Мишель Роуэн - Reign or Shine

"I think I know who you are," he finally 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.

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 tall, 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 actually very surprised to see that you did, especially 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.

"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 filled with worries and stress to have clued into the truth yet.

I swallowed 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, really. 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 small 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 casually 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, actually. 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.

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 all of this angst you're experiencing, isn't she?"

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.