now that your parents are gone.”
A shadow of pain went through his eyes. “How do you know about that?”
“I just know. I’m …” I swallowed hard. “I’m really sorry.”
“I’m not looking for your pity.”
“I’m not pitying you.”
The hurt disappeared from his eyes, replaced by something harder and less vulnerable. He turned away from me. “I’ll let you know when I’m seeing the oracle. That is, if I decide to let a half demon join me for such an important appointment. But if I were you, I wouldn’t count on it.”
Without another word, he walked away, leaving me standing there alone.
9
For the rest of the week I tried to act as normal as possible and put the prophecy as far out of my mind as I could. Every day I’d wait for something horrible to happen and was both relieved and slightly surprised when nothing did.
I told Melinda that Rhys was already taken and, while disappointed, she took it in stride with an optimistic “They’ll probably break up.”
The faery king attended school every day, although I wondered why he bothered. He didn’t have to go to school at all, did he? But there he was in biology with me and also sitting with the Royal Party at lunch in the cafeteria. After how we’d left things on Tuesday, though, he stayed very quiet. He didn’t ask me any more questions about the prophecy, which was fine with me, since I didn’t know anything more than what I’d already told him.
Rhys continued to study me when he thought I wouldn’t notice. I wondered what he was thinking, what he planned to do next. But nothing happened.
Thankfully, there were no more dissections to deal with after the frog incident. Mr. Crane was nice enough to let the students who bailed that day—there were four in total, including me and Rhys—do a virtual dissection on the computer.
I missed Michael more every day.
I swore I saw him a couple more times that week, a face in the crowd, but the moment I turned to look at him and ask why he was there, he’d disappeared.
My imagination was seriously distracting and not even slightly helpful.
I considered using my dragon’s tear to find a gateway back to the Shadowlands so I could see Michael, but I stopped myself. He’d said if my father had anything to tell me, he’d come here. Until that happened, I wouldn’t be a pest to either of them.
Just after school finished on Friday, I stood by my locker with Melinda. She was going through her list of things to do before the party tomorrow night. After the week I’d had, I was actually looking forward to it.
“I just realized you haven’t picked a name for the gift exchange yet,” she said.
“I haven’t?”
She grabbed a cloth pencil case from the interior of her locker and shook it. “Remember, it’s a ten-dollar limit to keep it fair for everyone.”
I reached into the case and grabbed a tightly folded piece of paper. Pulling it out, I looked down at the name written on it.
Chris Sanders.
Well, that figured, didn’t it?
“Somebody good?” Melinda asked with a grin. “No, don’t tell me. It’s supposed to be a secret.”
I had to buy Chris a present. There weren’t many things I could think of that were less awesome than that.
“Hey, Nikki!” I heard from across the hall. It was Rhys.
“Yeah?” I replied guardedly.
“Can I talk to you?”
“Uh, sure. Just a sec.”
Melinda leaned toward me and whispered, “Rhys is coming to the party tomorrow night, too. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah. That’s … that’s great.”
“He accepted the invite just this morning.” She grinned. “I’m even being all tacky and putting up some mistletoe. It’s going to be great.”
“Nikki,” Rhys said again, less patiently.
“Sounds important,” Melinda said, not without humor. “Maybe he’s broken up with his boring girlfriend and wants you to set things up between him and me.”
The girl had a one-track mind. Did she ever think of anything more important than
A shadow of pain went through his eyes. “How do you know about that?”
“I just know. I’m …” I swallowed hard. “I’m really sorry.”
“I’m not looking for your pity.”
“I’m not pitying you.”
The hurt disappeared from his eyes, replaced by something harder and less vulnerable. He turned away from me. “I’ll let you know when I’m seeing the oracle. That is, if I decide to let a half demon join me for such an important appointment. But if I were you, I wouldn’t count on it.”
Without another word, he walked away, leaving me standing there alone.
9
For the rest of the week I tried to act as normal as possible and put the prophecy as far out of my mind as I could. Every day I’d wait for something horrible to happen and was both relieved and slightly surprised when nothing did.
I told Melinda that Rhys was already taken and, while disappointed, she took it in stride with an optimistic “They’ll probably break up.”
The faery king attended school every day, although I wondered why he bothered. He didn’t have to go to school at all, did he? But there he was in biology with me and also sitting with the Royal Party at lunch in the cafeteria. After how we’d left things on Tuesday, though, he stayed very quiet. He didn’t ask me any more questions about the prophecy, which was fine with me, since I didn’t know anything more than what I’d already told him.
Rhys continued to study me when he thought I wouldn’t notice. I wondered what he was thinking, what he planned to do next. But nothing happened.
Thankfully, there were no more dissections to deal with after the frog incident. Mr. Crane was nice enough to let the students who bailed that day—there were four in total, including me and Rhys—do a virtual dissection on the computer.
I missed Michael more every day.
I swore I saw him a couple more times that week, a face in the crowd, but the moment I turned to look at him and ask why he was there, he’d disappeared.
My imagination was seriously distracting and not even slightly helpful.
I considered using my dragon’s tear to find a gateway back to the Shadowlands so I could see Michael, but I stopped myself. He’d said if my father had anything to tell me, he’d come here. Until that happened, I wouldn’t be a pest to either of them.
Just after school finished on Friday, I stood by my locker with Melinda. She was going through her list of things to do before the party tomorrow night. After the week I’d had, I was actually looking forward to it.
“I just realized you haven’t picked a name for the gift exchange yet,” she said.
“I haven’t?”
She grabbed a cloth pencil case from the interior of her locker and shook it. “Remember, it’s a ten-dollar limit to keep it fair for everyone.”
I reached into the case and grabbed a tightly folded piece of paper. Pulling it out, I looked down at the name written on it.
Chris Sanders.
Well, that figured, didn’t it?
“Somebody good?” Melinda asked with a grin. “No, don’t tell me. It’s supposed to be a secret.”
I had to buy Chris a present. There weren’t many things I could think of that were less awesome than that.
“Hey, Nikki!” I heard from across the hall. It was Rhys.
“Yeah?” I replied guardedly.
“Can I talk to you?”
“Uh, sure. Just a sec.”
Melinda leaned toward me and whispered, “Rhys is coming to the party tomorrow night, too. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah. That’s … that’s great.”
“He accepted the invite just this morning.” She grinned. “I’m even being all tacky and putting up some mistletoe. It’s going to be great.”
“Nikki,” Rhys said again, less patiently.
“Sounds important,” Melinda said, not without humor. “Maybe he’s broken up with his boring girlfriend and wants you to set things up between him and me.”
The girl had a one-track mind. Did she ever think of anything more important than
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