paper. It fluttered gently to the floor. Oh no. I glanced to my left to see the full length mirror by the front door in her foyer. It reflected back an image of me from head to foot. I was now in full Darkling form. Wings and all.

Chapter 12

She scrambled back from me. “What? Wh—what is going on?” I held up my hands in front of me, immediately realizing my error since they only showed my sharp talons off to their best advantage. I tucked them behind my back. “Melinda, don’t freak out.” Way too late for that. “Oh my God,” she gasped, gesturing at me frantically. “He was right! Patrick was right! You’re a...you’re a demon!” It was really hard to argue with that when I was in this form. My mind reeled and I could barely concentrate enough to form words. Panic swirled inside of me. Luckily, in Darkling form, I was able to control it to a certain extent. If I’d still been in my human form, I probably would have passed out cold on the ceramic floor tiles. She just stared at me, unspeaking, unblinking. I had no idea what was going through her mind. Actually, scratch that, I had an idea. She was probably screaming on the inside. Her best friend was the exact thing she’d been taught to fear, taught to fight against. And she’d just told that best friend all of her deepest, darkest secrets only last night. She turned and ran away from me, tearing through the house toward the kitchen. I followed her, forcing myself to relax as much as possible. I concentrated on my dragon’s tear bracelet and tried to channel my energy into changing back to a form that wasn’t quite as intimidating. The pain was just as bad as usual and it stopped me in my tracks for a few seconds, but I forced myself to push on. My shirt had torn from where the wings had ripped through. It couldn’t be helped. Melinda pressed up against the glass of the sliding door. Just outside was where she’d had the discussion with Patrick only a few minutes ago. All the information she’d tried to deny, all of this time. And— bam—the truth was presented right in front of her. “Why?” she asked, her voice strained to the point of breaking. “Why would you do this to me? Did you pick me on purpose? Are you trying to destroy me? My family? Are you trying to discover who’s in the secret society of slayers so you can kill them all and take over the world? My parents will be home soon. When they find out—” Oh God, this was a complete disaster. What was I supposed to do now? “The spell...” She eyed the floor, as if wondering where she’d dropped it.

She zipped past me and snatched it off the floor back in the foyer. As she read it again, I braced myself... But nothing happened this time. I didn’t change uncontrollably. So she said it again. And again, nothing happened. Relief flooded through me and I said a silent thank you to the powers that be that Patrick’s spell only seemed to work once. At least this might give me a chance to fix this. Or, at least, try to put a tiny Band-Aid on a massive, bleeding wound. A plan formed in my mind. Not a good plan, but I didn’t have a whole lot of options here. “I think you must have been seeing things before, Melinda,” I said as calmly as I could. I forced myself to look concerned, as if I’d just witnessed her have an unexpected meltdown for no good reason. “Talking to Patrick upset you. He put crazy thoughts in your head. I don’t know why you think I’m a demon, but I’m not. I mean, look at me. I’m totally normal. Whatever you might have seen or heard just now wasn’t real.” “I know what I saw. I know it! You had horns, wings. You looked like a demon!” “No way.” I shook my head. “Patrick’s messing with you so you’ll agree to train with him again—so he can control you. He’s such a jerk. He wants to separate us, so you don’t trust me. So you’ll only trust him. That spell,” I gestured at it, “maybe it put something in your head that wasn’t really there. It made you see things.” There was just a tiny flicker in her eyes that made me think that my plan had a chance to work. Yeah, great plan. Try to convince my best friend that she was going crazy or had been bespelled. Guilt cut through me, but it couldn’t be helped. I had no other choice. Convince my friend that she was delusional, or wait for her parents to come home so they could alert the slayer society and serve me up on sharp silver skewer. I never knew I had such a strong survival mode. It had just clicked into high gear. Melinda stared at the spell again. Then she read it again out loud, slowly. I held my breath. Thankfully, nothing happened. Not even a twitch. Tears streamed down her face. “I don’t understand any of this.” My heart clenched for her and I wanted to comfort her, to explain everything to her from A to Z, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t that easy. I had to protect myself. Protect my mother. Protect my father. If Melinda decided that what she’d seen was the truth, then we were all in deep, deep trouble. Chris’s vision about a dark winged creature coming to get me would be the least of my problems then. “Patrick is a complete jerk,” I said as calmly as I could. “You’re right to stay away from him. I mean, look what he tried to do! He tried to make you believe your best friend is a demon. He tried to take away any support you have other than him. He’s sick.” Melinda rubbed her face, rubbed at the tears. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.” “Do I look like a demon to you?”

She scanned me from head to toe. I didn’t turn to show off the ripped back of my shirt. “Nno.” “Whatever you saw, it was that spell he gave you. It did something to your brain, like a hallucinogenic drug. Thank God it didn’t last very long. Now it’s over and everything’s okay again.” She stood there, silently, trembling for another thirty seconds. I waited, holding my breath, and tried to look calm and concerned for her well-being. I was concerned, but I wouldn’t exactly say I was calm. “Nikki,” she managed. “I’m s-sorry. You’re right. He must have done something. Why would he do that? I could have hurt you!” I tried not to collapse with relief that my impromptu plan was working. “It’s okay now. It’s all Patrick’s fault And, if you ask me, I don’t think you should tell your parents anything about this. They’d probably just overreact.” I really didn’t like lying to her and making her believe something that wasn’t true, but I had no choice. That realization gave me the strength to keep going. Melinda pressed back against the wall. “I think I need to lie down and recover from whatever that spell did to me. You should go home.” I glanced at the clock to see it was after four o’clock. “You’re sure you don’t need me to stay with you and make sure you’re okay?” She nodded, her eyes red from crying. “I’ll be okay now that I know what happened. I can’t believe he’d go to such extremes to get me to believe him. I thought he was a jerk, but on some level, I thought he cared about what happened to me. Messing with my mind and trying to get me to turn against my best friend isn’t okay.” “I totally agree.” “I never want to see him again. Ever!” “That’s probably a good idea.” After a moment, she let out a little laugh. It sounded vaguely hysterical. “I’m glad Larissa wasn’t here to witness that. She thinks Chris is crazy. I can’t imagine what she would have thought of me.” “You’re not crazy,” I told her. “You just need a nap. When you wake up everything will be much better.” She just nodded. Then she tore up the piece of paper the spell was on and threw it in the garbage in the kitchen. Still barely breathing, I gathered my overnight bag and coat, said a sincere good-bye to her, and escaped from Melinda’s house of potential doom. Finally, I was able to exhale. That had been way, way, way too close. o0o

By the time I got home, I needed a nap too. However, my heart was going a million miles a minute, so relaxation was out of the question. “Did you have a nice time at Melinda’s?” my mother called to me from her office. I heard her fingers clickety-clacking on the keyboard. “Stellar,” I said, still feeling sick to my core from what happened. “So much fun, I could die.” “Glad to hear it.” “How are you?” “Fantastic. The words are flowing! I love this story.” Right. The story about the demon hero stuck in a castle somewhere far away from his true love. Life was getting even more complicated than usual, and I didn’t like it at all. I needed a serious time-out to gather my thoughts and try to let all the drama settle down. I went to my bedroom and sat down heavily on the side of my bed. Then I slumped backward and stared at the ceiling, trying to find the answers to the universe up in the stucco patterns. But, just like my life, nothing really made much sense. After a few minutes, I decided that I needed to do something very mundane, something very human, in order to feel normal again. I began to gather my clothes together for a load of laundry, emptying my pockets as I went. In the pair of jeans I wore the day before yesterday, I found the black rock that the strange boy from the Shadowlands castle had given me. I looked at it sitting in the palm of my hand. Something about the rock did look vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. “What is it?” I’d asked him. “Just a little piece of me. Use it well, Princess.” A piece of him? So weird. I gripped it tighter, as if trying to sense something from it. It warmed in my hand and suddenly the room around me began to dim. I dropped the rock and it hit the floor. The dimness surrounding me disappeared and the room brightened again. Had that only been my imagination? I glanced warily around at my familiar bedroom, my gaze touching the teal-colored walls, my vanity, my closet, my pile of clothes near the window where I’d just missed getting them into my hamper. The rock now lay on my blue and pink area rug. I bent over and snatched it up so I could study it closer. It was just a rock. Smooth on top, jagged underneath as if it had been chipped away from a larger boulder. “What are you?” I whispered. “Use it well, Princess,” the boy had told me. “Use it?” I mumbled. How was I supposed to use it?

Finally, my curiosity got the better of me. I took a deep breath and gripped the stone. When it warmed in my hand and my bedroom began to dim again, I didn’t drop it this time. I held on tight. It was as if the lights in my bedroom had turned off and it was night, even though it was only late afternoon and the sun hadn’t quite set yet. I still saw the shapes of my furniture, but they grew indistinct. Then the room began to spin, slowly at first, but it increased in speed. I wasn’t spinning, since I didn’t feel dizzy. But the room spun all around me. And suddenly, I wasn’t in my bedroom anymore. I was in my father’s castle. I loosened my hold on the rock and the scene before me started to spin slowly, in the opposite direction this time. I gripped the stone tighter and the spinning stopped. The rock controlled what I saw and where I was. If I let go of it, I would go directly back to my room. “Wow,” I said under my breath. “This is so cool.” How did it work? And was I actually here for real, or was this just an illusion? I held my other hand in front of my face. Looked real enough to me. I wasn’t sure where in the castle I was, so I decided to explore. It was quiet and cool and dry here. A few minutes went by before I saw anyone. A old servant in human form with gray hair walked past me, in a hurry to get somewhere. She carried a metal tray with a jug and a goblet on it. “Hello?” I ventured. She didn’t acknowledge my presence. I hurried my pace to catch up with her. “Hi,” I said again, louder. But her expression remained placid, focused on her task. “Can you see me?” Since she didn’t answer, I assumed that she couldn’t. She took the tray to my father’s main meeting room, the one with the fireplace in which I usually saw him. He stood to the far right, staring down into a gazer—a large, shallow basin of water. In the dark worlds, it was the preferred method of communication. Kind of like a really bizarre and magical version of Skype. “Queen Sephina, I appreciate your patience in this matter, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now.” “Nothing you can do?” a thin, reedy voice chimed up from the gazer. “Or nothing you’re willing to do?” Queen Sephina. Queen of the Underworld. Mother of Prince Kieran. Ex-wife of the King of Hell. I didn’t have too many nice things to say about her. In my brief experience with the queen, she was absolutely horrible. One of those fakely nice people who could stab you in your back the moment you turned around.

It was just too bad she was the head of the demon council responsible for all the laws that governed the dark worlds. And trust me, there were a lot of laws. Most of which were completely stupid. And most of which had a penalty of death. Quite honestly, I hated her demon guts. “The boy is trouble, Desmond. We can keep a better eye on him with round-the-clock guards. I know you’re understaffed there. You have no idea what he might be capable of.” “I take full responsibility for him as I have since he was first orphaned. And no, he won’t be going anywhere right now. It was a pleasure speaking with you today, Your Majesty. Farewell.” “Desmond—” But he’d waved his hand over the gazer and stepped back from it with a tense and angry expression. I assumed that was the equivalent of hanging up on her. The servant who’d brought the tray had placed it on the table and already left. I was the only one rude enough to eavesdrop on my father’s private conversation. The queen really believed that Michael was dangerous. I’d show her dangerous if I ever came face to face with her again. Yeah, real brave, I thought. It was easy to think that way when I was in the middle of my father’s castle. It might be another thing altogether if I was in the Underworld standing before the council. I watched as my father moved to the table and poured himself a glass of whatever the jug contained. Looked like iced tea to me. Then he sat on a large chair and began to go through a stack of paperwork. I suddenly realized I was observing my father at work. The papers in front of him were written in some sort of language I couldn’t decipher. This, I assumed, was what he did all day long. He took meetings via gazer. And he dealt with stacks of paperwork, which, if I had to guess, were requests for gateway access between worlds. My father ran a very bizarre travel agency. I wondered if he was responsible for all travel—not just to the light worlds. That would make sense, actually. And it would take up a ton of time, too. There were likely a lot of demons bored with their current surroundings. While it seemed mundane, having the ability to open up gateways was incredibly powerful and potentially dangerous, depending on who wanted to stroll through them. My bracelet could open gateways. There had only been three dragons in recorded history who’d been slain for the powerfully magical tear they shed upon their death. My father had slain the one responsible for the dragon’s tear he’d given to me. I had to admit, it bothered me. I’d never asked him if that dragon had deserved it or not. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the truth. After a few minutes, with the black rock still clutched in my right fist, I left my father’s “office,” and began to wander the halls in search of Michael. It felt very strange being here with nobody able to see me. I didn’t want to invade his privacy, but I couldn’t help but be curious about what he did during his days. After ten minutes, I found him in the courtyard.

A smile came to my face immediately. Of course he’d be out here. He’d already told me that he took care of the garden. It would be time consuming. It was a big area with lots of well-kept flowers and plants. Michael stood in the direct center of the courtyard. I watched him—more like admired him— from a distance. There was something about him that made my heart skip a beat whenever I saw him. The black rock bit into my hand as I squeezed it tighter. His dark blue hoodie was off and laying next to him on the green grass. His face was lifted to the magically-enhanced bright blue sky, his eyes closed. His T-shirt fit snugly to his chest. It took me a moment before I sensed there was something wrong. What was he doing? Meditating? His lips moved as if he was talking to himself, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. His arms were stretched out to either side and his chest moved in and out with his breathing. I moved closer to him, watching him warily now. “Michael, what are you doing?” I whispered. His eyes opened and he glanced right at me. I froze in place. His eyes glowed green, brighter than I’d ever seen them before. His gaze searched the area where I stood as if he’d heard something but couldn’t see me. His brows drew together in a deep frown. And then I noticed something that made me stop breathing completely. His amulet. The object that kept him alive, gave him solid form and a hold on the physical world, that gave him power, gave him life... He wasn’t wearing it.

Chapter 13

Seeing him without his amulet took me by surprise, so much so I dropped the black rock. Before I could bend over to pick it up, the world around me dimmed and swirled and the next moment I was back in my bedroom. The rock was on my floor and I snatched it up and clutched it tightly, but nothing happened this time. It was cool to my touch again, not warm. Panic gripped me. Michael couldn’t be standing there with his amulet off. He was going to kill himself! Was he doing it on purpose? I didn’t understand, but I knew I had to do something. And I knew I already had the power to get to the Shadowlands on my own without searching for a gateway—not that there’d be any gateways open in Erin Heights right now. They opened to let someone through and back. I’d come to realize that they weren’t just here all the time. But I had my dragon’s tear. “Okay,” I said to myself, shoving the rock in my jeans pocket and trying very hard to calm down. “Concentrate, Nikki. Michael’s in trouble and you have to help him.” There was something seriously wrong with him. He couldn’t take his amulet off. He knew this. It wouldn’t be long before his form began to fade away like a ghost. If he’d temporarily lost his mind, for whatever reason, and nobody found him in time...it would kill him. I had to get there. So I desperately needed this to work. I squeezed my eyes shut and focused every last bit of my attention on the teardrop crystal on my bracelet. I didn’t think about what happened at Melinda’s. I didn’t think about my father’s conversation with Queen Sephina. I didn’t think about wandering the hallways of the Shadowlands castle like an invisible ghost thanks to a small black rock someone who shouldn’t exist had given to me. I focused on one thing: opening a gateway to take me to the Shadowlands. I visualized it in my head. A doorway with swirling light and darkness in the center of it. A passageway to another world—to the Shadowlands. I had the power to make that happen. Sure, I’d never done this before, but that made no difference to me. This was important. I would do this because I had no other choice. I felt a swirling inside of me, a warmth in my stomach that spread out to my fingers and toes. Tingling. I felt the magic. This was magic. The dragon’s magic. My magic.

Half the secret was believing I could do it. If I didn’t believe it, I had absolutely no doubt that it wouldn’t work. If I did believe...and I did...then, maybe...just maybe... I opened an eye and looked. It worked! There was a gateway right in the center of my bedroom, although it looked a little different from the ones I normally went through. This one wasn’t rectangular, it was circular. About three feet in diameter. It reminded me of the opening to a water slide. It flickered, which told me it wasn’t totally stable. I didn’t know how long it was going to last. The dragon’s tear on my bracelet gleamed with bright light, showing that its magic was currently active. It also flickered. Since I didn’t have the luxury or time to second-guess myself, I ran toward the gateway and dove head-first into it. Vertigo...a sensation of swirling...and— slam. I landed on green grass. Hard. I looked up at the blue sky above me. Then I pushed up to my elbows to double-check where I was before saying a silent thank you to my bracelet. It had worked! I was in the field, but closer to the border of the Shadowlands than where I usually arrived. My thick sweater was meant for Erin Heights in winter, not this warmer temperature, but I didn’t really care. Scrambling to my feet, I sprinted across the stony ground and the rocks until I reached the front doors of the castle, scared that I might be too late. The doors creaked open before me and I slipped inside as fast as I could. I didn’t try to find my father first, I made a beeline for the courtyard, bursting out on the landing at the top of the short flight of stairs that led to the green grass and garden. “Michael!” I yelled as I ran toward him. He still stood there, as if nothing had changed in the entire time it had taken me to get here. I reached for him and—zipped right through his body to the other side. I lost my balance and fell to the ground in a heap. Just as I’d thought, he was in his true shadow form with his amulet laying on the ground nearby. He opened his eyes, a frown creasing his brow, and he looked directly at me with confusion. “Princess?” he said, bewildered. “What are you doing here?” “Why aren’t you wearing your amulet?” My voice was pitchy. His eyes widened. “How did you—?” The surprise vanished from his face, replaced by a look that surprised me: guilt. He looked as if he’d just been caught red-handed doing something bad. He moved a few feet to his left and bent over to retrieve his amulet. Something about the chain made it possible to grab hold of it, even in ghostly shadow form. He put the chain over his head and the green stone dropped to his chest. I collapsed backward onto the grass, exhausted, my chest heaving. I was so relieved he was okay. A couple moments later, he appeared over me, looking down, his arms crossed.

I sat up so quickly that my stomach cramped and I jabbed my index finger at him. “You weren’t wearing your amulet.” His lips thinned. “So?” “So? You know what that means!” He scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. “What are you doing here? How did you get here? Did you—” He gave me a surprised look. “Did you use your bracelet?” “Yes! Of course I did. How else would I get here? Demon shuttle bus?” “How did you know the right way to use it?” “I guessed. And I was right. And you’re very lucky, too. A couple more minutes and you would have been gone forever!” My chest tightened at the thought of it. Our gazes locked and my breath caught at the intense look he gave me. Without further comment, he held out his hand to me. It only took a second before I took it—the heat of his skin against mine made my breath catch. “So you saved me, is that what you’re trying to say?” There was a glint of amusement in his gaze, as if what I’d seen had been nothing to worry about. I now knew what “flabbergasted” meant, because that’s exactly how I felt. “Don’t you dare look at me like this is no big deal. It’s a big deal. A huge deal!” “How did you even know what was going on here?” “Because... this.” I fished into my pocket and thrust the black rock at him. “It let me visit here in, like, spirit. I could see all over the castle.” He studied it with confusion. “That let you visit here in spirit?” “Yes, but I couldn’t do anything, touch anything...or anything!” I knew I sounded just this side of hysterical. I still struggled to catch my breath. “What is it?” he mused to himself. “Michael, what the hell were you doing?” His jaw set and any amusement fell from his gaze. “Practicing.” “Practicing what?” He fixed me with a look that clearly told me he didn’t want to answer. “This isn’t okay.” Anger finally elbowed in on my previous panic. “You know I can command you to tell me the truth if I want you to.” Something dangerous slid behind his eyes then. “Yes, you could do that. I’m bound to you as your servant. You can command me at will whenever you choose.” That dark glare fixed on me. Would I pull rank to get him to tell the truth? Would I treat him like a lowly servant boy, even though I continually swore to him that wasn’t what he was to me? You, I sent telepathically, are incredibly annoying sometimes, do you know that? ::And you, Princess, worry too much.:: I hissed out a breath of frustration. I won’t command you to tell me. I won’t do that to you. He was silent for a moment, a look of relief spreading over his handsome features, but then it shifted into something else. Curiosity. ::No, wait. I want you to. I want you to command me.::

He yanked his amulet off again and let it drop to the ground. I stared at it with horror. “Michael!” I shouted out loud. A glimmer of amusement moved through his green eyes. “Princess, please. Just relax. I’m fine, I’m not in any immediate distress. But I want you to try to command me right now to tell you the truth.” My heart was pounding so hard and loud I felt it in my ears. “Why? You don’t think it’ll work?” “I don’t know. It’s an experiment.” “I think I’m going to be sick.” His lips twitched almost into a smile. “Sorry for stressing you out. But this is important. Command me. Right now.” I wrung my hands and locked gazes with him again, finding it difficult to breathe. He wanted to push the envelope here. For some reason, compared to the first time his amulet had been forcibly taken from him, he seemed perfectly fine with... Wait a minute. Something clicked for me then. “When Elizabeth took your amulet, she took it from you forcibly. You didn’t have a choice. This, though, this is you taking it off of your own free will. Is there a difference?” Michael just studied me without confirming or denying my suspicions. “Command me, Princess.” It was a challenge uttered in a low voice that moved through me like warm water. I could command him to do anything I wanted. It was very tempting. I could command him to kiss me. That would be a dare. However, I was going more for the truth right now. While a kiss would be wonderful, the truth was essential. I tried to stay calm. Even though he wasn’t wearing the amulet, I couldn’t see through him like a ghost. He seemed solid and strong and totally in control of himself. More confident than I’d ever seen him before, actually. “Fine,” I said shakily. “I command you to tell me the truth. Why have you taken off your amulet?” His eyes glowed green for a split second before they returned to normal. “Because it totally clashes with my outfit.” I stared at him with surprise. “That was a lie! You lied!” “Not a complete lie. It does.” “Like you care about fashion. Not with the way you dress.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Ouch. That was not called for, Princess. I know I don’t dress like a pretty faery king with ridiculous designer labels, but I think I do okay.” I wanted to tease him back, but stopped myself. “You were able to resist a direct command from me. That’s not supposed to be possible.”

“You haven’t given me many commands in the past. Maybe I’ve been able to resist for a while.” I chewed my bottom lip and looked down at his amulet. “No, it’s because of the stone. Is that what keeps Shadows in servitude?” “It has nothing to do with that. It contains our life force,” he said. “Without it we die.” “And here you are standing right in front of me and you’re not dying.” Michael looked just as confused as I felt. “Princess, can I see the rock you were given? The one that allowed you to visit the castle undetected and spy on us?” “I wouldn’t exactly say I was spying.” He raised an eyebrow. “What would you call it?” “Observing,” I said firmly. “Sure.” He put his amulet back on—another big relief, for me, anyway—so he was able to take the stone I held out to him. He studied it closely. “It looks familiar.” “I know. But I can’t figure out what it is.” He turned it over in his hand and studied it from all sides. “I think I might know...” “What?” “Of course. Of course, that’s what it is. But I don’t understand how it could help you see this place from a distance...” I grabbed his arm, his muscles flexing under my grip. “Michael, I command you to tell me what you’re talking about.” I just used the word command as a throwback to what we’d just been experimenting with, but his face tensed and he inhaled sharply. “It’s stone from the castle,” he said, then he groaned. “Okay, that command definitely worked. And it pinched a little, too.” My eyes widened. “Commands hurt?” “Only when I try to resist them.” Outrage filled me. “That is so unbelievably unfair. So you’re trying to tell me that when a demon commands a Shadow, if there’s any resistance, it causes pain?” He shrugged, his face blank of any discernable emotion. “Pretty much.” “So stupid and unfair...and—and cruel. Why does no one seem to have a problem with this but me? I’ll never understand that.” I forced myself to let go of him and crossed my arms and paced in the general area, trying not to focus on the disgusting way Shadows were treated. For now. “So this means the ability to command you is related to your amulet. Something about it not only contains your life force, keeps you in a solid form, but it’s what makes it possible for demons to bind Shadows to them as servants and control them. But why? Who’s responsible for this?” He shook his head. “All I know is that demonkind defeated us, took the Shadowlands away from us, and that was that. Those Shadows who survived were made into servants. The deposit here of the green stone that originally gave us life was mostly destroyed, and we were each given

a piece of it to wear to keep us alive. There isn’t more information available, and nobody talks about what really happened.” “I think Jonas knew the truth,” I said after a moment. “He did,” Michael said, his face haunted. “He knew some truths, anyway.” I looked at him with concern. “How do you know for sure? I was there for the entire conversation between you two in the Underworld dungeon. He spouted off some rebellion talk, but nothing really useful or sane, in my opinion. That guy was nuts.” His jaw tensed and he looked reluctant to say anything else. I grew concerned and I grabbed hold of his hand. He didn’t pull away. “Michael...” “I can hear him in my head, Princess. Ever since I destroyed him. It’s like I absorbed part of him into myself. And I’ve been having the strangest dreams lately. They feel so real. I can never remember much of them after they’re over, but I know they mean something. Jonas—he’d somehow learned a small part of the truth.” “What truth?” I asked, hanging on his every word. He shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m hoping to get that book I told you about.” “Rhys is on it,” I told him, disappointed that he didn’t know more information that I might be able to use to help him. “He agreed to ask his advisors to locate the book and give it to me.” I expected him to say something unpleasant about the faery king, but he held his tongue, instead nodding firmly. “Thank you for asking him.” “So you can hear Jonas? In your head? What is he doing? Talking to you like an actual conversation or do you just hear random words?” “Just words that don’t make any sense—like echoes of his voice in the Underworld.” His expression turned grim. “I shouldn’t have told you any of this.” “Yes, you definitely should have. And you should have said something the other day, too. You don’t have to keep secrets from me, Michael. You can trust me.” I put my hand on his shoulder and immediately felt how tense he was. His head was bowed a little as if this conversation had been taxing on his energy. His eyes even looked duller green than they normally were—like when he’d used a burst of energy in the past and then had to recover his strength. He took my hand and looked down at it, his thumb brushing against my palm. My heart did an immediate cartwheel. Then his gaze moved up to meet mine. “You really do care about me, don’t you?” he asked, as if surprised by this realization. My breath caught and my cheeks flushed. “Of course I do.” He raised my hand, almost absently, and brushed his lips against it in a soft kiss that felt like it burned right into my flesh. I stopped breathing completely. “Princess...” he whispered. His eyes brightened from the dull color to a vivid green light again as he drew closer to me. It was so beautiful. Mesmerizing. I could get completely and totally lost in eyes like his...and I was absolutely, positively convinced he was going to kiss me this time.

But then he let go of me completely, and I gasped with surprise as he took a giant step back from me. I just stared at him, not understanding what just happened. Why had he pulled away? His attention was on the ground where he’d dropped the black rock, and he snatched it back up. “Like I was saying, when you commanded me to tell you, I think this is from the castle itself —the stone it’s constructed from.” I struggled to clear my head of the previous fog. “Uh...the castle? Really?” I looked up at the back of the castle. It was built from smooth black stone. All of it, right up to the sharp spires that reached into the sky above. I couldn’t see the spires from where I stood. The magical blue sky obliterated anything, as if it was a movie screen fifty feet above our heads. I glanced around at the courtyard. It was enclosed by a tall impenetrable wall also made of the black stone. Maybe that was why the black rock had seemed familiar to me before. I’d stared at the castle many times. I still thought it was one of the scariest things I’d ever seen. Architectural Digest wouldn’t be calling to make an appointment for a photo shoot here any time soon. But the castle was made entirely from this type of black rock. I took the rock from Michael and weighed it in my hand as if holding it for the first time. It was heavy for its size and cool to the touch. “The castle is magically infused, right? It keeps anyone from the dark worlds from just strolling through the Shadowlands to get to the other side. And when a visiting demon is in the castle, their power is automatically zapped so they don’t try something funny.” “Yes. And the castle is also warded.” He traced his finger over the rock in my hand and when his skin touched mine, again I felt that immediate tingle and the pull I always felt toward him. Even when he was pushing me away. I didn’t know what his problem was and why he was acting so strangely with me lately, when things before had been more comfortable and relaxed between us. If I was in Darkling form I would have asked him directly. But I wasn’t. So I didn’t. But I wanted to. “We should show this to your father,” he said. “Come on.” He grabbed my hand and led me up the stairs to the entrance to the castle. The blue sky, green grass, flowers, and fake sunshine disappeared and we were back inside the dreary interior of Castle Dread. Michael knew his way through these halls much better than I did. By now I would have been lost, but he took turn after turn through the labyrinthine halls without hesitating once. “Wait.” I pulled him to a stop as I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. It was the boy I’d spoken with the other day slipping around the corner up ahead, I was sure of it. “I just saw him again.” “The mind-reading kid?”

“Yeah, he went this way.” I followed after him, around the corner he’d disappeared behind. “There he is!” He was twenty feet ahead of us, moving quickly. He glanced over his shoulder at me, but didn’t slow down. “I don’t see anyone,” Michael said. “You don’t see the kid right in front of us?” “No. But I assume you do.” “Trust me, I do.” The kid had told me he’d shown himself only to me. Talked only to me. He could also show himself to my father, but he hadn’t yet for some reason. I didn’t understand any of this, but I wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. I took it to mean he’d been hiding, but maybe he meant that they literally couldn’t see him. We went in the direct opposite direction from where we’d been headed to talk to my father. But I had to talk to this kid again and find out what he wanted. Why he was here. And why he’d given me a piece of magic rock from the castle itself. He disappeared through a door ahead of us. He didn’t open the door and go inside, though. He walked right through it like a ghost. I stood there, eyes wide, as I realized what I’d just seen. I tried the handle, but it was locked. “He went in here,” I told Michael. “He walked right through the door.” He also tried the handle with the same result. Then I pressed my hand up against the door. That kid had shown himself to me for a reason, I knew it. He’d wanted to talk to me and he specifically wanted to give me that rock. And seeing him again made me think he wanted another chat. But he was making me work for it. Enough of this. I was sick of depending on my Darkling form to give me the courage and strength to do what I had to do. I could be just as strong-willed in either form—only in my Darkling form I had wings and more physical strength. Same brain. Same mind. Same me. I could be courageous and strong no matter what I looked like on the outside. I pounded on the door until my knuckles hurt. “Let me in. Right now!” “Princess?” Michael asked. “I’m sick of it. I’m sick of people messing with me. I just want someone to tell me the truth without me having to command it out of them every time.” I gave him a very pointed look. He raised an eyebrow. “Why do I feel like you’re not just talking about the invisible kid?” “Because I’m not. No, after this, you and me are going to have a long talk. And I want some answers.” He looked both intrigued and wary. “Consider me warned.” I knocked hard on the door again. “I’m serious. Open up or else!” A moment later I heard a click and the door slowly swung inward. Michael and I exchanged a glance.

“Progress,” he said. It was a room meant for storage. Mostly old furniture—a wooden chair with a broken leg. A table with a crack down the center of it. Some old jugs and plates and cutlery were stacked on shelves. My gaze finally landed on the kid I’d spoken to the other day. “Hey,” he said in greeting. I blinked. “Is this where you hang out?” “I hang anywhere I want to. But I kind of like it here. This is where they put things that are broken in the hopes that someone will have the time to fix them. You like broken things, too. You think you can fix them.” His gaze moved past me to Michael, who was still scanning the room to find who I was speaking with. “He can’t see me.” I didn’t understand what he meant about me liking broken things. “Can you show yourself to him?” “Not right now. But maybe someday.” “Princess...” Michael said. I felt the comforting yet distracting heat of his hand pressed to the small of my back. “What’s going on?” “It’s okay. I’m just going to have a few words with my not-so-imaginary friend here and figure out what his deal is.” He shot a concerned look at me. “Just be careful.” “Always.” I turned my attention back to the kid. “That rock you gave me...” “You put it to good use?” he asked. “It brought me back here. Even though I was in the human world at the time.” He nodded. “Yup. It would do that.” “How did you know a piece of this castle had the power to do that? Can the whole castle do that if you chip pieces off?” “No. Just the ones I want to be special.” I was so confused. “What’s your name?” “I had a name. It’s been forgotten. A lot has been forgotten over the years. You can call me whatever you like.” I frowned at him as he took a seat in a chair with a broken arm. “You’re telling me you’re not a Shadow. But that would make the most sense. You’re like a ghost around here. Nobody sees you because you don’t want them to see you.” “I’m not a Shadow. But I’ve watched over Shadows. I’ve watched over demons. They come here, they live here. Some are nice, some are not. Some are up to no good. Some aspire to be good. Some miss what they once found but lost. Some are broken like toys no one wants to play with anymore. But they’ve all forgotten, Princess. Every last one of them.” “Forgotten what?” “I can’t tell you that, sorry. There are some rules even I have to follow. Not all of them, but some.”

I just stared at him, feeling my head spin more with every moment that passed. “You gave me that black rock and told me that it was a piece of you.” He just watched me. “Uh-huh.” “A piece of you,” I repeated, trying to work it out in my head. “I figured that you’d had the rock for a while, like it meant something to you and it was difficult for you to part with it. But you meant it more literally than that, didn’t you?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Did I?” He was incredibly frustrating to talk to. “You said that you’ve watched them, Shadows, demons. Over many years. How many years?” “Since the very beginning.” “I don’t know how long that is. Since time began?” “Not quite that long and not as you see me now. But close enough.” “And you can read their minds, the people who live in this castle. Tell me why.” He stood up from the chair and approached me, peering at me curiously. His black eyes glittered in the semi-darkness. “You’re getting closer, Princess. And your mind—clear the cobwebs away and I think you might be able to see everything clearly. I know about the false prophecy—saying that you will be the destroyer of worlds. When Kieran was here to visit your father a couple weeks ago, before your visit to the Underworld, I could clearly see his thoughts. It wasn’t a prophecy that was totally made up, you know. But he did embellish it.” He paused. “Still, you are definitely dangerous.” I bristled at even the suggestion of that after everything I’d done to show it wasn’t true. “No, I’m not.” “You know what makes people the most dangerous? Truth. Knowledge. It’s pure power, Princess. It’s the most powerful thing of all.” “A piece of you,” I said again, straining my brain to figure it out. I thought he was trying to confuse me so that nothing he said made sense and I wasn’t any better off after this chat than I’d been before. But I knew I was close. If he’d given me a small black rock, which he’d said was a piece of him...and if I were to take that completely literally instead of trying to read some real metaphorical meaning into it... And if he’d been here since the very beginning...in this castle... My eyes widened. “No way.” He just studied me serenely. “Maybe you will be able to fix what’s broken. It’s up to you now, the girl with a foot in each of two worlds. Only you.” When I sent a shocked glance at Michael for a split second, then looked back at the kid, he was gone. He’d disappeared into thin air. “This is impossible,” I whispered. “What is?” Michael asked.

I turned to face him. “The kid...he gave me the rock and told me it was a piece of him. He said he’d been here in the castle from the beginning, watching, observing. He can only show himself to those who currently rule here.” Michael watched me expectantly. “And...?” “This is going to sound completely crazy, but...” I swallowed hard. “But I think...I think he is the castle.”

Chapter 14

Michael stared at me. “You think the invisible kid you’ve spoken to a couple of times is the Shadowlands castle.” I deflated. “Well, when you put it that way it doesn’t make much sense, does it?” He stared up at the walls, as if trying to see hidden messages etched into them. “Actually, it is possible.” I gaped at him. “Seriously?” “Sure. Some buildings, depending on who built them and how much magic was used, could form a guardian spirit to watch over them.” I continued gaping at him. “A guardian spirit?” He grinned. “Is that so hard to believe?” “Yes, actually it is. So somebody died and got trapped here—” “No, they never lived. The sentient personality was born of magic and represents a specific location. I’ve never seen anything like this before, but I have read about it.” I nodded slowly, deeply stunned by this possibility. But it made sense. Crazy sense. “All right. So I met the guardian spirit of this castle. And he gave me a piece of himself so I can travel here in spirit. Why? So I can guard it too?” “No idea.” “He said that I might be able to fix things that are broken.” I glanced around the room. “Did he mean this furniture?” “I doubt it. Guardian spirits are said to speak in riddles. He probably meant something else.” I’d deal with Dread later—he said I could call him whatever I liked, and I’d called this place Castle Dread since the moment I’d first seen it. All he’d done was confuse me even more than I’d been before. “Let’s have our talk now. And I want some real answers from you.” He raised a dark brow at the abrupt change in subject matter. “Should I be scared?” “Very. You took your amulet off outside. Was it because you wanted to see how long you can go without wearing it?” His expression darkened and he wouldn’t meet my gaze, so I said his name sharply. “Michael, answer me.” I hadn’t commanded him, but the tone of my voice had to let him know that I wasn’t messing around here. He shrugged. “Wearing the amulet is like wearing an anchor. I first saw how it could be with Jonas. He took off his amulet and he became more powerful than anything I’d ever seen before.”

I grimaced at the memory. “You mean, when he murdered the guard?” “Yeah.” He didn’t look happy about that, which was a relief. “It showed me that I could gain strength by taking it off. And I can. I’d been raised to believe that I should never take it off. Ever. And when Elizabeth stole it from me, it nearly killed me. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. Only, I’m the one who has to be in control of it.” “And these dreams you said you’ve been having...what do you remember from them?” He shook his head. “It’s like the memory is being erased even as I try to recall what they were about. Like someone has a cloth and they’re wiping it all away. All I know is that in my dreams, Shadows are not servants.” “What are they?” He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “I don’t know.” He was telling me the truth. He was just as confused as I was about all of this. “I’m going to get that book from Rhys, and you’ll be able to read more about your history. It’ll all be in there, I just know it.” “I hope you’re right.” He scrubbed a hand over his forehead. “It’s amazing, actually, that he’d even agree to help out with this. It has to be obvious to him that you’re not asking for yourself.” “He realizes that.” “And yet he’s still doing it?” I hesitated. “I guess he’s more generous than I thought he was.” He looked at me. “What aren’t you telling me?” I cleared my throat. “Nothing.” “Princess,” he said firmly, “you want me to be honest with you and tell you things even if they might not always be what you want to hear. I want the same from you in return. What aren’t you telling me about King Rhys?” I walked to the other side of the storage room with my arms tightly crossed before I turned to face him. He studied me intently, every move, every word. Having his eyes on me so much made my skin feel very warm. “You really want to know?” “Yes.” “He made me a bargain. He’d get me the book, but I had to agree to do something in return.” Michael waited, but when I didn’t continue right away, he prompted, “What?” He wanted the truth. I wasn’t going to start lying now; I owed him that much after everything he’d shared with me. “He gets the book for me and...” I cleared my throat. “And I’m supposed to kiss him again.” Michael didn’t react for a moment. He didn’t react for another moment, either. I silently cursed myself for being so blunt about this. I didn’t have to be honest about absolutely everything. “It’s really no big deal. It’s not like I’m interested in him like that.” Michael stayed silent, his jaw tight. “So you agreed to this deal.” My face felt hot. “Yes.”

His gaze flashed with sudden anger. “Of course he’d ask for something like this. It’s like he’s rubbing it in my face.” My nervousness was replaced with frustration. I could never predict Michael’s reaction to anything I said or did. “I’m surprised you even care.” “Oh yeah?” “I thought that when we’d said good-bye before Christmas that we understood each other. I thought that we were, I don’t know, together. But not together. It’s kind of hard to date someone who lives in another world and I’m forbidden to be with because of stupid demon rules. Someone who doesn’t seem to want to kiss me anyway.” My throat hurt. Admitting it out loud, showing my supreme neediness when it came to Michael, didn’t make me feel very good or confident about myself. Michael hissed out a breath and finally spoke. “So because you’re feeling neglected, you start kissing other guys?” He was angry with me. But I knew, if our positions were reversed and I’d just found out he agreed to kiss a girl— any girl—I’d be reacting exactly the same way. Or worse. “I haven’t kissed anyone else. Not yet.” “All of this because I haven’t been paying you the proper attention, Princess?” He cocked his head, his gaze heavy on me, like a weight. The air felt electric between us and I couldn’t look away from him. “Is that all it would take so you wouldn’t become fascinated by this king, who has suddenly decided that he wants you?” “Rhys doesn’t—” I began, but he didn’t let me finish. “Does the lowly servant boy have any chance against competition like that? Don’t forget, I saw the two of you under the mistletoe. You didn’t seem to mind then, either.” His accusation twisted into me and I couldn’t help but flinch. “I don’t know why I even said anything if you’re going to be a jerk about it.” “I know why. Because you’re feeling sorry for yourself.” I gasped. “That’s not fair.” “No?” He drew closer until we were only a foot apart, his attention fully focused on me. I could feel the heat from his body. “I haven’t grabbed hold of you and kissed you every time I’ve been face to face with you. So now you’re agreeing to kiss the first guy who asks. One you just so happen to be prophesied to marry. How convenient for the both of you.” “Excuse me?” I snapped. “I agreed to this because it’s the only way I could get your Shadow book. Maybe you should be careful what you wish for.” He winced at the reminder. “You wanted to make me jealous.” He closed the distance between us so we were only a few inches apart. “Congratulations. It’s working.” I faltered. Be careful what you wish for, indeed. It was just a kiss I’d agreed to with Rhys. Just a stupid, meaningless kiss. A kiss I’d been thinking about more than I’d ever admit to anyone. Especially to Michael.

He sighed and some of the anger finally left his gaze. “I know you wanted me to come see you, Princess. I wanted that, too. But you had the power all this time to come here yourself.” He took hold of my wrist, circling it with his fingers. “You figured out how to use your dragon’s tear without any coaching from me.” “I didn’t know I could until I had to.” His warm touch sank into me. “But did you even try?” He was right. I knew what my bracelet could allegedly do before I’d used it today. I hadn’t bothered to try before, assuming that I wouldn’t be successful. “There are reasons even for the things you don’t understand, Princess,” he said after a moment. Then he surprised me by brushing my long hair back from my face and caught me in his gaze again. “I need to hold back for a very good reason. But sometimes, it gets very difficult when I’m so close to you.” I swallowed hard. “What gets difficult?” “Behaving myself.” His eyes burned into mine. It was very hard to breathe normally with him looking at me so intensely. It made me feel like I was the only person in the world who existed— a feeling that both scared and excited me. “And in case your invisible mind-reading friend didn’t tell you, I did think of you often when we were apart and I did wish I could visit you every single day. You were not gone from my thoughts at all.” “What did you think about?” I asked, my heart racing. “Many things.” He drew closer still, his hand now tangled in my hair, my wrist still caught in his grasp. My back flattened against the wall behind me. My heart hammered in my chest. “For example, I thought about you spending time with King Rhys.” I shook my head. “He went back to the Faery Realm over the school break.” “I didn’t know that. But I’m glad to hear it.” Something dangerous slid through his gaze, darkening it. “I can’t stand that guy, just for the record. I don’t care if he is a king. And the thought of you kissing him, even if it is to help me get the book...well, it makes me a little bit crazy. So your plan worked. I’m jealous. Very jealous.” It wasn’t fair of me to mess around with him like this. He deserved better than that from me. “It wasn’t a plan. And even if I do kiss him, it’s not because I really want to.” His jaw tightened. “Wrong. I think you do want to kiss him again.” My face was on fire now. More denials sprang to my tongue, but quickly died there. He knew me better than I thought he did. Part of me did want to kiss Rhys again and be able to blame it on a deal I’d made. My heart felt all torn up after everything that had happened today, but still hopeful. So hopeful. “I want you to kiss me again, Michael,” I said softly. “More than anything.” His expression darkened even further, as if he was fighting some sort of inner battle. “It’s too dangerous.” I shook my head. “I don’t care about the stupid rules about us.”

“Oh, Princess,” he whispered, leaning so close that his lips were only an inch away from mine, “the danger I’m talking about has nothing to do with rules.” He slipped his hand behind my neck and pulled me closer so our lips finally met. My heart leapt and I kissed him back, expecting that he’d pull away at any moment. But he didn’t. He circled his arms around my back to crush me tighter against him as the kiss deepened. It had been way, way too long. Oh, yes. This is exactly how a kiss should be. And it was well worth the wait. Thoughts of Rhys disappeared completely. I forgot all about Dread wandering the halls trying to confuse me with talk of broken things I might be able to fix. Even my many problems with Melinda faded from my mind. And then there was only Michael. And there was nowhere else I wanted to be, and no one else I wanted to be with. Michael finally broke off the kiss and gazed into my eyes so deeply that I could barely breathe. His eyes glowed that beautiful, bright, hypnotic green. I couldn’t look away. He’d swung his amulet around to his back so it wouldn’t touch me enough to give me a shock, but even from there I could see it casting a strange halo of light all around him. He gripped my shoulders and slowly slid his hands up to either side of my face. They also glowed. So familiar. Where had I seen this before? I was about to ask him about his glowing hands, but he kissed me again like he hungered for me and couldn’t stop himself anymore. His hands were so warm on my face. The warmth spread through my entire body. “This...” he said when he stopped kissing me for the briefest moment. His lips were close enough that they still brushed mine. And his eyes—glowing so fierce and so bright—they weren’t filled with passion. They were filled with that despair and grief that I’d seen on his face the last time we parted, and I didn’t know what to make of it. My head grew foggy. “... this is why I haven’t kissed you. Why I’ve tried so hard not to. I knew what could happen if I let myself get this close to you.” I was dizzy and weak and confused. It was only his hands that were holding me up now. All I could see was the green glow all around me. Fear slid through me. My dream—my nightmare. Michael had kissed me in it, too. Then he’d begun to drain my energy away through his hands. That was exactly what he was doing right now. My nightmare—it was coming true. My eyes widened with fear at that horrible realization, but I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. This was similar to what Jonas had done to the guard—what he’d tried to do to me. But Michael was in solid form as he did it, not shadow form. Then his face convulsed. “No,” he said, his teeth gritted. “No, I won’t hurt you, Princess. I swear I’ll never hurt you.”

Finally, with great effort, he wrenched himself away from me, staggering backward across the room, holding his hands out to either side as if they were weapons. They continued to glow as he formed them into tight fists. His arms shook. His entire body shook. I slumped back against the wall, trying to breathe, trying to think. “Michael...” I managed after a moment, trembling. “What’s happening?” Every muscle in his body was tense. There was a thin sheen of perspiration on his forehead as he pushed his dark hair back. “Ever since I destroyed Jonas, I’ve been dealing with this. It’s like an addiction. I want to drain the energy of anyone I get too close to. But you... especially you. I can’t help myself.” I struggled to breathe normally. I forced myself to be brave and stand my ground. My heart ached for the pain I saw on his face—I wanted to help him so badly. This explained so much. It explained everything, really. Absolutely everything. My father was right...there was something wrong with Michael. Really wrong. The thought scared me down my core. But Michael wasn’t evil, this had happened to him. He was sick and he needed help. “What can I do?” My voice broke. His eyes were haunted. “Nothing. I need to figure out what’s wrong with me and how to fix it. It’s getting worse, though. And now that I kissed you—” He still shook, as if from the effort of forcing himself not to come near me again. His eyes locked on mine, his dark brows were drawn tightly together. “This...it’s like a curse on me, one I can’t break no matter how hard I try. It’s getting worse by the day.” He’d stopped himself, which meant that he had some control over this. He didn’t want to hurt me. I wanted to touch him, to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, but I knew I couldn’t get too close to him right now. It was like a knife in my heart. “Do you think it’ll get better again?” “When I take off the amulet it gets better. I can think then, my mind clears and there is no...need. But with it on—” He swallowed hard. “I don’t know.” “I’ll get the book,” I told him firmly, but there was still a noticeable quaver to my voice. I crushed my hands together to keep them from shaking. “It could have the answers to help you.” “I hope so.” He nodded. “I’m the one who was supposed to protect you from the beginning, but now...” His expression tensed. “I will never, ever hurt you. Do you understand?” I believed him. I’d asked for honesty from him, and he was still giving that to me. I appreciated that more than he’d ever know. “I understand.” His eyes still blazed with that green light that was both horrible and beautiful. “No one can know about this. I swear I will never hurt you, but you can’t tell anyone what’s wrong with me. Please.” I just nodded. “I’ll fix this, Princess. I promise I will.”

With a last intense look, he turned and left the room as if he couldn’t bear to be close to me a moment longer. Michael could have killed me just now. I knew it. The thought was nearly impossible to face without flinching away from it. It was my nightmare come to life—two Michaels. One who wanted to kill me, one who wanted to save me. Only in my waking life they were in the very same body. He would be okay. He’d find an answer to this. I’d help him—by getting the Shadow book. He’d developed this need after killing Jonas. My father said that Shadows were rumored to become dangerous after they’d killed. In the Underworld he’d killed Jonas to save my life. And now I had to save Michael in return. I’d do anything to save him. My heart pounded and I felt desperate to do something, to find answers, but I didn’t chase after Michael. I now knew why he hadn’t kissed me all this time. It made him want to take my energy. If he took too much it would kill me just as I’d seen Jonas kill that guard in the Underworld dungeon. Just as he’d tried to kill me. Michael was dangerous to me. Deadly. He could kill me if I got too close to him again. I should want to run away in the other direction and never seen him again. But all I wanted to do was help him. I started walking, my brain a million miles away, sorting through what had happened and what I was supposed to do about it. There were no easy answers here, only more questions that threatened to drown me. A familiar voice stopped me and pulled me out of my racing thoughts. “Nikki?” my father asked, confused. “I didn’t sense that you were in the Shadowlands. How did you even get here?” Crap. I stopped walking aimlessly through the castle and turned to face him. Without even consciously realizing it, I’d headed through the maze-like hallways toward his work room. Seeing him again was both a relief and it made my stomach clench with fear after what had happened with Michael. I struggled to find my voice. “I opened a gateway with my dragon’s tear.” “Very impressive,” he said with a nod, but his expression was one of familiar disapproval. “I will assume that you didn’t come to see me, though. You came to see Michael.” Tears streaked down my cheeks and I turned my face so I could furiously push them away. But it was too late. He’d seen. “I need to go,” I said in a shuddery, creaky voice. A frown creased his brow. “Nikki, what’s wrong?” I shook my head, but the sobs were coming now, so much so that I couldn’t hold them back and try to pretend that nothing was wrong. My father gently lifted my chin so I’d look him in the eyes. His face was etched with concern. “Tell me,” he said firmly. No room for argument.

I just shook my head. “I c-can’t.” “Yes, you can.” His jaw tensed. “It’s about Michael, isn’t it?” I tried to shake my head, but I was frozen. Michael hadn’t wanted me to say anything. It was too dangerous for anyone to know about this. I couldn’t betray him. “I know you care about Michael,” my father said. “So do I. I’ve looked after him all these years and treated him with as much respect as I could give him. Do you doubt that?” I shook my head. I didn’t doubt it. I knew that Michael was a Shadow and therefore automatically a servant to demonkind. But I also knew he’d been treated much better by living at my father’s castle than he would have been if he’d lived in the Underworld or anywhere else. “You know something about him. You’ve seen something. Something that scared you. Look at me, Nikki.” I raised my damp eyes to his and blinked. More hot tears splashed onto my cheeks. “Tell me what happened,” he said firmly, pain twisting in his own gaze at whatever anguish he saw on my face. “He can handle it. He said he could, I—” What was I doing? Why was I letting these words spill out of me? Michael asked me not to tell anyone, that he’d figure it out on his own. But even when he said it, I knew it wasn’t true. He couldn’t do this by himself. How could he? He had no resources. He had no books to study, no one to confide in. He was all by himself. We’d played our own game of Truth or Dare. He’d told me the truth and then dared me to keep it a secret. But I knew deep in my gut that keeping this a secret could do more harm to him than good. It could destroy him. I couldn’t stand by silently and let that happen to somebody I cared about. My father could help him. He said so himself. Michael had practically begged me to keep it a secret. For me to live up to the trust he’d put in me. But this went beyond trust. He was in trouble, but he was also dangerous to himself and to others right now. And I was the only one who knew the truth. If I really wanted to help him, I had no choice right now. I told my father everything.

Chapter 15

My father listened to me carefully, never interrupting. When I’d gotten it all out, I felt sick inside. “Why did I do that?” I trembled from head to foot. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” My father shook his head. “You’re wrong. You’ve helped him more than you know. You were absolutely right to tell me.” My throat felt so tight it was hard to speak. “You can’t hand him over to Queen Sephina. You can’t!” “Trust me, Nikki, that is the last thing I would ever choose to do.” He cupped my face in his hands. “Go home. Rest. Using your power to travel between worlds sapped more of your energy than you even realize.” Did I trust him? Completely? Demons lied, they were well known for it. But Dread said my father told me the truth, even when lies might make everything easier. I could only hope that this was one of those times. “You can’t hurt him. You have to promise me you won’t.” “I won’t hurt him,” he assured me. “You say he stopped himself before he’d taken too much of your energy.” “He did.” “Had he not, I wouldn’t be feeling nearly so benevolent toward him. If he’d really hurt you, I would kill him without a second thought.” His expression was as dark as his words. He looked toward the fire that always blazed in this room, filling it with much-needed warmth. A shiver went through me despite it. “He stopped. He knows it was bad and he’s trying to figure out how to fix it. He says it feels like he’s cursed.” “I’ll talk with him. Nothing can be done to help him until he admits to me that there’s a problem.” Guilt twisted inside of me. “He’s going to hate me for telling you.” He shook his head as his concerned gaze returned to meet mine. “If he truly cares for you, he won’t hold this against you. He’ll realize that you did this to help him. Trust me on that.” Trust me. Trust played such a huge part in my life right now. I never knew who to trust—with secrets, friendships, my feelings. It was always my worry that I would be the one betrayed or lied to. Lately, that wasn’t the case. I’d been the liar, the deceiver. I’d lied to Melinda, trying to get her to believe that Patrick had manipulated her. I’d justified it completely since I had no choice, but

it still bothered me. And now I’d betrayed Michael. I’d told him I wouldn’t tell, but I’d turned around and told my father everything at the first opportunity. In both cases, I knew there were no other options for me. And in telling the truth to my father, I now had to put my complete trust in him. And I did. I trusted him. But this still hurt like hell. He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll open up a gateway for you so you can go home.” I touched my dragon’s tear and realized my palms were sweating. “I should keep practicing.” His gaze fell to the bracelet. “That likely won’t work again for at least a day.” I looked at him with surprise. “It won’t?” “No. Since you’re unaccustomed to its magic, it will take some time to recharge. Over time it will become more dependable, but not in the beginning.” I stared at him with surprise. “So I could have gone somewhere and been stuck there?” “But you didn’t. And you aren’t. So no harm done.” My heart still raced. I didn’t know how to make it slow down again. “These things should really come with instruction manuals.” Despite my pounding heart, I was exhausted. I thought I’d just overexerted myself from running to the castle from the field where I’d arrived, but now that I thought about it, it felt deeper than that. Maybe it was energy Michael had taken from me. Or maybe it was the whole experience of this long and trying day. I was too tired to say anything else. Too tired to argue or fight. I just wanted to do as he suggested and go home. “If I can do anything to help—” I began. “You can help by going home and letting me handle this from here. I will speak with Michael. I’ll find out what is wrong—how he’s feeling. This hunger that drives him after his incident with Jonas...” He shook his head, his expression grave. “I knew there was something wrong, something off, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I thought he was dealing with guilt about taking a life, even that of a murderer. I didn’t realize that it had sparked a dark need in him that didn’t exist before. This is a very dangerous situation, Nikki.” I swallowed hard. “I know. That’s why I told you.” He nodded. “Go home. Rest. I will find a way to send word to you soon.” I finally turned toward the entrance to the room...and froze. Michael stood there, his eyes wide. He’d heard us. Every word. “Michael...” I couldn’t breathe. It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. His mouth worked, but no words came out for a moment. “I can’t believe...Princess, I don’t understand why you’d do this.” I struggled to find the words. “I had to tell him.” He looked devastated.

Tears burned my eyes. Guilt was a knife twisting into my heart, but it didn’t change anything. I hated that he knew what I’d done, what I’d had to do, but he would have found out soon anyway. “I did it to help you. You know how much you mean to me.” “Do I?” His words were sharp, but his expression held only pain. Didn’t he realize that we wanted to help him? He’d lived within this castle all his life; my father had pledged to protect and take care of him. Didn’t that earn my father any trust of his own? “Nikki, leave now,” my father said firmly. “I will deal with this. I promised I’d help Michael, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.” Michael shot a look at him. “You’re sure about that? I know Queen Sephina would love it if you banished me from this kingdom to hers. She could throw me into her dungeon and set a date for my execution.” “Banish you?” My father’s voice grew louder and there was no mistaking how angry he was. “If you were anyone else, I would do just that for keeping something this important from me. I allow you to live here with more freedom than any other and you betray my trust. You attacked my daughter in my own home.” “I would never attack her,” Michael snarled. “I would never hurt her! I would rather die first!” “What would you call it then? Only by a miracle were you able to stop in time. No, we will discuss this in private. And then I’ll decide how best to deal with this.” Michael didn’t look defeated by this, he looked fierce. Ready to fight. His fists were clenched at his sides. He cast another look at me—one filled with disappointment, pain, and...a sliver of understanding. He hated that I’d told on him. But he also knew why I’d had to do it. “Michael, I can stay. I can help.” I moved toward him, my hand reaching forward. “No. Stay back.” My father turned to me. His eyes flashed demon-red. “But I have to—” “Go home, Nikki. Now!” His voice boomed and I felt something hit me. A wave of energy knocked me off my feet. The next moment I was swept away in a vortex of light and swirling darkness. My stomach lurched, and then, suddenly, my breath was knocked out of me as I hit the ground hard. I looked around with shock. It was dark. And cold. And familiar. I was back in Erin Heights. “No!” I scrambled to my feet, turning around in a complete circle to get my bearings. I was near the mall, which was closed since it was now after six o’clock, its Saturday closing time. Then I grasped my wrist and focused all my attention on my dragon’s tear. I tried my best to channel its energy into creating another gateway so I could go back. But just as my father predicted, it didn’t work. I let out a frustrated scream. What was happening? I had to know. The rock! I dug into my pocket and pulled out the black rock, squeezing it so tightly it nearly drew blood. But nothing happened. No spinning, no shifting of worlds. Nothing at all.

I’d been shut out and cast away. Anger and frustration slammed through me. I could barely see straight. I didn’t know what to do now. I was completely powerless. My father asked me to trust him when it came to dealing with Michael. But he’d seemed so angry, maybe he’d change his mind about helping. And Michael had been upset and ready to challenge him. What if my father banished him to the Underworld? Or, even worse, to Hell itself? He swore to me he wouldn’t. He said he’d help him. I had to believe him. I had no other choice. All I could do now was wait and see. I hated that more than anything else I’d ever had to deal with. I hated feeling completely helpless. My father had cast me right out of the Shadowlands. I hadn’t even known he could do that. If I had to make a bet, I’d say it took a whole lot of his power to magically eject someone right out of his castle. I heard something then, but it took me a moment to place the familiar melodic chiming sound. Then I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I had a text message. I have your boyfriend’s book. Meet me at Castile’s if you want it. Rhys. How did he know my phone number? I’d never given it to him. Rhys had the book. And that book could help Michael now that he desperately needed help. My heart jumped about five feet in the air at that realization. Maybe I wasn’t so helpless after all. If I could get that book, then I could have the answers to save him. I could make everything okay again. I texted Rhys back: I’m on my way. Ignoring the fact that I wasn’t wearing a coat—my thick, knit sweater was good enough to block out most of the chill—I quickly headed downtown without giving it a second thought. Castile’s was an Italian restaurant I’d been to a few times with my mother. Nice place, but a bit overpriced. Normally the smell of the food—spaghetti, lasagna, garlic bread—would make my mouth water. At the moment, my stomach felt too queasy to be interested in eating anything. Through the front window, I spotted Rhys immediately seated at a booth to the left. As I stood on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant I realized it had started to snow. Soft white flakes drifted down from the black blanket of sky above and landed on my shoulders. “Nikki, hey!” Someone called to me from further down on the sidewalk. It was Clara. I tried to push away my distress at the confrontation between me and Michael and my father and paste a shaky smile on my face. In Erin Heights I wasn’t a demon princess with a demon king father about to go ballistic on her Shadow servant boyfriend in another world. I was just a teenager who needed people to think I was as normal as possible. If I didn’t, then my narrowly avoided disaster with Melinda earlier today would only be the prequel to the trouble that lay ahead. “Hey, Clara.” I forced myself to sound friendly when I felt anything but.

“Going for dinner?” she asked. “No...I need to meet someone.” There was no reason to say who it was. “Cool. I just had to run an errand. I’m headed home now.” She glanced through the restaurant window and her gaze quickly came back to me. By the look in her eyes, I knew she’d seen him. “It’s not what you think,” I said immediately. The last thing I needed was more drama tonight. “Is Melinda joining you guys?” she asked. My face hurt from trying to keep it calm and neutral. “No.” “So you’re meeting Rhys for dinner behind her back?” “Rhys is a friend of mine. And this isn’t anything weird, trust me.” But she didn’t trust me. Not as far as she could throw me. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Nikki. Rhys is cheating on Melinda with you.” Frustration hit me. I didn’t have time for this, I needed that book. “Look, Clara. I know you mean well. I do. But just do me a big favor and mind your own business, okay? For all you know, me and Rhys are meeting to plan a surprise party for Melinda. You don’t know anything about what’s going on here. And if you feel like you have to tell her this, feel free. I don’t really care.” She studied me for a moment. Considering how nervous she’d acted before, her gaze was unflinching. “I can’t figure you out. I keep trying, but I can’t.” I didn’t want her to even try to figure me out. She didn’t want to know what lay just below the surface, especially not right now. It currently resembled lava. “I don’t know what to say to that. You don’t have to figure me out. We don’t have to be friends if you don’t want to be. But I have to go.” With that, I turned my back on her and went into the restaurant, feeling stressed and annoyed. I plunked myself down in the booth across from Rhys. He studied me for a moment. “Bad night?” “You have no idea. How did you get my phone number?” He shrugged. “Magic.” I just stared at him. “Okay, fine,” he said. “I pulled your phone out of your purse yesterday during class and looked.” “So, not magic. Snooping.” “That would definitely be more accurate.” “You’re not in your realm right now. I thought you frolicked with unicorns and your fellow faery friends on weekends and holidays.” “I know you’re jealous of the unicorn. Can’t keep your hands off it.” I shrugged and tried to focus. “It was pretty. And friendly.” “You’re the only demon who’s ever been able to touch one.”

“Half-demon,” I corrected. “And you already told me that when you pointed your sword at me and threatened my life.” “Such memories we’re making together. It’s incredible.” He gave me a wry smile. “So what’s wrong with Melinda today? She’s not answering her phone.” I glanced at the waiter as he brought me a glass of ice water and a menu. I sipped the water and pushed the menu to the side. I knew I couldn’t come right out and demand the book from him if I wanted him to be all willing to help me, so I had to try to relax and wait for him to offer it up. “She’s not having a very good day.” “No? The girls’ night didn’t go swimmingly?” “She finally found out my little secret and had a complete meltdown. Before she could slay me I convinced her that she was delusional.” Surprise flickered on his face. “Okay. That’s not good.” The memory of how close I’d come to having my secret revealed—that moment I’d stood in Darkling form, and she stared at me like I’d just been launched out of a horror movie and into her front foyer. She’d looked at me with fear and shock that had made my blood run cold. “No, it’s not good at all. It was a spell her trainer gave her that made my horns pop out when I least expected them to. But I convinced her the spell caused a hallucination. She believed me...eventually. But she’s still having a tough time with everything.” He nodded sagely. “Humans are delicate creatures.” That was very true. I was still half-human, so half-delicate. That was the side of me that wanted to run away and hide. To fall asleep and hope tomorrow everything would have fixed itself. Maybe it was my demon side that kept me going. “So you called her, huh? So you two could go out?” “No, I was calling her because I thought you might still be at her house. I’d tried your cell phone a couple of times, but there was no answer.” “I was out of range.” Very out of range. I couldn’t wait any longer. So much for being cool about this. “Do you have the book?” Rhys nodded again. “I do. I’m told it isn’t easy to get.” I let out a sigh of relief. “And yet you managed to get it in only a day. I’m impressed.” He studied me. “Are you?” “Incredibly, amazingly impressed.” I only put a little sarcasm into it, since with Rhys I honestly couldn’t help myself. But then I got very sincere and reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “Thank you. I mean that.” He shrugged. “My advisors are newly invested in my reign. They acquired the book for me. I really didn’t do much except wait for it.” “So your advisors like you again because of the prophecy about us.” I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the extra tension that raised inside me. It was just another reminder of something problematic I’d pushed to the sidelines of my life, hoping it might eventually disappear all by itself.

He nodded. “Wait until you see the wedding invitations. The calligraphy is done with unicorn-hair brushes to give it a little extra shimmer.” At my look of horror, he laughed. “Just kidding. Things haven’t progressed nearly that far.” He was a comedian. Fantastic. Just what I needed tonight. “I did meet another demon princess on my trip to the Underworld,” I told him. “Kassandra. She’s full demon, not half, though. Very pretty in her human form. You might like her. I can set up a blind date if you’re interested.” “Sounds excruciatingly horrific. So...no thank you.” He picked up his menu and scanned it. “Have you had dinner yet? Feel free to order anything you like.” I was definitely not hungry. But there was something in the way he said it... I frowned at him. “This isn’t a date, you know.” Rhys lowered his menu. “Pardon me?” “This. Me meeting you here. It’s not a date.” I blinked. “You don’t think this is a date, do you?” “Of course not. It’s a business meeting between two royals from different kingdoms. This is all very political, Nikki.” “Now you’re making fun of me.” “Me make fun of you? I wouldn’t dream of it.” He put the menu down and swept his gaze through the restaurant. “Fine. We can go. In fact, yes, we should go. There’s no reason to waste more time here.” I couldn’t agree more. I followed him out of the restaurant much to the dismay of our waiter. Ice water didn’t have a price tag, after all, although I noticed that Rhys still left a hefty tip. But I really wasn’t hungry and the very idea of being on a date with Rhys, especially after what happened with Michael, just didn’t sit well with me. What was happening in the Shadowlands? Had my father and Michael spoken about the problem? Had they argued? Was everything okay? Even if I did get the book, how was I supposed to get back there if my bracelet wasn’t working properly? How long would I have to wait? A day? More than that? “It’s snowing.” Rhys looked up at the light flakes that had started to drift down. “Yes, it is.” I grimaced as I got smacked in the eyeball with a large wet flake when I looked up. “It’s beautiful.” I glanced at him as I rubbed my eye. “Welcome to Erin Heights in January. It’ll be like this for February, March and most of April, too, from what I’ve heard.” I crossed my arms as we walked and glanced at him. He wore a black wool jacket that fit snugly to his lean frame, a scarf I’d bet cost more than my entire outfit, but he wasn’t carrying a bag. “So, where’s the book?” “Patience, Nikki.” “I’m fresh out of that today.”

“Are you just cranky because of what happened with Melinda, or is this something else?” he asked. “I’m sensing... else.” “It’s nothing.” That was a major understatement. “You’re not having difficulties with your Shadow, are you?” The very thought seemed to amuse him. “It is so hard to find good help these days.” I wiped the melting snowflakes off my face with the sleeve of my sweater. I hoped very hard that we were headed toward the book. I’d figure everything else out once I had it. Still, it was difficult to remain even tempered at the moment. Rhys pushed my buttons, but he was also my only way of getting that book that could help Michael. A thought occurred to me. Maybe he could help in another way, too. “Hey, are you going back to the Faery Realm tonight? And when you do, can you just open up a gateway by yourself or is one already open for you somewhere here in town?” That could be my answer. I could take the long way through the Faery Realm to get back to the Shadowlands. “Evading my question,” he mused. “That tells me that you’re definitely having problems with your one true love.” He said it so sarcastically that it set my teeth on edge. “You don’t know anything about Michael.” “I know that he has a short fuse—although not as short as yours. I know that he oversteps his bounds. I know that he’s a lousy dresser. So I think I know lots about him. More than you might think.” He kept his gaze on the street. “I did peek into the book. So I also know that Shadows have some very acute issues.” I felt cold and I didn’t think it had much to do with the temperature. “Like what?” “I heard what Michael did in the Underworld. To the other Shadow.” My breath caught. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t really want to pursue this topic of conversation if I could find a way to avoid it. But I seemed to be having some serious trouble avoiding any kind of unpleasantness today. “Do you know who that Shadow was?” he asked me. The humor was gone from his voice. “Do you?” I returned carefully. “His name was Jonas. He was in the Underworld dungeon for murder.” I swallowed hard. “Yes, he was.” Rhys’s expression was tense. “He was the one who murdered my parents.”

Chapter 16

I stared at Rhys, shocked. I didn’t think he knew that. I hadn’t wanted to tell him the truth—it wasn’t my place. We had our difficulties, but I knew losing his parents had destroyed him. I felt his grief even now, emanating off him in waves. It brought tears to my eyes at the thought of losing my own parents in such a horrible and tragic way. Rhys continued to speak, his voice low but steady. “It happened when they were at the Underworld castle to meet with Queen Sephina. They were there because they wanted to develop new friendships between our worlds. And Jonas murdered them—he drained their energy and that killed them.” He said this all matter-of-factly, almost chillingly so. “How long have you known?” I asked. “Not all that long. Over the school break, I’d heard some rumors. Funny thing I’ve recently learned, no matter how ornery my advisors get, they must still take a direct order from their king. When I demanded the truth, they had to tell me.” I fought not to let myself cry. I hated that he’d found out like this, that he’d needed to demand the truth when it should have been told to him before this, out of respect. “I’m so sorry, Rhys.” “I thought it was a demon who’d done it. I knew they were in the Underworld when it happened so...I just assumed. I had no idea it was a Shadow.” He glanced at me and I saw the pain in his eyes. “I hated demons to start with, but I despised them as a whole for what happened to my parents. That’s why I hated you when we first met.” “I know. But you can’t blame all Shadows now for what happened. You can’t. Michael isn’t —” “Michael destroyed that Shadow. He killed the thing that murdered my parents. I still don’t like him, but I owe him my gratitude for that. And I know he killed Jonas to protect you.” “That’s right.” Michael did protect me. He’d done that many times. He’d told my father before I left that he’d rather die than hurt me. I believed him. I’d do anything to help him. I’d fight for him till the bitter end. I didn’t care what everyone else said about Shadows, he wouldn’t hurt me. He could control this. And he would fix what was wrong with him. With my help. We’d wandered into the Erin Heights community park. Not the most popular place in the dead of winter, but it was very active in the summer. Lots of trees, a river, picnic areas, soccer field, and a kid’s playground. And plenty of benches.

Rhys ran his hand absently through his short hair. It was dark outside, but thanks to the floodlight we stood under, I could see his brown eyes clearly. He had these gold flecks in them that seemed to swirl when he was feeling emotional, which I didn’t think humans could see since no one else ever mentioned how strange it was. Tonight they spun like twin tornados. “In the book,” he said, “there’s some solid information, but there’s also a bunch of blank pages. Maybe whoever composed it was going to keep writing, but had to stop for some reason.” I felt the first swell of hope in hours. “But there is information in it?” “Yes. And some of that information...” He looked at me. “I know what happens to a Shadow who’s absorbed another’s energy to the point Michael did with Jonas. It changes them deep down. It makes them crave more, just like a drug. Most Shadows that this has happened to have been killed by demons because they become too dangerous to control. This is one of the reasons information has been kept from them. Most Shadows have no idea they’re even able to do such a horrible thing...and when and if they find out, it’s too late. They’re addicted to it.” I felt the color drain from my face. I had known this already, of course. I’d seen Michael’s struggle with my own eyes only a short time ago. But to have it confirmed—to know it was something that had been documented... I exhaled shakily. “I need you to get the book for me from wherever it is.” Rhys absently brushed some snow off his sleeve, his hands encased in fashionable wool gloves. The guy looked like an ad for GQ right in the middle of Erin Heights. “So you can try to find out how to help your boyfriend?” “Yes.” I held his challenging stare before I faltered. “Well, he’s not really my boyfriend. Not officially. But yes, I want to help him.” His brows went up. “I’m getting confused. Is he or isn’t he your boyfriend?” “He hates me right now. I told my father that Michael’s got a serious problem. That he’s very dangerous.” He studied me. “Did he try to hurt you?” I turned away and crossed my arms, focusing on a twenty foot evergreen to my left. The snow came down heavier, and large flakes landed on its branches. “I’m not talking about this with you.” “But you want the book.” “Of course I do!” I spun around to face him. “Rhys, I swear—” “I’m not trying to renege, Nikki. I have the book. Not on me, but I can get it in a matter of minutes.” I let out a long sigh of relief. “Well, good. So let’s go get it.” He waited. I looked at him. “What? Why aren’t we going right now?” He spread his hands. “Well, there’s just the matter of our deal.” “Our deal,” I repeated. “Yes, you do remember what you agreed to, right?”

My heart pounded. After everything I’d already dealt with that day, I wasn’t sure if I could deal with my deal. “I’ll owe it to you.” “It doesn’t work that way.” I sighed. “So you’re saying you want me to kiss you, right here and right now? And if I don’t, I don’t get the book?” He frowned. “I’m not sure why you’re making it sound so terrible. You did agree to this. I’m only asking you to hold true to our bargain.” I felt utterly exasperated and exhausted. “God, Rhys. Are you really that much in love with me that you’re that desperate for me to kiss you again?” His expression froze and his eyes narrowed. The swirling gold flecks in his eyes caught the floodlight’s glare. “You dare speak to me in such an insolent manner?” “Stop talking like you’re two hundred years old. You’re sixteen, just like me.” He hissed out a breath that condensed in the chilly air. “I don’t understand you, Nikki. At all.” I turned my attention to the ground, digging the toe of my shoe into the muddy ground under the snow. “What’s to understand? You have something I really need. I don’t know why you can’t just give it to me...just to be nice.” “Maybe I’m not that nice. Why are you making this into such a big deal?” “Because it is a big deal. If I kiss you...” “If you kiss me, what?” he demanded after I trailed off. “You’re afraid you’re going to like it too much? That it’ll make you forget Michael for once and for all?” I groaned. This was all too much. I was already conflicted about my feelings toward Rhys, confused about this “kiss” I’d agreed to and how it might feel after the one we’d shared under the mistletoe. But this was not the right time for it. I wasn’t sure when it would be, but this was not it. Period. “You don’t know how my day has been,” I finally said. “This isn’t something I want to do or even talk about right now. And even if I do kiss you, it’s not going to mean what you might think.” He glared at me. “Excuse me?” I felt a cool resolve fill me as I faced him, angry that he continued to press me on this. I refused to lead him on, not when I was dealing with my already incredibly confusing feelings toward Michael. The last thing I needed was to have confusing feelings about two boys. At the same time. Bad idea. “I don’t like you that way. And, just for the record, I’m not marrying you. Ever!” “You, Princess Nikki,” Rhys said darkly, “are a self-involved child.” My mouth dropped open. “What?” “You agreed,” he growled. “I asked for this one small thing and you agreed. Now you’re refusing me. This isn’t about a stupid kiss anymore. This is about you lying to get what you wanted, and you actually thought you could get away with it. That I’d just hand over the book anyway like some fool. But I won’t be used.”

“You’re totally overreacting!” “Kiss me right now or I’m leaving,” he said firmly. “You are such a jerk!” I glared at him. “I’m not kissing you now. I’m not kissing you ever again!” “Fine, have it your way. Goodnight.” He turned from me and started walking away. I just stared after him, dumbfounded. Oh, God. What had I just done? Things just went from bad to worse. He took a hissy fit because I wasn’t in the mood to lock lips with him. But because I’d chosen to take a stand and not give in to his demands, I may have just condemned Michael to a one-way trip to the Underworld dungeons and Queen Sephina’s dubious mercy. Panic swelled in my chest, followed by a double dose of guilt. I couldn’t even blame Rhys. Not totally. Sure, he was a jerk, but I was the one who’d gone back on our stupid, stupid deal. I walked over to the evergreen and kicked it. Then I swore because that really hurt my foot and a bunch of snow fell on my head. I had to go after Rhys and...apologize. Ugh. Again, someone had put their trust in me and I’d let them down. I refused to kiss him out of pride and stubbornness, not for any good reason. Not even because Michael asked me not to kiss Rhys ever again. I’d said no because I just hadn’t felt like it at the moment. Now I had to fix this before it became irreparably broken. I had to get that book, and then I needed to convince Rhys to take me to the Faery Realm so I could run across the field to get to the Shadowlands. I kicked the tree again. My phone chimed and, still keeping Rhys’s departing form in view through the falling snow, I fished into my pocket and answered it. “Yeah?” “Nikki, where are you?” It was my mother. Crap. “Out.” “When are you coming home?” “Soon. Really, really soon.” “It’s snowing. Do you need me to pick you up somewhere? I can come get you.” “No, it’s okay,” I said. “I’m not far away. I won’t be long, I promise.” “Okay, hon. See you soon.” I hung up and slipped the phone back in my pocket. When I looked up, Rhys was gone. My breath caught. Where did he go? He was in view only a second ago.

I let out a very long, very shaky sigh before I pulled my phone back out to scroll through my messages. I quickly texted him, hesitating only briefly before I hit send. I’m sorry. Come back. The Italian restaurant...the nice clothes Rhys wore. The “reserved” card on the table I’d barely noticed. The smile Rhys gave me as I sat down across from him... It had been a date. And after we’d finished with dinner he’d planned to give me the book and...then I would have kissed him. If I liked kissing Rhys without mistletoe to blame for it, then what did that mean? My cheeks grew very warm just considering it. This wasn’t supposed to be so confusing for me. I liked Michael. I wanted Michael as my boyfriend, nobody else. Especially not somebody I found endlessly annoying and frustrating. Someone who’d told me he hated demons from the very first day we met. Rhys hated me right now. I was quite sure of it. The thought made my heart twist. Besides, how could I even think about any of this while Michael faced the wrath of my father in the Shadowlands castle? And that was the happy end of the bad stuff he’d have to deal with now that his secret was out. All thanks to his misplaced trust in yours truly. And I had no idea how to fix it all and make sure everyone I cared about was happy and safe. Rhys would text me back. We’d meet up again and everything would be okay. I’d just have to deal with one thing at a time. Too many might overwhelm me. I headed in the direction he’d gone in, but found that my path was now blocked. Melinda stood right in front of me. “What a coincidence,” she said. I studied her for a moment with surprise. “I’ll say.” My shocked gaze fell to the sword she held at her side, then slid back up to her face. “So,” she began, “about that crazy delusion I had earlier today about you being a demon...” I swallowed hard. “What about it?” She raised the sword so it pointed in my direction and her eyes narrowed. “Nice try, demon.”

Chapter 17

My best friend was pointing a sharp sword at me and didn’t look afraid to use it. I could barely find enough breath to speak. “Melinda, let’s talk.” “Better make it quick. I don’t have any more patience for your lies.” This couldn’t be happening. She’d believed me this afternoon, I saw it in her eyes. What changed? “Why are you doing this?” “Why am I doing this?” she repeated. Her voice was dry, calm, and totally steady. However, her eyes blazed with fury and indignation. “I pieced it all together, Nikki. And I saw very clearly that Patrick didn’t lie to me. You’re the liar. And you’re the demon. What I saw today was real. The spell showed me your demon form. But the spell only worked once and you managed to convince me what I saw was wrong. But it wasn’t. Patrick may be annoying and demanding, but he’s never lied to me. Not once. But you have. Over and over again.” I wanted to convince her she was wrong, but I knew she wouldn’t believe me this time. I saw it on her face. She knew. So maybe my commitment to denial was completely wrong. I had to do something different now. What I’d been trying to avoid since day one when it came to Melinda. More lies weren’t going to get me anywhere. That left me with one alternative. Something I hadn’t been using too much lately since it never seemed to be very helpful. The truth. Sadly, I realized it was my last resort. “I’m half demon,” I said slowly, fearfully watching her for any sudden movements. I might not be able to take on a trained demon slayer with a pointy weapon, but I was a very fast runner when I had to be. “I only found out a month ago, just after my birthday. My father is a demon. My mother’s human and completely innocent of everything.” Melinda didn’t speak for a moment, as if surprised I’d said anything at all. “Does she know the truth?” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing myself to remain calm. “No. She knows nothing about this. She doesn’t even know my father was a demon. And I’m really hoping she doesn’t find out any time soon. Hint, hint.” She snorted. “Don’t even try to make light of this.”

I tried not to focus on the sword, but it was hard to keep my eyes off something so terrifying. “I’m not. There isn’t anything funny about this, Melinda. And for the record, I knew you were a slayer in training from the day of your Christmas party. I went downstairs and saw the arsenal and the books. I knew your ballet lessons were a lie. So if you want to talk about telling truths, maybe you should look in a mirror sometime.” “What’s your plan?” she asked sharply, ignoring the accusation. “Are you here to take over the human world and enslave mankind?” I blinked with surprise. “No, thanks. That sounds like a lot of work. Look, Melinda, I know you have the wrong impression. You think demons are all bad. Well,” I cleared my throat nervously, “some of them are. Some are really bad and totally live up to their reputations, which is why they’re not in the human world. They are stuck in Hell and the Underworld to keep it safe here. But others aren’t evil. Like me. I’m exactly who you know me to be. I’m your best friend.” “Shut up,” she hissed and jabbed her weapon toward me. “Don’t even say that. You’re my enemy.” I took a big step back from her, almost going over on my ankle. “No, I’m not. I know Patrick sensed the truth, but did you have any kind of idea of what I was before today? No, you didn’t. You’ve never doubted my friendship before. Don’t start now.” “I’ve only known you a few months. I don’t know you at all.” I winced at that. A reminder that, compared to Larissa and Brittany, I was still the new girl around town. “You do know me. And deep down, you know that. I would never, ever hurt you in a million years. Did I lie today? Of course I did. I knew I had to protect myself and my mother from you and your secret society.” “What about your father?” “He’s not around.” I swept my gaze around the area. We were alone. No cars, no pedestrians. Just the two of us, a soft snowfall, a path, a floodlight to light up the area, and trees flanking us on all sides. “Where is he?” she demanded. “Not here.” Melinda’s lips thinned. The grip on her sword hadn’t loosened. She held it so tight her knuckles were white. She must have some serious upper body strength because that heavy sword didn’t lower a single inch. “You’re protecting him.” I shivered and met her gaze full-on. “Of course I am.” Her expression was fierce. “I’m a demon slayer, Nikki. You know what that means.” I did. It meant she was supposed to slay things like me. And I wasn’t sure how to stop this from happening. It had gone too far now, and I was very afraid how this was going to end between us. I never wanted it to come to this. “Where’s Patrick?” I asked, my heart thudding. A large part of me was worried he was nearby, coaching Melinda like Michael coached me. Waiting to jump out and act as backup the moment she needed it. I’d stand no chance against the two of them.

“Not here,” she said, echoing my earlier comment about my father. I think she was mocking me. Anger pressed in on all sides. I didn’t want to be afraid, but I was. My best friend had filled me with fear. And that pissed me off. “You didn’t want to invite him along for a fun night out slaying your best friend? Would I be your first kill? You really think you can stick that sword through my heart like it’s no big deal?” Her upper lip drew back from her teeth. “Don’t try to make me feel guilty here.” “Why the hell wouldn’t I?” I snapped. “You’re the one who’s signed up to be a murderer.” “And you’ve signed up to be a demon.” “Half-demon. And I didn’t have a choice, this is how I was born. I’ve accepted it. You chose to quit being a demon slayer because you hated it. That was a choice. I had no choice.” “I saw you. Those horrible wings and horns and...it was disgusting.” She shuddered. It was exactly how I’d felt about my Darkling form in the beginning. I hadn’t known what it meant, it was so different, so scary. Now I knew my disgust hadn’t been because my Darkling form was ugly. It was because it had terrified me. Melinda wasn’t disgusted. She was afraid. Just as afraid as I was. She took a step closer to me. I took another step back. I didn’t want to shift form because I knew it would freak her out even more than she already was. But in my human form I lacked the extra strength I desperately needed to defend myself. I really didn’t want to have to fight my best friend if I could help it. That would mean that one of us was going to lose. Emotion rose inside me, enough to choke me. Tears burned my eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you.” My words came out shaky. “And I sure as hell don’t want you to hurt me.” But what was I supposed to do when she was all ready to play judge, jury, and executioner? She just glared at me, as if she didn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth. The snow was coming down thicker, gathering on the ground in a pristine blanket of white. The park was lit by only a few overhead lamps and a couple other security floodlights, casting spooky shadows all around us. And it was quiet, so quiet, that I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. But then I heard something else. A roar of pain. It was a human voice, but...it was layered with something else, too. Something not human. I recognized the voice immediately and swore under my breath. Oh, no. “What was that?” Melinda asked, her gaze darting around, but her sword didn’t waver from pointing at yours truly. “Trouble,” I said, wringing my hands and looking all around me to pinpoint which direction the sound had come from. “I...uh, have to go.” Her eyes widened. “Go? No you don’t. We’re having a—” “Sorry, this’ll have to wait.” I turned and began to run toward the roar.

I hadn’t thought this night could get any worse. I’d been dead wrong. Chris Sanders wasn’t too far away, near a thick thatch of evergreens. If nothing else, they’d given him some shelter from the snow. He needed it. He currently knelt on the ground, his back hunched over. Just like me, he wasn’t wearing a coat. His T-shirt strained against his arms and chest. His bare hands dug into the ground as if he was trying to hang on to it as an anchor. My stomach lurched at the sight of him in so much pain. Every instinct I had told me he was ready to shift into his dragon form. Right here. Right now. “Chris,” I gasped, “I need to get you home. Please, what’s your address? Tell me!” He gasped in pain again and shook his head. His bright amber eyes, jarring on his pale and sweaty face, flicked to me. “My mom—she told me some crazy stuff, but I didn’t believe it. I took off and made it here, but I can’t go any further. It hurts too much.” Oh, hell. His mother never told him what to expect—not until tonight when it was going to happen? When he didn’t have any time to prepare himself? “I’m sorry, Chris.” “What’s wrong with me? You know. I know you do.” “You’re going through a—a change. But it’s going to be okay.” “Change? Into what?” I swallowed hard. “A dragon.” He looked at me sharply and actually laughed. It was a sound devoid of any humor. “That’s what she said.” “She wasn’t lying.” He shuddered, then swore under his breath. “This is going to hurt real bad, isn’t it?” “Probably.” When I sank down next to him he turned and grabbed hold of the sleeve of my sweater. His face was sweaty, even though it was so cold out, and he stared at me with those glowing amber eyes. “Has it found you yet?” he asked. “It’s looking for you.” A chill went down my spine. “What are you talking about?” He stared at me, but his gaze was blank. “You have something it wants. Something it’s desperate to have for itself.” His vision. The thing with the black wings. I swear, that drawing haunted me and I’d only looked at it a couple of times. “Is it a Shadow?” I asked him, my voice low. Ever since my nightmare, I’d been desperately afraid that it was Michael. And what happened at the castle today, an echo of that nightmare, hadn’t helped ease my mind at all. His deep frown turned into a grimace and he pressed his palms to his temples. A light layer of snow had landed on Chris’s hair and shoulders. I brushed it away. “My head...it hurts so much,” he groaned.

To my left, Melinda thundered up to us. She pointed the sword at me, then at Chris, her gaze widening as she realized who he was. “Chris! What are you doing here?” she demanded. He didn’t even look at her. “Leave me alone.” “You need to get away from Nikki. She’s dangerous!” “Says the chick carrying the medieval weaponry,” I growled. “Melinda, I know you’re having trouble seeing past the tip of your own nose right now, but you need to back off. Bad things are going to happen very soon and I need to try to fix this.” “Move away from him,” she snapped. “Right now!” “No,” I said firmly. “You don’t even like him anymore.” “Do I look like I’m trying to date him?” I snapped back. “Seriously, Melinda. Just shut up a minute.” She gaped at me. “Chris.” I staggered to my feet and pulled at his arm. “Come on, get up. You’re too heavy for me to carry.” That was, unless I turned Darkling. I wasn’t quite ready for that yet, but I was getting closer to having no other options left. Instead, Chris hunched over and let out another pain-filled howl. “Oh my God.” Melinda’s eyes grew even wider. “He’s not a—a werewolf, is he?” I shot a look in her direction, cringing at the sound of Chris’s pain. “He’s not a werewolf.” “Then what is this?” I grabbed Chris’s face and made him look at me. His eyes glowed amber and his pupils were now slits. “It’s happening.” My stomach sank further than I even thought possible. “You’re going to shift.” He gasped for breath. “Why the hell didn’t my mother warn me about this? Why did she only say it tonight?” “I honestly think she was trying to protect you for as long as possible.” I shook my head. “I can’t imagine she knew you were this close to your first shift.” He looked at me with fear in his glowing eyes. “I don’t want this to happen.” “You and me both.” I took hold of his face and looked right at him. “But you know what? It’s going to happen anyway. However, I have some good news for you, Chris.” “Wh-what?” “I have it on very good authority that you’re going to feel much, much better after this. No more crazy. This will fix you.” I blinked. “I mean, if you live through it.” He snorted, but the sound didn’t lessen any of the fear on his face. “Comforting, thanks.” “What the hell is happening?” Melinda demanded again, louder, pointing her sword at us as if that would prompt us to explain everything to her. “Tell me right now!”

I felt something ripple along Chris’s back, and I have to admit, it freaked me out when I realized it was his spine and rib cage expanding. I leapt to my feet and moved to stand next to my best frenemy. “Get away from me!” She thrust her sword at me again, and I had to jump out of its way so I didn’t get cut. I glared at her. “Oh, go point that thing somewhere else, you idiot.” She opened her mouth to say something else to me, but another roar of pain from Chris grabbed her attention. I hadn’t exactly known what to expect. I’d never seen a dragon in a form other than human. That was about to change. Fire rippled over Chris’s human form, covering him from head to toe as he struggled to get to his feet. My panic returned in full force. I didn’t know what to do—fear locked me in place. I didn’t know how to stop this, to help him. All I could do was watch with horror. Melinda screamed and dropped her sword. She clutched my arm tightly as if she’d temporarily forgotten that she considered me her enemy now, rather than a friend she needed to cling to. “Chris! No!” Her voice broke as her fingernails dug into the sleeve of my thick sweater. “Nikki, we have to do something! He’s burning!” I willed myself not to panic more than I already was. It was a struggle. Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t let myself start to cry. I had to stay strong—for Melinda. For Chris. For myself. “No, I—I think this is how it’s supposed to be.” Chris wasn’t yelling in pain anymore, which was a very good sign. I hoped so, anyway. Underneath that blanket of fire, Chris began to grow and change. It only took about thirty seconds before his form had shifted completely. A long thick tail stretched out behind him. Large wings spread out to either side. He was twenty feet in length when it finished, and the fire died away. I stared at him, awestruck and terrified. There was nothing about Chris that looked human anymore. His leathery, scaled skin was pitch black. His eyes were large, amber, slitted...and they glowed. When he snorted, wisps of smoke exited his flaring nostrils. A long, forked tongue poked out of his mouth as if to taste the cold air. Past it I could see the tips of his razor-sharp teeth. When he let out another roar, flames came out of his mouth like he’d swallowed a blow torch. Definitely not a werewolf. He swept his gaze over the area we were in before his amber eyes fell on the two of us, currently clutching each other like two girls in a horror movie. He took a step closer to us, his eyes narrowing. For a moment, I honestly thought I was going to pass out. Instead, I stood in front of Melinda, shoving her behind me.

“Chris!” I forced bravery into my voice. “Are you still in there? I really hope you are. I don’t know much about dragons, but from what little I’ve heard, you are not an out-of-control monster. You’re not going to torch this park and the whole town. You’re not going to hurt anyone. Do you hear me?” I could feel his breath. Even without the flames, it immediately melted the snow around us within a twenty foot radius. Melinda gripped the back of my thick sweater with both hands. “He’s going to kill us. Barbecue us. Eat us for dinner.” “No,” I said firmly. “He is not. Because if he does, my father is going to be really mad and Chris’s mother is going to get in serious trouble. Dr. Sanders doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d want to answer to a demon king.” Melinda gasped. “Your father’s a demon king?” “He is.” “So what does that make you? A demon princess?” I didn’t take my attention off the dragon in front of us for a moment. “Good guess.” “Wh-why are you s-standing in front of me?” she stuttered. “Because I’m trying to protect you. So shut up and let me concentrate.” I focused on the large, fire-breathing dragon. “Chris...hello? Are you in there? Don’t even think about hurting us. Just...don’t. Or you are going to be in major trouble. You hear me?” The dragon glared at me, his glowing eyes intensifying for a few horrible seconds. Then he sat on his haunches. The ground shook. “You were right about one thing,” the dragon said. “I do feel way better now.” I stared at him. “Dragons can talk?” Chris tilted his head. “Looks like.” He sounded like Chris, but his voice had changed slightly since his mouth was different. More teeth. Forked tongue. But it was definitely Chris. Relief nearly buckled my knees. Tonight’s barbecue was officially cancelled. He cast a glance at his huge dragon body, flicking his tail, checking out the long talons on his hands—or front paws, I wasn’t sure what you called them when it came to dragon anatomy. His talons made my Darkling ones look like a dainty French manicure. “This is what my mother is,” he said, sounding stunned. “Yes.” He glared at me. “She should have told me.” “Don’t give me that look. It’s not my fault.” My heart still pounded in my chest three times as fast as normal, but since we hadn’t been grilled and sautéed yet by a hungry dragon, I was beginning to calm down. A little. He glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, I have wings. Just like you do.” “Your wings are bigger.”

He gave me a sharp-toothed grin that sent a chill down my spine. “This is kind of cool.” I had a few other choice words for it: terrifying, deeply disturbing, horrific. “If you say so.” “You—you’re a dragon,” Melinda managed, finally coming out from behind me. She swept her gaze over the length of me. “And you’re a—a demon.” “Half-demon.” I crossed my arms over my chest, reminding myself not to let down my guard. And not to let her get behind me again, especially if she picked up her sword. “Oh,” Chris said with interest. “Is that what you are? A half-demon?” It felt so strange to be able to say it freely, but there was no going back now. “Demon princess, actually.” “From the Shadowlands.” His dragon brow lowered as he said it. I stared at him with shock. “How did you know that?” “My vision...” His frown deepened. “Do all dragons have visions, or is it just me?” “Not all dragons. You’re a special one, just like your mother. A dragon oracle. Demons and faeries use them to get prophesies and glimpses of the future.” “Wait a minute,” Melinda said, her gaze shooting back and forth between the two of us like she was watching a tennis match. “Faeries? There are faeries, too?” I grimaced. “Chris, what vision did you have about the Shadowlands?” He started to pace back and forth, his tail swishing as he turned. I actually had to jump out of the way so he wouldn’t knock me over. “It’s kind of fuzzy. I get these images in my head like photographs. That’s why I draw them, since it’s the only way to clear them out. Then they stop hurting so much.” I looked up at him. If he had information, it could be important. Visions weren't always prophesies, but they could help get insight on my problems. “Can you remember anything? Please, it’s important.” “Yeah, I remember. You’re the...half-demon princess. A...a Darkling, right? I saw that. And I saw a prophecy that you were the destroyer of worlds.” I forgot how to breathe for a moment. Melinda gasped. “Seriously? Destroyer of worlds?” I looked over my shoulder at her. “It was false. Somebody was messing with me. He’s the kind of demon you should point your sword at. Evil to the core.” “That might have been false,” Chris said, “but there’s still something else related to it. You’re not the destroyer of many worlds, Nikki. Only one world.” Chris blinked thick black lids over those large amber eyes. “The Shadowlands.” I stared at him blankly. “No, that’s got to be wrong.” He shrugged. “That’s what I saw. Maybe I am wrong, I don’t know. I’m kind of new at this.” He was wrong. Completely wrong. I wasn’t going to destroy anything, let alone my own father’s kingdom. That was ridiculous. Like he just said, Chris was new at this and he didn’t know what he saw and how to separate the truth from the not truth.

But a part of me couldn’t help but wonder with a sinking feeling if this was my original “destroyer of worlds” prophecy. The one that Kieran had exaggerated to make the demon council fear me. Maybe I was only supposed to destroy one world, not all of them. No way. It didn’t make any sense at all. Maybe Chris was still crazy. Suddenly, I noticed he’d started flapping his wings. “What are you doing?” Melinda asked warily. I was surprised she hadn’t run away by now. She was even braver than I expected. He gave us another sharp-toothed dragon smile. “I feel so free, I’ve never felt this good in my entire life.” “Can’t you, uh, shift back to normal?” I asked. He tilted his head to the right. “I think so. But I’m not ready to yet. I want to explore.” “Chris,” I said sharply. “This is Erin Heights. If anyone sees you—” “You, demon princess, worry too much.” “I’ve been told that before,” I admitted. “But you don’t have to worry about me. I can shield this form from humans—they won’t see a thing, I swear.” “Um, I can see you,” Melinda said. “And I’m human, the last time I checked.” He looked at her. “Well, I haven’t exactly started the shielding yet.” My eyes widened. “How do you know you can do that?” He shrugged. “I just do. It’s all in my brain. My human one wasn’t big enough to hold all this information. Now I’m different. This is so amazing!” I was about to say something else, to try to talk him into shifting back to human form, when he lifted off the ground. My hair blew around my shoulders from the gust of wind his wings created. “Woo hoo! Look at me, I’m flying!” I could barely believe it, but he was flying. Higher and higher into the dark, snowy sky. “See you later!” he called out, waving to us as he moved farther away. “And Nikki, thank you for helping me. I owe you one. You too, Melinda!” He flew into the sky until his form became very tiny, and he disappeared from view completely. All was silent in the park for several long seconds. “Wow,” Melinda said. “I know.” “I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life.” “Me neither, quite honestly.” She watched me warily. “You tried to protect me. You didn’t know if he was going to be friendly or dangerous, but you tried to protect me.” I cleared my throat, looking for any sign that this was going to get worse before it got better. “And?”

“And...I don’t know.” She frowned. “You might have been trying to lull me into thinking you’re not dangerous.” I sighed with exasperation and yanked my hair back over my shoulder to keep it out of my face. I didn’t need any distractions right now. “Honestly, Melinda, I know this is a lot for you to take in all at once, but I need you to listen to me. I’m not your enemy.” Melinda scanned the ground. “Where did my sword go?” I glared at her. “Why, so you can kill me?” “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.” She kept looking. “It was here a minute ago. Where did it go?” “I have it,” someone else said. I turned sharply to my left. Someone stood in front of the floodlight, but I couldn’t see who it was. Its form just looked like a dark silhouette in front of that bright light. And then wings stretched out to either side of it. Icy fear slithered through me as if it had never left for a single moment and I stared at the winged figure, shocked. “Okay, that,” I said under my breath, “definitely looks like Chris’s drawing.” The thing that hated me. The thing that wanted to hurt me because I had something it wanted. It had finally found me.

Chapter 18

The winged form stepped away from the light, so I could finally see who it was. And when I did, I actually gasped out loud. “Clara?” Melinda managed. “What are you doing here? Why are you holding my sword? And...are those wings?” All very, very good questions. Questions that were also screaming inside my head. “Hey guys,” Clara said thinly. She drew close enough so I could give her a good once-over from head to foot. Something slowly dawned on me as I looked at her wings. They weren’t leathery like a demon’s or a dragon’s. They were thin and delicate, and had color, muted in the darkness, but I had a feeling that in the sunshine they would be very beautiful, gossamer wings. “You’re a—a faery,” I said with complete shock. She eyed me with distaste. “And you’re a demon.” “Half-demon,” I corrected. “Same difference.” “What do you want with me?” “What is going on?” Melinda demanded. Clara shot a look at her. “You’re a demon slayer, right?” “I—I, um, yeah. I am.” Melinda lifted her chin defiantly as if covering for her stammer. “Then you should be happy I’m willing to team up with you. Together there’s no way this demon can escape from us.” “You’re a faery,” Melinda said with more emphasis. She looked just as shocked as I felt. “For real? How come I never saw your wings before?” She didn’t wear a coat anymore. I guess she’d removed it to show off her extra appendages. Faery wings looked way more delicate than demon wings. That sword, though. That didn’t look delicate at all. “Because I didn’t want you to see them,” Clara said. “I’m very good at glamour. Nobody knew who I really was.” “Why are you here?” I asked. I didn’t let my gaze waver from hers for a moment. This girl was dangerous, and I had no idea what her problem was with me. “You don’t know?” Clara snorted. “How can you not know?” I worked it all over in my mind until my eyes widened. “Rhys.”

She gave me a thin smile. “Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought you were.” “What about Rhys?” Melinda asked. “You think you can change it all, don’t you?” Clara snarled at me, ignoring Melinda completely. “Everything was how it was supposed to be until you breached our borders. You changed things. And the prophecy...” She gritted her teeth. “I won’t let it come to be.” I stared at her with disbelief. I was pretty sure she wasn’t talking about the updated prophecy I just got from Chris about me personally trashing the Shadowlands. Then it clicked. “Oh my God. You’re jealous. You’re a little jealous faery chick who’s come here to take care of the competition, aren’t you? You want to marry him.” “I was meant to be a royal,” she snapped. “My family is important enough that I would have been considered when the time came for King Rhys to choose a bride. I could have been queen. Now a demon, of all disgusting things, is getting in my way.” “Sorry to break it to you, but I rejected that prophecy. It’s not going to happen.” “You really think you can just reject a prophecy?” Her eyes flashed. “There’s only one way to stop a prophecy from coming to be. And that’s if the subject of it is dead.” My stomach dropped as I glanced at the sword. “So you want to kill me. And you think Rhys is going to want to marry you then?” “If you hadn’t ruined him and got him chasing after you like some sort of lovesick peasant, he’d be back home being king. He’s ignoring his responsibilities to play at being human. It’s disgusting. And it’s more disgusting that he’s even remotely interested in a demon.” “He’s dating Melinda.” I pointed at the demon slayer in question, hoping to take the heat off me until I could figure out how to dig myself out of this huge mess I’d fallen into tonight. “He isn’t as interested in her as he is in you. The human means nothing to him.” “Oh, gee, thanks for that,” Melinda said, putting her hands on her hips. “Clara, I thought we were friends.” Clara nodded. “We can be. We can be strong allies. As a demon slayer, you have no issues with faeries. You hunt demons because they are vile and disgusting beings who spread anarchy and despair.” “Okay, enough already,” I growled. I focused on my dragon’s tear bracelet and channeled my energy into shifting form. Melinda immediately staggered back from me, her eyes wide with fear as she took in my Darkling form. I pointed at Clara with my taloned finger, hoping that a little intimidation might work to my best advantage. “You need to back off, faery girl.” “And you, demon spawn,” Clara hissed between clenched teeth, “need to die.” The next moment, she flew at me. Literally flew. I hadn’t expected that. And I hadn’t expected her to be so fast. I tried to block her and spin out of the way, but she was in front of me again in an instant. “Die, demon,” she snarled and lunged again. Before I could dodge her completely, I felt a sharp, searing pain in my left shoulder as she thrust the sword through it. I screamed.

I kicked at her, landing a good blow and knocking her back from me. I think I broke her wing. Good! I’d break her face next if she gave me half a chance. Then I stared at Melinda’s sword sticking out of my shoulder before I lost my footing and fell hard to the ground. Shock raced through me. Melinda loomed over me, eyes wide. The silver in the sword was doing crazy things to me, blurring my vision and making my head spin. It felt like a drug. I knew Melinda had told me that it would kill a demon if it went through their heart. Even though the sword wasn’t in my heart, it still hurt so bad I could barely see straight. But I also felt weak—too weak to even attempt to pull it out. Melinda placed the sole of her boot on my arm, pinning me in place like a butterfly on a board. Her gaze scanned the length of me, all of my scary demon attributes. I couldn’t read her expression very well, but saw a mix of fear and horror there. She gripped the hilt of the sword and yanked it out of me. I howled in pain again and tried to stand up, but I was still too weak and her foot was enough to keep me firmly in place. “Kill her!” Clara urged. “Do it! She’s a demon. You’re a demon slayer. You were born for this moment of glory!” There was a fiercely haunted look in Melinda’s eyes as she stared down at me, one that spoke of many training sessions where she had to imagine herself in a position just like this. Ready to slay her enemy the moment she got the upper hand. “You want me to kill her because Rhys—who’s also a faery—is prophesied to marry her and not you,” Melinda said through clenched teeth. “That’s basically what I got from your little conversation just now. Right?” “She’s a demon. She’s not your friend. She’s disgusting and evil.” I felt the exact same way about the faery. Melinda’s jaw clenched. She touched the tip of the sword against my chest, just over my heart. “Are you?” “You know what I am,” I gritted out, nearly blind from pain and outrage and whatever the silver had done to me. Strangely enough, fear had taken a backseat ever since I shifted form. Now I was just mad as hell. There was a time when, if I’d been in trouble like this, Michael would come blazing onto the scene to save me. But I knew he wouldn’t this time. That he couldn’t. Not now or possibly ever again. I didn’t like the idea of being saved when I’d prefer to save myself, but I wouldn’t refuse help when I needed it the most. And with the messed-up way I felt right now—I needed help. Melinda studied me for what felt like an eternity as snow softly drifted down between us. Each breath she exhaled cast a frozen cloud before her. Slowly, her eyes filled with tears, replacing the fierce warrior look. “You really think I know what you are?” I nodded, my throat tight. “I know you do. Deep down. You know it.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “You’re my best friend.”

“Nothing’s changed.” I swallowed hard. “Well, everything’s changed, but that much hasn’t. Do you believe me?” “You’re a demon.” “And you’re a slayer. Who cares?” Finally, the weight of her boot eased off of me as she shifted her attention to Clara. “What are you doing?” Clara demanded. “Kill her!” “Not today.” When Clara moved closer, Melinda held the sword out toward her. “Don’t even think about it. I’m supposed to slay demons, but I will make an exception for a bloodthirsty faery if I have to.” Clara gave her a disappointed look. “You’re so weak. It’s pathetic. When you want something, you have to take it, no matter what the penalty might be.” “And you want Rhys.” “Of course. He’s the king. Why wouldn’t I want the chance to become queen? Maybe then I could convince him to stop trying to be human when he’s so much better than that. It’s not just me. Everyone agrees that he’s acting more like a fool than a king right now.” “You should tell him that,” I said through clenched teeth. “Yeah, right.” She snorted. “I’m not a complete idiot.” “No?” Rhys asked from behind her. “That’s funny, because you sound like one to me.” I hadn’t seen him approach. I didn’t think even he realized what was going on until he got within hearing distance. His gaze swept the three of us. I was flat on my back with blood pouring out of my shoulder wound, unable to move. Melinda stood next to me, pointing her sharp sword at Clara. And Clara...I couldn’t really explain the look on her face. Like a child being caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Only way, way more epic. Epic cookies. Epic jar. Stupid child. “Your Majesty.” She fell to the snowy ground, bowing deeply before him. “Please, forgive me. I meant no disrespect.” “Really?” He raised an eyebrow and regarded her with distaste. “Because that just sounded extremely disrespectful.” “My apologies. My sincerest, humble apologies, my king. Forgive me.” “How long have you been in the human world?” “A week.” “Spying on me.” “I was concerned. I took it upon myself to make sure all was well. You’ve been acting so strangely I feared you were bewitched by this disgusting half-breed demon.” “I never saw you. Never sensed you, not even for a moment.” His lips thinned. “Your skill at glamour is second to none. You would make a good spy.” She kept her eyes on the ground by his boots. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

A gateway opened behind her. It looked different than the ones I was used to seeing. This one swirled different shades of yellow, like a whirlpool of molten gold. It reminded me of Rhys’s eyes when he got emotional. She glanced at it over her shoulder. “Are you returning with me, King Rhys?” “Stand up.” She scrambled to her feet as fast as she could. Her left wing hung at an awkward angle, confirming that I’d managed to do some damage to her. If nothing else, that gave me a little satisfaction. “You have concerns about the prophecy,” he said softly. “You believe that I should not associate with demons in any way.” “It is not the faery way, my king. There are many faery girls who would be honored to be considered by you.” “You’re one of them.” Her cheeks reddened. “Yes, of course. I adore you. I always have, but you’ve never noticed me. I would do anything for you, anything at all.” “Even attempt to kill Princess Nikki.” She wrung her hands, looking ashamed. “Perhaps I acted rashly. I see that now. But she isn’t dead. She’s alive. She’ll heal.” “You, Clara”—Rhys moved closer to her, so close that I saw her shiver—“wish to be considered as my future queen.” There was a hopeful look in her eyes. “Yes, Your Majesty.” “Even without the prophecy, you never had a chance.” He shook his head. “Sorry, but you’re just not my type.” With that, he pushed her backward into the gateway, and she disappeared with a shocked and very disappointed look on her face. He stood with his back to us until the gateway closed, then he slowly turned around. His gaze swept over me, ending at my wounded shoulder. I noticed for the first time that he had a book with a black leather cover, about the size of a hardcover novel, tucked under his arm. “The book,” I managed with surprise. “You went to get it.” The pain hadn’t gotten any better. Clara said I’d heal, but I was quickly learning that fast healing was not one of my half-demon attributes when it came to wounds caused by silver weapons. “Yes, I did.” His gaze shifted to Melinda, still clutching her sword. “I suggest you point that somewhere else, demon slayer.” “I do think it’s entirely possible that I’ve gone crazy tonight.” Melinda stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “You’re a faery king.” “I’m the faery king,” Rhys corrected. I tore my gaze away from Melinda to look at Rhys. He was inspecting me like he worked for the CSI department.

“No body bag required,” I assured him, but winced as I said it. “You’re hurt.” “There’s a sword-shaped hole through my shoulder. It doesn’t feel great.” “Don’t shift back to human. It’ll feel even worse. Your leathery skin in this form should help.” I closed my mouth instead of saying something sharp back to him. He wasn’t trying to insult me. My skin in Darkling form looked the same as it normally did, but it was way tougher than in human form. “I need stitches. Possibly a blood transfusion. But I don’t think they’re going to welcome me at Erin Heights Hospital if I look like this.” “You’re right.” He sank down next to me as Melinda looked on with wide eyes. There was some distaste on his face, as if being this close to me in Darkling form grossed him out. I watched him carefully, not sure what he planned to do. “Am I that ugly or are you just squeamish when it comes to blood?” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you ever stop talking?” Before I could reply to that he placed his hand on my shoulder. I jerked in pain. “Steady,” he said. “Let me try to help you.” When Rhys first came to my high school and I realized that I was going to have him as my biology partner, he’d tried to resurrect the frog we were supposed to dissect. Faeries liked animals when they were alive, not dead, and he’d found it extremely disturbing. He’d failed since it was long dead and been soaking in formaldehyde, but I’d always wondered if he could really heal injuries. “Ow,” I yelped. “Don’t be a baby.” “It hurts.” “Of course it hurts, you were stabbed through your shoulder with a sword. Now, shh.” I clenched my teeth while his touch burned into my arm. Slowly, the pain began to fade away until it vanished completely. Once that happened, my hold on my Darkling form slipped away and, with a few more moments of a different kind of pain, I shifted back to my regular human form. I shoved my sweater to the side so I could see my bare shoulder beneath. It was totally healed. Even the blood had vanished and all that remained of my brush with death was a rip through my sweater. It was already ripped thanks to the wings that seemed able to slice through any material as if they were twin blades. “Wow,” Melinda breathed. “You healed me.” I met Rhys’s gaze. “Thank you.” “I am a faery of many talents. That was the worst wound I’ve ever successfully healed.” He gave me a grin. “I’m kind of awesome.” I just stared at him with surprise and relief. “I’m actually not going to disagree with you at this exact moment.”

He got to his feet and offered me his hand. Tentatively I took it and let him help me up. I felt fine. Maybe a little light headed, but otherwise just fine. Rhys turned his attention to Melinda, who continued to gawk at him. “So...I’m thinking that we should probably break up,” she said. He nodded. “That’s probably a good idea. Nothing personal.” “No, I totally agree.” She blinked, then turned to me. “Are you okay?” “Do you care?” I asked tentatively. “Yes, I care. This night has been insane, I know that. From dragons, to faeries, to...this.” She looked at my healed shoulder and winced. “I don’t want to hurt you, Nikki. I don’t care what you are.” I inhaled shakily. “I’m half demon.” “Finally you admit it.” She laughed, but it sounded hollow and shaky. “You tried to protect me earlier. You didn’t make a move to hurt me. I believe it, Nikki. I believe you’re my friend and that hasn’t changed. I don’t know about everything else...we’re so different now.” I shook my head. “We’re not any different than we were yesterday. Or the day before.” “I need to think about things. Figure out how I really feel about all of this.” “Are you going to tell your parents? Tell Patrick? Have you already told them?” “No, I haven’t. And I—I’m not going to.” She swallowed hard. “This will be our secret. But I’m going to start training again. You said there are bad demons, ones who want to come here, too. I need to be prepared in case they succeed.” I let out a shuddery sigh of relief. “Sounds fair. Thank you for not saying anything. And for believing in me.” Melinda smiled weakly. “I’ll see you both around.” With a last look at me, her brows drawn tightly together, she walked away with her sword at her side. Even accepting that I wasn’t as evil as she’d expected, she still felt stunned and afraid about seeing me in this form. I really couldn’t blame her for that. I’d been stunned and afraid, too, in the beginning. She wouldn’t tell anyone. But I had no idea what kind of impact this revelation would truly have on our friendship. Time would tell. And I guessed fate might also have a little part to play in how well a demon and a demon slayer’s friendship turned out. I studied Rhys, who’d watched my exchange with Melinda in silence. “What will happen to Clara?” He grimaced. “I opened a gateway to the faery dungeon. She’ll be kept locked up until I decide her fate.” He held up his hand when I was about to say something, although I wasn’t sure what. “It’s faery business. Don’t worry about it.” I grimaced at what the penalty for what she’d done might be. I hated her guts and thought she was a complete idiot in every way, but that didn’t mean I wanted blood vengeance here. “Don’t kill her.”

He frowned. “Faeries don’t kill.” “Except for Clara. Who tried to kill me. And you, who threatened me in your forest when we first met.” “Perhaps I should clarify...faeries don’t kill other faeries.” “Ah. Different.” “I’ll walk you home. Come on.” I wasn’t going to push him to give me the book, even though I couldn’t stop glancing at it under his arm. Instead, we walked to my house together. Once there, I stood on the stairs leading to my front door, unsure of what to say. After everything that had happened tonight, some of it I was still processing, every bone in my body was tired and just wanted to go to bed. I’d put my trust in my father to help Michael. I’d put my trust in Melinda to not hate me for what I was. And I’d put my trust in Rhys to let me have the book without demanding it from him. “Thank you for coming back,” I said. “The words defeated, pathetic, and bloody would describe me very well a half hour ago.” “Melinda had it under control. She wouldn’t have let Clara finish you off.” I pressed my hand against my forehead. “That silver messed with my head.” “Everybody has their Kryptonite. Demons, and half-demons, don’t like to be stabbed with silver.” “Imagine that.” I shuddered, grateful that the pain was a distant memory now. “When you left, you missed some of the excitement. Chris Sanders was in the park too and he shifted into dragon form.” He took this in stride without looking overly surprised. “Really? Is he okay?” “Never better, actually. He went for a test flight.” I glanced up. The snow had stopped and the clouds parted to show a clear sky, full moon, and a million stars in the ebony blanket above us. “Dragons do enjoy flying.” He suddenly looked very serious. “So I got your book. That’s where I went. Well, not immediately. I planned to storm off and never speak to you again, but then I got your text and decided to be mature instead. So I got it.” He handed out toward me. I eyed it warily before my gaze snapped back to his. “No strings attached,” he added. “No?” “This is me trying to be nice,” he said, although it seemed like an effort to get the words out. “I know you want to help your Shadow boyfriend, or whatever he is to you. I don’t know if this will do the trick, but you’re welcome to borrow it. I do want it back as soon as possible, though. This is just a loan. It’s one of a kind. Or so my advisors continually and fretfully reminded me of before I left with it.” My hands shook a little as I took it from him. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” He shoved his gloved hands into the pockets of his wool coat. “What do you think your father is going to do with Michael?”

My chest felt tight at the mention of it. “I don’t know. He promised he’d help him. He says that he cares about Michael and would protect him, so I hope he meant it. Queen Sephina wants Michael sent to her if she learns there’s a problem...I know she’ll have him put to death. That’s how she deals with problems—” My voice cut off and I looked at Rhys, alarmed at realizing what I’d just said. He held my gaze. “Your secret’s safe with me. I owe Michael for killing the Shadow who murdered my parents. I won’t breathe a word.” That was a relief and one less thing to worry about. And one more person I had to put my trust in. But I still remembered the angry looks on both Michael’s and my father’s faces when I left the castle. I’m sure that Michael understood why I had to do what I did, but it didn’t make this any easier. Rhys studied me. “You really care about the Shadow, don’t you?” My throat felt thick, so I simply nodded. “I don’t envy your father what he has to deal with. It’s not easy being king and being the decision maker. He was young when he was forced to take over the throne, only a couple years older than me. And I know his position is even more strict since he can’t leave his castle.” I nodded. “It’s rough. And I know it’s lonely for him. But he’s accepted his duty.” “Right.” He scrubbed his gloved hand through his short hair. His expression was etched with worry. I wasn’t sure what to make of his serious mood. “What’s wrong, Rhys?” “What’s wrong?” he repeated. “Everything. Tonight only proved to me something I’ve known for a while now. I’m fooling myself by staying here. I should be in the Faery Realm right now acting like king. I am king, but I’m behaving like a spoiled child who wants to play with his toys no matter what anyone else says. I’ve been stubborn about it, going against everyone’s wishes to stay here where it’s easy and homework is the biggest challenge of the day.” “You deserve to experience life as a regular teenager. What happened to your parents was horrible, and you had to become king so young. It’s not fair.” “Life isn’t fair, Nikki.” He crossed his arms. “I need to go back and I need to stay there this time. There isn’t really any reason for me to stay here any longer. I just thought...” He trailed off. “It doesn’t really matter. According to Clara, my people believe me to be more fool than king. Maybe they’re right.” I bristled with anger on Rhys’s behalf. “Who cares what Clara says?” “It’s been an interesting experiment, Nikki, but it’s come to an end. I’m going home.” I stared at him with surprise. No. This couldn’t happen. He couldn’t leave me. Not like this. I tried to pretend I was a normal teenager, but I wasn’t. It was so hard to keep up that façade, in front of my friends, in front of my mom. Only with Rhys could I totally be myself here. If he left, what was I supposed to do? Who was I supposed to talk to about all of this craziness and uncertainty?

Sure, Melinda and Chris both knew now and were dealing with their own issues. But with Rhys—it was different. I might not get along with him all the time, but he understood me. He knew what I was going through because he was going through it, too. “Goodnight, Nikki. I’ll send someone to retrieve the book in a couple of days. I’m sure we’ll see each other again someday.” He turned away from me. “Wait, Rhys—” I grabbed his arm. He glanced at me, his brows drawn together. “What?” I put one hand behind his neck, pulled him to me, and...kissed him. He gasped against my lips, as if this was the last thing he expected from me tonight. Couldn’t say I blamed him after my temper tantrum in the park. But then he finally kissed me back, holding my face between his hands. My heart thudded like crazy as the kiss deepened and the chill from the cold winter night all around us seemed to disappear. It was a lot like the kiss under the mistletoe—but different, too. Better. This kiss completely took my breath away. When we parted he stared at me, the gold flecks in his eyes swirling wildly. “You kissed me.” My cheeks burned and I had trouble finding my voice. “It was our deal for the book. It’s only fair.” He blinked and took a step back from me, confusion etched into his handsome features. “So that’s all it was? Just payment for me bringing you the book?” Part of me wanted to say yes, that was all it was. I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t in love with him, and that the prophecy about us didn’t mean anything more to me than just words. That Michael was the only one my heart belonged to, despite our troubles and uncertain future. And that I’d kissed Rhys just so he’d consider sticking around a bit longer—because I needed him in my life. That was all the kiss was supposed to be. But I couldn’t lie to myself. Not completely. I had felt something during that kiss. Something big, something scary, and something endlessly confusing. My heart already belonged to Michael—I knew it did. And a girl’s heart couldn’t belong to more than one boy at the same time. Could it? Instead of admitting any of this out loud, I shrugged a shoulder and studied the step I currently stood on. My face heated up even more and my heart thundered in my chest. “I don’t want you to go back home full-time. Not yet. I want you to stay in school for a while longer.” He didn’t speak for a moment. “For how long?” “I don’t know.” “You don’t want me to leave?” I shook my head.

“Say it,” he whispered. I looked up at him and met his gaze. “I don’t want you to leave.” “You want me to go against what my kingdom wants, for me to keep being a selfish child who wants to play with my toys?” I grimaced. “Don’t put it like that. Just stay until the end of January. That’s less than a month. Then you can be like my father and devote yourself to duty and being the best king and making sure all unicorns in the Faery Realm are treated well and shampooed daily.” The amusement finally returned to his expression. He raised an eyebrow. “Well, there’s more to it than just that.” “I’m sure there is.” Rhys held my gaze for a while longer, not speaking, his brows drawn together as if he was trying to figure me out. Finally, he nodded. “I’ll give it some very serious thought.” I cleared my throat. Being this close to Rhys and asking him to stay had made me feel very nervous and awkward. “Or whatever. I mean, it’s not like I really care one way or the other.” That made him grin. “Good. I wouldn’t want you to fall madly in love with me. That would make things very complicated when it comes to your beloved Shadow, wouldn’t it? Who’d win the battle for your heart then? The servant or the king?” Before I could give him a snarky retort, he kissed me again and I did absolutely nothing to stop him. There was no mistletoe to blame for it this time. “Happy reading, Princess Nikki,” he said with a last glance at the book in my arms. He headed down my driveway and walked away along the sidewalk. I pressed my fingertips to my lips. He really was an arrogant, elitist jerk. And I’d just practically begged him to stay in the human world for another month because I couldn’t bear the thought of saying good-bye to him. Holding the book tightly to my chest, I turned toward the door and immediately froze. It was open. And my mother stood there staring at me.

Chapter 19

My mouth went completely dry. “How long have you been standing there?” Her eyes were wide. “A while. I didn’t want to interrupt you and Rhys, but, Nikki...I don’t understand...” Oh God. She’d heard. I rewound what we’d just spoken about. Faeries. Kings. Unicorns. Princesses. My father. Her gaze moved to my shoulder and the rip in my sweater from the sword. She came forward and turned me around to see the rips in the back from my wings. “Nikki, what on earth is going on here?” “I...I...” I couldn’t find my voice. It had packed up and left town. She moved back to the open door and gripped the edge of it as if she needed something to hang on to. “You were talking about your father. And you said it so...matter of fact, like it’s no big deal. Have you been in contact with him?” I wanted to lie. It was my knee-jerk reaction to finding myself in deep trouble. But this time I couldn’t force the deception out. I just stared at her as she stared back at me. She inhaled sharply. “Why aren’t you saying anything? The things you and Rhys were talking about...I thought you were just playing a game. One of those role playing games. But you were serious, weren’t you? And it has something to do with Desmond. Talk to me, Nikki! Have you seen him?” My throat hurt, so all I could manage was a jerky nod. Her hand went to her mouth, as if she was horrified at the idea of it. “How do you even know it’s really him and not some—some predator who is trying to hurt you?” “He’s not a predator,” I said immediately. What a horrible thought, but of course that was where her mind would go. She wanted to protect me. But she didn’t know the truth. None of it. “What does he look like?” she demanded, anger and panic fighting in her gaze. “He’s tall, handsome, and he has dark blond hair,” I said. “And he looks like me. Our eyes are almost exactly the same. But you already know that, right? Every time you look at me you have to see him, too.” She flinched. It was the right answer. “It still might not be him.”

“You met in college—you hated him. I always thought it was love at first sight between you, but it wasn’t. You thought he was a jerk. You guys got in trouble together and you saved his life when somebody attacked you. Then you fell for each other.” Her face had paled. More evidence that what Dread had told me about my parents’ history wasn’t just lies. “This is insane. Completely insane.” The wash of emotion I felt right then—fear, panic, shock—would once have been more than enough to make me involuntarily shift to my Darkling form. But luckily I’d been doing a little bit of practicing. I was able to stop my horns from popping out. That might have given my mother a complete heart attack. “Mom,” I managed after several uncomfortable and tense moments went by. “I know what Rhys and me were talking about sounded kind of crazy.” “Kind of?” Her expression had shifted from stunned disbelief to something more filled with worry and concern. “Nikki, please tell me everything.” I swallowed hard. “Do you trust me, Mom?” I knew this was a dangerous question. There had been many instances when I’d lied to her face, deceived her, or just withheld the truth to stay out of trouble or keep information from her. I knew that lately I hadn’t exactly earned her trust one hundred percent. She frowned so hard that her forehead formed these little elevens between her eyebrows, wrinkles that I knew she hated so much she’d considered Botox to get rid of them. “Yes, honey, I trust you.” I looked into her eyes. “I want to tell you everything. But I...I can’t. Not right now. Will you give me a little time to figure everything out first?” She didn’t speak for so long that I wondered if she ever would again. She backed up until she was fully in the house. I followed and shut the door behind me. Just before it closed completely I saw a suspiciously dragon-shaped silhouette do a loop-de-loop over the light of the moon. Chris was still testing his new wings. My mother’s hand trembled as she brushed her dark hair back from her face, her expression haunted. “I need to know more. I can’t just leave it like this right now. Where is he? What does he want? Why did he contact you and—and not contact me?” A tear slid down her cheek. “Where has he been all of these years? Is he okay?” The pain in her voice was enough to make me want to start crying too. I knew that she still cared about him. The anger had left quickly, leaving only this raw pain behind. And she wanted to know if he was okay. That wasn’t something she’d ask if she hated his guts, or didn’t care at all about him. I knew she still loved him. She’d been dreaming about him. Somehow, some way, they were still connected. “Tomorrow,” I whispered, grabbing hold of her shaking hands with the one not clutching the book. “I’ll tell you more tomorrow. I swear I will.”

Before she could say anything else, ask more questions, or demand more truths, I turned from her and ran up the stairs to my bedroom. I locked the door behind me. I’d wanted to tell her about my father for a long time, but had stopped myself because he demanded that I not say a word. Who knew she was such a shameless eavesdropper? But I couldn’t go back now. She knew I’d seen my father, that we’d been in contact. However, she didn’t know he was a demon king who lived in another world. That was going to be very hard to explain. I sat rigidly on the edge of my bed, trying to will myself to calm down. It wasn’t easy. I held the book Rhys gave me tightly in my sweaty hands. It took me a couple more minutes before I opened the cover and forced myself to concentrate on what was written inside. It was handwritten, which made sense if this was considered a one of a kind book. Page after page was filled with writing. Luckily for me, I was able to read it, it wasn’t in the strange language that I’d seen my father piece through in his work. The pages talked about Shadows and their relation to their amulets, how it held their life force. That forcibly removing it would cause a Shadow to lose their solid form and slowly wither away and die. That the amulet could also be channeled with power to be used as a weapon, although very few Shadows knew of this. How the amulet also allowed a powerful demon who could access magic from the dark worlds to bond a Shadow servant to a demon master or mistress. There was information about the Shadowlands once belonging to Shadows—of course. That was how it got its name. It surprised me that the conquering demons hadn’t renamed it. Then I found something interesting after reading information I already knew.

There is speculation that because the Shadowlands sits directly next to the Faery Realm that there was, at one time, a connection or kinship between Shadowkind and Faerykind. This knowledge and history, unfortunately, has been lost to all.

I’d wondered the same thing. They were so close, there had to be a reason for it. Finally, I came to the end of the information about Shadows, which hadn’t been that much. To fill the pages, the author of this book had repeated the same stuff over and over, just rewording it differently to fill up space. I’d used the same tactic when writing a few essays for school, thinking I could fool my teachers into believing I’d done more research than I had. It never worked. They knew. Just as Rhys had warned, there were blank pages that filled up the rest of the book. I flipped past a couple of them... But then I stopped flipping when I suddenly came to more pages filled with writing. Different writing this time, another hand had written this. And another pen.

To whomever is reading this, You are very special. I have waited a long time for you and worried that you’d never learn the truth. You’re the only one who can help. The true history of Shadowkind is lost, not by time or misplaced information, but on purpose. Even I don’t know everything. But I know enough. Once, not so very long ago, a truly evil curse was placed upon all of Shadowkind—a curse that reached back through the years, rewriting the truth. Only I, a victim of another evil curse, am able to remember some of the truth. I can’t say anything because I know I’ll be killed if I do. So I have to sit back and watch as the years go by and no one learns of this. Shadows were not always servants. Shadows were not always dependent on their amulets. It’s the amulet that keeps them enslaved, that prevents them from having a choice in their own destinies. It’s the amulet that will trigger an even worse curse—if they kill anything from the dark worlds, they will develop a dangerous hunger that can lead to their execution at the hands of demons who have always been more than happy to kill anything they see as a threat. I stopped reading for a moment, my heart racing. Michael didn’t only destroy Jonas in the Underworld, but he also killed a hellhound that attacked me. Is that what could have triggered this new curse? I believe I know how to break the original Shadow curse and help return them to their previous power, but doing so will change the world from that day forward. It is up to you, whoever is reading this, to decide if it is worth it to break a curse that stretches its false truth back a thousand years. Despite knowing all this, I’m personally powerless to do anything but wait. For you. You’re the only one able to read this. Anyone who is affected by the spell that protects the curse won’t be able to see anything here but empty pages. You alone have the power to change the worlds. To break the Shadow curse. To save Shadowkind. And while you’re at it, it would be really great if you could break my curse too. Pretty please. Hoping to see you soon, Beasley I stared at the signature. Beasley. I recognized the name. It was the name of the demon council member I’d met during my trip to the Underworld. The one who looked more like a six

foot tall talking cockroach than anything else. Did he have that monstrous form because he was cursed? I flipped forward through more blank pages and found nothing else that might help fill in the blanks. But this was enough to completely stun me. Michael said that the hunger he now felt was like a curse. He had no idea how close to the truth he actually was. Shadows were cursed—a curse that, according to this, wasn’t created very long ago but it was somehow able to reach a thousand years back through history. This was why Shadows were servants to demonkind and, possibly, why faeries and demons accepted this class distinction without a single argument. Why no one could remember their history except for bits and pieces. Why everything had been taken away from them and they couldn’t exist without their amulets. Their amulets were part of their curse. And yet without their amulets, they couldn’t hold solid form and could die. It was a lose-lose situation. Now that I thought about it, that really did sound like a curse. Was I really the only one who could read this message from Beasley? Dread had called me the girl with a foot in two worlds. I was half demon and half human. That made me different, I already knew that. I was rumored to be the first Darkling in a thousand years. Beasley said the curse had reached back in Shadow history a thousand years. The last Darkling had been killed because she was allegedly too dangerous to live, and any further demon/human romantic interaction was outlawed at risk of death. Darklings had the stigma of being out-of-control dangerous. Suddenly, I had my doubts about the last Darkling being so dangerous. I knew that I wasn’t that way. I didn’t want to hurt anyone; I wanted to help them. Maybe the last Darkling had seen the truth when no one else could. Maybe she’d tried to stop it or tell other people about it. And maybe that was what got her killed. So many questions. They made my head spin. My hand shook as I put the Shadow book in the top drawer of my bedside table, along with the beautiful faery rose from Rhys and the drawing that Chris had done for me that I now knew was of Clara, the murderously jealous faery girl. Then I concentrated on my dragon’s tear and tried very hard to open a gateway to the Shadowlands. It still didn’t work. All it gave me was a headache from concentrating so hard. I fumbled in my pocket until I pulled out the black rock. It hadn’t worked before, but it had to work now. I needed to know what had happened in the castle after I left. Michael was cursed. Killing that hellhound had triggered this darker side that he wouldn’t be able to control. He thought he could find the answer himself, but according to the letter from Beasley, he would fail. And he would be executed to protect others.

“Please work this time,” I whispered. I clutched the rock and it warmed in my hand. The room around me began to spin, and that made me hold on tighter. Faster and faster my bedroom spun until it shifted into the gray hallways of the Shadowlands castle. I breathed a sigh of relief. I wouldn’t be able to communicate with anyone this way, but it would have to do for now. I hurried through the hallways until I reached my father’s work room with the fireplace, the long table and the gazer in the corner. My father sat in a tall backed chair in front of the fire, staring into the flames as if mesmerized by them. There was a harsh expression on his face. Anger. Regret. “What’s wrong?” I asked, although I knew he couldn’t hear me. “Where’s Michael?” I looked around, then I left the room and ran through the hallways trying to find him. I emerged into the courtyard. It was as bright and shiny as the last time I’d been here, a small splash of color that smelled of spring flowers and fresh grass in an otherwise cold and bleak place. He wasn’t here either. I entered the castle again and raced down the halls, passing servants who scurried here and there. “You’re back,” a voice said. I turned sharply to see Dread standing there. My breath caught at the sight of him. “Your rock worked again.” “Yup.” “It didn’t work before, after I’d been sent away.” He shrugged. “I didn’t want it to work then.” I fixed him with a dark look. “You are the castle, aren’t you? You are the castle’s... personality. Its guardian spirit.” He gave me a grin. “That’s me.” I clutched the rock tighter so I wouldn’t lose my grip on it. “What happened when I left? With my father and Michael?” “They argued.” “I’m sure. But what happened then?” “I can’t say.” Frustration filled me. This guy picked and chose what questions he wanted to answer. It was incredibly annoying and not helpful in the slightest. “There’s a curse, you know. A Shadow curse. Does that effect you, too?” “I’ve been here from the beginning. I have seen everything. And, yes, I know everything.” “So you can help me!” He shook his head. “Sorry. I’m only able to help a little and I’ve done all I can. But I do wish you luck.” Before I could say anything else, he faded away into the wall behind him. I let out a growl of frustration. “Where is Michael?” “Your father knows,” Dread whispered, although I couldn’t see him anymore.

Fine. I headed back to my father’s room. He still sat in the chair facing the fire, studying the flames as if they might hold all the answers he sought. I squeezed the black rock for courage and approached the chair. “Okay, you can’t see me and you can’t hear me, which means I’m not going to be able to ask you any questions. But we need to talk. As soon as I’m able to open another gateway, I’ll be back. You told me that Michael would be okay, that you’d help him. But I can’t find him anywhere. Did you lock him up somewhere so he wouldn’t cause any more trouble? Because if so? Not cool.” Something caught my eye then. A glint of green. My gaze fell to what dangled from my father’s right hand. A long gold chain. On the end of it was a green stoned amulet. I stopped breathing. It was Michael’s amulet. My father had Michael’s amulet. And Michael was nowhere to be found. I staggered back from him, my chest tightening. “Did you take that away from him? Or did he take it off himself?” The answer to that question had suddenly become the most important thing in my entire universe. If my father had punished Michael for stealing my energy by taking his amulet, he would fade away to nothing. He would die. But if Michael had taken it off himself, he would still be strong, but incorporeal. A true Shadow, but one who needed the life energy of his victims to stay alive. Both answers were bad. But only one meant that he was lost to me forever. The shock of what I’d seen made me drop the black rock. The image of my father whose rigid expression was lit by the fire spun away and was replaced by the familiar interior of my bedroom. I fell to my knees and began to sob. He was gone. Michael was gone. It took me a while to get a hold of myself. Immediately, I grabbed the Shadow book and flipped through the pages to Beasley’s message. I read it over and over until I’d practically memorized it. Shadow were cursed, but there was a way to break it. To break it would cause more devastation—it would change the world from that day forward. The question was, which world? According to Chris, I was prophesied to destroy only one world—the Shadowlands. How I felt toward my father at this precise moment—seeing him holding Michael’s amulet and not knowing what happened—made me think that actually could be possible. The only one who knew the truth, other than me, was a cursed talking cockroach. And there was a possibility, a remote one, that I could still save Michael’s life. I had to find Beasley and talk to him. I needed to know how to break the curse that had rewrote Shadow history and kept them from their true power and freedom for a thousand years. Beasley, however, didn’t live in the Underworld. Or the Faery Realm. Or the human world. Nope, none of the above.

It was time for a field trip to Hell itself.

How does it all end?! The fourth & final book in the Demon Princess series

REIGN STORM is Coming Soon!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle Rowen is a national bestselling and award-winning author of many paranormal novels for both adults and young adults. Learn more about Michelle and her books at www.MichelleRowen.com