by Jaymin Eve
He went up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I was about to follow when my stomach did some flip-flops. I spun to find Chase standing at the base of the stairs.
“Are you okay?” His low, accented words sent trills of energy over my body. I was a puppet to this alien. It was like he held every string I possessed and could move me to his will.
Nope. All the nopes. I refused to puppet myself for a man. I needed to get this under control.
Crossing my arms, I took a step back. Chase’s eyes followed me, but he didn’t move, allowing me to keep my newfound need for personal space. “I’m … I have no idea. I’m definitely not fine, but I’ve had about forty-eight hours to adjust to this life. In that time I’ve been chased, almost kidnapped, took an elevator to a secret government agency, found out my parents work with aliens, found out that there were aliens period, flown in a helicopter…” I trailed off breathlessly.
The intensity in his glittery green gaze was too much. I wanted to squeeze my eyes closed, but instead I settled for dropping my gaze.
“You don’t have to pretend,” Chase said, and my head swung up, because for a second, I thought he was talking about me “faking” my disinterest. “It’s okay to say that you need a minute to wrap your head around it.” Okay, phew, he wasn’t talking about that. “Lexen and Daniel, they’re my best friends – have been since we were young – but if you let them, they will bulldoze you over. They push when it’s not always needed.”
There was a snort of amusement from behind us, and I turned to find Lexen in the doorway, bag slung over his shoulder. “We all have our strengths and weaknesses.” He raised an eyebrow. “Chase keeps too much inside. He’s not the easiest of Daelighters to read, but he’s solid. He will always have your back, and it’s impossible to bulldoze him over. So don’t let him talk shit like we’ve ever been able to force him into anything.”
I didn’t need Lexen to tell me that. There was something innately strong about Chase, as immovable as nature itself. Just like the trees, he would remain long after everything else was gone. I felt safer with him than I had with anyone in my life, and considering the short time I’d known him, that had to be magic.
“I’m really glad you’re all on my side in this war,” I told them both. “I’m looking forward to seeing the four of you together … whenever the last one shows up.”
I’d learned there were four of these muscled, gorgeous, overbearing overlords. The fourth, from House of Royale, was going to meet us in Overworld.
“Xander is like Chase,” Lexen said with a smirk. “You think they’re the laidback ones in the group, and for the most part they are, but if you rile them up, their wrath is the thing of legends.”
I was torn between wanting to see that and knowing it would probably scare the crap out of me. “Well, I better go and grab my things,” I finally said, reluctant to leave.
I forced myself not to look back as I walked up the stairs. Even though I could feel eyes burning a hole in my back. At the top of the landing I practically ran to the room I’d shared with Brad, slamming the door open. It hit the wall with a bang, but Brad just snored a few times, rolling over. I threw myself onto his bed, body-slamming him as hard as I could.
“Seriously, how could you sleep through that?” I asked, half across him, which was not always the best thing to do to a guy first thing in the morning. I quickly scurried off before he woke up fully.
“Piss off, Maiz,” he mumbled, throwing a pillow at me.
Standing beside his bed, I reached down and shook him. “Get your lazy ass up right now, we have a situation. The psycho Daelighter who’s trying to end the treaty was outside. I was face to face with him, so now we have to bail.”
To his credit, he managed to pull himself half up in the bed, blankets pooling around his lap. “What? He was here?” A few more rapid blinks and the dots connected in his brain. His gaze grew more focused. “Are you okay?”
With a nod, I moved to open the closet. There were two large canvas bags on the floor, probably what they brought our stuff in to begin with. I grabbed one and shoved in the spare clothes. I left out one set to wear, grabbing the bag of toiletries and dashing into the bathroom. It was empty, thankfully; I could hear my parents across the hall packing. There was no time for a shower, so I quickly got dressed in jeans and a black pullover sweater, brushed my teeth, and applied light makeup: mascara, bit of concealer, and some blush. I needed the armor today.
By the time I was back in our room, Brad had started to pack as well.
“I’ll meet you downstairs,” I said, dropping my PJs and the toiletries in my bag before hauling it over my shoulder.
He nodded. “Yep, I’ll be right down. Just got to brush my teeth.”
He was wearing the same basic outfit as me. His hoodie was gray, and he looked good for someone who’d been yanked out of bed in the early hours of the morning. I envied men and their ability to run fingers through their hair and give it a disheveled charm.
They didn’t know how lucky they were.
When I was almost out the door, he said, “You need to be more careful.”
I spun, not sure what he meant by that statement. Was this about Chase again? Lifting one eyebrow in his direction, I waited for him to continue.
“The deeper you get into this world, the harder it is going to be to get out. I can’t lose you. It’s team Brad and Maiz forever. You made a promise.”
He had a smile on his face, but there was an undercurrent of seriousness as well. I took an extra second to think about what I was going to say, mostly because my immediate reaction was anger. Teams supported each other, they didn’t hold one another back because they were scared. But I did understand where he was coming from. The friend he knew and loved was no longer the same. I had changed, my history had changed, and he could feel me slipping away.
I stepped closer to him, softening my expression. “Of course we’re a team, Brad. There will never be a friend in my life like you. But we’ve always known our paths would divert away from each other. Like if we went to different colleges. The key is to make sure we always find our way back.” I also felt it was time for us to bring a few new members into our team. But I didn’t mention that.
I left before he could say anything more. He no doubt was going to point out that living on different worlds was a far cry from different colleges, and right now, I wasn’t ready to hear that. By the time I got downstairs, almost everyone was waiting in the living area, including my parents. I gave my mom a hug before joining the main group. They all had the exact same bags as me over their shoulders, and the only one talking was Callie.
“Coffee. Me. Now.” A note of crazy entered her tone. “You can’t make me leave without it.”
Daniel smiled – all women needed to get themselves a man who smiled at them like that. He reached across to a small shelf in the kitchen and pulled down a travel mug. With a wink, he handed it to her. “Just how you like it.”
Callie screeched and leapt for it, her focus on the cup.
Emma let out a relieved, exaggerated sigh. “For a second there I thought they were going to make us travel with an uncaffeinated Callie.”
“Better to take our chances with Laous,” Lexen agreed.
Both of them laughed when Callie flipped them off. She then took a long sip of her coffee. Her expression turned dreamy and she cradled the mug with both hands like it was precious. “I’d respond, but I’m busy right now with something far more important,” she said smugly.
“It’s nice that you all haven’t let the stress kill your humor.” I snorted out a laugh. “Most people wouldn’t even be able to tell that we’re running for our lives.”
Emma shrugged and waved her hand toward me. “It’s laugh or cry, and Lexen says his dragon will disown him if he cries.”
“Dragon,” I murmured. “Not sure I’ll ever get used to that one.”
Brad was down the stairs now, and I was surprised to see Star cross from the door to greet
him. The pair exchanged some words I couldn’t hear, and I had to blink a few times as she patted his arm. What was going on there? Seriously though, he better not break her heart, because something told me Lexen would break his entire body if he did. Or Star would. She seemed like she could take care of herself.
Lexen, Daniel, and Chase – who I was sort of avoiding, but also keeping an eye on because I couldn’t help myself – all moved toward the front door. Dad kept one arm wrapped tightly around Mom’s shoulders as he followed.
“We’re going to move out now,” Lexen told us. “I’ve had my father arrange transport and some decoy cars. We’re going to have to split up: the secret keepers are going to be in one car with the overlords, the second vehicle is for everyone else. We’ll be moving fast without delay, so as soon as I open these doors, you get your shoes on, and then you move. Do not speak until you’re in the car. Understood?”
Everyone nodded, and I caught an unhappy look on my father’s and Brad’s faces. My mom just untangled herself and moved in her gentle way toward me. “Stay safe, my little one.” She hugged me close, and I breathed in her familiar scent. She liked to wear rosewater.
“You too.” I sniffed. “Stay safe and I love you.”
My dad waited for a hug, stepping in after my mom pulled away. We exchanged words of love, as I did with Brad, and then it was time to go. Emma held a hand out to me and I hurried across to her. The heavy weight of my bag lifted off my shoulder and I spun to find Chase with it in his hands. “You’ll move faster without it,” he said simply, sliding it on the same arm as his bag.
I didn’t protest because there was no time, and he was right. Lexen also had Emma’s bag, but Callie still had her own. “I have control issues,” she said when she noticed me looking. “Daniel had no idea what he was getting himself into when he tied our souls together.”
Um, I’m sorry, what? She’d said that she was tied to Daniel and his land, but I never thought it was an actual, literal thing.
She waved at me, her eyes creasing with humor at my no doubt stunned expression. “Another story for another day. For now, all you need to know is that I have to be around him and House of Imperial for a certain amount of time, or my soul fades away. Too much time apart and I’ll die.”
“I own her soul,” Daniel added with a smirk, and she swatted him.
Emma leaned in close to me, her hand still holding mine. “They’re the real-life Hades and Persephone.” She let out a dreamy sigh, and a happy sort of feeling flipped in my chest.
I always had been a sucker for romance and a happily ever after. I just felt like life should follow the same path as the movies. You can go through lots of shit, bad times, grief, but eventually you got your happy ending. It was only fair.
Lexen opened the door then, distracting us all. Go time.
I almost broke his rule and laughed when I got out onto the porch. Because there were three pairs of black Converse sitting there, and it took us a minute to figure out which belonged to who. Luckily, all of us had different size feet. Callie had the biggest at size nine. Emma’s were eight, and mine were seven. Cascading, just like our heights.
The three overlords led the group; my father and Brad brought up the rear. I was just wondering where the cars were when four appeared in the distance. They cruised in through the trees, taking the same path – or lack thereof – that Chase had.
When they were about ten feet from us, they stopped and the drivers of the first two jumped out and opened the doors. Callie, Emma, and I were ushered into the wide back seat of the first car. Daniel took the driver’s seat, Chase the passenger, and Lexen got in the back. I turned to see my parents filing into the second black, unmarked, SUV. Once they were inside, the tint was so dark that I couldn’t tell who was sitting where.
No time was wasted, all four cars took off, somehow not hitting any trees, and then we were moving far too quickly for my liking. Chase turned: “Don’t worry, my father is in the second vehicle, making sure the trees get out of our way.”
For some strange reason, I wished I had seen his dad. It would have been nice to glimpse the Daelighter who raised Chase.
“Your dad might be chatting with Chase’s dad,” Emma whispered in my ear, giving me a wink.
I just stared back at her, because she was probably right. It felt weird, but at the same time it was my dad’s job to liaise with Daelighters. He should be fine. I also felt better knowing there was a powerful overlord in with them, protecting them.
The moment we were out of the trees and back on the main dirt road, I strained to hear a helicopter. Knowing Laous might be above somewhere, with a massive machine gun, ready to blow us all away, was giving me heart palpitations.
“Do you guys have weapons?” I asked. “Like guns or grenades or … anything?”
“Nope,” Daniel said from the driver’s seat. “Daelighters don’t use human weapons. We’re more inclined to use our own energy, the network, and the specific powers of our house to fight.”
Which was great, except right now Laous was using human technology, and I felt like we should as well if we wanted to stand a chance against him.
“Don’t worry about Laous,” Lexen added. “He won’t risk hurting the secret keepers. Not until he gets what he wants from you. That’s why I requested vehicles with the darkest tint. He won’t know for sure who’s in which car, and we need him to be confused enough that he hesitates.”
My hands were clenched tightly, which I didn’t even realize until Emma reached out to grab one, and Callie grabbed the other. The three of us clung to each other while Daniel practiced some racecar driving maneuvers.
“Don’t worry,” Callie said, trying to sound cheerful. “Dan can take a Lambo around a corner at eighty miles an hour. He’ll get us there in one piece.”
I really wasn’t reassured by that, but at least I knew it wasn’t his first time driving a car. At these speeds over dirt roads, our odds of surviving felt like they were on shaky grounds.
And now, more than ever, I really wanted to live. I was about to go to an alien world. That was not something I could miss.
Chapter 11
We made it through the first section of the trees without an issue. I didn’t relax in all that time though; I wouldn’t relax at all until we were a hundred percent safe. There was too much at stake here, and the thought that something was going to jump out at us from nowhere had me on edge.
Daniel was living up to Callie’s confidence in him, barely braking as he swung around corners, spraying up dirt and rocks in his wake. I spent my time stressing, sweating, and turning to check my parents’ car was right behind us. The final two cars, which must have been filled with Daelighters, were bringing up the rear.
I was just turning to face the front when Chase barked out: “Brace yourself.” It was so unlike his normal cool and collected tone that my fear spiked immediately, and I leaned forward to try and see what we were bracing for. The road looked empty; we were on a straight, with trees on either side.
Chase hit the button to lower his window, leaning out. When he was half out of the car, I had to stop myself from reaching out and pulling him back in. What he was doing looked like a good way to get himself killed.
Leaning forward further, I kept one eye on him, and one on the road. Something caught my eye through the front windshield … like a heat haze hovering over the road. But it was cold here, so that couldn’t be right.
“What is that?” Emma asked, her voice higher pitched than normal.
Lexen leaned over the seat, staring forward. “He’s set up a transport barrier,” he snarled. “That asshole is trying to take us out using the barrier.”
“What happens if we hit it?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know the answer.
I was already picturing us crashing into it and ending up squished into a small box of metal.
“It will transport everything that hits it to another location,” Daniel told us, hands firm on the wheel as we continued to f
ly toward the barrier. “Same technology as our transporter between Earth and Overworld, but less permanent. It will disappear as soon as we go through it.”
“Shouldn’t we stop?” Callie asked then, her tone suggesting we were idiots for still driving.
“If we stop, he’s going to have someone waiting to take us out,” Lexen said shortly. “This is going to be one of those double-sided traps.”
“There are fifty Daelighters in the forest,” Chase confirmed, his voice faint because he was still out the window. “The trees are telling me.”
I loved trees. Seriously. How had I been living my life without them?
“You got the barrier, Chase?” Lexen sounded relaxed, which felt wrong in this sort of situation. What the hell could Chase do from the car? Unless he was getting the trees to do something.
“Trees on Earth can’t move, right?” Emma looked between the front and back. “Just communicate in a limited way?”
That’s right, he’d told me that.
“The trees can’t move, but Chase can,” Daniel said, which seemed to satisfy Emma. But I still had no idea what that meant.
Both of my legs were bouncing so hard now that it almost felt like my chair was shaking. That might also be because Emma and Callie were jumping around as much as me. My eyes remained locked on the broad back hanging out the window. What was Chase doing?
I was watching him so closely that I noticed the moment his shoulders broadened out, filling almost every spare space in the window, and … was he getting taller? It felt like even more of him than usual was hanging out of the car, while the same amount was still inside.
Something brown flicked across the front of the windshield, drawing my attention briefly. It flicked back and forth a few times before I figured out what I was seeing. Vines? Where did the vines come from? The trees here weren’t exactly the viney sort. Mostly they were tall redwoods, their foliage high in the sky. The vines whipped in front of our car again, disappearing when they dropped below the window level. When they reappeared, they were wrapped around and carrying a large tree trunk.
