Page 96 of Destined Dawn

The lightning bolt strikes the sky with darkness and I scream as my magic soars through me.

Then my father lets go of my wrist and the magic falls back down to earth.

I crumple to the ground, my shoulders heaving as I scrabble for breath. I glare up at my father. The magic is still hot and furious in my blood.

“What the hell did you just do?” I cry.

“My apologies,” he bows his head slightly, “mydeepestapologies. It was not my intention to hurt you. Perhaps I was a little overexcited.” His eyes gleam. “Your powers are far greater than I expected.”

He looks down at the hand that had gripped me and sparks seem to dance between his fingertips.

I pull myself up to standing, smoothing down my now crumpled clothes, my heart still racing in my chest.

“Perhaps it would be best if you returned to your quarters and rest some more. We will talk more on these matters later.” He smiles at me, oozing charm. “I am so pleased you are here, Rhianna. Reunited with me at last.”

He gestures to the door.

“I don’t need to rest,” I snap, realizing I sound exactly like a petulant child and wish I’d phrased that better. He may be my father but we’re both adults and he is a stranger to me. He doesn’t get to boss me around, even if he rules this nation. “We need to talk about–”

“Yes, but I have other business to attend to. Business that you interrupted.” My cheeks heat.

“This is important!”

“It can wait!” he snaps, his eyes flashing with anger and I take a hurried step away from him. Then he collects himself. “Such things should not be hurried. Let me speak with my advisers on the best way to proceed.”

I’m not satisfied with this compromise, but I need his help and angering him further doesn’t seem the best way to gain it. I tamper down my own anger, swallowing it down, and manage a half smile.

“Thank you,” I say and then I leave.

The anger still courses through my veins as I make my way back to our quarters, so much so that twice I take the wrong corridor and am forced to retrace my steps.

Then I stop.

This is bullshit. If he’s going to talk to his advisers about how to remove Christopher Kennedy from power, then Ineed to be there too. I’m not some little girl. I am Rhianna Blackwaters.

I spin on my toes and head straight back the way I’ve come. However, when I reach the Black Prince’s study I find it empty. He’s gone some place else to have these important conversations. I hiss in annoyance and decide, tough shit, I’m going to track him down.

I begin making my way through the corridors, knocking on doors and peering around doors. The place is bizarrely empty. Not a magical in sight. Probably all at this very important meeting with the Black Prince.

Then I catch the swish of a skirt rounding a corner in the distance – Charmaine’s skirt. I chase after her, running on my tiptoes, down a stairwell, and plummeting into the heart of the palace. I don’t know what I’m doing, why I decide to keep myself hidden, but I feel compelled to do so.

At the bottom of the stairs, Charmaine pauses, peering upward and I dive backward, pressing myself into the shadows, wishing I hadn’t lost my cloaker. Then she sets off along another corridor. Half way along she meets another young woman, dressed in similar robes. The other girl speaks to her softly, so quietly I don’t hear, and they set off together in a third direction. I follow the both of them, lurking far enough away that they can’t see or hear me.

At the end of the corridor I realize we’re back near the ballroom, although they stop outside another door, slightly ajar.

I can hear the eager chatter of voices from within and the strange crackling of magic.

The two girls wait at the entrance until someone from within calls for them. They step inside and once again I follow.

The room is packed with magicals, dressed in theirfinery, and sprawled over chaises and cushions, all fixated at something in the center of the room. I peer that way too, my mind taking a moment to decipher what I see.

The Black Prince – my father – bent over a young man, his mouth pressed to his neck as if he’s kissing him. The man is young like me, dressed in the same robes as Charmaine and the other girl. He’s chained to a low couch and he’s barely conscious.

My scalp prickles with unease. I’ve intruded into something private. Something a daughter shouldn’t see – that much I do understand even if I can’t compute what it is I’m seeing. I shouldn’t be here. The hum of excited voices and the sucking force of the magic in the air makes me shudder hard; a viscous sucking that seems to tug at the magic in my veins.

And then realization hits me hard.

I stumble backward.