Novels by Solo Daniels

The eyes of the servant slid sideways, looking for approval that was not given to him. It was not fear that caused him man to pause. It was gravity.Gravity made him weigh the options. Which gravitational force should he follow?“Who?” Lily repeated.The servant clenched his jaw, took a deep breath through his nostrils and slowly said “I don’t know a name.”“That’s fine,” Dylan said. “Tell me.”The servant's eyes darted to the individuals seated at the table. The individuals at the table did nothing. Nothing is also an order.“He spoke with confidence — as though he'd been welcomed here forever — as though he'd always belonged.”Lily thought about the words. Authority By Proxy. This type of authority is the most hazardous form.“He said," the servant continued, "if the bell rings someone important will arrive.""And you trusted him," Dylan said.The servant winced. “He had knowledge.”“Thieves also possess knowledge,” Lily said.The first individual at the table smiled somewhat. “We r

The bell rang once.Lily felt it before she could hear it. It was a service bell — not an alarm bell. Only meant to summon someone who already knew to come.She froze in place.Dylan did as well — a little farther back.He did not ask what it was. He had learned all of the palace's secondary sounds (as you learn a second language) by paying attention whenever it seemed as though no one cared."That wasn't scheduled," he said."No," Lily said.Neither of them moved. The hallway stretched out in front of them narrowing towards the kitchen where it was warm and smelled of old heat and metal. The bell's echo faded and disappeared.An unspoken decision lay between them.Lily chose it.She went left instead of right going towards the servant stairs which twisted back and forth in a confusing manner. Dylan followed without saying anything — his feet were about half a step behind hers.About halfway down, Lily slowed. The smell down here was different from above — there was much less stone, m

Lily was stuck; nothing had happened yet. She stood at a junction of three different corridors with no sounds from guards, footsteps, or the loudest breathing she had ever experienced.Despite the quietness, Lily decided to wait.Dylan stood to the right of her, only a few paces apart, watching for movement in two different directions. It used to annoy Lily that he had a habit of doing this, but now, it was transforming into something useful.Time passed; exactly how much, Lily wasn’t sure."They expected us to chase them," Lily acknowledged."They did," Dylan agreed.Lily shifted her weight. "Then, we don't."A moment passed before he spoke again.They continued to stand in their exact positions.The lamps could be heard humming, hummmmmmmm—it sounded along with the sounds of water flowing in pipes behind the walls.Lily let her head wander slightly, just enough to create a sense of danger with her thoughts. If they do not show up, we will have lost all of our momentum, but almost im

Darkness slipped into the palace quietly.In the palace, the light began to fade. The doors were closing quietly. Voices were fading slowly until they were more habit than choice. Lily walked down the middle of the hallway this time, by herself.She liked it better that way.The flooring in the hallway, unlike anything else she'd ever heard, reflected sound in such a way that each step she took sent sound back to her via the stone as if it wanted to remember who had walked on it. Her stride stayed steady.Before her was a corner. She slowed as she approached it.Lily paused and waited, but there was nothing. Nevertheless, she walked through the alcove and there was nothing there, although the air hinted of the faintest sign that someone had recently been there and that they had failed to erase their path.Lily chose not to follow them. Following them was exactly what they wanted.Rather, she headed toward the council wing; the one with the large windows and the echo that revealed too

The scent of the Archives was the scent of dust that had learned to mimic the behavior of dust; dusty papers and a faint hint of the oil that had been used too infrequently.There were also low-lit lamps along the walls, as no secrecy was intended by this.As Lily approached the Archives, she stopped to allow the space to form around her. It was a location that doesn’t favor being hurried.Dylan was one or two steps behind her.No one spoke.In the Archive, treaties and lists of people who had survived their signers were stored on the upper sections of the Archive. Those in the pack visited these areas much less frequently."Not a thing missing," Dylan stated quietly. "Not a thing obviously stolen," Lily replied.She ran her fingertips along the first shelf of the first aisle in the lower Archive. She did not need to physically contact anything to determine if it had been disturbed. As she neared the middle of the aisle, she stopped. “This one,” she stated.Dylan leaned forward to gai

When the walls closed, they looked perfectly normal; the stones fit together exactly as they should have.Lily felt the cool stone against her arm, but she did not attempt to reach out and touch it again. If she had touched it again, she would have shown surprise.Dylan walked deliberately towards her and viewed the stone as you view an old friend. "Let me take a look," Dylan said. Lily took a half step backward, and shifted her body so that Dylan could see the damaged part of the stone.Lily pointed to the part of the stone that was broken and said, "There."Dylan bent in closely to the stone and put his hand right above it. Even though the wind wasn't blowing, there was a gentle breeze. "Old air", "patient and old"."Somebody taught them," Dylan said. "Or they figured it out," Lily said. "People who wait long enough figure it out."There was a period of silence. The palace continued to run normally overhead, with doors opening and closing, people speaking softly and going about thei

~SHARON“Where are you?” Xavier’s voice was laced with a concern that made my heart flutter. It was as if he genuinely needed me. I told him my location, and within what felt like a heartbeat, a Rolls Royce purred to a stop in front of me. The window glided down, revealing his face. “Come,” he simply said, and I practically dove into the car, hugging him tightly, tears streaming down my face.“Just take me in, Xavier! I wouldn’t even mind being your pet, or even your slave,” I blurted out, the words tumbling from my lips in a rush. Surprise flickered across his features. “What a serendipitous coincidence! I have until tomorrow to find a wife. Will you marry me, Miss Sharon Miles, and become my Mrs.?” He asked, and I sat there, utterly gobsmacked.“Yes, I will!” I replied without hesitation, hugging him even tighter.“Shall we head home now, Master?” A voice cut through the moment, and I realized, with a jolt, that someone else was in the car. I instantly straightened up, feeling a b

~SHARONI pushed back a bit, and he grinned like a devil. “Is this how you want to get married? You’ll never be a wife,” he spat, grabbing my arm hard.I looked up at him, stumbling, wondering what he was going to do. He dragged me to my room and threw me to the floor, took out all the keys that could open the door, and locked me in. Shocked, I rushed to the door, banging on it. “James, I have a life to live! I can’t be locked in here again, please!” I shouted, hoping he would hear me, really hear me. “You have no life, and that’s why you’ll be in there for three days. No food, no water,” he spat, and I heard him walking away, his steps echoing.I sat on the floor, feeling like I’d lost. I touched my stomach. “I hadn’t eaten the night before, and now I have to go three days without food or water. How am I going to do this?” I thought, and lay on the floor, and in minutes, I fell asleep.I woke up loads of times, moving around because I was so uncomfortable.At some point, I took off

~SHARONGoosebumps ran all over me. How could I give my body to the person who hurt me? “I’m not in the mood,” I mumbled, and he punched me right on the head.I fell on the bed, my skull filled with aches. I tried to get my strength back, but he was still trying to force himself on me. Suddenly, I felt like I was in some battle.Something inside me snapped, and without thinking, I pushed him hard to the floor and ran out of the room.He didn’t give up and chased after me. I knew I was done for if he caught me, so I had no choice but to run from the whole house. I didn’t stop until I was in the middle of nowhere.I stopped to catch my breath, knowing he wasn’t around, and tears ran down my face. “I really can’t do this anymore,” I cried, holding my head where he had punched me.“How could a man who once said he loved me try to hurt me like this?” I thought, when a massive headache hit me. I couldn’t think straight. That punch on my head seemed to be messing me up. I looked at the road

~SHARON “Good! A pathetic soul like you should just do as they’re told.” He spat, and the second he let go, I fell to the floor, gasping for air.He turned to leave, and that’s when I blurted it out. “I can’t do this anymore. I want out. Give me what you owe me, and you’ll never see me again.”He stopped and turned to look at me, a nasty smile on his face. “I owe you sweet nothing, so leaving me means you’ll be on the streets.” He said and walked out the door.I struggled to get to my room, his words going round and round in my head. Turns out I’ve been played all these years, but what was the point?I grabbed my phone and called my best friend, Mia. She still works with the company, so I was sure she could help me get some money so I could get out of this mess.Her phone rang, but she didn’t pick up. I didn’t know if I should be worried, so I called again and again, but nothing.Giving up, I sat on my bed, trying to think when my phone rang again. I rushed to get it, but it was my e

~SHARONIt feels like ages since I skipped out of my family’s house, just so I could make my own rules and chase my dreams. It was good for a bit, you know? I didn’t just find my own strength in music and acting, but I also thought I’d found the real deal when it came to love. Sat in the living room of his massive house, I looked at James, the guy I was so into, who, lucky for me, was the top dog at the record company I was signed to. He’d asked me to come over, and I was dying to know what it was about. “Sharon, you can’t do music anymore,” he said, looking down like he was sad.“Come again?” I said, my smile fading. “You know that’s not on, right? James, I have fans now, loads of songs. All I need to do is keep making music, or I’ll just disappear. What are you even saying?” I was so confused.“Come on, babe, don’t you love me anymore? Look, I think it’s time we settled down and had kids. If you keep singing and going on tour, you won’t have time for us. Your songs are safe, trust m