Reign or Shine (12 page)

"He's not that great a kisser," I said. "But don't tel anyone."

"I definitely won't." He glanced back at the street.

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"Look, I real y need to go now. Your father wil wonder what's taking me so long."

"I think you worry about him too much." I walked right up to him and he glanced at me warily. I held out my hand. "Thank you for al your help, Michael."

He took my hand in his and we stood like that, silent, for a moment, and then, "Good-bye, Princess."

I just looked at him.

After a few more moments had gone by he raised his green-eyed gaze to mine. "You're not going inside." "Not yet." "And you're not letting go of my hand." "I know."

He swal owed. "I can't leave until I know you're safe."

He looked away, pushing the dark hair across his forehead as if trying to hide his face from me. I reached up to push it to the side so I could see him.

"Princess . . . ," he began.

I'd sort of gotten used to him cal ing me that. I didn't even correct him anymore. "Uh-huh?" "You need to go now."

I knew he was right. I should be going inside--or rather, sneaking in would be better. A quick glance at my watch told me it was nearly one o'clock in the

morning. Mom would kil me if she found out I was gone this late.

"I need you to do something for me first."

He raised his eyes to mine. "What?"

"Can I borrow your sweatshirt for a second?"

Even though I was already wearing a winter coat, he

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didn't hesitate to strip his own meager protection from the cold off his back and hand it to me.

"Thanks," I said.

"What do you need it for?"

"Protection," I said. "I don't want to get electrocuted again."

He looked confused. "Why would you be worried about something like that?"

"I just worry." I bal ed the sweatshirt up in my hands and pressed it against his chest and over the green stone of his amulet. This also pushed him back up

against the tree.

His frown deepened. "What are you doing?"

"This." I leaned closer, went up on my tiptoes, and kissed him. He seemed to resist for a moment, perhaps surprised by what I was doing, but then he relaxed and kissed me back. Hard. His hands moved down to clutch my arms and pul me closer as the kiss deepened and went on and on.

"Just like I thought," I said as I brushed my lips against his again.

"What?" His voice was raspy.

"Way better than Chris Sanders. Like, there isn't even a comparison, real y." I grinned and kissed him again. "I want you to know that I don't give a crap whether you're a servant or not. Remember that."

"Then I guess I don't care if you're a princess," he said against my lips.

"I don't want to drink the potion," I said, my heart clenching at the thought.

His expression darkened. "You have to."

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I had to do a lot of things I didn't want to do, didn't I? "I know. But I'm going to wait until tomorrow." "Then wait."

"I want to see you again. Promise me that you'l come back."

"I promise," he whispered.

I kissed him again, and hugged him against me. "So this is good night, not good-bye. Not yet, okay?"

He nodded. "Good night, not good-bye."

After another kiss, I handed him back his sweatshirt. Then I ran to my front door and disappeared inside. 121

The first thing I did when I woke up the next morning was look in the mirror to see if there was some sign of demon in me. But there was nothing.

Other than looking exhausted from barely sleeping, I looked the same as I always had. Freckles and al .

"Nikki," my mother cal ed out to me over her coffee and toast and the entertainment section of the newspaper. "Come have some breakfast."

I stopped at the table and looked at her--real y
looked
at her for the first time in a long time. She wore her pink fuzzy housecoat and her long dark hair

draped over her left shoulder.

How must it have felt to have the man you thought you were in love with just disappear without a trace, without even a good-bye first7

I wanted to tel her everything, but I knew I couldn't. She wouldn't believe me, for one thing. She'd probably send me to the nearest shrink. And even if I could convince her it was al true, could I real y tel her that the love

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of her life hadn't wanted to leave her in the first place? And that now he was dying? It would only bring her more pain. It was best to say nothing at al .

"Is there something wrong?" she asked at my prolonged silence.

I shook my head.

"I think I know what it is," she said, putting down her cup. "It's the dance tonight, isn't it?"

The dance. Right. I'd nearly forgotten about that. "You guessed it."

"You've barely told me anything at al about it. Are you going?"

"I ... I don't know." I adjusted my backpack and glanced at the clock. I was already running late for school since I'd slept right through my alarm. "I was

invited to go. This guy named Chris asked me. But I don't have anything to wear. I haven't had a chance to go to the mal ."

She smiled at me. "If that's the problem then I suppose I could let you borrow my lavender dress."

Normal y, I think borrowing your mother's clothes wouldn't be so cool, but the thing was--my mom had real y great clothes. Clothes that I'd actual y consider buying for myself if I had any money. And I knew the dress she was talking about. It was a designer dress--Versace--that she'd bought to go to a writers'

banquet a few months ago. When she got it I remember running my hands over the beautiful silky fabric and wishing I'd have the chance to wear something like it someday.

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"Thanks, Mom." I went over to her and hugged her harder than she probably expected.

She looked up at me curiously. "Are you sure nothing's wrong, honey?"

I nodded again. "Where's Robert? Did he come home last night?"

"No, he's . . . he's staying with a friend for a while." She took a sip of her coffee. "I think it's probably best. It'l give me some time to think about things."
Time.
It was something I needed, too. I needed to think about the potion, about Michael, about everything. And I guessed school was as good a place as

any to do some thinking.

Classes that morning were a blur. I remember being asked a question by my geography teacher and I just looked at her blankly. I wasn't even embarrassed that I didn't know the answer.

I wore the vial of potion on a chain around my neck, tucked under my black sweater. I touched it now and then to feel the cool glass of the bottle. It was a

solid reminder of what I had to do. I had to drink it. I had to forget.

Had
to.

I squeezed it tightly and wished there was another choice, but I didn't want to be queen and I didn't want to die. There were no other choices.

"Thinking about tonight?" Melinda asked me at lunch.

I chewed on a french fry. I'd forgotten to pack a sandwich so fries and ketchup was my comfort food of the day.

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I also had a Diet Coke to balance out the nutritional value, so no real harm was done.

"Tonight?" I repeated absently.

"Yeah, you know . . . the formal? Nikki, you are on another planet right now."

Actually more like another dimension,
I thought. A
demon

one.

"Sorry, I'm a little distracted today." To
say the least.

"Wel , that's obvious." She sipped from her bottle of water and picked at her salad. "So I guess your stalker is long gone, huh?"

"My what?"

"Chris told me that he scared off your secret admirer yesterday. I guess it wasn't a practical joke after al . Too creepy. I wish you'd cal ed me and told me

about it."

I scanned the cafeteria. There was no sign of Michael lurking around. I hadn't seen him since last night.

Qood night, not good-bye.

I cleared my throat. "Chris managed to get rid of him. I haven't seen the guy since," I lied. "I guess Chris can be sort of scary when he wants to be."

"Only because he cares about you." She squeezed my hand across the table. "You two make such a great couple. Am I, like, a total cupid or what?"

"You need a matchmaking license for how good you are." I smiled. "Any girl would be lucky to go out with Chris."

She tucked a long piece of light blonde hair behind her ear. "After everybody sees how great you look with Chris 125

at the dance tonight, I'm sure you'l have lots of guys who want to stalk you. So you'd better get used to it."

I looked at her. "Gee, that's a comforting thought."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Never better."

Her smile faded around the edges. "Would you tel me if something's wrong? I mean, we are friends, right?"

I nodded. "Of course. Nothing's wrong."

"If you say so." She studied me for a moment and looked a bit disappointed that I wasn't tel ing her every single tidbit that took up space in my brain. "Listen, I'm ditching the rest of my classes to go to the salon. I have to look perfect tonight if I want to win the title of Queen. If you want your hair and

makeup done, why don't you come with me?"

Another quick scan of the edges of the room confirmed that my stalker ... or rather,
Michael,
was definitely nowhere to be seen.

"Thanks, but there's something I need to take care of," I said. "I need to go home."

"I guess I'l ask Larissa . . ." She glanced down the table at the bubbly brunette who would chew off her own arm to be Melinda's best friend. "You're not

going to bail on the dance completely, are you? Because it's important that you're there. You have to be with me when I'm crowned Winter Queen."

I laughed at that. "Somebody's confident." She smiled again and shrugged. "When you've got it, you've got it."

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I sighed. "I stil have no idea why you want to be my friend. I keep waiting for you to change your mind."

"That's strange, because I feel the same way about you."

"Obviously we're both pretty messed up."

"Tel me something I don't know."

I had no doubt in my mind that Melinda would take home her coveted prize tonight. She'd be Winter Queen. It was practical y preordained. Like she'd

been born into popularity, and it simply came natural y for her to dole it out at wil to other people.

Like it was fate.

I'd been thinking about fate a lot since last night. I touched the outline of the potion bottle under my shirt again.

I wished I could talk to my father. We hadn't had nearly enough time together. His demon form had scared me, badly, but I'd recovered. I wanted to see him

again and get the chance to say a real good-bye. Michael would take me back there, wouldn't he? One last time before I drank the potion.

I craned my neck again. Where was Michael? I'd half-expected him to be waiting outside my house that morning, but he hadn't been there. I'd walked to

school alone.

When the lunch period was over I stood up from the table, throwing my half-eaten fries into the garbage on my way out. I'd made my decision. I wasn't

going to drink the potion until I'd had a chance to see my father again. But I knew it had to be soon. I knew there wasn't much time left. My cel phone vibrated and I fished it out of my pocket. It was a text message.

hey gorgeous I hope ur ready for the best nite of ur life--prince charging

Chris. I rol ed my eyes at his cute but cheesy message. My Prince Charming. He stil was, I guessed. But his mega confidence wasn't nearly as appealing

as it had been before.

I felt a bit guilty about leading him on when I had no intention of dating him anymore. After al , he wasn't Michael.

I had to leave. I didn't want to be at school anymore, so I decided to skip my afternoon classes. I shifted my back' pack to my other shoulder and left the school grounds, keeping one hand over the outline of my potion bottle while I walked.

"Michael?" I said out loud. "Where are you?" A jogger headed in the opposite direction gave me a funny look.

Talking to myself. That must have looked real y sane. I crossed my arms and concentrated real y hard.
Michael?
I thought, trying to be al telepathic.

Are

you there? Hel o?

There was no reply. Nothing.

My frustration gave way to a thread of worry. Where was he? Did he think I'd already taken the potion? Wasn't he coming back like he said he would?

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Michael, if you're out there, please think something. Tell me you're okay.

I kept walking, but a little faster now. He'd said that the telepathy only worked when we were close to each other, hadn't he? I'd forgotten. It was one smal

piece of information in the sea of knowledge about the Shadowlands I was wading through. I was so confused.

Maybe he'd been punished for not tel ing me he was a servant. Maybe he wasn't al owed to contact me ever again.

I jogged down the hil leading into Hungry Hol ow and over the little snow-covered bridge. The river was icy but it gurgled along underneath. Michael had been there twice waiting for me, watching over me. But he wasn't there today. That park had been the location of a lot of drama for me lately and I

suddenly felt very alone and vulnerable.

Normal y I would have thought I was just being al paranoid. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The huge guy stepped out from behind the oak tree and blocked my path. It was the same one from yesterday--the one with the knife. The knife he stil

had.

"Princess," he greeted me.

Panic wel ed in my chest and I hoped that Michael would come marching down the path behind him, but there was nothing. Only the two of us stood in the middle of the empty park.

"Leave me alone," I told him and was surprised by how commanding I sounded.

"Can't do that, Princess. I have a job to do." His knife glinted. "As a Darkling, you have to die." I'd been told I had to do a lot of things I didn't want to do lately--dying was right at the top of the list.