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 swallowed. '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 calling 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 kill 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 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 balled 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 pull 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, really.' 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.'
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'll 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.
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 all.
'Nikki,' my mother called 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-really 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 first 7 I wanted to tell 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 all true, could I really tell her that the love 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 all.
'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 all 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 mall.'
She smiled at me. 'If that's the problem then I suppose I could let you borrow my lavender dress.'
Normally, I think borrowing your mother's clothes wouldn't be so cool, but the thing was-my mom had really great clothes. Clothes that I'd actually 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.
'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'll 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.
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.
