'You're insane,' I said.
Her eyes narrowed at me. 'Actually, I've never been more sane than I am right now,' she said. 'My love for Kieran has shown me possibilities other than those I was raised to believe. He has opened my eyes and helped me embrace my own potential, my own power. That is what love does, Nikki. Since you're so young, I don't expect you to understand.'
I thought back to my conversation with the hot-but' creepy Kieran and shuddered. 'Kieran made sure to tell me that if something happened and you didn't become queen, he and I should 'get to know each other better,' ' I said, making air quotes. 'And I don't think he meant because he was in love with my aunt, if you know what I mean. The guy is a jerk.'
Her mouth twitched a little. 'I'm sure you misunderstood him.'
'No, I'm thinking that you're the one who misunderstood him. Did it ever occur to you that he's just using you to get to the Shadowlands? So he can take control for himself?'
'Kieran loves me,' she said simply. 'He's absolutely perfect. And he only wants what's best for me.'
'I had a date who seemed perfect this evening,' I said, flashing back to what had happened with Chris and sensing a ghost of the panic I had felt well inside me again. 'He attacked me in the back of a limo.'
But I could tell that she didn't want to hear what I was saying. She was so far into the decisions she'd made for the sake of true love and progress that anything else was just white noise to her.
'I'm sorry you don't understand what true love is,' Elizabeth said. 'I hope, for your sake, that one day you'll get the chance.' She stretched out her hand and I saw that my potion bottle rested on her palm. 'I took this from you to ensure that you didn't break it or dispose of it somehow. I'm giving you this last opportunity to do the right thing. Drink the potion, Nikki. Your presence has caused a disturbance in my plans, and this is your last chance to make it right.'
I just glared at her.
Her expression stiffened. 'Dax,' she called. 'Come here.'
The thug came around the corner. Indoors he looked even bigger than before. He glanced at Elizabeth and then came toward me.
Instinctively I moved to where Michael stood silently and reached out to him. But as our hands would have normally touched, mine slipped right through his as if he was no more than a. . than a. .
… a shadow.
There was no substance to Michael. Not solid-like he was just a ghost.
His expression was pained as I looked into his now-gray eyes. 'I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't want you to see me like this.'
'Your amulet…'
'It helps a Shadow maintain solid form,' Elizabeth said from behind me and chills ran down my spine. 'There aren't many Shadows left after all this time. It must be horrible to have to rely on an amulet to live or die. Without it, he'll simply fade away to nothing before too long.'
My eyes widened as I looked at Michael. 'Is that true?'
He didn't say anything, but I could tell by the look on his face that this was one thing Elizabeth wasn't lying about.
I turned to face her. My hands were in fists at my sides. 'Where's his amulet?'
She sighed. 'I don't do this to be cruel, Nikki. I want you to know that. But he has been given several direct orders and he's failed me every time.' She glanced at Michael. 'It's almost as if he believes that you care for him as more than a servant. Or else why would he continue to protect you so single-mindedly?'' 'I do care for him as more than a servant,' I said fiercely. 'Now give him back his amulet.'
Her eyebrow raised. 'Oh, I see. This is your 'somebody,' is it? The boy you think wants you to forget him, and whose true feelings are unknown to you?'
'His amulet!' I said louder.
'I'm afraid you're not really in a position to demand anything from me.' Her expression turned graver. 'But I do empathize. I know what it's like to care for somebody others feel is wrong for you-Desmond never approved of my relationship with Kieran. But you know, even if all was normal again, there is no way your father would ever allow you to be with a Shadow-it's forbidden, just as demon/human romance is. As I said before, Desmond is very set in the ways of old.'
She sounded oddly empathetic for a power-hungry, murderous demon.
'I appreciate the pep talk,' I said dryly.
'Oh, Nikki.' Her forehead furrowed deeply. 'You remind me so much of myself. I know what it's like to be a woman faced with a destiny she didn't ask for, you know. You didn't ask to be half demon. What a horrible burden to put upon someone so young. The very thought that if you harness that power you risk your own death-it's tragic, really.'
She still didn't know I'd turned Darkling and had lived to tell the tale. But I wasn't telling the tale to her. It was my secret.
And Michael's. And the thug Dax's. But a quick glance at Dax's ugly but worried face told me he wasn't going to be spilling the beans anytime soon.
'Nikki,' she pressed. 'There's no time to continue to argue this. You have to drink the potion.'
Have to.
I looked at Michael then. I didn't need telepathy to know that he wanted me to run. To get away and leave him behind.
A huge roar sounded out at that moment. A cry of pain. The sound helped me pinpoint where my father's room was-behind me and down the hall. He was so close!
Elizabeth cringed. 'Why won't he stop fighting and make it easier on himself?'
Despite everything, did she feel guilty about what she was doing? She was a demon, and according to the king of the faery realm, demons were all evil.
Across-the-board darkness, no exception to the rule. Even Rhys had assumed I was evil, though he didn't sense it from me. I could touch a unicorn-whatever that meant. So maybe Rhys was wrong.
Was there a piece of Elizabeth that wasn't that bad? She was killing her brother to please her boyfriend. But there had to be something there, something that was eating away at her. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. She had gone too far. She'd made her decisions and I'd made mine.
I knew what I had to do.
I turned and ran as fast as I could toward the room I'd heard the roar of pain come from. I could hear Dax's thundering footsteps behind me, but he was big and heavy and couldn't run as fast as I could.
At the end of the hall, I turned right onto a long corridor and it finally seemed familiar. There was only one door. It was closed but unlocked and I burst in without knocking.
The room looked the same as before and my father still lay on the bed, but now he was curled on his side, the coal-colored skin of his forehead drenched with sweat.
'Nikki-' His voice was so weak I could barely hear it.
I ran to his side. He attempted to reach out toward me with a black, taloned hand, but it dropped back down to his side. I grabbed his arm.
'Dad…' I began, but realized that he'd fallen unconscious again. 'No, please wake up!'
Elizabeth and Dax entered the room and Michael was right behind them. I scooted around to the other side of the canopied bed.
Elizabeth's gaze tracked to her brother and then to me. 'It's too late, Nikki.'
My father's eyes flickered open again and he looked up at me and then over to his sister. 'Elizabeth, I am near the end. I can't fight anymore.'
'No, you shouldn't fight,' Elizabeth said. 'But Nikki hasn't drunk the potion yet. I don't know what to say to convince her that it's for the best.'
