Мишель Роуэн - Reign or Shine

Faeries have nothing to do with demons… and especially not Darklings. Ever."

"But-" He held up a hand. "Is that the real reason why you entered my forest, Nikki? To ask for my help? Or is it something else entirely? Are you using a spell to hide your darkness from me? To try to trick me, to take my land, destroy my people?" His calm facade was slipping a little and there was a glittering in his eyes that was anything but friendly. "Because I'd strongly advise against that."

Was he serious? "No, of course not. I'm just hiding here."

"A Darkling would never have to hide from anyone or anything." His eyes narrowed. "And how you were able to touch the unicorn is curious to me. Your magic must be very strong to trick a creature like that. They are repelled by anything remotely impure or… demonic."

I narrowed my eyes as well. "Maybe that should tell you something. I'm not one of the bad guys."

"Perhaps." His lips curled to the sides and his gaze swept slowly over me again. "You're definitely not what I expected. But it doesn't change the fact that you've still trespassed onto my land. You've touched one of my unicorns. The penalty for that is death."

I shook my head, the new swell of fear making my head ache badly. I glared at him. "Get away from me."

A trace of fear moved behind his eyes and he took a step back. I wondered for a moment if my eyes had turned demon red. "Are you going to take Darkling form to defend yourself from me?"

I frowned hard. "I… I don't know. Maybe I will."

He pressed his lips together, any friendliness on his handsome face only a memory now. "Whatever magical deception you've created here has also worked on me. I find that I like you, Nikki, despite what I know you are. Maybe I'll let you live if you get out of my forest in the next ten seconds and promise to never return. Do you agree?"

My headache eased slightly. If he liked me, maybe I could still convince him to help. "But, Rhys…"

He drew a sword out from a sheath on his back and pointed it in my direction, almost touching my throat. My eyes widened in shock. "Ten," he began.

"Nine. . eight…"

He wasn't kidding.

I turned and ran away from the king of the faery realm as fast as my bare feet could carry me. I cleared the last tree when I heard him get to "two" and then I didn't hear any-thing after that, but I kept jogging with my attention over my shoulder, waiting for a swarm of angry faeries to come flying out after me.

But there was nothing. It was a huge relief.

That guy was crazy. Territorial. And completely impossible to talk to. And he was the king? I felt sorry for the other faeries.

Out of everything he'd said, the one thing that confused me the most was the part about Darklings being fearsome creatures. For that brief moment, the cocky Rhys had looked at me with fear in his eyes.

He was afraid. Of me.

More like the other way around. That sword had been very sharp. As I slowed down, I thought about it. Why did everyone want to kill me all of a sudden? I stopped and put my hands over my face, suddenly overwhelmed by everything. I was trapped there. Without having a gateway to get back, there was nowhere for me to go. There was the faery realm-obviously off-limits for me now. There was the clearing-not exactly the best place to hide. And there was Castle Dread-the only part of the Shadowlands that looked like anything other than a whole lot of nothing. Far beyond were the jagged mountains that apparently bordered the rest of the Underworld, but it was so far away I'd never be able to walk there, and I was pretty certain that it wasn't somewhere I wanted to go in the first place.

I had no idea what I was going to do next. Even if I could find another gateway, what was I supposed to do? Just go back? Once I was there I had no way of finding a way to return to the Shadowlands. I knew I couldn't leave. I had to find another way.

I remembered what Elizabeth had told me earlier.

"The Underworld potion makers always create an anti-potion for everything. It's a by-product of the potion itself and a very good fail-safe-after all, one can never be too careful when it comes to magical brews."

Maybe I'd sneak back into the castle. I'd try to find the anti-potion-the antidote-to Elizabeth's poison. I'd cure my father and together we'd defeat Elizabeth.

I knew it wouldn't be that easy, but I had to try. After everything I'd learned, I couldn't simply hide.

Pushing away my fear and summoning up my remaining reserve of courage, I turned toward the castle only to find that my view was blocked.

Elizabeth's thug stood in front of me.

I stared at him, my heartbeat thudding in the backs of my eyes, in my throat, in my head.

"Princess," he said with teeth gritted together. "I never thought you'd emerge from the forest."

"I'll turn Darkling," I managed. "I can do it. You can't hurt me then."

"It will take a few moments for you to shift form." The knife turned in his grip. "I'm prepared this time."

"Did you tell Elizabeth what happened before? When I turned?"

His brow furrowed. "No."

Since Elizabeth hadn't said anything to me about it, I figured he hadn't. "Why not?"

The expression on his ugly face was grim. He was so big that he blocked out my entire view of the Shadowlands behind him with his thick body. "Do you truly think I would tell her that I allowed you to defeat me so easily? She fears you enough as it is, but if she had any idea that you'd harnessed your Darkling powers…" He visibly shuddered. "She would destroy me."

My entire body was tense, and I found it hard to move or breathe. "She fears me? Why does she fear me?"

"Silence." He moved the knife and I managed to stagger back a step. Instead of coming at me with it, he tucked it into a sheath at his side and pulled something else out of his pocket. A white cloth. "You have to come back to the castle with me. Your aunt wishes to speak with you."

"She wants to kill me."

"If that was the case, I would have done it already."

I looked around the empty field. Not much chance of escape that I could see. The thought made me feel ill. "What did you do to Michael?"

His lips thinned. "The Shadow is proving to be more problematic than Elizabeth ever anticipated or she would have sent him away with the other servants.

He'll be taken care of in time."

He moved toward me. I stepped back and held up my hands. "Look, there has to be another way. Maybe you can help me. Aren't you sick of being told what to do? I know I was. You don't have to take orders from Elizabeth if you don't want to. That's no way to live. Maybe we can work together and figure out a way to-" But he wasn't open to negotiations. He closed the remaining distance between us so fast I couldn't even turn around. Before I had a chance to fight back or scream, he forcibly covered my mouth with the cloth, which smelled of strange chemicals, and a few seconds later darkness claimed me.

I woke with a sharp sob to find my face pressed against a smooth stone floor in a cold, dark room. It took me a moment to even sit up, and when I did, I felt around, trying to establish where I was and exactly how much trouble I was in.

I was somewhere in the castle.

And I was in a whole heap of trouble.

I touched my neck. My potion bottle was missing. Where had it gone? Did it slip off my neck when Elizabeth's thug was dragging me back to the castle?

Was it out in the field? Or had he taken it away from me to give to Elizabeth so she could force-feed it to me?

I was betting on the latter.

"Princess? Can you hear me?"

Michael? I drew my knees to my chest and stared blindly around at the darkness. Where are you?

"If you can hear me, then I must be close, but I don't know where they put us."