age. Especially only learning about it now.'
When my father died, Elizabeth would be trapped here without being allowed to leave, and she was doing it of her own free will.
'I'm sorry,' I said.
'Don't be. I only wish I could have met you before all of this. I would have loved the chance to get to know you better.'
I clutched the vial tightly in my hand and thought how when I drank its contents I'd forget all of this. I'd forget my father, and Elizabeth. . and Michael. I hadn't known any of them a couple of days ago and now it actually hurt to think that I wouldn't be able to see them again.
But it was the only way.
My father let out a small groan of pain. And then a larger one as he stood up, then doubled over and clutched the side of the table.
'Desmond.' Elizabeth grabbed his shoulders. 'Are you all right?'
'No. .' He gritted his teeth. 'I need to go back to my room. I… I feel poorly. Very poorly.'
And then he yelled out. The sound of his pain cut right through me like an icy wind.
I ran to his side. 'Dad-' 'No, get away.' His voice came out loud and gravelly. 'Please, Nikki. Don't come any closer.'
I heard a ripping sound and watched with horror as two large, black, leathery wings unfurled from his back. His hands went out to his sides and long, sharp claws emerged from the tips of his fingers.
I took a step back and covered my mouth with my hand.
He straightened up and looked at me. His eyes were red with catlike slits and appeared to glow in the semi- darkness of the room. There were horns-big, black, curved horns- protruding from the sides of his head. His face had grown unrecognizable, sharper, more pointed, his skin now black as coal. I got a glimpse of his teeth, which were now pointed and as sharp as razors.
He covered his stomach with a clawed hand-his chest had grown larger and muscular enough to burst the buttons on his gray shirt-and he convulsed.
Even in demon form he was still in terrible pain.
'Nikki,' he said in that strange, demonic voice, 'I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see me like this and be afraid,' I believe my answer to that may have been a short, terrified scream. I'm not entirely positive.
He gasped for breath. 'Drink the potion and forget about all of this. It's for the best.'
His now-sharp jaw clenched and with a last look at me, the demon king turned and quickly left the room.
I stood in place shaking from head to foot. My father was a demon.
A monster with big, black, batlike wings and sharp teeth like something out of a nightmare.
'No,' I said out loud, shaking my head, even though I'd now seen it with my own eyes. It was true. There was no denying it anymore. I started to cry. I couldn't hold it in. My chest heaved with sobs.
I felt a warm hand on my back and I jumped, spinning around. It was Elizabeth. I scrambled back from her. She was a demon, too, and she would look like my father in her demon form. This human form-it wasn't real. It was just a lie. She was evil. Demonic.
'Nikki.' Her eyes were glossy. 'Please, don't be afraid. I know this is difficult for you, but please just try to calm down.'
I looked over at the entranceway. Where was Michael? He'd said he'd stay by my side and not leave me, and now he was gone. Why? He'd promised that nobody was going to hurt me.
And nobody had. Nobody had hurt me.
I forced myself to breathe normally and I looked at Elizabeth-really looked at her. She didn't look evil or demonic. She looked concerned. For me. She'd backed away after my reaction to her to give me some space.
'I'm not going to hurt you,' she assured me. 'Everything will be fine.'
It took me another couple of minutes before I felt anywhere close to fine, and even then I still felt jumpy.
'What happened?' I asked shakily. 'Wh-why did he change like that?'
She took in a deep breath. 'He's in a great deal of pain. It is just as it was with my father when he was near the end. In demon form we're able to handle pain better. It doesn't make it go away but it becomes more manageable. A human body is more aesthetically pleasing, but it makes us very fragile. Right now, Desmond can't control the shift. When he experiences intense pain, he simply turns to demon form. I know he didn't want to scare you, Nikki. It's the last thing he wanted.'
I looked over at the entranceway. 'Is he going to be okay?'
But that sounded stupid. He wasn't going to be okay. He was going to die.
'He'll be fine in a bit. We must leave him alone and let him recover enough to change form again.' She patted my cheek. 'Honestly, I think the best thing for you would be to let Michael take you home. You should probably drink the potion, too, and in minutes all of this will have faded away.'
I looked at the potion bottle again. 'Okay. I'm going to drink it.' I put the chain over my head and let the vial fall against my chest. 'But I'm going to wait until tomorrow, though. I… I still need to think about some things.'
I wasn't ready to forget. Not this quickly. I'd have plenty of time tomorrow when I was back in my normal life. It could wait until then.
'I understand. But don't wait too long. It's dangerous to wait now that you're sixteen.'
My eyebrows went up at that and I shifted my focus from the entranceway of the dark, cavernous room to my aunt. 'Dangerous?'
She nodded gravely. 'I'm sure Desmond didn't go into specific details, but there's a very good reason why there hasn't been a Darkling in a thousand years. You've been very lucky that you haven't experienced any serious consequences.'
I looked questioningly at her. 'What are you talking about?'
She wrung her hands together and walked over to the table, before turning back to me. Her beautiful face was tense and worried. 'Desmond had me look into the history of Darklings when he first began to sense you, and I found out some things. Things I didn't want to burden him with in his current condition.'
'What kinds of things?'
She didn't speak for a moment. 'No Darkling has ever lived past their eighteenth year. It's the human/demon mix. It's unstable. Those who have lived that long refrained from using any of their powers at all. It's the only way.'
'You mean, if I don't take the potion and become completely human then I'm going to die?' I managed.
She pressed her lips together. 'But you have the potion. You will take it, and you will forget about all of this.'
'But. . but my father said that I was the heir. That if he died then I would become queen. He didn't say anything about this.'
'That's because he doesn't know.' She sighed. 'If there was another way, believe me, I'd want to learn what it is. I don't want to be queen, you know. I don't want to never be able to leave this place, but it has to be done.' She touched my shoulder tentatively. 'Take the rest of the night and let it all sink in, if you wish. But tomorrow morning, drink the potion. Forget about all of this and live a happy, normal life, Nikki.'
I nodded shakily. 'Okay.'
'But please remember one very important thing.' 'What's that?'
'In the meantime, don't allow your powers to manifest. At all. They're triggered by extreme emotions. Stress, anger, fear… I know you've had your share of all of that today, and I'm worried about you. Do you
