Page 21 of Dream in Darkness
“That’s amazing,” I say, wishing I could replicate some of her joy and confidence. I have spent my entire life being told who I am, instead of discovering it for myself. I don’t think about my own wants or desires, only the needs of my pack.
What if things were different?
“What about you, wolf girl. Any cool scars?” She waggles her eyebrows at me, but I shake my head.
“No, unfortunately most of mine were self-inflicted. No exciting fight stories here. I was afraid people would make fun of them, but they’re all covered by fur or tattoos now,” I say, a partial truth.
“People who joke about scars have never been cut. It’s easier to make light of someone’s pain when you’ve never felt it,” she says, her voice comforting. “Regardless, your tattoos are beautiful.”
Most of my scars were from the demons in my head, not the ones on Hel, but I’ve gotten my fair share of violence, too. Mostlyfrom my training as second. They’d have me follow the enforcers into dangerous situations when I was as young as fourteen. I can’t say I miss it.
“Thanks,” I say. “So what’s the deal with everyone here?”
Taryn cocks her head to the side. “What, my story wasn’t interesting enough?”
“No,” I let out a small laugh. “It’s not like that, I just—what do I need to know to understand everyone?”
And what can I use against them when it comes time to fight?
“Where do I begin? Draven and Absinthe have super traumatizing childhoods. Lilian is a rich kid gone rogue.”
“What about Reina?” I want to ask about Yasmeena, but I don’t want to reveal all my cards just yet.
“I actually don’t know much about Baelor or Reina’s pasts. Yasmeena and Khalid are orphans from another continent?—”
“Orphans. Like, their parents died?”
“Yeah, some kind of freak diving incident killed their dad, and their mom essentially died of a broken heart. It’s really sad,” she says, and a new wave of understanding passes over me.
My mother might be aloof and neglectful, and my father might be too hard on me, but at least my parents are alive. No wonder Yasmeena sees me as a spoiled princess.
“That’s awful.”
“Yeah, they were street performers before migrating over to Haeresis and joining the carnival. Did Yasmeena not tell you?”
“No. Well, I mean she’s told me some things, but no. A lot of this stuff never came up,” I say, standing. “Hey, can we do this again sometime?”
“Stare at each other on a river bank?”
“No. Well, sort of. Can we meet and just talk? It would be nice to have a friend here.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Good.” A pang of guilt hits my chest at her vulnerability, and I wish we could become friends for real. The kind of friendship that spans a lifetime, like what I have with Zuri and Clio.
But even if it’s temporary, and even if my father would say it’s ill-advised, I think I deserve at least one person here that I can be myself with.
Movement No. 9
Yasmeena
Ithink I might despise my fiancé.
“This is not good,” I say, and Draven and Gemma nod. “She was a horrid nightmare to me a few nights ago, which is why Leo must have reported us for misconduct.”
“After everything Leo’s been through, he’s probably just trying to be careful,” Gemma offers, and I nod in agreement.
“She threatened me, so that makes sense. But even after that she was cruel to Una, according to Robyn. Tempest was telling Una something about Draven not believing in her?”
