understand?'
I nodded again. 'I understand.'
'Good.' She rubbed a tear away from my cheek with her thumb. 'I will take care of your father, I promise. I'll make his last days as comfortable as possible. I know he was so happy to find out that you existed. And he was so happy to get the chance to meet you before the end. Please know that even in his demon form, your father cares about you and would never wish you harm in any way.'
I blinked back more tears. 'I'm glad I met him, too. I just wish I had more time.'
'Me, too.'
I hugged her and she smelled like warm jasmine. I felt something press against my collarbone and looked down.
'You have a vial, too?' I asked, glancing at the small blue bottle she wore around her neck on a chain.
She touched it lightly. 'It's perfume-a gift from my inamorato… or what you might call my 'boyfriend.'' Her expression turned forlorn and wistful. 'I'm hoping he'll want to visit me when I'm unable to leave this castle.'
She led me out of the room and down the staircase to where Michael was waiting, his attention firmly fixed on the floor.
'Good-bye, Nikki. Be well.' With a last squeeze of my hand, Elizabeth left to go deeper into the castle.
The doors opened up to let me out.
Michael didn't say anything. He simply walked outside. He led me over the gray stones that slowly turned to green grass. Where the dark, stormy skies above cleared away to beautiful blue. Where the forest leading into the faery realm stood before us, looking very innocent and not like the home of unfriendly, territorial faeries.
My head ached with everything I had learned swirling around inside. Seeing my father turn demon. Learning that he was going to die. Learning that I would die if I didn't drink the potion. Meeting Elizabeth. Learning that her fate was to never leave the castle again. Knowing I'd forget all of this as soon as I drank the potion.
I sucked in a breath and it sounded like a sob. 'Why didn't you tell me?'
Michael looked over his shoulder at me. 'What part?'
'All of it. About my father's health. About the dangers of being a Darkling. About all of that.'
'I told you what I was supposed to tell you, Princess. I answered your questions.'
I felt angry then. At him, at everything. 'No, you didn't. I asked you to tell me who you were but you didn't say any-thing. I wish you would have told me the truth.'
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt and kept trudging along toward a shimmering patch of light about fifty feet ahead of us-the gateway back to the human realm.
'I should have told you,' he said. 'I know that.' 'Yeah, you should have.'
'Well, now you know. I'm a servant.' He said it so bitterly and his eyes were still on the path ahead of him. He hadn't looked me directly in the eyes since we were in the castle. 'You're a princess and I'm your servant. See? I can say it. It's not even that bad, actually.'
'Michael-' 'Princess, please. Let me take you home. It doesn't matter anyway. None of this matters. When you drink the potion you'll forget all about me and everything else.' He'd reached the gateway. 'No sewer this time. Not as traumatic, I promise.'
I looked at the gateway. It was about the size of a regular door, but with rounded edges; a swirling kaleidoscope of color, but I could still see through it to the other side as if it were only a light film.
'Wait a minute-' 'Follow me, Princess' He didn't say it out loud this time.
I bit my lip. Telepathy. I could hear him because I was a demon princess and he was the servant my father had assigned to me.
Right behind you, I thought telepathically, wondering if he could hear me as clearly as I could hear him.
Without another word or a glance at me, he walked directly through the gateway and disappeared.
I looked back over my shoulder at the castle in the distance. That scary castle I'd been so afraid to approach. And there was no doubt-it was scary and intimidating and so very strange. Everything about this had been unbelievable. But it was all true.
My eyes filled up, thinking I'd never see my father again. I'd wanted to hate him, I'd tried to hate him, but I couldn't. He was a good man. His demon form had scared me, but he'd said earlier that he was the same person underneath. That appearances meant nothing.
Now I believed it.
Qood'bye, Dad, I thought as a tear slipped down my cheek.
And then I walked through the gateway. My stomach lurched a bit and I had a moment of vertigo, but with the next step I was on the street where I lived.
Michael stood there with his arms crossed as he waited for me.
'Come on,' he said. 'I'll walk you to your house.'
I shifted my focus to Michael. 'Can I ask you a question?'
'Of course.'
'What do you do for fun in the Shadowlands?' 'Fun?'
I shrugged. 'Here we go to the movies or the mall or just hang out. Or go to dances like Winter Formal tomop row night at school.'
'We don't have anything like that.' He frowned. 'There are lots of books, which is how I learned all about the human realm. I… I hang out with some of the other. . servants. . who live at the castle. They're okay.'
'Anybody your age?'
He shook his head. 'Not really.'
I chewed my bottom lip. 'Do you have a girlfriend?'
'No.' There was silence then for a moment. 'We're here. I guess I'll say good-bye now.'
We'd reached my house. I could tell by the big maple tree at the bottom of the front lawn.
'What did you think would happen if you told me the truth about who you really are?' I asked.
'It doesn't matter anymore.'
'It does matter. Did you think I'd look down on you?' He pressed his lips together and was apparently finding the ground an extremely interesting thing to look at. 'Something like that.'
'Well, you were wrong.'
He finally raised his gaze to mine. 'But your father said-' 'Forget about what my father said. He has a seriously outdated view of the world, but that's probably because he lives in a different one.' I sighed. 'Look, if this could be any other way I wouldn't take the potion at all. I don't want to forget about you. I don't want to forget about any of this.'
'You have to drink it.'
'I know that, but it doesn't mean I want to.'
He let out a breath, but I still couldn't see it in the cold air. It had to have something to do with his amulet controlling his life force. Even in the darkness it pulsed with a soft green light over his sweatshirt.
'You can get back to your normal life with your. . your boyfriend, Chris.' Michael said his name unpleasantly. 'I'm sure you'll be glad when all of this is over.'
'He's not really my boyfriend,' I admitted.
That raised his eyebrows. 'But I thought you said-' 'I'm just going to the dance with him.'
'I saw him kiss you in the hallway.' He didn't sound happy about it. 'And yesterday, too.'
I thought back to Chris's hallway smooch. Had that honestly only been earlier today? It seemed like a lifetime ago.
'He's not that great a kisser,' I said. 'But don't tell anyone.'
'I definitely won't.' He glanced back at the street.
'Look, I really need to go now. Your father will 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 all your help, Michael.'
