'He was with me yesterday when you tried to attack me.'
He narrowed his eyes. 'The Shadow.' 'Where is he?' 'I killed him.' I gasped. 'No!'
His expression twisted into a cruel grin. 'Just kidding, Princess. Why would I bother to kill a Shadow? But it's very interesting. A princess concerned for the fate of her servant. I'm sure the king wouldn't be too happy about that.'
I felt like I was going to throw up. The thought that Michael could have been dead. .
He eyed me then, his gaze moving down the length of me and changing from dangerous to leering. 'You are very beautiful, Princess. I can see why your Shadow has developed a bond with you. It's unfortunate that I must destroy you now. I think we could have gotten along very nicely.'
He closed the distance between us so fast that I didn't have a chance to move. He pressed the sharp knife against my throat.
Anger, panic, and fear surged simultaneously through me and my headache raged forward again so badly that my knees buckled.
'Don't do this,' I managed as I grabbed his forearm, but he was like a tank. I knew I couldn't fight him off for very long. He was too strong.
But I couldn't just give up. I couldn't just let him kill me. I'd fight as much as I could for as long as I could. Past the fear, past the anger, past the panic. I concentrated all of my energy on doing whatever it took to get out of this alive.
My fear began to wash away from me like a sheet of water. I knew I should be scared. I should be begging for my life, but fear was suddenly the last thing on my mind.
I thought of my father, I thought of Michael. This couldn't be the end. I needed to see them again. One last time. The thought melded with the anger I felt and grew stronger and stronger.
I felt something very strange then. It was like somebody had lit a hundred sparklers inside of me. Little bursts of energy shot around in my stomach, only it didn't hurt. Actually, it felt pretty good. The sparks moved along my limbs, down my arms, and into my fingertips.
'I promise to make this quick, Princess,' the brute said, so close to me now that along with feeling the painful sting of the knife at my throat, I could smell that he'd chosen not to use any form of deodorant that day.
I raised my eyes to his.
He growled. 'No, Princess. You shouldn't do this.' 'Shouldn't do what?'
'Your Darkling. .' He began to loosen his grip on me.
'Darkling?' As I said it I sensed something shifting in my mouth. My teeth were changing. When I looked down at my hands, they remained my regular hands, but my fingernails grew to be long and black and pointed. I felt a rip, but it didn't hurt, and from the corners of my eyes I could see the black wings spread out from my back. Strength unlike anything I'd ever felt before welled inside of me, as if I were a kettle filled with boiling water about to start whistling loud enough for everyone in Erin Heights to hear.
I took a deep breath and realized that it didn't seem cold outside anymore. The temperature didn't bother me. I wasn't shivering from fear. As my attacker backed away from me, I stood straight and tall and energy hummed beneath the surface of my skin.
When I raised my hand I watched with amazement as a ball of energy formed and hovered an inch above my outstretched palm. The colors-red, orange, yellow-swirled and surged together faster and faster, the ball getting denser and denser the longer I concentrated on it.
Too cool.
The brute's eyes were wide as he watched me. Was that fear I saw in his expression? But then his eyes shifted to red-he was a demon, too, but still in human form-and he roared, clutching the knife tighter in his grip, and ran toward me. Without thinking, I threw the ball of energy at him. It hit him squarely in the chest. He flew backward and landed hard on the ground.
That's all it took. He was out cold.
I approached him in my demon form. I didn't feel completely in control of myself any longer-it was like something else had taken over. Something much more powerful, and something angry that anyone would try to attack me in the middle of a park. There was a car to my right at the edge of the parking lot and I walked past it so I could see my reflection in its windows. I tilted my head to the side and looked with shock at the demon-girl reflected back.
I looked different from my father. He'd been completely demon when he changed, but I was only half-a Darkling. My hair had changed from honey blonde to become red and long and flowing. It looked as if it was on fire, but it wasn't, which was a very good thing. My eyes were red and catlike, with no whites showing at all. My teeth weren't all sharp, only my canines-as though I wore fake vampire fangs.
Small, spiral horns emerged from just above my temples, red like my hair and shiny like metal. My talons were black and as sharp as X-acto blades. My wings stretched out behind me to their full width-about four feet on either side of me, black and leathery and perfect.
I still wore the clothes I'd left school in, as well as my winter coat, but it now had a huge gash in the back to make way for my wings. Underneath my clothes I could sense that lean muscle corded my arms and legs as if I were some kind of fitness model on ESPN. My hand glowed bright red from where I'd thrown the energy ball.
My eyes also glowed red like demonic lightbulbs.
Holy crap.
Being a Darkling made me feel different than I did in human form. I felt. . bigger, better, stronger. And extremely dangerous to anyone who messed with me.
I reached down and felt at the unconscious brute's exposed neck. There was a pulse. Demons had pulses. This was very good to know.
He was still alive. Even though he wanted to kill me, that was also good to know.
Suddenly the power that had filled me left in a mind-numbingly painful whoosh. I braced myself against the tree as agony swept through me. My teeth returned to normal and my hands, too. The wings retracted and disappeared completely.
I felt utterly exhausted. In fact, I felt like collapsing to the ground, curling up into a ball, and falling unconscious for the next five years.
Elizabeth had told me not to harness my powers or I might die.
I'd just harnessed. Big-time. And the pain from it racked my body.
I doubled over and fell to my knees on the ground. It took me a minute before I could stand up again, stunned and amazed and scared beyond belief by what had just happened. I felt seriously ill. I needed to rest.
I'd just managed to save myself. But at what cost?
I was utterly convinced I was dying by the time I staggered home.
'Nikki,' Mom called out as I made my way past her writing room. 'Is that you?'
'Yeah, it's me,' I replied weakly.
What could I tell her? I needed to get her to take me to the hospital. I didn't have much time. Elizabeth was right. I'd used my powers and now I was dying.
But instead of saying anything at all, I went directly to my room and closed the door. I knew what had to be done. I looked in the mirror on my vanity and saw a scared girl looking back at me. I didn't want to die.
Michael, I thought desperately. Where are you?
When there was no response I sat down on the edge of my bed and pulled the necklace out from under my shirt. I uncorked the vial of potion and held it up to my lips.
Drink it, I told myself. Just drink it and get it over with.
Get rid of the demon in me. Get rid of any trace of Darkling. Then what had happened wouldn't matter. I could get back to my normal life where the dance was the biggest thing I had to worry about. I could be normal. I didn't have to die.
