by Jaymin Eve
Overworld was in trouble, and Laous was determined to push them all the way to the edge.
“If this is going to destroy your network, why is Laous doing it?” I asked Daniel. That was one part of the story I didn’t get. Laous was a Daelighter. Surely he wanted his world to be as powerful as it could be.
“Laous doesn’t believe that will happen.” That reply did not come from Daniel, but from another man behind us. Fraizer strolled closer. “His theory is that we’re actually weakening ourselves with this alliance. That by returning the starslight stone here, it will boost our network to mammoth levels.”
“A theory I believe you subscribe to also, Fraizer,” Daniel bit out, not staring directly at the slightly smaller male.
Fraizer joined his brother in scanning across the crowds of Daelighters around us. “You’ve always thought the worst of me, brother.”
“When have you ever given me reason not to?” Daniel replied, but without anger. More like resigned sadness. “You’ve gone out of your way in the last few years to side with Laous and create as much suffering for me as you could.”
Fraizer scoffed and walked away before anything more was said. I was frozen, staring between Daniel’s rigid jaw and Fraizer’s retreating back.
“Do you think your relationship is salvageable?” I asked, unable once again to mind my own business.
A tic started high in Daniel’s jaw; his words were rough when they emerged. “I don’t have evidence of it, but I believe Fraizer has been in on Laous’ multiple attempts to kill me. He’s working toward the same cause as Laous and is never to be trusted. If you find yourself alone with him, get away as soon as possible.”
The urgency in his words was enough to have my fear spiking. I just stared, bug-eyed. I had not gotten a murdery vibe from Fraizer at all, but Daniel had no reason to lie about something like that. His eyes remained locked on my face, and I knew he was waiting for me to promise.
“You got it,” I said, “no heart to hearts with the crazy part of your Imperial house.”
His muscles relaxed, and I was gifted a rare full smile. “Going to be quiet back home for you, then. Crazy runs quite deep in the Imperial sector.”
“I’m sure I will fit in just fine,” I said blithely. “Crazy I understand.”
The meeting appeared to be wrapping up. The council added a few closing statements, along the lines of “the world is going to shit,” “hide your kids and jewels,” “every Daelighter for themselves if the apocalypse hits…”
The final statement was a little more positive: “We have multiple plans in play to try and thwart this,” a female council member said. “As we’ve mentioned, we’re working with the humans, and we’re hoping to find the secret keepers before Laous. We will continue to work on finding the Draygo people as well. Keep us informed of anything you learn within your own houses.”
Noise erupted around us in crazy bursts, and I was getting the general vibe that Draygo people were all kinds of awesome, scary, and lethal. “Lexen is one of the last remaining members from that race,” Daniel murmured.
I snapped my head up and blinked at him. “Are you telling me that Lexen is not only a dragon lord with a pet dragon, but he’s … what … part dragon as well?”
Daniel nodded before he slammed a hard look onto a nearby Daelighter who was inching closer to hear our conversation. With a squeak, the shaved-headed male turned tail and dashed away.
Daniel turned back to me. “Lexen takes a half-man, half-beast form. He’s pretty much indestructible when he is morphed.”
Shut. The. Hell. Up. Was he serious?
“Would he have any idea where the one who hid the stone went?” I asked, somewhat breathlessly. My question made sense, right? It takes a dragon person to find another dragon person.
Daniel didn’t seem as convinced. “I have no idea. Lexen has never spent much time developing that side of himself. He’s the first Draygo to also be born overlord minor, so he’s been rather busy.”
Everyone started to disperse after that, until eventually there were only a few scattered beings left on the platform. Escaping Lexen again, Emma made a run for me. I was really starting to like her. She felt like a kindred spirit, and it was such a foreign feeling … having an ally – this had to be the only reason for the bursts of warmth and happiness pressing into my chest.
Who knew dying would be the best thing that ever happened to me.
The thought was so insane that I actually shook my head. Really, Callie? The best thing? I needed therapy.
“Are you coming back to Astoria now?” Emma’s words sounded like a demand directed at Daniel.
He shook his head. “Callie needs to return to the underworld for a short period first, to recharge. We’ll be back in the morning. In time for school.”
Emma’s face fell and she turned to me. “I’m so sorry about what happened to you. Shit, this really sucks!”
Lexen, who had strolled over to his girl, ran a hand across her shoulders. “We will figure something out to help Callie. There has to be a way so that she has some freedom from Daniel.”
Emma got this weird dreamy look on her face then. “This is just like Hades and Persephone. Which maybe means it will all work out for the best.”
She winked at me. Two blank faces from the men, but I got her reference exactly, and had to laugh. “You’re right. I’ve now tied half my life to Daniel and an alien underworld.”
I’d always kind of thought Lucifer had an evil, hot, scary appeal. Daniel rocked that same dark vibe, just with less of the crazy – despite his insistence that Imperial House was not the most stable. Like I said, I knew crazy, and it wasn’t him.
“You need to study up on your Greek mythology, Lex.” Emma narrowed her eyes on him. “Told you that having one history class on the ‘founding houses of Starslight Prep’ was a little limiting.”
He shrugged. “Human stuff is not exactly top of my lists of interes…” He trailed off at the look on Emma’s face. The grin which pulled at the corner of his mouth turned his good looks into something scorching. “Except for you, mate.”
Mate. Like a soulmate. Damn, Emma. Lucky she was so awesome, otherwise I might hate her. Just a little.
We were one of the few groups left on the platform now, and both of the overlords were getting really odd looks. “Why don’t you four just come out with the friendship?” I suggested, looking between them. They were standing as far apart as they could, while still being able to hear the other speak. “You said that there was nothing really holding you back but habit. I think now is the time.”
“Yeah,” Emma chimed in, being the great ally she was. “The council has far bigger things to worry about, and I think some unity could be good for the four houses.”
“I agree.” That statement came from Chase. He’d wandered over, leaving the remaining members of House of Leights.
Before anyone could say another word, we were joined by another overlord. He had blond hair, with dark marks visible on one side. He was also rocking a broad, tanned chest, with water peppered across it, and a cool confidence.
“I’m adding my agreement to this,” he said, and I knew then that this was Xander, from House of Royale.
My eyes met Daniel’s, searching out those inner thoughts. For some reason his mind fascinated me, not in a zombie, I-want-to-eat-your-brains way, but more … what was he thinking now?
I decided to push: “Is there any reason for you to keep your bond secret? What could happen if you allowed the world to know that you four are brothers, friends, allies?”
The gold deepened in the rings of his light brown eyes. “I actually don’t know. As I said, when we were kids we had no power. We were afraid our parents would separate us if they found out.”
“So we snuck around,” Lexen added.
Emma stepped into her mate’s huge chest, wrapping her arms around him. He got this look on his face when she did. It was a nice look.
“You’re now adults,” Emma
said to him, before turning around to us. Lexen pulled her back, so she was pressed right to his front. “You thought that being mated to a human would cause a huge problem, and so far it hasn’t. Daniel is already overlord, no one to stop him in House of Imperial. Roland is not going to be angry about it, I don’t care what you think.”
She looked at Xander and Chase. “What about you two? Will your family be okay with it?”
They exchanged a glance before shrugging. “Probably not, but I for one don’t care.” Chase was straight up.
“Me neither,” Xander said.
Emma clapped her hands together. “Well, it’s settled, then. Tomorrow at school, we’re sitting together at lunch.”
She looked so excited, and the four overlords were clearly enchanted by the human in their midst. Before I could let jealousy rear its ugly head – because I’d always been an outsider – Daniel turned to me, changing the subject.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, and I was so disarmed that I forgot how to speak for a beat. Did he ask that because he cared? Had anyone ever asked me that before?
“A little tired, actually.” I realized how true that was as soon as I said it. There was this weight pressing down on me. I’d been ignoring it pretty well, but it was getting a little more uncomfortable now.
He nodded. “We need to get you back. Say goodbye to badass, you’ll see her tomorrow.”
I tilted my head in Emma’s direction. “Badass?”
She threw a withering glance at Daniel. “I impaled myself on a tree when I fell into the first level of the justices. And didn’t die. He’s been calling me badass ever since.”
On instinct, I reached out and grabbed her hand. I had no idea where it came from, I wasn’t a touchy sort of person. I’d grown accustomed to never being touched. Had to be the death thing again. “You were in the justices?”
She nodded. “Yeah, Laous tried to kill me blah blah – we both have that badge. I only survived because of Lexen and Daniel. Together the three of us made it to the final level. Redemption.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be honest, that world scares me. Those justices were like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I can’t even imagine being stuck trying to navigate through them.”
“Let’s hope you never have to find out,” Lexen said smoothly. “But if you do, Daniel and I will come for you as well. We’re a team.”
“We’ll be there as well,” Chase added, gesturing to himself and then Xander, who was nodding resolutely.
My heart stuttered. It took everything inside of me not to cry like a baby in front of them all. What was this world I was in now? What was it?
Daniel’s chest rumbled at my side, distracting me from the overwhelming emotions. When I lifted my head to see him, his expression was hard, eyes swirling. I raised one eyebrow in his direction – a skill I’d been perfecting over the last two years; it was cool to have a chance to use it.
“You will never end up in the Cascading Justices,” he told me, his voice almost as hard as his face. “You’re going to live for as long as I do, so you have no need to fear death. Not to mention that I’m the acting overlord major. I control that land, and I will not let you suffer for even a second in that place.”
Well, I guess that answered my question about my lifespan. Those tears I’d been trying to hold back surged forward again. A huge ball of emotion lodged in my throat; it was only years of control that stopped the waterworks.
Even harder to control though was my urge to reach for Daniel. Something strong stirred in my chest every time I looked at him now. No doubt the soul link, tying us closer. Whatever it was, resisting him was growing harder.
I had to though. I knew touching him would tip me right over the edge into obsession. And the last thing I needed was to grow obsessed with a guy who was only around because he’d literally been forced to tie our souls and life forces together to save me.
He was definitely a good guy, and would make a perfect mate one day to some Imperial Daelighter. I’d have to be satisfied with the friendship which seemed to have sprung up between us.
Forcing a smile across my face, I said, “Thank you. Thank you for protecting and saving me.”
Xander interrupted then, his voice deep and smooth: “What exactly happened with you and Callie? How did you two become bonded?”
Daniel explained it, starting from the moment he found me in NOLA, my mom’s disappearance, Laous’ attack, and finished up with the details of my death and our new bond.
I tried to block most of it out again. It was bad enough going through it the first time, so I instead focused on the House of Royale territory, or sector, or whatever they called it. My obsession with the beach started during a three-month stint in Los Angeles. I think I was about five years old at the time. Mom would walk me to fight class along the beach, and I would be staring at the water the entire time we traveled. By the end, she knew to never let my hand go or I was likely to wander right off to sit on the sand.
Something about the play of light and color in the waves, the way the water moved and mingled together, so fierce and yet also able to be perfectly calm. Sometimes it felt like my soul was born of the ocean. At times there was no emotion inside me at all, and then other times everything crashed together, unable to be contained.
My insides were definitely tumultuous now. It started in New Orleans – that damn music. Then Daniel was the icing on the cake. He’d ignited emotion inside of me from the first moment his arrogant face appeared in my condo doorway. Then he saved my life. Now my ocean was raging at me, wanting to be released, wanting to flow toward this male.
Dammit, just stay where you are.
“Callie?”
Shaking my head, I focused on the group again, only to find that everyone was staring at me. I’d clearly missed something important. Deciding I didn’t care if they thought I was a weirdo, I just shrugged. “Sorry, I zoned out. What did you say?”
Daniel took a step closer to me, and before I could protest, he swept an arm around me. My legs gave out, like they’d only just barely been keeping me up. “You’ve been away from Imperial for too long,” he said, a rumble in his voice. He lifted me with ease, holding me close to his chest.
With almost laughably pathetic strength, I pushed at his arm, before letting out a sigh and falling against his hard chest. “How is she going to function in Astoria?” Emma asked, and even though I couldn’t see her face, I could hear the concern in her voice. “She’s only been away from Imperial for about an hour.”
Daniel shifted me higher on his body. I realized my eyes had closed. I tried to pry them open, but I couldn’t.
“She almost died today. Her body and energy need rest. Tomorrow she should be able to stay away for a lot longer.”
I missed more of what was said, as that heaviness which had been pressing on me increased. I regained some consciousness as we started to walk again. Part of my brain was screaming at me to get down and walk on my own, but there was no way for me to fight against the fog in my head and body.
For the first time in my life, I was going to have to trust someone other than myself to take care of me. In some ways, that concept was scarier than the fact I had died today.
Chapter 7
Awakening in a strange place was becoming part of my norm lately. So when I opened my eyes to find myself in a bedroom that wasn’t mine, my heart barely skipped a beat. Scooting higher on the pillow, I looked down the bed. It was huge, bigger than any I’d seen before. I ran my hands across the navy comforter, thick and luxurious, enjoying the high quality and silky feel of it. Sign me up for a year of sleep in this bed. Not only was the bedding quality, the mattress might have been made from magic. Alien magic.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t in my nature to laze around, so I pulled myself up even further, sitting up straight. It looked as if I was still dressed in my bloody clothes from yesterday, which was totally gross, but I was also glad Daniel didn’t undress me without my permission. I appreciated t
hat about him. Even if he would have to change his sheets now.
I stretched my arms above my head. I had a few aches and pains, but nothing to indicate I’d died yesterday. Standing, finally, I gave the rest of the room, which was as large and decadent as the bed, a quick look. There was a seating area filled with cushy couches, two dressers, a tallboy, and multiple other heavy, dark, wooden pieces.
Noticing a door, I dashed toward it, hoping it was the bathroom. I needed to pee. Badly.
Success!
The room, tiled in white with charcoal accents, had a shower and a deep tub. Ignoring these, I hurried to what looked like a toilet. It was different to what I was used to, smaller, lower to the ground, and square. But it was the closest thing to a toilet in the room, and I was at desperation level.
When I was done, I looked around for some paper. There was no holder or rolls that I could see. Just when I was about to give up searching, resigning myself to the old “drip-dry” method, there was a whoosh and the toilet flushed. Before I could move, a blast of icy water shot at my bare skin from all sides and I let out a low shriek as it hit me.
What in all the worlds?
That was the opposite of paper. I was now soaking wet.
Warm air followed right after, and just like that I was dry and clean and completely freaked the hell out. Scrambling off the alien toilet, I pulled my pants up and backed away from it slowly. I had no idea how it did that, because I sure as hell didn’t press any buttons or anything. I was hoping it was a sensor, and not some robotic-toilet coming to life thing. That would be really shitty. Pun intended.
Crossing to the sink, I had to search again for a way to turn the water on. Eventually I figured it out. One thing learned, twenty million to go. When my hands were washed, I lifted my head to the mirror.
My gray eyes were brighter than usual, the streaks of blue in them quite prominent. My skin, which was normally quite pale, looked positively ghostly. I was probably anemic after losing almost all of my blood yesterday. I’d always been tall and thin; athletic stuff came easy to me – I was generally healthy and well-toned. Today I looked frail. I didn’t like it.
