Another quick scan of the edges of the room confirmed that my stalker… or rather, Michael, was definitely nowhere to be seen.
"Thanks, but there's something I need to take care of," I said. "I need to go home."
"I guess I'll ask Larissa. ." She glanced down the table at the bubbly brunette who would chew off her own arm to be Melinda's best friend. "You're not going to bail on the dance completely, are you? Because it's important that you're there. You have to be with me when I'm crowned Winter Queen."
I laughed at that. "Somebody's confident." She smiled again and shrugged. "When you've got it, you've got it."
I sighed. "I still have no idea why you want to be my friend. I keep waiting for you to change your mind."
"That's strange, because I feel the same way about you."
"Obviously we're both pretty messed up."
"Tell me something I don't know."
I had no doubt in my mind that Melinda would take home her coveted prize tonight. She'd be Winter Queen. It was practically preordained. Like she'd been born into popularity, and it simply came naturally for her to dole it out at will to other people.
Like it was fate.
I'd been thinking about fate a lot since last night. I touched the outline of the potion bottle under my shirt again.
I wished I could talk to my father. We hadn't had nearly enough time together. His demon form had scared me, badly, but I'd recovered. I wanted to see him again and get the chance to say a real good-bye. Michael would take me back there, wouldn't he? One last time before I drank the potion.
I craned my neck again. Where was Michael? I'd half-expected him to be waiting outside my house that morning, but he hadn't been there. I'd walked to school alone.
When the lunch period was over I stood up from the table, throwing my half-eaten fries into the garbage on my way out. I'd made my decision. I wasn't going to drink the potion until I'd had a chance to see my father again. But I knew it had to be soon. I knew there wasn't much time left.
My cell phone vibrated and I fished it out of my pocket. It was a text message. hey gorgeous I hope ur ready for the best nite of ur life-prince charging Chris. I rolled my eyes at his cute but cheesy message. My Prince Charming. He still was, I guessed. But his mega confidence wasn't nearly as appealing as it had been before.
I felt a bit guilty about leading him on when I had no intention of dating him anymore. After all, he wasn't Michael.
I had to leave. I didn't want to be at school anymore, so I decided to skip my afternoon classes. I shifted my back' pack to my other shoulder and left the school grounds, keeping one hand over the outline of my potion bottle while I walked.
"Michael?" I said out loud. "Where are you?" A jogger headed in the opposite direction gave me a funny look.
Talking to myself. That must have looked really sane. I crossed my arms and concentrated really hard. Michael? I thought, trying to be all telepathic. Are you there? Hello?
There was no reply. Nothing.
My frustration gave way to a thread of worry. Where was he? Did he think I'd already taken the potion? Wasn't he coming back like he said he would?
Michael, if you're out there, please think something. Tell me you're okay.
I kept walking, but a little faster now. He'd said that the telepathy only worked when we were close to each other, hadn't he? I'd forgotten. It was one small piece of information in the sea of knowledge about the Shadowlands I was wading through. I was so confused.
Maybe he'd been punished for not telling me he was a servant. Maybe he wasn't allowed to contact me ever again.
I jogged down the hill leading into Hungry Hollow and over the little snow-covered bridge. The river was icy but it gurgled along underneath. Michael had been there twice waiting for me, watching over me. But he wasn't there today. That park had been the location of a lot of drama for me lately and I suddenly felt very alone and vulnerable.
Normally I would have thought I was just being all paranoid. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
The huge guy stepped out from behind the oak tree and blocked my path. It was the same one from yesterday-the one with the knife. The knife he still had.
"Princess," he greeted me.
Panic welled in my chest and I hoped that Michael would come marching down the path behind him, but there was nothing. Only the two of us stood in the middle of the empty park.
"Leave me alone," I told him and was surprised by how commanding I sounded.
"Can't do that, Princess. I have a job to do." His knife glinted. "As a Darkling, you have to die."
I'd been told I had to do a lot of things I didn't want to do lately-dying was right at the top of the list.
My throat tightened and I held up a hand. "But… I'm not a Darkling anymore. My father… the king… he gave me a potion and I drank it. I'm completely human now."
He studied me for a moment and then sniffed the air. "If that was the case, I would sense it. I don't smell only human. You're a liar."
I took a shaky step back from him. "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. The only thing that matters is what I have to do."
"Where's Michael?" I demanded. My heart slammed against my ribcage and every muscle in my body was tense. "What have you done to him? Have you hurt him?"
"Who's Michael?"
"He was with me yesterday when you tried to attack me."
He narrowed his eyes. "The Shadow." "Where is he?" "I killed him." I gasped. "No!"
His expression twisted into a cruel grin. "Just kidding, Princess. Why would I bother to kill a Shadow? But it's very interesting. A princess concerned for the fate of her servant. I'm sure the king wouldn't be too happy about that."
I felt like I was going to throw up. The thought that Michael could have been dead. .
He eyed me then, his gaze moving down the length of me and changing from dangerous to leering. "You are very beautiful, Princess. I can see why your Shadow has developed a bond with you. It's unfortunate that I must destroy you now. I think we could have gotten along very nicely."
He closed the distance between us so fast that I didn't have a chance to move. He pressed the sharp knife against my throat.
Anger, panic, and fear surged simultaneously through me and my headache raged forward again so badly that my knees buckled.
"Don't do this," I managed as I grabbed his forearm, but he was like a tank. I knew I couldn't fight him off for very long. He was too strong.
But I couldn't just give up. I couldn't just let him kill me. I'd fight as much as I could for as long as I could. Past the fear, past the anger, past the panic. I concentrated all of my energy on doing whatever it took to get out of this alive.
My fear began to wash away from me like a sheet of water. I knew I should be scared. I should be begging for my life, but fear was suddenly the last thing on my mind.
I thought of my father, I thought of Michael. This couldn't be the end. I needed to see them again. One last time. The thought melded with the anger I felt and grew stronger and stronger.