My eyes widened. 'Do you know her?'
'She wants the throne. She's willing to do whatever it takes to get it.' He took a lock of my hair between his fingers and studied it as if he'd never seen anything like it before. I inhaled sharply, but didn't move away from him. Then his brown eyes returned to mine. 'I met her once and could easily sense the darkness she tries to hide. She's really quite horrible.'
'She's poisoning my father. That's why he's dying. I have to stop her.'
'Good plan.' He cocked his head to the side and his gaze moved down to my dress. He reached out to touch it and I finally backed away from him. He was very touchy-feely. 'You're a Darkling. It's strange, but I can't even see much demon in you at all. I can sense it, but I can't see it. And I'm not sensing any darkness in you. I wonder why that is.'
'Darkness?'
'Of course.' He smiled, but continued to assess me as if I were on a slide under a microscope. 'As I said, gossip travels fast around here. When word got out that King Desmond had a daughter-a Darkling-and that you were going to visit, my advisors and I were quite concerned.'
'You were concerned about me?'
He nodded slowly. 'Can't be too careful about these things. Especially if one takes the dangerous history of half-demon and half-human Darklings into consideration.'
I felt like he was talking in circles and I was already dizzy to start with. I was wasting time trying to figure him out. I had more important things to think about.
Like, what was Elizabeth doing? Was my father still fighting to live? I hadn't drunk the potion, so I figured I would know when he finally… when he died. I'd feel it and more than likely, from what I'd gathered, I'd be summoned to the castle where I'd be stuck until I died. Which, if Elizabeth had anything to do with it, would be about ten minutes later.
'I don't understand what you're talking about,' I said. 'Dangerous history? Being a Darkling is like having a birth defect, I think. I'm lucky to have lasted as long as I have.'
He took that in and studied me for a moment longer. 'Actually, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Darklings are powerful, scary creatures if not taken care of properly.' He shrugged. 'Considering that they're made up of two of the scariest, most unpredictable creatures in the universe- demons and humans-this is not difficult for me to believe. It's one of the many reasons why human/demon relationships are forbidden-' 'Forbidden?' I didn't know that.
He nodded. 'It's strictly forbidden. So we don't have a bunch of dangerous Darklings running amok.'
I frowned. Powerful, scary creatures? 'How do you know this?'
'It's my duty to know these things-to be advised about my enemies. Everything I do and learn is to keep my land safe from those who might do us harm.'
He took another step closer until we were almost touching. 'I expected such darkness from you, Nikki. But I sense nothing but light. This is very strange, indeed. I need to consider this.'
'Does that mean that you'll help me?' I asked hopefully. 'You don't want Elizabeth ruling the Shadowlands right next door. She's evil.'
'She is that. But she is a demon, so it's not exactly unexpected, is it?'
'My father isn't evil.'
'Your father'-Rhys paused-'is still a demon and unpredictable by nature. He will do what is necessary to achieve his goals, no matter the cost.'
Frustration welled inside of me. 'He's dying. And you could help me save him.'
If the king of the faery realm would help me out, maybe I didn't have to go back to my world just yet. I could stop Elizabeth. I could demand that she give me the antidote. . that is, if she hadn't destroyed it already.
I didn't even want to consider that possibility.
I had to remind myself that all was not lost. Everything could still turn out okay. I felt a ray of hope shine through my fear.
'I'm not helping you,' Rhys said. 'Even though the Shadowlands is an important barrier for us, it is not our only option for safety and self-preservation.
Faeries have nothing to do with demons… and especially not Darklings. Ever.'
'But-' He held up a hand. 'Is that the real reason why you entered my forest, Nikki? To ask for my help? Or is it something else entirely? Are you using a spell to hide your darkness from me? To try to trick me, to take my land, destroy my people?' His calm facade was slipping a little and there was a glittering in his eyes that was anything but friendly. 'Because I'd strongly advise against that.'
Was he serious? 'No, of course not. I'm just hiding here.'
'A Darkling would never have to hide from anyone or anything.' His eyes narrowed. 'And how you were able to touch the unicorn is curious to me. Your magic must be very strong to trick a creature like that. They are repelled by anything remotely impure or… demonic.'
I narrowed my eyes as well. 'Maybe that should tell you something. I'm not one of the bad guys.'
'Perhaps.' His lips curled to the sides and his gaze swept slowly over me again. 'You're definitely not what I expected. But it doesn't change the fact that you've still trespassed onto my land. You've touched one of my unicorns. The penalty for that is death.'
I shook my head, the new swell of fear making my head ache badly. I glared at him. 'Get away from me.'
A trace of fear moved behind his eyes and he took a step back. I wondered for a moment if my eyes had turned demon red. 'Are you going to take Darkling form to defend yourself from me?'
I frowned hard. 'I… I don't know. Maybe I will.'
He pressed his lips together, any friendliness on his handsome face only a memory now. 'Whatever magical deception you've created here has also worked on me. I find that I like you, Nikki, despite what I know you are. Maybe I'll let you live if you get out of my forest in the next ten seconds and promise to never return. Do you agree?'
My headache eased slightly. If he liked me, maybe I could still convince him to help. 'But, Rhys…'
He drew a sword out from a sheath on his back and pointed it in my direction, almost touching my throat. My eyes widened in shock. 'Ten,' he began.
'Nine. . eight…'
He wasn't kidding.
I turned and ran away from the king of the faery realm as fast as my bare feet could carry me. I cleared the last tree when I heard him get to 'two' and then I didn't hear any-thing after that, but I kept jogging with my attention over my shoulder, waiting for a swarm of angry faeries to come flying out after me.
But there was nothing. It was a huge relief.
That guy was crazy. Territorial. And completely impossible to talk to. And he was the king? I felt sorry for the other faeries.
Out of everything he'd said, the one thing that confused me the most was the part about Darklings being fearsome creatures. For that brief moment, the cocky Rhys had looked at me with fear in his eyes.
He was afraid. Of me.
More like the other way around. That sword had been very sharp. As I slowed down, I thought about it. Why did everyone want to kill me all of a sudden? I stopped and put my hands over my face, suddenly overwhelmed by everything. I was trapped there. Without having a gateway to get back, there was nowhere for me to go. There was the faery realm-obviously off-limits for me now. There was the clearing-not exactly the best place to hide. And there was Castle Dread-the only part of the Shadowlands that looked like anything other than a whole lot of nothing. Far beyond were the jagged mountains that apparently bordered the rest of the Underworld, but it was so far away I'd never be able to walk there, and I was pretty certain that it wasn't somewhere I wanted to go in the first place.
