Reclaiming Mystique (SpaceStalker Saga Book 2) by Bevan Greer

on her behalf, expressing his desire to keep her on at Haunted Library, but to no avail. Her father would not have a demon, especially his daughter, working on Fer. He absolutely forbade it.
    Naria wandered outside of the Haunted Library around to the light gardens. After her punishment last night, she knew she shouldn’t even think of being near light. But then, Father had demanded she stay away from the light cell. He hadn’t mentioned the light garden .
    Pretending she lived in another world, she moved swiftly through the darkness to the light beckoning her forward. She never failed to find peace and a quiet space to think here. Viewed as an odd collection of horrible life, the green plants and red and purple blossoming flowers attracted few onlookers able to tolerate the bright alien vegetation.
    Naria loved being near the thriving plants. They looked so beautiful, so bright and lively. She studied the purple blooms so like her eyes, so like her mother’s.
    Naria frowned. Lately she’d been dwelling on her mother, and she didn’t know why. She had lived her entire life with the knowledge that Xeche had killed Zena, understanding that death was a part of life on Dark World.
    Fatality came quickly to those who could not or would not defend themselves. Zena had been weaker than Xeche. Naria strove, with her father’s harsh encouragement, not to make similar mistakes. But she couldn’t help feeling close to her mother at times when she felt unable to adapt to her life.
    She cast a subtle look at the male demons making a large circle around the garden. Dark haired with black eyes and pale skin, they at least looked the part of rising demonhood.
    Even Carinna looked like a typical Dark Worlder. She had always fit in much easier than Naria. Carinna tried so hard to be like the others when she had more in common with Naria than she liked to admit.
    Carinna and Naria were probably closer than any two beings on the planet. They shared a liking for each other uncommon in their world. Though Carinna enjoyed her position as a wraith under Lord Feera, Naria knew her sister was uneasy on Lysst. That Carinna could tolerate the light cell showed how different she was from others.
    Yet Carinna worked to serve Dark World and made no waves among those around her. Unlike Naria, who had never made any pretense about liking the planet. Until her punishments became too harsh to bear, Naria had been vocal about her desire to explore the System. Lord Demise had quickly stopped her outspoken truths.
    Naria sighed as she stared at a red blood flower, wishing she could be like everyone else, wanting to be a proper shayna to make her father proud. But what good was a half-breed demon with healing powers?
    Demons fed off of the psyche. They worked to invade one’s thoughts and served as warriors in a militant sense, like her father, as both succubi and incubi, and as wraiths and formless spirits intent on harm.
    Even the devels had purpose, maintaining control over the elements, poisons of the world, and the undead ghouls and goblins that roamed Dark World.
    Naria had no ability to destroy. She might as well declare herself an enemy to the planet than expose her odd gift of healing. Only through relentless determination and practice had she managed to shift into wraith form. Unfortunately she couldn’t maintain the energy to hold the formless spirit, so her one shot at a normal life on Dark World vanished before it had taken root.
    Thoughts of her circumstances depressed her, and Naria found herself thinking about Jace instead. She couldn’t continue to wait for an opportunity to escape with him. The more time that passed, the greater the possibility her father would simply kill the man. Naria needed to create her own opportunity for escape and soon.
    Deciding to take action, she mulled over a plan as she stood and headed for the nearest transector. She quickly traveled to Lysst and was halfway to her father’s home when she saw Carinna