Page 45 of Daughter of the Dark

But beneath the fear and the clumsy grasp for control had been a thread of certainty. A kind of peace that required total surrender and trust in herself and her instincts.

An acceptance of who she was, and what she could do.

There was no space for doubt or hesitation or self-deprecation. This thing inside of her, whether it was a gift or a curse, it demanded to be seen and leashed and used. It was swirling in her blood, throughout every part of her body and soul, giving life to the very fabric of who she was. Solana simply had to trust herself and let it through.

A deep breath and the space within her expanded. It took all of her focus to gently coax her gift from the pit of her stomach, where it sat waiting like an untouched well of cool water. The heat of Reyes slipped away, replaced by her own essence so that all she could feel was the desire to possess. To succeed.

It coursed through her like a wave of harmony, with relief and gratitude and eager anticipation. She directed the tide into the stone, not with a command, but with certainty, and then gasped when she felt the stone swallow its fill, like a bucket near to overflowing.

When she opened her eyes and her hand, the blood on her finger was gone, but the stone in her palm shone a glaring crimson.

“It’s not the dagger,” Reyes said quietly, his hand gently cradling hers. “It’s you.”

“So, just you and Reyes.” Cora was reclined on Solana’s unused bed, her head propped up on both hands and her feet swinging in the air behind her. “And he’s going to help you access your gift.”

“Yes.” Solana shoved a set of clothes into a cloth bag and avoided her friend’s prying eyes.

“And you can’t do it here. It has to be … somewhere else?”

With a sigh, Solana straightened and tossed the bag over her shoulder. “It was Reyes’s idea. I’m just trying to be compliant.”

Cora snorted a laugh, and Solana sent her a glare. “Sorry, it’s just that you’re a terrible liar and also, my gift is discernment.”

That might have been true, but Solana wasn’t going to tell Cora that they were going into the dense forest that bordered the eastern sea to hunt a demon. There were rumors of muki that haunted the forests where they had been killed by the jarjarcha, the creature that fed on incestuous souls. It was only a rumor, but she was finding that most rumors held some truth, and some souls didn’t deserve to be rescued.

It was the only way that Reyes could be convinced to kill one, and Solana was eager to see just how far her gift extended. If he used her dagger to kill, would he suffer the emotional torment as she did? Would he be able to command as she could?

It was the only opportunity they’d have to find their answers.

“I’ll tell you everything when I get back,” Solana said, which may or may not have been a lie.

Cora hummed as if she knew, and then rolled off the bed. “Well, I don’t think you’ll die out there, but I have a not great feeling about it. Good luck!” She kissed her cheek and then flounced out of the room, leaving Solana to dread what a not great feeling meant.

Solana didn’t feel great when Reyes suggested they ride together again.

“I’ve been riding. Roiden says I’m a natural.” Solana gestured toward the man, who nodded solemnly as if he were on trial.

Reyes stepped closer so that his chest was pressed against her shoulder. “It’s more discreet this way. Unless you would like to explain to King Killian where we’re going and what we’re doing.”

Solana wouldn’t give him a reason to renege on their agreement. Resigned, she pushed past him and stepped up to mount. When she swung her leg over and into the saddle, she narrowly missed kicking Reyes’s head. Accidentally, of course.

“I think you simply don’t trust me to be in control of something. What was it that you said?” Solana looked off as if thinking hard. “That I was reckless and a coward?”

Reyes swung up and filled the space behind her, his body curling over hers as he grabbed the reins and tucked them into her hands.

“You’ll have all the control this time,” he murmured, his breath pushing the fine hairs at her temple and tickling her cheek. “Things are different now. We have a truce, remember?”

The reins squeezed in two fists, Solana ignored the heat gathered low in her belly and listened as he guided her out the back entrance of the stables and down a path that pressed against the wall and skirted the royal gardens. It was dark enough that they stayed in the shadows, and the gardens, colorfully vibrant during the day, looked ominous and misleading at night. She could just glimpse the top of the tall statue depicting the late King Julian and Queen Alanna.

They had died during the betrayal twenty years ago, when muki poured in and ravaged all of Supay. It was said that Prince Killian’s cries of anguish when he found their bodies scared even the demons from the underworld, that they howled their own anguish at the skies before slaughtering more people in cold blood. And then he had hunted Masimu.

From friends to foes. Allies to enemies.

Solana looked away from the vaguely familiar faces.

“Stop here,” Reyes said. She gently tugged on the reins, and the horse danced to a stop. Reyes produced a Medallion from a pocket in his cloak and pressed it into a divot in the middle of a small square in the wall. It lit up with a quick flash, and then the stone shifted, revealing a doorway and the forest beyond. “Medallions are imbued with our blood,” he told her, gently guiding them through. “Only myself, Hakun, and King Killian can exit through here.”

“So the Medallion I would have stolen from Nikolas and Oskar—”