"I understand," he said and was quiet. His gaze drew distant, as if he were remembering something dark. "I know what it is to be betrayed." His pain was almost palpable, and she couldn't help feeling it was too raw for him to fake. Unlike her father, this creature was capable of sympathy. Whatever had happened, the man before her was hurting still, like she did when her father hit her.
She held out her hand. He shook his head to clear it and reached across the island. She braced herself, expecting to feel some sort of rush of energy, like she did when she touched Jule. Instead, she felt a tingle in her thoughts and nothing else.
"Show me," he said.
She closed her eyes and retraced the route to the cottage in her mind, only distantly aware she was absorbing his energy.
"Did you tell him you can do this?" he asked, perplexed.
"Do what?" she asked and opened her eyes.
Their hands were bathed in the same strange haze that surrounded him. Surprised, she yanked her hand free.
"I resisted as much as I could, and you still stole my magic," Darian said, cocking his head to the side. "Would be useful for …" He tensed. "Gotta go."
He disappeared, and she stared after him for a long moment before grabbing as many weapons as she could carry and returning to her room. She rested the weapons on her bed and locked the door.
She still felt defenseless against whatever creatures her father and the Guardians were. She sat for a moment, finally admitting she needed to embrace whatever it was about her that made her special. The recent chain of events made it impossible for her to deny something serious was going on, and she was somehow involved. She just had to convince her father to tell her what that was.