Our teacher, Mr. Crane, gave me a questioning look as I slunk in through the door five minutes late, interrupting him in the middle of whatever he’d been saying.
“Nice of you to join us, Ms. Donovan.”
“Happy to be here,” I replied easily, earning a couple laughs from the back row. I wasn’t normally a smartass, but it still came easily to me.
He gave me a stern look, which I tried to ignore as I took my seat. I’d spent more time than I would have liked with Mr. Crane over the break, including Christmas dinner, since he was currently dating my mother. Talk about awkward. And I didn’t think it would help me earn an easy A. I figured he was going to take the opportunity to be extra strict with me to show that his relationship with my mother had no influence over his grading.
Luckily, today it seemed as if he was going to give me a break and not make a big deal over my tardiness. He started talking again, about everything we’d covered so far in class, and how it was all leading up to our big exam at the end of the month. I tried not to think about it too much.
I’d been focused on a lot of things lately, but studying wasn’t one of them.
Before long, it all became background noise as my problems swirled in my head. The sketch Chris gave me freaked me out. What was that supposed to be? Something with wings? I’d only seen two things that had wings in person—faeries and demons. Despite being fierce, dangerous, and territorial, faeries had delicate-looking wings. Rhys used a glamour to cover up any noticeable faery traits he had. Namely his wings and the pointed tips to his ears he had in his own world. And demons—they had large leathery wings unless they were in human form.
“You must survive. No one else can find the truth but you.” Chris Sanders = crazy. That was probably all this was. I wondered, should I try to help a guy who’d made my life more difficult, or should I just stand by and watch him self-destruct?
Something caught my eye and I turned just a little to see that Rhys had placed something in the very center of our shared desk. A small white box.
I stared at it for a moment, but didn’t make a move to touch it.
He finally tore his seemingly undivided attention away from Mr. Crane to give me a sidelong glance. “It’s a gift.”
My heart started to pound. “Why?”
“Do I need a reason? Open it.”
Instead, I turned my eyes straight forward but soon realized that Mr. Crane’s voice had become muted and impossible to understand. Rhys had the ability to magically put a privacy bubble around us, so no one could hear what we were talking about. It was helpful a lot of the time, but right now I didn’t want to be private with the faery king.
“You shouldn’t be buying me gifts,” I said.
“I didn’t buy it.”
I hissed out a breath. “Then you shouldn’t be stealing me gifts.”
“It’s not bought or stolen. Cross my heart.”
I glanced at the little white box again, hating that I felt curious about what could be inside.
“You should be giving presents to your new girlfriend, Melinda. Remember her?”
“I did get her something from the mall as a belated Christmas present. This, however, isn’t from the mall. I thought you’d like it.” He was silent for a moment. “It’s not an engagement ring, I promise.”
I relaxed a little at hearing that. Stupid prophecy.
Finally, when the room didn’t become unmuted, I knew he was going to keep the bubble over us all class if I didn’t open the box. I dragged it in front of me with the tip of my index finger.
“It’s not going to bite you,” Rhys said with amusement. “It’s just a little something from the Faery Realm.”
Great. Maybe it was a miniature unicorn. I’d always wanted a pet.
I exhaled slowly, then finally took off the lid and raised the box so I could see what lay inside.
It was a single red rosebud. Perfect and beautiful. It had a sweet, fragrant scent—I’d never smelled anything so incredible in my life.
“It’s so pretty,” was all I allowed myself to say.
“It’s not just any rose. It’s very rare: a faery rose. It will never die. It will always be as beautiful as it is at this very moment.”
I looked at him with surprise, but his attention was back on Mr. Crane and the room’s volume increased, which meant he’d lifted the privacy bubble. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say anything else. What was I going to say? He’d just given me a tiny, rare piece of immortal beauty while he’d given, or would be giving, Melinda something he’d picked up at the mall.
He spoke again, without meeting my gaze, “Probably a lot better than what the Shadow could ever give you, right? Then again, I am a king and he’s only a lowly servant. You should try to remember that.”
Whatever mildly warm and confusing feelings I’d started to feel for the boy seated next to me went frosty at the edges. “Thanks for the rose. And for the reminder that you’re an elitist jerk.” I supposed I could have refused the gift entirely, but instead I put the lid back on the box and tossed it into my bag hanging off the back of my chair.
I was glad he reminded me why I didn’t like him all that much. For a moment there, I’d completely forgotten.
o0o
I didn’t look at the rose again that day. Rhys’s attitude had successfully put a sour taste in my mouth. I wondered when he planned on going back to the Faery Realm permanently. The sooner the better, as far as I was concerned.
By lunch, Melinda seemed like she’d snapped out of whatever funk she’d been in that morning. She was friendly, smiling, laughing with friends and looked at Rhys as if she really did like him every bit as much as she had before.
I resolved to keep a close eye on her and make sure she was okay.
She, however, wasn’t the talk of the school. I listened to Brittany and Larissa discuss another important subject over the lunch table. They were both part of the “Royal Party,” or what the more popular kids at Erin Heights High had named themselves. Kind of ironic that me, a princess, and Rhys, a king, were now a part of it, and nobody knew except the two of us.
Brittany and Larissa were both beautiful, the kind of girls you’d expect to be cheerleaders, but they’d decided they didn’t have time for things like that. Larissa had dark hair and tanned, flawless skin—no freckles on her nose like I had—and Brittany was a redhead whose only major appearance flaw was that her favorite color to wear was pink, a color that inevitably clashed with her hair.
“What is up with Chris lately?” Larissa asked. “Did you see him this morning?”
“Yeah.” Brittany nodded, then twisted a finger through her long red hair. “I heard he had a mental meltdown a few weeks ago.”
“Then he should go somewhere else. Like a hospital. Doesn’t his mother work with crazy people? I mean, how could she let him leave the house wearing that today? He used to be so hot.”
“So hot,” Brittany agreed.
“And now he’s”—Larissa grimaced—“so not. Such a waste. I would have gone out with him in a minute before, but now he’s definitely not a prospect.” Her gaze moved across the table and fell on me. “What did you do to him, anyway? You’re the last girl he went out with before he got all weird.”
I just shrugged a shoulder. “No idea.”
“Really helpful, thanks.” Her expression tightened. “And then there’s Melinda...” I looked at her sharply. “What about Melinda?”
Larissa sent a look down the table to the girl in question who was currently out of earshot. “I don’t know. She’s acting so distracted lately. I’m starting to get worried about her.” Yeah. That made two of us. But I wasn’t going to share that with Larissa.
Melinda laughed at the end of the table and I shot a glance toward her. The laugh sounded fake, but no one else seemed to notice. Her laugh was in response to something Rhys said as he gave her the belated mall-bought Christmas gift: a silver bracelet with a heart charm. He glanced in my direction as if to see if I was p
aying attention to how happy Melinda was with him.
This wasn’t going to be a fun week.
o0o
Chris didn’t bother me again over the next couple of days, instead choosing to stay at the sidelines of the school and act strangely. Not strangely enough to require a guidance counselor intervention, though.
There was no love lost between the two of us, nor was I remotely interested in him anymore, but I still worried about him since I knew what was causing his recent problems. Had his mother finally told him the truth about his origins? Not everything could be swept under the carpet forever. Some of those things started to creep back out all by themselves whether you wanted them to or not.
As I got ready to leave school on Wednesday afternoon, I passed Melinda and another girl at the end of the hallway sitting on the steps to the parking lot exit.
“Nikki!” Melinda called out to me. “Need a ride home?”
“That would be great. Thanks.” It wasn’t that far of a walk, but touching base with Melinda at the mid-week point might be a good idea. Despite her near-misery on Monday morning, she’d really been keeping up a shiny, happy exterior ever since. I just didn’t know if it was real or not.
“Hey, do you guys know each other?” she asked, turning her attention from me to the other girl. “This is Clara. She’s new to Erin Heights. Clara, this is Nikki, my best friend.” Clara was very pretty, with long dark hair and bright blue eyes. She gave me a smile. “Hey, Nikki.”
I smiled back at her. “Hi. Where did you move from?”
“Los Angeles.”
I grimaced. “My condolences. I’m sure you miss the palm trees and beaches. Ontario snow storms and icy sidewalks aren’t exactly a nice consolation prize, are they?” She laughed. “You sound like you speak from experience.”
“I do. I’ve lived a bunch of places, including San Diego. It was gorgeous there.”
“Erin Heights is cool too.”
“Cool being the important word in that sentence. Very cool. Freezing, actually.” My mother had grown up in this area so this was like a homecoming for her, but I was new to cold winters like this. Spring couldn’t come soon enough, in my opinion.
We’d moved here when she married her most recent husband, a marriage that only lasted a couple of months before she threw him out for being an abusive jerk. Only one problem—we were still living in his house while he stayed with friends. Eventually we’d have to find somewhere else to live, but I knew Mom liked it here and thankfully had no intentions of picking up and moving us across the continent again. Despite the weather and the drama I’d had to face since moving here, I didn’t want to leave.
“Clara’s coming to the sleepover at my place on Friday night,” Melinda said, standing up and brushing off the front of her jeans. She swung her leather bag over her shoulder.
“Sounds good to me,” I said. And I meant it. Anything to divert Larissa’s attention from me at the party would be a very good thing.
“My mom’s picking me up in five minutes out front,” Clara said. “See you later, Melinda.
Great meeting you, Nikki.”
“You too.”
With a wave, she took off down the hall to our left.
“She’s really nice,” Melinda assured me.
“I’m sure she is. How did you meet?”
“She’s in my English class.” She smiled. “What can I say? I like to be nice to the new girls.” I laughed. “This new girl appreciated it, too.”
“So it’s the three of us, is it?” Rhys asked.
I jumped a little and looked to my right to see him approach. I deflated a little. I thought I’d be able to spend some quality alone time with Melinda to help me figure out how she was coping this week.
“You know what?” I said. “On second thought, I think I’ll walk.” Melinda frowned. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Don’t go on my account,” Rhys said with a knowing grin.
“I don’t want to get in the way,” I said, faking a friendly smile toward him. “Three’s a crowd.”
“Maybe you should give your boyfriend a call,” he replied dryly. “We could do a double date over the weekend. Seen him yet?”
I tried to control my glare. Not only hadn’t I seen Michael since before Christmas, but it was also starting to bother me. It was as if Rhys could sense that and wanted to rub my nose in it.
“Sounds like a plan,” I instead said sweetly.
“Are you still seeing that guy?” Melinda said. She’d met him in passing at a party. “Michael, right? I haven’t seen him around lately.”
“Uh, yeah. We are still...seeing each other. Now and then. But it’s not serious or anything.” I cringed as I said it even though, based on his absence, it was obviously the truth. “He doesn’t live here in town and can’t get away to visit me all that easily.” Michael was at the mercy of my father when it came to getting permission to come to the human world. I had a gut feeling that my father was keeping him away on purpose.
Melinda grinned. “He was a little strange, but so hot.”
“You’re right,” I said pointedly. “Michael’s probably the hottest and most amazing guy I’ve ever met. He’s just a little shy. But guys who aren’t all vain and showy are more my type anyway.”
“He sounds delightful,” Rhys said, a thin smile on his face. “Please give him my regards if you do see him again soon.”
“I’ll do that.” And that was about all I could take of this particular conversation. “See you tomorrow.”
“Bye Nikki,” Melinda called after me as I took off.
It was good to get some fresh air. The cold helped me focus on one thing, which was getting home. There’d been some mild weather over the holidays to clear away most of the snow, leaving brown lawns and clear streets behind. But the temperature had plunged. It was sub-zero today and I wrapped my red scarf around my face as I made my way home. A quick walk, since I took the shortcut, so it wasn’t too bad.
Once home, I passed my mother’s office on my way up to my room.
“Hey Nikki,” she said when she caught a glimpse of me. “Just let me finish another chapter and then maybe we’ll order pizza for dinner. Sound okay?”
“Sure. How’s the writing going?”
“Pretty good. Trying to get into the new book. It takes a while to get the momentum going.” My mother wrote paranormal romance novels for a living. She’d written more than twenty of them, actually, and was able to do it full time. Her chosen vocation described her personality pretty well. She loved love. Loved romance. Loved the idea of the “ideal” hero who swept the heroine off her feet and they got to have a happily ever after, even if my mother had become jaded over the years about it happening for her in real life.
No, real life romance didn’t seem quite as perfect or dependable as fiction. Thus her four marriages and divorces, her most recent currently in the works. She wanted to meet the perfect man who would make everything wonderful and love her back like the vampire heroes in her books loved their heroines, but so far it hadn’t worked out so well for her four ex-husbands.
I hated to think Mr. Crane might be on his way to becoming number five.
Not that I had anything against him. He was nice enough, way nicer than a couple of the others had been. He was smart and, for an old guy of around forty, reasonably good looking.
Plus, they were taking things really slowly. But...
Well, he wasn’t my father.
That was who I knew my mother was meant to be with—why she couldn’t find true happiness with anyone else. Only I couldn’t say anything. He would be furious if I did since their relationship from the very beginning was forbidden by demon law and any contact now would put her safety in jeopardy. He’d had no idea she’d even been pregnant—and he’d had no clue I even existed until just last month.
My mother had her heart shattered into a million pieces when he disappeared without a trace over sixteen years ago, leaving her as a sing
le mother who’d had to support both herself and me from the time she was only eighteen—not all that much older than I was now. Even though I now knew why he hadn’t been able to say anything or stay in touch, I understood how she must have felt then. How she still felt now. Betrayed. Abandoned. Heartbroken.
I wished I could tell her the truth. I wondered if it would make any difference to her. Was there a chance she could still love my father, even after knowing the truth about what he really was?
Just because she wrote about vampires in love didn’t mean she could deal with a real live demon. Even if he was a demon king.
In my room, I eyed the two things on my nightstand in silence. The little white box containing the faery rose on one side, and the drawing Chris had done on the other. Both freaked me out, but not enough to throw either away. They’d just sat there for the last few days, taunting me.
“You don’t scare me,” I told them.
Finally, as if to show just how much they didn’t scare me, I looked at each one up close again.
The drawing of the ominous winged figure was still as creepy. Chris had drawn it in pencil, pressing so hard in some places that it had torn right through the paper. It made me shiver as a weird sensation of dread filled me. I folded the drawing back up and slid it into the drawer so I wouldn’t have to see it and worry about what it might mean. After all, it could mean absolutely nothing.
Then I lifted the lid off the faery rose and its sweet scent hit me immediately. It was as beautiful and fresh as it had been on Monday morning, but, oddly, it wasn’t red today. It had changed to a soft pink color. This surprised me, but didn’t fill me with dread like the drawing did. It filled me with happiness that I’d been given something so exquisitely beautiful. Which, really, was still disturbing, considering who’d given it to me.
It also went into the drawer.
After pizza and an evening of mind-numbing TV, I went to bed at eleven. My room felt warm since Mom had cranked the heat all day. She liked to work in shorts and a tank top, so she kept the house warmer than I preferred it. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to fall asleep, but knew it would be difficult. I must have tossed and turned for at least an hour before...I heard it.
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