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Chapter 10
I stood in place shaking from head to foot. My father was a demon.
A monster with big, black, batlike wings and sharp teeth like something out of a nightmare.
"No," I said out loud, shaking my head, even though I'd now seen it with my own eyes. It was true. There was no denying it anymore. I started to cry. I couldn't hold it in. My chest heaved with sobs.
I felt a warm hand on my back and I jumped, spinning around. It was Elizabeth. I scrambled back from her. She was a demon, too, and she would look like my father in her demon form. This human form--it wasn't real. It was just a lie. She was evil. Demonic.
"Nikki." Her eyes were glossy. "Please, don't be afraid. I know this is difficult for you, but please just try to calm down."
I looked over at the entranceway. Where was Michael? He'd said he'd stay by my side and not leave me, and now he was gone. Why? He'd promised that
nobody was going to hurt me.
110
And nobody had. Nobody had hurt me.
I forced myself to breathe normal y and I looked at Elizabeth--real y looked at her. She didn't look evil or demonic. She looked concerned. For me.
She'd
backed away after my reaction to her to give me some space.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she assured me. "Everything wil be fine."
It took me another couple of minutes before I felt anywhere close to fine, and even then I stil felt jumpy.
"What happened?" I asked shakily. "Wh-why did he change like that?"
She took in a deep breath. "He's in a great deal of pain. It is just as it was with my father when he was near the end. In demon form we're able to handle pain better. It doesn't make it go away but it becomes more manageable. A human body is more aesthetical y pleasing, but it makes us very fragile. Right
now, Desmond can't control the shift. When he experiences intense pain, he simply turns to demon form. I know he didn't want to scare you, Nikki.
It's the last thing he wanted."
I looked over at the entranceway. "Is he going to be okay?"
But that sounded stupid. He wasn't going to be okay. He was going to die.
"He'l be fine in a bit. We must leave him alone and let him recover enough to change form again." She patted my cheek. "Honestly, I think the best thing
for you would be to let Michael take you home. You should probably drink the potion, too, and in minutes al of this wil have faded away."
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I looked at the potion bottle again. "Okay. I'm going to drink it." I put the chain over my head and let the vial fal against my chest. "But I'm going to wait until tomorrow, though. I ... I stil need to think about some things."
I wasn't ready to forget. Not this quickly. I'd have plenty of time tomorrow when I was back in my normal life. It could wait until then. "I understand. But don't wait too long. It's dangerous to wait now that you're sixteen."
My eyebrows went up at that and I shifted my focus from the entranceway of the dark, cavernous room to my aunt. "Dangerous?"
She nodded gravely. "I'm sure Desmond didn't go into specific details, but there's a very good reason why there hasn't been a Darkling in a thousand
years. You've been very lucky that you haven't experienced any serious consequences."
I looked questioningly at her. "What are you talking about?"
She wrung her hands together and walked over to the table, before turning back to me. Her beautiful face was tense and worried. "Desmond had me look into the history of Darklings when he first began to sense you, and I found out some things. Things I didn't want to burden him with in his current condition."
"What kinds of things?"
She didn't speak for a moment. "No Darkling has ever lived past their eighteenth year. It's the human/demon 112
mix. It's unstable. Those who have lived that long refrained from using any of their powers at al . It's the only way."
"You mean, if I don't take the potion and become completely human then I'm going to die?" I managed.
She pressed her lips together. "But you have the potion. You wil take
Chapter 10
I stood in place shaking from head to foot. My father was a demon.
A monster with big, black, batlike wings and sharp teeth like something out of a nightmare.
"No," I said out loud, shaking my head, even though I'd now seen it with my own eyes. It was true. There was no denying it anymore. I started to cry. I couldn't hold it in. My chest heaved with sobs.
I felt a warm hand on my back and I jumped, spinning around. It was Elizabeth. I scrambled back from her. She was a demon, too, and she would look like my father in her demon form. This human form--it wasn't real. It was just a lie. She was evil. Demonic.
"Nikki." Her eyes were glossy. "Please, don't be afraid. I know this is difficult for you, but please just try to calm down."
I looked over at the entranceway. Where was Michael? He'd said he'd stay by my side and not leave me, and now he was gone. Why? He'd promised that
nobody was going to hurt me.
110
And nobody had. Nobody had hurt me.
I forced myself to breathe normal y and I looked at Elizabeth--real y looked at her. She didn't look evil or demonic. She looked concerned. For me.
She'd
backed away after my reaction to her to give me some space.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she assured me. "Everything wil be fine."
It took me another couple of minutes before I felt anywhere close to fine, and even then I stil felt jumpy.
"What happened?" I asked shakily. "Wh-why did he change like that?"
She took in a deep breath. "He's in a great deal of pain. It is just as it was with my father when he was near the end. In demon form we're able to handle pain better. It doesn't make it go away but it becomes more manageable. A human body is more aesthetical y pleasing, but it makes us very fragile. Right
now, Desmond can't control the shift. When he experiences intense pain, he simply turns to demon form. I know he didn't want to scare you, Nikki.
It's the last thing he wanted."
I looked over at the entranceway. "Is he going to be okay?"
But that sounded stupid. He wasn't going to be okay. He was going to die.
"He'l be fine in a bit. We must leave him alone and let him recover enough to change form again." She patted my cheek. "Honestly, I think the best thing
for you would be to let Michael take you home. You should probably drink the potion, too, and in minutes al of this wil have faded away."
111
I looked at the potion bottle again. "Okay. I'm going to drink it." I put the chain over my head and let the vial fal against my chest. "But I'm going to wait until tomorrow, though. I ... I stil need to think about some things."
I wasn't ready to forget. Not this quickly. I'd have plenty of time tomorrow when I was back in my normal life. It could wait until then. "I understand. But don't wait too long. It's dangerous to wait now that you're sixteen."
My eyebrows went up at that and I shifted my focus from the entranceway of the dark, cavernous room to my aunt. "Dangerous?"
She nodded gravely. "I'm sure Desmond didn't go into specific details, but there's a very good reason why there hasn't been a Darkling in a thousand
years. You've been very lucky that you haven't experienced any serious consequences."
I looked questioningly at her. "What are you talking about?"
She wrung her hands together and walked over to the table, before turning back to me. Her beautiful face was tense and worried. "Desmond had me look into the history of Darklings when he first began to sense you, and I found out some things. Things I didn't want to burden him with in his current condition."
"What kinds of things?"
She didn't speak for a moment. "No Darkling has ever lived past their eighteenth year. It's the human/demon 112
mix. It's unstable. Those who have lived that long refrained from using any of their powers at al . It's the only way."
"You mean, if I don't take the potion and become completely human then I'm going to die?" I managed.
She pressed her lips together. "But you have the potion. You wil take
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