Мишель Роуэн - Reign or Shine

I wondered who he hung out with. Did he go to school? Were there any girls around here his age?

The thought made my stomach tighten.

No, I wouldn't be jealous. That was ridiculous. I was already with somebody-Chris. My perfectly wonderful sort-of boyfriend at school.

I decided to focus on something else. "How many stairs are there? I can't even see the top."

"A lot. But we're almost there."

When we finished climbing the stairs-about a hundred of them-we reached a large, cavernous room that had a huge lit fireplace on one side. It was still ominous, but at least the fire gave some light and heat to the otherwise dark and dreary blackness.

Michael squeezed my hand. "You don't have to be nervous."

"Who me, nervous?" I tried to smile but failed. "I'm not."

The corner of his mouth turned up into a slight smile. "You're so lying."

"Am not." I felt a chill go down my spine. All right, so I was lying. Big-time. I glanced around the room. "So… uh… what happens now? Do you announce me or something? I'm just wearing jeans and a sweater. Maybe I should have picked out something nicer. I probably look terrible."

"No, you look good."

That made me smile. "Really?"

"Michael's right," a deep voice behind me said. "You're just as lovely as I expected my daughter to be."

I turned slowly to see a handsome man leaning against the frame of the entranceway. He was taller than Michael by a few inches and dressed casually in black pants and a dark gray button-down shirt. His hair was a few shades darker than mine and cut short. He had straight eyebrows over hazel eyes, high cheekbones, and a mouth that curved up at the side in a slight smile. I felt even more stunned than I had before.

My father looked more like me than I ever would have imagined.

And not the least bit demonic.

He took a moment to stare at me like I must have been staring at him, and then blinked and straightened his tall frame.

"Nikki," he said simply. "I'm very pleased to finally meet you."

I didn't say anything. I think I'd lost the power of speech completely. I'd figured I'd have a little more time to mentally prepare before actually seeing him, but I guessed I'd been wrong.

My father looked at Michael. "You may leave us now."

I grabbed Michael's arm before he even thought about abandoning me. After all, he'd promised to stay with me, hadn't he?

He tensed and glanced at my father.

My father's eyebrows went up a little. "I see. Well, in that case, you are more than welcome to stay for as long as my daughter requires your presence."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Michael nodded and didn't pull away from me. But his arm remained tense.

"I expected you to arrive yesterday," my father said, looking at Michael.

He cleared his throat. "I apologize for the delay."

"No, it was my fault," I managed, relieved that my voice didn't come out like a squeak. "I gave Michael a hard time because I didn't want to come at all-I didn't believe any of what he was telling me. But I'm here now."

My father glanced at my wrist. "You're wearing the bracelet I sent."

I touched it. "Yes. Thank you. It's very pretty."

"It's more than just a piece of jewelry. It will help you."

"With the half-demon thing?"

"That's right."

No one said anything else for a very long moment. Then my father cleared his throat, breaking the silence among us.

"This must all be very overwhelming for you, Nikki." Something about the way he said it, all apologetic, made a thick lump show up in my throat that was very hard to swallow. Overwhelming. Yes, this was definitely overwhelming. My brain couldn't process it all. I'd come here wanting to confront my father and ask him a million questions, but now I could barely find the words to speak. But, at least I hadn't turned and run screaming out of the castle yet. That was something.

I was using Michael as my anchor. Sure, I didn't know him very well, and the fact that he still hadn't been terribly forthcoming about who he really was didn't help. But I trusted him when he said nothing bad was going to happen.

He looked at me now with concern in his green eyes. "You okay?" he asked quietly. I nodded. "So far so good."

My father's expression grew more serious and his eyebrows knitted together. "I will assume that you hate me."

I shook my head. "I don't hate you."

Surprisingly, it was true. This was the man who I'd assumed I was supposed to hate for the past sixteen years, the man who'd abandoned my mother and who I wanted to give a good piece of my mind to. And yet, now that I was finally face-to-face with him, I couldn't summon up that emotion at all. Fear? Sure.

But not hate.

He looked taken aback at my answer. "You don't?"

"Um. . hating you is actually far down on the list of importance for me right now. I… I need some answers."

"Of course."

I finally let go of Michael's hand and he took a step back from me. I looked at him with alarm.

"It's okay, Princess," he said. "I'll be right here."

With effort, I turned my attention to my father. "So it's all true. Everything Michael has told me."

"I suppose that depends on what he's told you."

"You're a demon king? For real?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"A demon," I repeated as if to clarify it one more time. Maybe I'd heard wrong. Maybe it was a foreign word that meant "doctor" or "lawyer" or "construction worker."

He nodded to confirm that he was, indeed, a demon.

I swallowed even though my mouth was as dry as a sandbox by then. "But you look so normal to me."

"Normal is in the eye of the beholder, Nikki," he said. "I can look different should I choose to, but I felt that my human form would be best to meet you in."

I gaped at him. "Your human form?"

"Demons can shapeshift to either human or demon form."

I thought about my red, slitted eyes when I'd broken Robert's arm and felt a chill run down my spine at the memory. "What does your demon form look like?"

"As one brought up in the human realm, you might find it a bit. . unusual." He hesitated. "However, this is how I choose to look now. You must come to realize that appearances are unimportant. I am the same man in my demon form as I am right now. The difference is merely on the surface."

I felt woozy suddenly and sucked in a quick breath of air. "I think I need to sit down."

After a moment I heard something heavy dragging across the marble floor and noticed that Michael had brought a black cushioned chair for me.

"Here you go, Princess." He smiled. "We wouldn't want you to faint."

"I'm not going to faint."

"Better safe than sorry." He stepped back again, into the shadows at the edge of the room. I wanted to ask him to stay with me, by my side, but I didn't. I could handle this. I could be brave.

But I did sit down. There was a table nearby and I dragged the chair to it. My father sat across from me and clasped his hands in front of him.

He studied me for a moment. "You look well, Nikki. I'd feared. . that I was too late in contacting you. I worried that your Darkling would have already emerged and possibly done irreparable damage to you. Michael explained what a Darkling is?"

I nodded. "Half demon and half human."

"That's right. You're very special."

In my mind, I went over what he'd just said, trying to force myself to feel at ease, but I became more tense with every passing moment. "What damage did you expect to happen?"

His expression shadowed. "I don't know. It's been a millennium since the last Darkling lived."

I breathed out. A millennium. A thousand years. That was a long time.

"So, I guess you getting my mom pregnant wasn't planned."

"No, it wasn't planned." His jaw tightened. "However, I need you to know that I cared for your mother very much."