Reign or Shine (6 page)

"I don't think your boyfriend would approve," he said. "He doesn't exactly like me."

"I'm not so sure that
I
like you," I told him, wishing I was tel ing the truth. "Besides, I doubt you're al that scared of Chris Sanders. You could just do that

magic thing and knock him out."

"I could do worse than that," he said under his breath and then looked at me, almost guiltily. "If he ever hurt you--" He frowned hard. "Never mind. I guess I

just don't like him."

Even though he'd just indirectly threatened to kick my sort-of boyfriend's butt, I felt a surge of emotion fil me. What emotion it was, I wasn't entirely sure.

Michael's protective behavior was scary, but also oddly ...
exciting.

I was real y hoping this crush I might be developing on the weirdest guy I'd ever met would leave as quickly as it had arrived. It was extremely distracting.

Michael was stil hunched over a bit and had his back against the wal . His dark hair hung in his face as he studied 54

the ground. "I'm almost ful y recovered. We real y must go see your father, Princess." "It's Nikki."

He breathed out. "We stil need to go, no matter what I cal you."

"I want to know who you are." I took a step closer to him and was taken aback when he pressed harder against the wal .

"I told you already."

"You said my father sent you." I tried to piece it together. "So that means you know him personal y. Do you work with him?"

"Something like that."

Then I had a terrible thought. "Oh, my God. You're not going to tel me that you're my half brother, are you? Because that would be gross."

The decidedly impure thoughts I'd started having about Michael would take on a whole other level of inappropriateness if that was the truth.

He looked confused for a moment, but then a glimmer lit up his eyes as he studied my expression. He raised a dark eyebrow. "Why would that be gross?"

My cheeks blazed. I was sure they had to be fire-engine red by now.

Because
I
think you're completely hot,
I thought. But of course I didn't say it out loud. I hadn't gone that crazy-- yet.

"Never mind why," I said, and then hesitated. "But are you?"

55

He shook his head. "Definitely not." I let out a long sigh. "Oh, good. I mean ...
whatever.
Doesn't real y matter."

He eyed me curiously.
"Okay."
My mind was churning. "Were those your thoughts I heard this morning in the hal way?"

"Yes," he said simply. "With a little effort we should be able to communicate that way when in close proximity . . ."

::Like now.::

I took a step back from him. "Please don't do that."

The corner of his mouth curved into a half smile, and then he glanced around the al eyway. "It's not safe here. It'l take me a minute to find a gateway.

We

can be in the Shad-owlands and at your father's side shortly."

I held up a hand. "Whoa, there. Wait a minute. I don't remember agreeing to that."

The grin faded. "I don't understand why you're being so difficult. You want to understand what's going on, I can see that. This is the only way, and we're running out of time."

"Why are we running out of time? It's been sixteen years. What's a little more time for me to wrap my head around this whole thing?"

"Do I have to remind you that somebody tried to kil you earlier?"

I stiffened at his sudden change in demeanor. "But why can't you give me a few days to get used to al of this? My head feels like it's going to explode. I'm stil trying to rationalize you tel ing me that my father's a demon."

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"He is."

"See, that doesn't exactly make me want to see him. Demons are evil. They're . . . wel , demonic. And horrible. And they live in Hel ."

I waited for him to correct me on that hopeful y outdated notion.

"Wel ... they're not
all
like that," he said final y.

A shiver went down my spine. "That's not exactly comforting."

"The Shadowlands are not connected to the hierarchy of Hel in any way. And most demons are not the kind you're thinking about."

"But some of them are."

He shrugged. "I haven't met any of them personal y."

My heart was pounding very fast. "Are you a demon? Is that what the guy meant when he cal ed you a Shadow?"

"No, I'm not a demon. Princess, you don't have to be afraid. I told you I'd protect you. And your father doesn't mean you any harm, I promise.

Besides, he lives in the Shadowlands, not deeper in the Underworld or Hel itself."

"Oh, that's incredibly comforting," I said, sarcasm and fear taking up equal residence in my voice.

"So are you coming with me or not?"

I crossed my arms. "Not."

He groaned with frustration. "I know I'm supposed to be patient and helpful with you, Princess, but it's becoming very difficult." "You don't have to put up with me. If you go away and leave me alone, I won't annoy you at al ."

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His chest expanded as he took a long, deep breath. "I can't stay here more than two days without returning. It wil damage me."

"Damage you? How?"

"I'l die."

I glanced at his amulet. Stil not as green as it was when I first saw it. "You'l
die
if you don't go back? Are you serious?"

"Yes."

I clenched my hands at my sides. "Then just go back without me."

"Not going to happen."

He thought
1
was stubborn? I was getting angrier--and more confused--the longer I talked to him. I felt like hitting him. Hard. Maybe he'd leave me alone, then.

I glared up at him, breathing hard. If I was so mad at him, why did I want to grab him and kiss him? Right then. Right at that very moment.

I was definitely going crazy.

The fiery expression on his face extinguished as he seemed to realize that I wasn't going to continue to argue with him. And when I reached up to touch his face his eyes widened.

"Princess, what are you doing?"

Something about the high emotions I felt swirling wildly through me compel ed me to move even closer to him, surprised at my own boldness. I wasn't like

this. I didn't make the first move with guys, like, ever.

I pushed the dark hair off his forehead and tucked it

58

behind his ear. Then I moved my hand down to place it against his chest to feel how fast his heart was beating. "Why am I not supposed to touch you again?"

His throat worked as he swal owed. "Princess--"

"It's Nikki. My name is
Nikki."

"Nikki ..."

I slipped my hand under the zippered edge of his sweatshirt so only the thin material of his T-shirt was between us. His hand moved to my shoulder and

he gripped me tightly, but not to push me away.

"I don't know who you real y are, Michael, but I think you're driving me a little bit crazy." He pressed his lips together. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Both, I think. Definitely both."

His hand moved to cover mine, pressing it against his heart, and our gazes met and locked together. He leaned over closer until I could feel the line of his

tal frame against me, until our lips were almost touching. His harsh expression softened.

"Nikki . . ."

I felt the warmth of the name against my lips, and then-

ZZAAPPPP.'

My fingers absently brushed against his amulet and white-hot pain burst through my vision and coursed down my body. I staggered back from him a few steps.

I stood there trembling. What the hel ?

"That,"
Michael said after a moment, his voice shaky,

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"that is why you can't touch me, and it proves that I'm right. If you weren't half demon, my amulet wouldn't affect you this way."

"What is it?" I managed.

"It keeps me alive, it gives me strength, and it protects me from anything it senses might hurt me."

I shook my head. "It thinks I'm going to hurt you? Me?"

He looked at my mouth again. "It's a definite possibility."

This was so messed up. The one guy I wanted to kiss more than anybody I'd ever met in my entire life--even more than Chris--and I couldn't get close enough without getting electrocuted.

Oddly enough, it didn't make me want to kiss him any less. It made me want to kiss him even more.

I stil couldn't accept everything he was saying. I wasn't ready. It was too much. I needed time to let it al settle.

But Michael had said he had to go back soon or he'd die. And he wasn't going back without me. The guy was seriously melodramatic. "I need to think," I said. "I'm going home." "But, Princess--"

"Please." I turned to look at him. "Just give me a little time, okay?"

He didn't say anything for a moment. His jaw was clenched tightly. "As you wish, Princess."

He didn't fol ow me when I left the al eyway.

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Which was good. I couldn't deal with this right now. Any of it. Al I wanted to do was get home and plug in my straight iron.

Pretty sure my hair had gone al frizzy after that last

jolt. 61

Demon,

The word echoed in my head as I jogged the rest of the way home.

Demons were horrible, ugly, evil, horned monsters who worked for Satan. They possessed people. I remembered watching
The Exorcist
a few years ago, sneaking it on the TV in my bedroom when my mom wasn't watching. I hadn't slept for a week afterward, it had scared me so much.

It didn't make any sense. It couldn't be real. And if it was ... if I was
half
demon, what did that mean? Was I evil? Would I suddenly go al dark side and want to eat souls or something?

I had to talk to my mom. I'd demand that she tel me everything she remembered about my real father. I'd always imagined that he was some kind of monster for abandoning us, but I never would have believed he was a literal monster.

Then I could figure out what I was going to do next, because at that moment I had absolutely no idea.

The first thing I heard when I entered the house was

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yel ing. It was Robert's voice, raised as loud as I'd ever heard it during his usual temper tantrums over the last couple of months. He was yel ing at my

mom. Nothing new there, but it immediately made me angry.

Husband #4 was definitely in the running for the title of Biggest Jerk.

"Dammit, Susan, don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

I walked into the kitchen and his back was to me, his fists tight at his sides.

"You need to calm down, Robert. Honestly, I can't reason with you when you're like this." Mom's face was flushed red, and her gaze darted over to me from where she stood by the fridge, holding a glass of water. "It's okay, honey. Just give us a minute."

"What else is new?" I asked, refraining from rol ing my eyes. "Another day, another fight. It's like a real y loud soap opera around here."

"Robert simply doesn't understand that when we got married I didn't sign up for having his dinner ready every night at six o'clock on the dot. When he's

hungry he gets cranky."

"Cal Pizza Pizza," I suggested. "Thirty minutes or it's free."

Mom smiled. "An excel ent idea."

Robert looked over his shoulder at me and then back at my mother. "Are you two mocking me? That's just great."

"Robert." Mom sighed. "Calm down, would you? You're being ridiculous."

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"I'm sick of this, Susan."

Her eyes narrowed. "That makes two of us. Now I suggest that you relax or you're going to have to take your temper elsewhere." "This is
my
house."

She smiled thinly at him. "Our marriage certificate makes it half mine. Don't you forget that."

"Shut up!" He slapped her hard across the face and she gasped.

The glass she held flew out of her hand and shattered on the floor. Without a word, but with her face reddening further with obvious anger, she crouched

down and immediately started picking up the broken shards, focused on her task.

My headache from hel shot through the rest of my body and pain exploded in my stomach. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I had Robert by his arm, twisting him around to look at me.

"Never hit my mother again," I snarled at him, and then I felt something break.

It was his arm.

He yelped in pain and his expression quickly changed from rage to surprise at my unexpected strength. "Let go of me!"

I did, letting him go as if he had just burst into flames. He held his injured arm to his chest and ran from the kitchen. I heard the front door slam shut and

then his car start up, tires squealing as he left the driveway.

I felt strange and out of control. My skin tingled and

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my eyes began to burn. I squeezed them shut. What was wrong with me?

"Nikki, what just happened? Come back here--" I heard my mom say as I ran out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom.

I stood against the door and tried to breathe normal y, tried to wil the pain wracking my body to go away. I was so mad. So unbelievably furious that anyone would treat my mom like that. The yel ing was one thing, but hitting? No way. Not going to happen. Out of al of her crappy marriages over the years, the men hadn't been princes, but they hadn't been abusive either. It wasn't going to start now. I wouldn't al ow it.

I breathed out. "Relax, Nikki. Relax."

I felt like if I didn't calm down something real y bad would happen. Something worse than snapping Robert's arm like a twig. I moved to my vanity mirror

and sat down heavily in front of it. My hair was a mess, a windblown and tangled blonde bird's nest. My face was flushed with anger. But my eyes . .

.

Oh, my God.
~My eyes.

They weren't hazel anymore, they were red. Bright, glowing red, and the pupils weren't round, they were slits, like a cat's eyes. No wonder they were burning so much. Had Robert seen them change? I didn't think so. He'd only looked shocked--not scared or freaked out. Red eyes like these would definitely freak somebody out.