I blinked back more tears. 'You're important to me.'
He reached out to me and our fingers passed right through each other. I felt nothing at all, not even a glimmer of energy from him. It was much worse than getting a jolt of electricity from touching his amulet by mistake. This… this nothingness was much worse.
I wondered if I could grab Elizabeth then and take the amulet away from her, but another glance at Dax showed me that he now held it. Besides, the brief glimpse of her demon earlier had proven to me that she wasn't just a pretty blonde in a long red gown. She was powerful and scary and, at the moment, desperate for me to do what she wanted no matter what the cost.
Elizabeth held up the little bottle to me and I took it from her without another word.
My father's eyes flickered open again and he sucked in a breath of air. 'Elizabeth, you must stop what you're doing while you still have a chance. It's not right. You can't make Nikki do this if she doesn't want to.'
'It is her choice,' Elizabeth said. 'I'm sorry, Desmond. I truly am. But this is the way it has to be.'
Has to.
'Nikki. .,' my father managed.
I held the cool bottle in the palm of my hand, my cheeks wet with tears. 'When Michael first told me I was half demon, I didn't believe it. I thought he was crazy. I had to see it with my own eyes and when I did it nearly scared me to death. I just wanted to fit in at school. I didn't want to be a demon princess and I sure didn't want to become queen of the Shadowlands.'
'I know,' my father said. 'That's why I had the potion made for you.'
'I could see that you were a little disappointed that I took the bottle from you so quickly. That I wanted to forget.'
'It's the way it must be,' he said. 'The choice has always been yours, not mine. Not Elizabeth's. Even now, Nikki, the choice is yours.'
The magic potion had been the perfect solution to all of my problems. But I'd had some time to think about it since he'd first given it to me. I'd thought long and hard about what my choices really were-even beyond the threat that turning Darkling would kill me. And I had already made my decision of what to do.
For better or for worse, I was still certain it was the right one.
I took the top off the bottle, tipped the vial back and drank down every last drop of the red liquid. When I was finished I looked at my aunt.
Her expression was tight and her shoulders tense. She nodded. 'Very good. Everything will be fine now.'
I swallowed hard. 'The amulet? We made a deal.'
'Of course.' She held out her hand and Dax came to her side to give her the amulet. 'I cannot tell you how relieved I am, Nikki.'
I didn't reply. I just held out my hand and she gave me the chain with the large green stone. At the moment, the stone was as gray as it had been in the alleyway yesterday afternoon. I squeezed the chain tightly in my hand. My father's expression was grim as I let go of him and moved away from the side of the bed toward Michael.
All that was left of him was a fading shimmer. Although I could see the outline of him, his clothes had become shadowy and indistinct, and the rest of him blurred. His eyes were still intently fixed on me and filled with pain.
'You should have done it to save yourself.' His voice sounded miles away and strained. 'But not for me. I'm nothing.'
'You're not nothing. When are you going to start believing that?'
Michael had almost disappeared completely. How could the amulet work if it was solid and he wasn't? I reached toward him and was surprised when I could touch his arm. It must have had to do with me holding the amulet. I could still see straight through him, but his arm felt solid and very cold.
'Hold still,' I advised.
'There's no time,' he said again. 'Your memories-' 'Don't worry about that right now.' I went up on my tiptoes and slipped the amulet over his head, letting the gray stone drop down to his chest. Keeping a tight hold on his arm, as though if I let him go he'd fade away completely, I waited. He struggled to breathe and I could still see the pain in his eyes, but as I continued to watch him I saw color return to the stone a little at a time. As it did, his form became clearer and more opaque. His eyes changed from gray to green at the same speed as the amulet regained its color. I watched his handsome features fill in, the line of his arms and chest and legs. Even the Van Halen T-shirt was back and looked faded only because it was old.
After a minute had gone by I couldn't see through him at all. He was back.
I let out a great big sigh of relief and threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly against me.
That is, until his amulet gave off its old familiar, painful jolt and I jumped backward, rubbing my chest. 'Ow.'
His expression was strained. 'Why did you have to sacrifice everything for me, Princess? You drank the potion. You're going to forget.'
'Michael, it will be fine,' Elizabeth said. 'I won't punish you for betraying me. You can help me in the future.'
He glared at her. 'I won't help you.'
Her lips thinned. 'You don't have any say in the matter. You're a servant.'
'I release him from his servitude,' my father said. 'Michael is free to do as he pleases.'
'Desmond,' Elizabeth gasped. 'You can't do that. He's a Shadow.'
'I'm still king here.' He looked up at her and there was no kindness in his already scary expression. 'And I still make the decisions. It is unfortunate that your… Prince Kieran. . isn't here to help you now. I assume he's behind all of this?'
Her mouth tensed. 'It doesn't matter. You'll be gone soon and Michael will stay here with me. The servants will understand what's happened and they'll do as I say.'
'Where is the antidote?' my father asked, his low voice barely audible.
'It's too late for that. There's no going back now.' Elizabeth turned to me. 'I need you to know something. What I said about your Darkling side killing you if you harnessed its power-it wasn't true.'
She had to feel guilty. That's what this was, wasn't it? A woman who had done horrible things was now trying to justify her actions. She was trying to come clean while she still had the chance. Maybe then she could live with herself.
I wondered what she'd think if she ever found out the truth about Kieran. I mean, I didn't know the whole truth, really. The only glimpse I'd had of him was a few minutes over the gazer, but I knew he didn't love my aunt. He was using her. And she'd done horrible things to gain his supposed love.
If I didn't hate her so much for what she'd done to my father, for what she'd done to me and to Michael, then I'd feel sorry for her.
She twisted her hands together. 'The facts that I did research were true, but the results I told you weren't. Dark-lings are very powerful creatures. They were once bred to be warriors who could easily move from the human realm to the darker worlds despite any barriers there might be. Their power is pure and vast, but they became too powerful, and that's why demon/human relationships have been forbidden ever since. That's why there have been no other Darklings until you.'
Michael had come over to stand at my side during Elizabeth's speech and he looked at me with concern. He was ready for me to slip into my potioninduced amnesia at any second. What was he planning to do? Pull me along like a child to the gateway? Leave me on my front porch all confused and wondering who the cute guy was who had walked me home from the dance?
'I guess Dax didn't tell you that I already knew turning Darkling wouldn't kill me,' I said.
Elizabeth frowned and turned to look at her thug before returning her attention to me. 'What are you talking about?'
'I appreciate the kind-and-well-intentioned-aunt act, but you're not kind or well-intentioned.' I glared at her.
