Secret Keepers: The Complete Series

by Jaymin Eve

  Chapter 2

  Waking up to a pounding head was not something I was used to. I never drank or indulged in anything that would impair my senses; that was one of my mom’s rules I absolutely agreed with. I liked to stay in control.

  So why was I about to … I rolled across the bed and dry heaved over the side, thankful there was nothing in my stomach to come out. The pain in my head became even worse as I gagged and spluttered, eventually just hanging half off the bed. I wiped my mouth, desperate for some water, but unable to pull myself up to crawl to our tiny bathroom.

  Laying my head against the super soft throw, I tried to remember what had happened. The pounding didn’t ease, but as my head started to clear, I realized that the light wasn’t coming from the normal direction it did in my room. In fact … nothing was as it should be, including the fact I was in a massive king-size bed.

  I jerked myself upright, fighting the disorientation and nausea. Shit. The last hours before I blacked out came back to me in jerky mental scenes.

  Hot Daelighter … Michaels … on the run.

  As I scanned the bedroom I was in, which was at least the size of my entire condo, I paused at a pair of long legs stretched out in front of a chair in the corner. The owner of those legs appeared to be asleep – judging by the soft snores – his face back in the shadows, making it difficult for me to see who it was.

  I eased myself off the bed. I was still dressed in my clothes from earlier; only my shoes were missing. Thank God. Hopefully “human” wasn’t the right type to get these aliens going – sexually that was. It would be nice not to have to fear rape at their hands.

  As I took the first step toward the window, my feet sank into the carpet. It was soft and thick, cushioning my soles as I crept forward. Adrenalin pumped hard within me and I had to fight the urge to just flat-out sprint. I forced myself to take a moment to figure out my escape. The window was the older kind that had a latch which twisted to open it, and then the bottom half slid up. I would easily be able to fit out through the opening, and there looked to be a small landing on the other side, which was helpful, because I was on the second floor of wherever I was.

  It was dark outside, but the well-lit street below was familiar, one of the rich areas in the French Quarter. I was pretty sure it was Esplanade Avenue. I recognized one or two landmarks from my first days exploring here.

  The latch twisted without a sound and I moved the glass frame up slowly, letting in the billowing heat. I hadn’t noticed until that hot blast hit me how pleasantly cool it was inside. The heat increased my headache, but I shoved the pain to the side. I’d deal with it later. I needed to hurry, before the humid air woke whomever owned the legs in the corner.

  When the frame was eighty percent open, I swung my leg out, resting my weight on the ledge below. Just as I ducked my head and shifted to bring my other leg across, a voice from below had me freezing. Deep, accented, and sexy as hell, it was immediately recognizable as the tatted hot-alien.

  I stopped breathing as I waited to see if I’d been sprung.

  “We’re currently at Jason’s place near the Quarter.” Pause. “Her mom was gone by the time I got there…” There was another pause before he continued. “I’d say that Laous has her. He’s clearly going to try the same thing he did with Emma … using this girl’s family as a bargaining chip.”

  Air whooshed out of me when I realized he was on the phone, talking about my mom and this Laous asshole he thought had taken her. My heart was pounding rapidly, caught between fear and anger. I didn’t always like my mom – most days I fantasized about running away and never dealing with her shit again – but part of me loved her. She was all I had.

  I had to get her back. But how the hell was I going to do that on my own? As I sat there, one leg in and one out of the building, I realized that I needed to find out exactly what the deal was with these Daelighters who had kidnapped me. Michaels said he was protecting me, and I had to take into account the fact that he hadn’t attacked me in all the weeks he’d been around.

  Truth was, I needed more information. At the moment I only had half the story, and it wasn’t adding up. Maybe it was worth sticking around a little longer, finding out exactly what they had to say. Besides, I couldn’t exactly escape out this window with that guy below anyway.

  I was just about to slide myself back inside when he said: “I don’t know anything about her…” Pause. “No way. Fuck. She punched me in the dick. There’s no way I’m hanging around any longer than I have to.”

  I grinned at that. He shouldn’t have entered my place acting like a creepy shit. Creeps get punched in the dick.

  “I’ll tell her the deal, convince her to get her ass back to Astoria, and then we can go from there.”

  It sounded like he was about to hang up, but the person on the other end of the phone must have said something more, because the Daelighter was all of a sudden very serious.

  “The council cannot expect me to hang around here waiting for Laous to reappear,” he bit out the words. “I might not be ready to be overlo … completely in charge right now, but I have to at least check in. I mean, how long do they think I can be away?” More pauses. “I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

  I’d heard enough, so I eased myself back through the window into the bedroom. When I stood and turned, I sucked back a scream at the sight of cinnamon eyes ringed with golden circles staring down at me. Breathing rapidly, my eyes darted between the outside garden he’d just been standing in and the spot he now occupied. In the bedroom. Right by the window.

  “You better get your skinny ass back in this room,” he growled, clearly not a happy alien.

  From this angle, I had a really good view of the dark maroon tattoos on the side of his head. They were symbols, swirling and arching in thick lines, slightly tribal in design, and I’d bet all the money I did not have right now that they were words.

  He cleared his throat and my gaze returned to his eyes. Eyes which were so at odds with the rest of his bad boy look. I tried to ignore the sparks of intrigue that shot through me. I didn’t care that those cinnamon irises were depthless, seeming to hold the weight of the world within them. And I definitely didn’t care that he could actually be the most beautiful male that had ever walked this world.

  Falling back on my false bravado, I drawled, “Clearly I was coming back inside, so let’s save the macho display for another time. Okay? Okay…”

  I crossed my arms, letting my attitude shine brightly from me. For most of my life I’d been referred to as “difficult” by my mom. She’d even tried to beat it out of me. But I’d never changed. This was who I was, and he would have to deal with it.

  “Look … Human…” He shook his head. “I’m not your enemy. I’m not here to fight with you.”

  “What do you actually want? And how did you get from that garden into the room so fast?”

  His gaze slammed into mine and I choked on my next words. Not only could he move as fast as a superhero, he could also apparently hypnotize me with one look. And don’t even get me started on that voice of his. It was a weapon.

  I was seriously at a disadvantage.

  Before I hyperventilated, he released me by turning toward the window, resting both hands against the frame as he stared out. His next words had less anger in them, that low drawl wrapping around me: “I’m here because my uncle is an evil bastard. He’s searching for the location of an object here on Earth, and unfortunately, your family is one of the secret keepers who know the location.”

  “My mom,” I gasped, my right hand clutching at my throat. “Is that why he took my mom?”

  My thoughts were in turmoil, trying to reconcile everything I thought I knew with this new information coming to light. Was this about my father and his involvement in that group?

  Footsteps distracted me as Michaels hurried over, his eyes drowsy, his hands shifting through his surfer locks. “Daniel … sorry, man, I must have crashed.”

  He noticed me standing the
re then, his eyes flicking across to the open window.

  “She almost escaped, didn’t she?” he said drily.

  I crossed my arms. “She’s standing right here, Michaels.”

  I got a sheepish look in return. “I was up half the night making sure you didn’t die from your concussion. Which you gave yourself because you never listen to me.”

  It was dark outside, but we must be near morning. Which meant I’d been unconscious for hours, damn them.

  Dropping my arms, I took a step forward and Michaels had the intelligence to hold his hands up and take a step back. “Whoa, killer, I’ve been on the receiving end of your right hook before. No need for violence.”

  Shaking my head at the pure stupidity of this guy, I turned back to the scary one. Daniel, apparently.

  “Why did Laous take my mom? What the hell is a secret keeper?”

  Daniel wore a look which was part amused, part exasperated. “He took her because you’re a secret keeper. Which, as the title suggests, is a person who keeps a secret.”

  I was going to punch him. Again.

  “He needs you,” Daniel continued before my plans of violence could go any further. “Your blood will lead him to the next secret keeper, who will lead him to the last, and then he will find this object he is searching for.”

  My head kind of felt like it was going to explode. The headache, on top of this information, was a little too much. “I don’t understand,” I finally admitted, not at all happy about my continued confusion.

  “It’s a long, complicated story.” His voice was softer now, and so soothing I almost closed my eyes. “All you need to know now is that Laous wants you, he has taken your mom as a way to force your compliance, and he is going to try and lure you out again.”

  “Why didn’t he just wait at the condo for me? He must have known I’d be back soon.”

  Daniel and Michaels exchanged a look. “He probably sensed Daniel in the area,” Michaels finally said. “I couldn’t believe it when Dan showed up telling me about a secret keeper down here in New Orleans that he needed to find. Who would have thought it’d be the same chick I like to rile up at the gym?”

  I was surprised to hear that he hadn’t been watching me the entire time for the Daelighters, that his interest might have actually been genuine. Not that I cared. Michaels was not my type. Even if he hadn’t been an alien.

  “You’ve been looking for me?” I asked Daniel, and he nodded.

  “As soon as we got a hit on the location of the next secret keeper, we set out to get to them before Laous.”

  They’d almost done that too. Just missed saving my mom by hours.

  “If you promise not to try and escape again,” Daniel said, “I will answer all of your questions. It appears I’m staying in New Orleans for longer than planned, and you need to realize we’re working toward the same goal here. I don’t want to have to keep an eye on you at all times of the day and night.”

  Uh, yeah, I was totally not promising anything. If I felt at any point like my life was in danger being here, I would be gone so fast their supernatural heads would spin. So far I hadn’t been hurt – by anyone other than myself – or raped or threatened. I felt somewhat comfortable being in their presence. But I would never trust them.

  They weren’t human. One of their kind kidnapped my mom. I needed to remain on guard.

  At my silence, his grin extended a little further. “Close enough,” he finally said, flashing me a full smile, all of those perfect teeth blinding me. And he had a damn dimple. Like he needed one more weapon to use against us. Despite my disgust toward him and his people in general, there was a moment where I had the clichéd butterflies-in-my-tummy thing going on.

  Michaels took a seat on the edge of the bed, while Daniel and I remained standing. I continued to maintain at least a six-foot distance from them both. If I needed to fight or run, the space was important. At least the pounding in my head had finally eased a touch.

  Daniel crossed his arms, which only emphasized the mammoth size of him. No doubt an intimidation tactic. “What exactly do you know about us? I don’t want to waste my time repeating information you already possess.”

  Mimicking him, I crossed my arms, tilting my head to the side in a sardonic glare. “Would hate to waste your time, your royal highness, it’s been a real worry of mine since we met.” I continued on in the same drawling tone: “Let’s see, what do I know. Number one: you’re arrogant bastards who think humans are scum under your shoes.” No reaction. No denial. “Number two, you’re called Daelighters, you’re not from Earth, but you somehow managed to infiltrate our world and control most aspects of it anyway.” I was digging deep, going back to my mother’s lectures. “You’re from an alternate universe … and your planet is called Overworld. There’s been some sort of treaty with Earth since the late 1800s. Something keeping both planets alive? But in the end you’ll probably take over Earth completely and kill us all.”

  Daniel nodded. “Except for the last part, you’re on track. What else do you know about the treaty?”

  Good to know they had no immediate plans for the annihilation of the human race. Maybe that was just one of Mom’s crazy rants.

  I shrugged, shaking my head. “Nothing else about the details of the treaty. My mom has spent my entire life warning me to go nowhere near your kind. All I know is that if you get your hands on me, very bad things will happen. She didn’t spend much time telling me anything else.”

  His eyes darkened and deepened until they were reflective pools of emotion. Heavy emotions if I was judging correctly – anger, distaste, passion, fire. I tore my gaze away before it got too hard to handle. His eyes and voice did that same thing to my insides as jazz music and Jackson Square. Made me feel too much. And I needed the numbness right now.

  Michaels sprawled out further across the bed, drawing my attention. “Your mother is greatly misinformed,” he told me in his drawling accent. “The treaty was put in place as a mutual advantage to both worlds. Energy from Earth powers our network and keeps the four races of Daelighters from falling into war again, because now we all have enough power to be sustained. In return, Earth received a very special stone, one which stopped the weather phenomena of your world from ripping it to pieces. A starslight stone.”

  His voice dropped low, filled with reverence as he mentioned the stone.

  Daniel added: “This stone is extremely powerful and important to our people. It’s the basis for holding the treaty together. When the overlords and the leaders of your free world first signed the treaty, it was agreed that humans and Daelighters would integrate. A hundred humans were brought in on the secret. Their offspring went on to be secret keepers for the starslight stone. There are always four, one for each house. Born in the same year.”

  “What’s a house?” I interrupted.

  Daniel didn’t skip a beat. “In my … part of Overworld, there are four sectors. House of Imperial is mine, then there is House of Darken, House of Leights, and House of Royale. We are all ruled separately by overlords – like a king and queen – and have unique abilities and traditions. You are the secret keeper born in House of Imperial.”

  I held a hand up, my mouth no doubt a wide O as I stared at him. “I … I was born in Overworld?”

  There was no way. Seriously. That would mean my mom went there, gave birth to me, and then came home only to poison me against these Daelighters for my entire life.

  Michaels nodded, his expression somewhat serious. “Yes, you had to be born there to be a secret keeper. That’s how your blood can lead to the next keeper. You have energy from House of Imperial inside of you.”

  My breathing was doing something weird, harshly drawing in and out, but my lungs were still starving for air. The men across from me let me have this moment to break down, and eventually the rest of the questions overwhelmed me, and I had to ask.

  “So, there are four secret keepers … I’m number two … what happened to the first one?”

 
Daniel’s expression softened, and for a moment I felt a stab of jealousy. Because it was clear he knew and cared about this number one.

  “Emma,” he said. “She was born in House of Darken, and she’s my best friend’s world.”

  Well, at least she wasn’t dead. That had to be a good sign.

  “Why did Daelighters trust humans with this secret?” I had to ask. “Wouldn’t it be easier and simpler just to use your people?”

  Daniel nodded. “Much easier, but humans felt they were at a disadvantage in regard to the treaty, because we have power and skills they do not. They insisted that while a Daelighter hid the stone, humans would be the ones to always know its whereabouts. The fourth secret keeper has a map on their body, which will change if the stone’s location ever changes.”

  I got humans wanting that advantage. I could already tell that the Daelighters were way out of my league when it came to … pretty much everything.

  I sank against the side of the bed, trying my best to process it all. This new information … it was a struggle to truly believe what they were saying. This had to be the “family business” my father had been part of. No wonder my mom was so angry. She no doubt got dragged into it.

  “How exactly does this Laous fit into it all?” I asked, my voice raspier than usual.

  Daniel’s face went scary again. “Laous was the overlord of House of Imperial. He killed my father and somehow took the power which should have gone to me as the next overlord.”

  Michaels cut in: “He apparently did that to make sure he would have the power to find the first secret keeper. He’s no longer overlord now. Got the boot when he killed the parents of the first secret keeper and then almost killed her as well. Daniel is set to take over the role – which should have always been his.”

  I looked between both of them, blinking a stupid amount of times. It seemed to be helping me process. Or I had suddenly developed some sort of eye disorder. “Laous used Emma’s blood to find me?”