by Jaymin Eve
Heat filled my cheeks. I willed the blush away, but as usual, my bodily functions never listened to my mental commands. Feeling like he was waiting for me to respond to his last statement, I shrugged. “I almost died – I mean, I’m still covered in my own friggin' blood.” My eyes went back to the water. “It changed me. I’m feeling everything so much stronger, and honestly … I can’t find the energy to continue holding onto my anger and fear any longer. None of that stopped my mom from being taken. Or stopped me from being killed. All that happened was I missed out on the life I could have had.”
I allowed the water to fill me with joy again. “I’m doing things different this time around, even if I’m still a prisoner to some extent.”
Daniel didn’t reply, but he did settle in closer to me, his side pressing against mine, our arms brushing against each other as we stared out into the distance.
“Daniel!” The call jolted us from that moment of peace.
Standing a dozen feet away from us was another Daelighter. I knew this because one, we were in Overworld, and two, he was as tall and beautiful as Daniel. His skin was a perfect shade of dark brown, eyes much lighter, although I couldn’t make out the color from this distance. Daniel started walking and I felt a new sort of happiness coming from him. He was genuinely pleased to see this other guy.
As we got closer, light green eyes – sparkling unnaturally – met mine. A sense of calm and peace weaved through my body, and I wondered if this new guy had some sort of hypnotic power. Whatever it was, he carried an ancient energy. Those sparkling eyes saw everything.
He, too, had symbols in his dark hair; one side was shaved short, the other had these long braids interwoven with glittering bands of material. His skin was completely flawless, as was the rest of him.
“Hello there.” His low voice was as rich in tone as his skin. “I’m Chase, from House of Leights.”
He pronounced it like “laights,” dragging the “la” part, letting it roll off his tongue.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied, letting a genuine smile cross my lips. “I’m Callie, from almost-died-so-now-I-have-to-stay-close-to-Daniel.” I paused. “And Earth.”
Chase looked momentarily disconcerted, his gaze lifting to his friend. Daniel started to fill him in on all the events from the past few days, and while they talked, I ran everything I knew over in my head. Daniel had now mentioned three best friends, all of them overlords. Lexen, Xander, and now we had Chase.
My impression had always been that their houses didn’t get along with each other, the mention of war between the houses had happened more than once, but this group of guys was proving that wrong.
“I had no choice, she was going to die,” Daniel finished. “Laous…” He growled, angry and low. “We need to figure out where he is going to hit next. We need to stop him before he makes it to the next secret keeper.”
Chase just nodded, and this time as our eyes met, his were softer. “I’m very sorry for what you’ve been through, but there’s no better Daelighter for you to be bonded with. Daniel will keep you safe.”
I snorted, startling them both. “I don’t rely on men to keep me safe. I keep myself safe. I’ll also look after Daniel when the time comes.”
I felt their amusement, but both of them managed to refrain from laughing. Arrogant aliens. There was a shift in the light ball then and we turned to stare. Chase took a step away from us, heading back toward the area of this world that was filled with trees. That was a section I hadn’t had a chance to observe yet, but it looked as if it was just one huge forest.
“The four houses have been at war for centuries. This is the first time of peace,” Daniel explained to me, confirming my previous feelings. “For some reason, despite the tensions between our families, Xander, Lexen, Chase, and I have always been best friends. Brothers. As the overlord minors, we were often thrown together during meetings and such, and we bonded. Years ago, we decided to hide the true nature of our bond. We were afraid our parents would disapprove and keep us apart.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why we do it anymore. No one could control us now.”
“Old habits, I’m sure,” I said, and he nodded. “Are you going to try for total peace when you’re all overlords?” I asked, taking a step closer to his side.
He tilted his head in my direction. “Yes, that’s exactly what we hope for in the future.”
Before we could speak more on it, the ball of light sparked and another group of Daelighters appeared. They dispersed quickly, moving toward those already waiting.
Before we could move closer to the council, though, we were ambushed by another overlord, and a chick who didn’t have the same look as most of the Daelighters I’d seen. In fact, I was pretty sure she was … human. Blinking a few times, I suddenly knew who I was about to meet.
Secret Keeper number one. Emma.
Chapter 6
Emma Walters stared at me. I stared back. Both of us taking a moment to assess the other. I felt a spark of something between us, same as I had with Daniel, but different. Like camaraderie, a sense of kinship because of who we were and the things we had gone through. Plus, she was wearing Converse shoes, which in my books was a very good start to any friendship. We matched. That was a thing, right?
I could be way off base, though; it was hard for me to understand friendship. If I ever did get friendly with anyone, it was usually a guy at the local gym where I trained. I’d never told my mom, of course, but I’d been sexually active since I was fifteen. Not a part of my past I was particularly proud of, but there was a time that I tried to assuage my loneliness through sex. I’d stopped that just before my seventeenth birthday, vowing the next time I shared my body would be because I wanted to share my heart as well. Blame that on my obsession with romantic comedies; those movies were always my go-to when I was feeling down. If the Hallmark Channel had a group for addicts, I’d be a member.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you.” She startled me by speaking out loud. Before this our conversation had been mostly body language and eye contact.
She kept her voice low – the meeting had started, but so far the council was just going over old news, so we had a few moments to chat.
“Happy to meet you, too,” I said, and I really meant it.
I felt eyes on me, and I knew they were going to be cinnamon and gold. Somehow I always knew when Daniel was looking in my direction. This time, though, he wasn’t the only one. I met the gaze of the huge male standing behind Emma. Lexen Darken, the overlord minor of House of Darken.
Dragon lord apparently.
Just like Daniel, this guy gave off scary, badass vibes. Unlike Daniel, I did not feel comfortable with him. He was gorgeous on a scale that should be illegal – I was starting to see a pattern with these aliens – but he was also dark and brooding, with eyes so black they were almost reflective. The way he moved was otherworldly. Like an animal, assessing me and all my weaknesses. Teaming that with the fact that I already knew he had a dragon friend meant Lexen was going right into the box where I kept things that frightened and fascinated me.
Emma cleared her throat and I managed to turn away from her scary boyfriend. One might think that an Earthling and Daelighter together would be an odd couple, but they made it work. It didn’t hurt that Emma was adorably pretty, with long auburn curls and stunning blue eyes. I could see why the Darken overlord had fallen for her.
She lowered her gaze, brow pinching. “You’re covered in blood. What happened?”
Oh, right. That little thing. I gave my clothes a rueful glance. “I kind of … died today. Apparently having your throat slit is messy.”
Emma gasped, her head flinging up as she glared at Daniel. “You were supposed to get to her before Laous.”
Lexen placed a hand on Emma’s back, and it was hard to tell from my angle, but it almost looked like he was stroking her spine. As she tilted her head to smile at him, his irises flashed with what appeared to be a white light, just for a moment, then it was gone, so fast I wondered if I
imagined it.
“Laous used the stone in your necklace to temporarily disconnect Daniel from the network,” Lexen explained to her. “We didn’t know it could do that, so Dan was not prepared.” He paused, as if choosing his next words carefully. “If we are disconnected from the network, our powers…”
“Reboot,” I supplied, excited to know something for once.
Emma didn’t gasp this time, she growled. Fire leapt in her features, lighting up her eyes and skin. She had a temper to match the red in her hair, I could see that now. It made me like her even more. Perfect people were not something I dealt well with, mostly because I was always a mess.
“So Laous obviously got Callie’s blood, which means he’s going to be heading for secret keeper three. What does the council think they can do now?” Emma asked.
“Hopefully the council will tell us soon,” Lexen grumbled. “So far this is a repeat of useless information about the treaty.”
I’d been half listening, because it was new to me, but there really hadn’t been anything important said by the council so far. Just that both worlds had been dying, that this treaty was about peace, and that we needed to do everything to protect it.
Most Daelighters around us were having conversations amongst themselves. It was easy to tell who was from which house; they tended to stick to their own, standing in front of their territory. Lexen and Emma were currently in the Imperial section – Chase had left to rejoin the Leights – but very few others were cross-mingling.
“Do you live here, in Overworld?” I asked Emma, far more interested in this interdimensional relationship.
She shook her head. “Nope, I live in Daelighter territory, back in Astoria.”
“You’ll be staying there as well,” Daniel informed me. “I still have to keep up appearances. We have to go to school on Earth as part of the treaty.” Something I just learned from the council update. “You’re going to have to remain with me. I’ll bring you back to House of Imperial periodically to recharge.”
Narrowing my eyes, I looked between the three standing across from me. Emma was the only one shorter than me, but she didn’t look remotely intimidated by my anger. I supposed after dealing with these overlords I was nothing. “I don’t have time to go to school. I need to find my mom and kill Laous. In that order. Or either order. I don’t care.”
Emma chuckled. “I knew I was going to like you. Us secret keepers need to stick together.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest, dimming some of my anger.
“We’ll find Laous and your mother,” Daniel assured me. “But none of us can shirk our responsibilities. It’s the unfortunate part of being an overlord.”
Letting out a ragged breath, I just nodded. I was going to have to accept that there was no rushing in this situation and be grateful that everyone was still working to find my mom.
“Come on, Em, it’s time for us to get back to the Darkens,” Lexen said to her, wrapping her up into his huge body. The way he held her … it was like she was more precious than anything else in the world.
Damn you, romantic comedies. You’ve given me unrealistic expectations, and now I wanted a Lexen. Not him, exactly, because he wasn’t my type. Too pretty, too broody, too in love with another woman. I did not poach. That got you a straight punch in the boob.
“I’ll find you after,” Emma said, then she surprised me with a hug before they left.
I turned confused eyes on Daniel. “Emma is a great friend for you to have,” he told me. “She understands what you’re going through. Ever since her family was killed by Laous, she’s been struggling.”
Those words triggered a visceral reaction within me. Daniel responded to my pain by capturing my hand and squeezing it. “I’m so sorry, Callie,” he murmured. “That was thoughtless. Your mom could still be alive. Laous is very good at keeping his victims alive but miserable.”
I let out a long breath, before a snort of laughter hit me. “That’s really not much better. ‘Hey, Callie, your mom is probably alive while an evil former-overlord tortures her daily.’”
Daniel rubbed a hand across his head and I couldn’t stop from following the path of his overlord symbols. I kind of wanted to touch them too.
“I’m not the best at comfort,” he admitted, dragging my attention back to him.
“Have you ever been shown comfort?” I asked, curious.
His jaw turned to granite as he gritted his teeth. I was about to apologize, because clearly my question had hit on a nerve, but then he let out a long breath. “My mother and older brother were the only good things I had in my life. My brother disappeared when I was young. He was the oldest and had always looked out for me. One day he was there, and then he was gone. No one has seen or heard from him since. We presume he is … dead.” He growled at the last word. “And my mother died when I was in my second metamorphosis burst. So … around ten.”
I didn’t even want to know what a metamorphosis burst was. It made me think of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly or something. I focused instead on the number. He was ten. Just ten when he lost the only decent member of his family. His mom.
“How did she die?” I asked softly, my heart already hammering at the possibility of his answer. Not only had he lost his brother, but his mom right after. It was so unfair.
Daniel lowered his head briefly, shuttering those eyes from me. I found myself a little bereft … I was growing far too accustomed to staring into his depthless irises. They helped me understand this man. His expression hid a lot, but his eyes were clear as day.
“She died in childbirth, having my youngest brother,” he bit out, and I could feel the hurt in each word. “When my father told me what happened … it almost destroyed me. I blamed Fraizer. Unfair of me, I know that now, but at the time I couldn’t see past my pain. It ruined our relationship forever.”
God, he’d basically lost two brothers and his mother almost in the same hit.
I followed Daniel’s line of sight then to a Daelighter with his arms crossed over his chest, staring daggers at us. There was no doubt in my mind that this was his brother; he looked like Daniel. A less rugged version of him anyway. He was a pretty-boy with a slicked-back faux hawk – shaved on the sides but longer on top – and long-runner muscles. He had a few marks, signs of the overlord family. About a quarter the amount Daniel had.
“Fraizer?” I asked softly.
Daniel nodded, before turning away from him. “We’re the last remaining members of the overlord family, my true blood brother. I started the destruction between us. Then greed, jealousy, and our father – who turned into even more of a complete and total asshole after Mom died – were the final nails in that coffin.”
What a sad freaking story. So much loss in his life already, and now he was dealing with everything I had brought to his world, with being tied to a stranger. I wanted to apologize again, but my words wouldn’t change anything.
My heart ached so badly it almost felt like I’d been punched in the chest. I was trying to figure out what to say, because comfort was not my thing either, when another member of the council stepped forward. A woman this time.
“It’s time for us to speak frankly,” she started. “To speak about the dark days ahead for our people.”
This got everyone’s attention. Imperials pushed forward, while always maintaining a respectful distance from Daniel. I eyed the shaved-headed aliens around us. Even the women had very short hair; the longest were only brushing across the bottom of their ears. All of them looked hard, wore a lot of black, and had a lot of attitude. Despite this, the expressions shot in Daniel’s direction were a combination of respect and fear. Of all the badasses, he was the scariest of them all.
No one looked at him like a friend, though. Not the way Lexen and Chase had, which helped me truly understand that softening of his face when they had come over to us. True friendship. I’d never had anything like that … like an unconditional love. I pretty much didn’t believe in the concept, but there w
as no denying the truth of what existed between Daniel and the other overlords. And also Lexen and Emma – that had an epic feel to it. Maybe Daelighters were just more evolved than humans. Hopefully they were.
The council member’s next words were filled with emotion. “At the last meeting we touched on this subject, but we’re afraid this situation is growing out of our control.”
I shifted uncomfortably in anticipation of her next words.
“Carestima lostin aroutina forlessit.”
Okay, then, no need to worry about that bad news.
Daniel helped me out by translating. “Laous has approached members of the human government in the hopes to entice them to join ‘his side’ of this war. One member is now missing, presumed dead.”
My heart and pulse racing, I couldn’t stop a rasp from emerging, a prequel to tears, which I was definitely not shedding. I didn’t know the politician who had possibly died, of course, but Laous had my mother. She’s already dead, Callie. It was a reality I needed to wrap my head around, but it was difficult when my emotions were such a mess. Should I be devastated that a woman who made my life miserable was gone? Part of me still loved her, she was my mother, but I had never liked the person she was. That didn’t mean I wanted her to have suffered a horrible death. I just wished I had some answers.
“The treaty is in great jeopardy.” A different council member spoke this time. Back to English. “Over the next week, overlords will head to Washington to try and smooth this over, and it’s possible that we’ll have to sign new agreements. None of which will mean anything if Laous gets his hands on the starslight stone. We have put word out to the Draygo people, hoping the one who transported the stone originally will come forward. We need to get to it before Laous does.” Another long-extended pause, then the crowds started to talk again. High pitched words of worry and fear.
More council voices burst out, attempting to calm the Daelighters. “We need you all to prepare for what might eventuate,” a man said loudly. “Prepare your people. Search for traitors. If we lose the connection to Earth’s energy, our network will weaken. Over time our abilities will disappear...” He trailed off.
