Reign or Shine (20 page)

again Michael grabbed him hard around his neck.

"Nikki!"
He used my real name then. "Go now. There's no time. Run!"

The thug was fighting to get Michael off him, and since he outweighed Michael by at least sixty pounds it wouldn't take long.

"Just go!" Michael yel ed at me and his words final y broke through my shock.

Elizabeth wanted me dead. She'd poisoned her brother, more than likely her father as wel , and I was the last thing standing in the way of what she wanted.

Fear trumped anger this time and, with a sob, I turned away from the castle and ran as fast as I could.

I ran until my bare feet began to bleed from stepping on the rocks; until I felt the cool grass under my feet and the temperature immediately warmed up as

if by magic. I held my shoes by their straps in one hand and my little purse in the other and I ran faster than I'd ever run before. I tried not to think of Michael fighting to give me a chance to escape, but it was impossible. I had to get home where I could hide. I'd figure out what I had to do next once I was there.

"Stop!" A deep voice bel owed from behind me and I took a quick peek over my shoulder. It was the thug and he was running after me. What had happened to Michael? My

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heart twisted and I nearly tripped from losing my concentration. But I kept running.

The gateway shimmered and swirled its kaleidoscope of color as I made a beeline toward it, my heart drumming wildly in my chest.

But just before I reached it, the gateway . . . disappeared. 206

One moment my escape route to the human realm was there in front of me and the next it was gone. I skidded to a halt, craning my neck from side to side, looking al around the grassy clearing.

Where did it go? How was I supposed to get back home without it?

I couldn't, that's how. It was impossible.

Elizabeth's henchman was stil thundering across the field toward me and I only had a split second to figure out what I was going to do next.

Panic shot through my entire body and my head screamed out in pain. I welcomed it this time, though. Maybe I could bring out my Darkling. The creep

hadn't fared so wel against demon-me before.

But nothing happened. No sparkling sensations under my skin. No energy bal s to throw to protect myself. No horns. Just plain old Nikki Donovan, barefoot, wearing Michael's dark blue sweatshirt over my borrowed lavender designer dress.

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I didn't have time to think about why the gateway wasn't working, so instead, I did the only thing I could do.

I ran toward the forest leading to the faery realm.

The darkness enveloped me as I ran past the tree line and into the thick foliage. I ducked behind a tree and peered around the massive, green, mossy trunk. The demon thug, with knife in hand, had stopped at the clearing wel before the forest and was now staring into it. He backed up a few feet. I waited,

holding my breath.

Would I be able to hide in here? And for how long?

He didn't do anything for a few minutes except look at the forest, attempting to peer inside.

Why wasn't he chasing me in here?

I kept waiting, barely breathing, for a few more minutes, wondering desperately what he was going to do next. He looked confused, his large Neanderthal ike forehead creased in concentration. He rubbed a hand over his stubble-covered head.

Qo
away,
I thought fiercely.
Leave me alone.

Then, as if he'd heard my thoughts as readily as Michael could pick up my telepathy, he turned around and began walking back toward the castle.

I let out a deep breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding. My hands were shaking so badly I had to press them against my sides or I'd end up dropping my shoes and purse. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, but that seemed like an impossibility.

Everything had gone wrong. Why did I ask to come

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back to the Shadowlands? I should have just drunk the potion yesterday as soon as I'd gotten it, and then none of this would have happened.

But, no. That wasn't right, either. I would have been safe and I would have forgotten al about this, but it wouldn't have changed much. My father would stil be poisoned and on the verge of death. My aunt would stil be scheming to become queen, and what impact would that have on the worlds the

Shadowlands protected in the first place? And Michael . . .

Michael.

Was he okay? I wondered if that creep had hurt him or if he had managed to use his amulet for protection. And if so, had he used up al his power?

Was he unconscious somewhere and completely helpless?

Michael!
I channeled my thoughts telepathical y.
Are you there? Can you hear me?

There was no reply, only silence.

Could I turn Darkling if I focused hard enough? Even if I wasn't experiencing high emotion? Could I
make
myself change?

I thought about trying it but stopped myself. When I'd changed before, I'd only been in half-demon form for a few minutes before I shifted back to normal.

That wouldn't even be enough time to get back to the castle, let alone try to help anyone. And besides, just because Elizabeth was evil didn't mean that

she'd been lying when she'd told me about Darklings dying from using their abilities.. It was stil a risk I didn't want to take.

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Not yet. Maybe soon, but not quite yet.

A sudden noise distracted me from my thoughts. There was a rustling sound close by. I tensed and listened hard, but there was nothing else.

Just my imagination.

Then I felt something warm nudge at my elbow and almost jumped right out of my skin. I looked down with horror, bracing myself for the worst, but then let

out a long, shaky sigh of relief.

It was just a horse standing next to me in the lush forest backdrop.

A white horse. Pure white.

It looked slightly sparkly, actual y.

And the sparkly white horse had a golden horn protruding from its forehead.

It wasn't a horse at al . I'd been nudged by a unicorn. A freaking
unicorn.

I stared at it dumbly. I'd never seen a unicorn before. Mainly because, along with demons and faeries, I didn't know they actual y existed. After the experiences I'd had, I half-expected it to bare long, sharp fangs and try to attack me, but it didn't, so I studied it some more. It was absolutely beautiful-smal er than a regular horse, with a completely white coat and sky blue eyes. The spiraling horn looked as if it were made from pure gold.

"I suppose you're going to tel me that dragons real y do exist, too," I said after another moment of stunned silence.

The unicorn didn't reply.

"You wouldn't happen to know where I can find a

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gateway to the human realm around here, would you?" Maybe I'd gone a little crazy from al the panic and fear. I was probably headed into a new mental

category altogether.

The unicorn moved away and began to graze on a patch of grass and blue flowers at the base of a tree. I looked around me for the first time. The forest

was so thick I couldn't even see the sky. It felt like dusk in here, quiet and dark, and it smel ed fresh and alive.

To the far side of the tree was a smal creek that led deeper into the forest. The unicorn moved over there after nibbling on the grass for a moment and bent its head to drink. I walked over to the creek, watching where I stepped since I was stil barefoot, and when the unicorn didn't run away I tucked my

purse under my arm and stroked its pure white mane with a shaky hand.

"What am I going to do?" I asked, feeling tears getting ready to fal again.

"Unicorns don't talk, actual y," a voice said and I froze in place. "And it's a bit late, but I should probably let you know it's against our laws for an outsider to touch one."

I turned slowly.

A guy leaned against the tree I'd hidden behind. At first glance I could tel he was very cute, with cropped chestnut brown hair and dark brown eyes.

He

wore tan-colored leather pants and a canvas tunic.

Tension flowed through my body again as I immediately put up my guard. "Who are you?"

He tilted his head as he took in the sight of me. "I was about to ask you the very same question."

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"I'm Nikki." I held on to my shoes so tightly now that the straps were leaving a red imprint on my skin.

"I'm Rhys," he said. "Nikki, you look absolutely petrified."

He said it very cool y, very casual y, but it didn't set me at ease. What did he want? What was he doing in the forest?

But he was correct. I
was
frozen in fear and that wasn't going to help at al . I forced myself to calm down.

The unicorn wandered away from the creek and deeper into the forest, apparently unaffected by the anxiety that must have been coming off me in waves.

"What are you doing here?" Rhys asked.

I glanced around. "I'm . . . I'm hiding from someone. I didn't have anywhere else to go."

His eyebrows raised. "Hiding from somebody who wants to hurt you?"

I nodded shakily. He studied me so intently I felt even more uncomfortable for a moment. But he didn't make any move to come closer to me; instead he stayed by the tree, leaning against it as if he were hanging out at the mal food court having a casual conversation with somebody passing by.

"I think I know who you are," he final y said. "It took me a minute, since you're better looking than I thought you'd be, but I think I've got it."

My cheeks flushed. "Look, Rhys, can you help me find a gateway to the human realm? I have to get to one so I can figure out what to do next."

"You're the princess, aren't you?" he asked.

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I blinked at him.

"King Desmond's secret daughter," he clarified, as if I didn't know what he was talking about. "Gossip gets around quickly in these parts."

I nodded cautiously. "That's me. Who are you?"

He crossed his arms. "I already told you, I'm Rhys."

"Do you live here?"

"I do."

I looked around again. My feet were growing damp from standing on the cool mossy ground. "This is the faery realm?"

"That's right." He looked up at the tal , thick trees that surrounded us. "This forest is the very edge of its north border and the kingdom is several miles

south. Nobody from the Shadowlands or beyond ever comes in here." He crossed his arms and smiled at me. "I'm actual y very surprised to see that you did, especial y considering who you are."

I craned my neck to peer through the thick trees and out to the clearing again. Maybe Rhys could help me. He studied me intently, as if he'd never seen a

teenage girl up close and personal before. I guess I could work with that.

He was so relaxed and friendly that just being around him was beginning to put me a little more at ease. Not much, but a little.

"The guy who was chasing me seemed afraid to come in here," I said.

I remembered what Michael had told me about the faeries. How they were territorial and fierce, but not evil. I held on tightly to that thought.

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"I imagine that he was afraid." Rhys stepped away from the tree and took a few steps closer to me, and then I could see his wings. Maybe it was because

my head had been too fil ed with worries and stress to have clued into the truth yet.

I swal owed hard. "You're a faery?"

"Good guess."

His wings were very different from demons' wings. Where mine and my father's were black and leathery, Rhys's were fine and thin, white and delicate.

Beautiful, real y. Like something out of a fairy tale--which made a lot of sense, now that I thought about it. The surface of his wings glistened in the smal amount of light filtering through the leaves above and showed different colors swirling around on the surface in an opalescent blend--pink, blue, green,

purple.

"My realm is rarely bothered by unwanted visitors," Rhys said.

"Your realm?"

He casual y ran a hand through his short brown hair. "I'm the king here."

My eyebrows went up. "You're the king? But you're so young." "You're not the first person to say that." Rhys grinned. "Faeries are known to live for a very long time--hundreds of years, actual y. But I'm only sixteen."

"Me, too."

I took another moment to look at him from hair to feet. He was barefoot just like I was. Other than the wings and the slightly pointed tips to his ears, he

looked like a normal human teenager.

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He laughed and turned around slowly. "Like what you see?"

My cheeks warmed again. "Look, Rhys, I have to go. I can't stay here any longer. Can you help me find a gateway to get home?"

He drew closer until he was only an arm's reach away. I watched him cautiously but didn't feel afraid of him anymore. He was even better-looking close up.

He reminded me of Michael a bit with his earnest but guarded gaze. Michael wasn't quite so quick to flirt and joke around, though.

Rhys narrowed his eyes and peered at me. "You live in the human realm?"

"Uh . . . yeah."

"I've never visited there before. I've always wanted to."

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm in a lot of trouble. I have to--"

"Is it Elizabeth?" he asked. "She's responsible for al of this angst you're experiencing, isn't she?"

My eyes widened. "Do you know her?"

"She wants the throne. She's wil ing 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 real y 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

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gaze moved down to my dress. He reached out to touch it and I final y backed away from him. He was very touchy-feely. "You're a Darkling. It's strange, but