Secret Keepers: The Complete Series

by Jaymin Eve

  “What in the world?” I breathed, trying to understand. Was this Chase? Was he commanding those vines somehow? The log flung forward with force and speed, smashing against the barrier. The moment it hit, the barrier shimmered and the log disappeared.

  That’s when everything clicked into place for me. Chase was not commanding those vines … he was them. Somehow he was shooting the long tendrils from his body – something I couldn’t actually see to confirm because of his positioning out the window. Unbelievable.

  We sped through the section of road where the barrier had been and dozens of beings poured in from the trees. But we were moving too fast for any of them to do more than be flung off around us. Chase remained out the window, his vines cracking Daelighters in the head as we passed them. When the coast was clear, he finally returned to his seat and I let out a deep breath. By the time he was seated, his body had returned to its normal, perfect shape. Any resemblance to a tree was gone.

  “We have company on the way,” he told us, turning around. “They’re closing in on us.” His gaze lingered on my face for a moment. “Are you okay?” His voice was low, thrumming in the energy between us.

  I nodded a few times, swallowing hard. “Yes, thanks to you.” I was spilling all my feels, uncaring that we were in the middle of a group. “You saved us.” He had saved me again.

  His eyes ran across my face, like he was trying to determine if I was freaking out because of what he’d just done. I smiled. There was nothing Chase could do that would make him unattractive to me, certainly nothing to do with his abilities. If he was an asshole, that would be a deal breaker, but he wasn’t. None of them were. I mean, I knew there were bad Daelighters – cough, Laous, cough, cough – but the ones in this car were keepers. If humans knew these sorts of “aliens” walked among us, there would be fewer movies with little green men and more with hot gods that everyone wanted to be bonded with.

  The sounds of engines revving distracted me, and Chase’s gaze shifted up and over my head, looking out the back window. I turned then too, to check on my family. Shit. Behind the three SUVs, a bunch of motorbikes had appeared.

  “Get down low,” Lexen growled, before he turned to face the back window.

  Dark clouds washed across the previously very blue sky in a rush, and I realized that Lexen didn’t need an open window; he was fine just where he was. The rumble of thunder started competing with the roar of motorcycles, pretty much deafening all around. Callie put her hand on the back of my head then, forcing me to lean forward with them. “I thought Lexen had a dragon power,” I whispered, my chin resting on my knees. Luckily I was flexible from cheer.

  “Lexen has multiple skills,” Emma murmured back, pride very evident in her tone. “He has the normal House of Darken powers, which include electrical storms, weather manipulations, and cool shit like that. And he also does the dragon thing.”

  “Six more coming through the right,” Chase noted, his voice faint enough that I knew he was back out the window again.

  “This is ridiculous,” Emma griped. “If we’re going to be stuck in this world, dealing with this sort of power and such, we should have been given some ourselves.” She let out a huff of air. “Well, I suppose Callie did get some, but the rest of us…”

  I shifted my head around the other way to meet Callie’s eyes. “What power did you get?”

  She gave a strained grin. “When Daniel tied our souls together, the bonding shared his power with me. I can shoot out a burst of flame … like the heat of a volcano.”

  Unbelievable. No doubt I was going to say that a few more times before this day was over.

  “So, all Daelighters have these skills, right? Differing between the houses they’re born in?”

  I heard multiple noes from the car.

  “All Daelighters have a very small level of power,” Emma explained. “But only those born in the overlords’ bloodlines have the strong gifts. Mostly because they’re more closely connected to the network. Able to use more of its power.”

  “Yep,” Callie confirmed. “On Earth, ninety percent of Daelighters are almost as useless as humans. We’re just lucky to be in this car with some of the most powerful dudes in both worlds.”

  Daniel chuckled, even though it sounded a little strained. “I love your way with words, Cal.”

  She shrugged, which he couldn’t see. “Call it like I see it.”

  Our car lurched, skidding across the dirt, and I had to lift my head to check on my parents. Emma and Callie followed my movements, and I wondered if they instantly regretted it as much as I did. We were surrounded on all sides by dark-helmeted, leather-clad, motorbike riding people. There were at least twenty, and that didn’t include the ones already taken out by strikes of lightning, tree branches, and bursts of fire.

  The fire was sporadic, because Daniel was focusing on evasive driving, but as soon as Callie got a view of those trying to attack us, she let out a low rumble of anger and lowered her window. She took in a few deep breaths, and then the air around her started to heat. If there hadn’t been a breeze of cool air coming in from hers and Daniel’s open windows, I would have been sweating up a storm.

  Flames flew from her hands. They missed the riders close by, crashing into some of the trees. Fire engulfed those trunks and branches, which startled at least three riders enough that they lost control and crashed. My heart tightened at the sight of the trees burning, and I sensed a new tension in Chase that hadn’t been there until now. He had felt it, too. The trees should not have to burn because of humans with an inability to understand that everything wasn’t theirs for the taking.

  “You can hit them, Callie,” Lexen growled, turning back to focus on his storm in the dark sky above. Lightning was zapping Daelighters. “They’re trying to kill and kidnap you.”

  She shook her head, words bursting from her. “I can’t take another life, not unless there is no other choice. I’m … I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

  “We understand,” Emma soothed. “Don’t we, Lexen?” That was muttered through gritted teeth. He didn’t say anything, but he did reach forward and pat Callie on the shoulder.

  My parents’ car was rocketing along behind us, but it looked like there was only one black vehicle behind it. Had we lost the other one somewhere along the way? “Do you think Laous is on one of the motorbikes?” Callie yelled as she blasted another patch of trees.

  “Are you guys going to start a huge forest fire?” I cut in before anyone could answer her. I just couldn’t handle the trees suffering any longer.

  Chase swung around then, his gaze so intense that I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t sure what that look meant, but whatever it was, the emotion was strong. “I won’t let the fire spread,” he told me, and I acknowledged that with a nod.

  Callie had her hands back in the car now, staring down at them. “I don’t want to kill people, but I should have realized, after being in House of Leights, that trees are as important as people.”

  “Aim for their bikes,” I suggested. “Light them up enough that they have time to jump off before it blows up.”

  She tilted her head in my direction, her eyes a stormier gray than I had ever seen them. “I think I better just keep my power to myself until I can figure out what my hard lines are. Hesitating in these situations can get us all killed, and right now, I’m unsure of everything.”

  She sounded so devastated; I really felt for her. These were not the sort of decisions we should be making at eighteen, or ever, but here we were, in a life-or-death situation.

  Three motorbikes swerved into the path a few yards ahead of us. Two of them revved up their engines and let their bikes fly forward toward our cars. At the last minute, they bailed, which left us in the path of two riderless bikes.

  Vines whipped out of nowhere and slammed against the out of control bikes, knocking them off to the side. “There are too many of them,” Emma cried as more bikes appeared beside us. “No matter how many times the guys knock them down, they’re
back again with the same numbers.”

  As if to prove her right, something hit the car with force, sending it skidding to the side. This was followed by multiple bangs as our tires popped. We flew out of control and I let out a low gasp, planting my legs and bracing myself as the car started to flip, over and over, at least five times, finally stopping on the edge of the tree line, on its side.

  I let out a groan, pressing the numb strip across my chest where the seatbelt was cutting into me. I quickly moved my arms and legs, satisfied that I wasn’t seriously injured.

  “Everyone okay?” I called out. Callie, Emma, and I had been wearing seatbelts, but I was pretty sure none of the guys were. Especially not after they started using their gifts.

  “I’m fine, just a few bruises,” Emma said.

  “Same,” Callie added.

  “I’m fine,” came from Daniel.

  I held my breath, only releasing it when Chase said, “I’m fine, no injuries.”

  “Lexen…?” Emma called, fear in her voice.

  “Don’t worry about me, baby girl.” His reply was immediate. And he sounded perfectly fine.

  A low familiar whomping sound echoed around the cabin of the car, and the moment it registered all of us scrambled to free ourselves. I tried to get the seatbelt off, which was hard because all of my weight was pressing it down, making it almost impossible to unclick.

  I struggled for about eight seconds before Chase was there. He leaned in, using one arm to lift me while the other unbuckled my belt. Lexen did the same for Emma. Callie managed to free herself on her own, and she climbed forward to help Daniel with the front windshield.

  As I collapsed against Chase, he wrapped his palm around my face, thumb brushing along my cheek. A sting followed its wake, and when he pulled back I saw the blood. I blinked, lifting a hand to press to the cut. “I didn’t realize I got hurt,” I said. “Is it bad?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not bad, just a small scrape.” The hand still wrapped around my face tightened minutely before he gentled it again. His eyes were darker than usual, almost gray.

  “Is there something else?” I asked, unsure.

  He shook his head. “I just don’t like seeing you hurt. It’s testing my control. And I’m usually very good at remaining calm in crisis situations.”

  A low rumble shook him, and I had a firsthand view of his gift when he spun around and pushed both of his hands forward. I sucked in deeply as the very hands that had just held me started to lengthen, shooting out as vines.

  The glass shattered when the vines hit the front windshield, which I knew took a hell of a lot of force to do. Daniel kicked out the remaining glass, and then we crawled through one by one. The black-clad motorbiking assholes were surrounding us, of course, and the sound of the helicopter was extra loud now, wind whipping through the trees and grass to hit us.

  “My parents?” I asked, looking around for them.

  Lexen, who was maneuvering himself in front of Emma, said, “They kept going. Chila, Chase’s father, will get them to safety.”

  He would have been as worried about them as I was. His baby sister had been in that car; no wonder he’d continued to stare out the back window. He’d already lost one brother to this war. No doubt he was going to do everything in his power to make sure there were no other casualties.

  I was going to do the same. My family had to remain safe. I would not entertain any other options.

  Chapter 12

  “If you send the three humans across, no one else will get hurt.” The muffled threat came from a helmeted asshole nearby. Yep, it was time for the big curse words to come out. I was pissed.

  “Screw you, dickbag, I would rather eat shit and die than go anywhere with you.”

  Emma snorted quietly to my right.

  “I get sweary when I’m mad,” I told her back.

  Heat washed down my spine; it was such a sudden burst of warmth that I immediately stepped away, afraid my butt was about to catch on fire or something. Swiveling toward it, I let out a whimpering sound. It wasn’t my butt on fire, it was Callie and Daniel. Literally … literally on freaking fire.

  “That’s normal, right?” My voice was still whimpering.

  Chase took a step closer to me, angling his body across mine. “They’re fine. This is their power.” He started to change then, growing larger. “You three need to get out of here before Laous arrives. He’s always two steps ahead of us, knowing exactly what powers to use to counter ours. We can’t risk him getting his hands on you.”

  “It has to be the starslight stone,” Lexen added. “It’s a huge asset for him.”

  “All those years I carried the necklace,” Emma groaned. “Why did I never get awesome powers? I could have saved my family. Stupid ability to never get hurt enough to bleed on it.”

  Lexen, who was keeping a close eye on the men surrounding us, let out a rumble. “The fact you never got hurt is a very good thing, Em. I’m eternally grateful for that.”

  Her eyes went soft and dreamy, but before she could say anything, Lexen continued, “I can get the girls out of here,” he said. “But I’m going to need a little space.” His voice was deep … graveled. All the guys were rocking a husky voice at the moment, and that could only mean one thing. They were about to throw down.

  Emma held out her hand to me, and with reluctance, I turned away from Chase. Staring at her for the first time since we left the car, I blinked at the blood running down the side of her face. “Are you okay?” I gasped.

  She nodded, patting at her cheek. “I hit my head when we rolled, but I’m fine.”

  No wonder Lexen sounded like he was ten shades of pissed. Seeing Emma like that was making me angry enough to want to start throwing punches.

  Laous’ guys around us were pushing forward while still leaving us with a decent amount of space. Like they were waiting for Laous.

  We had to get out of here.

  A shimmer washed over Lexen and I gave him my full attention. He dropped his head back and lifted both arms to either side of him.

  “This is his draygone form,” Emma murmured.

  I found myself pressing back, instinctively searching for Chase. A quick glance over my shoulder told me that he hadn’t changed forms fully yet. He still looked the same, just larger, with a slight wood texture to his skin. As I touched him, I expected him to move, but he remained a solid wall against my spine. The warmth of his body cut through the chilly air, and that tingle of energy between us was in full effect.

  His long arm wrapped around the front of me, pressing against my hip as he held me in place. I would have closed my eyes – the sensations were that good – but there was no way I was missing seeing Lexen’s final form. He was covered in white light, like someone had him in a spotlight, and a combination of ice and heat flowed over him. In a blink, wings sprouted from his back, huge and black, spanning out ten feet on either side. His skin darkened and took on a scaly texture. His body grew bigger, until he was almost twice his normal size; somehow, his clothes stretched with him. The white light running across him slowly died off at that point.

  Holy mother of all that is holy…

  Chase was pretty much holding me up now. That arm he’d wrapped around to rest at my hip kept my legs from collapsing under me. “He just … where … what?”

  This was not something my human brain could comprehend. There were realities in this world, laws – things followed certain cosmic truths – and right now, Lexen was breaking all of those.

  “You know my form changes like his, right?” Chase sounded slightly worried, and I realized how rude I was being. Daelighters were different to me, and different was okay. I needed to embrace it.

  Spinning in Chase’s arms, I faced him. We were so close that the front of our bodies almost touched. I tilted my head back to see his face clearly. “I know you change, and it doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just shocking, because I’ve never seen anything like this before. But I don’t fear you.” My voice
grew stronger. “I am not disgusted or upset. I actually think Daelighters are amazing, and I’m a little jealous that I only have my regular old human abilities.” I lifted my hand and placed it on his chest. I needed to touch him. “I’m ready to see your other form, whenever you’re ready to show me.”

  He cupped my face again, brushing his thumb over my cheek in gentle sweeps. “I was not prepared for you,” he murmured. “I thought I was. I watched my brothers go through it with Emma and Callie … but I didn’t think it would be the same for me. In Leights, the Galinta choose our mates. But something far greater is at work here.”

  I wanted to ask what he meant about the trees choosing, but there was no more time. Lexen was flapping his wings hard, sending up plumes of dirt and debris into the eyes of the guards around us. The helicopter, visible just over the tree line, was closing in fast. Laous had been holding back, waiting for his goons to take us down.

  “You need to go,” Chase pushed me toward Lexen. “He’s going to get you to safety. Trust me.”

  “What?” I half shouted, as a strong band-like grip went around my waist. In a split second I was jerked off the ground and my scream was lost in the wind. We were flying, but I didn’t struggle, because by the time I found my voice, we were already at a height that would kill me if I fell. The noise of the helicopter was almost deafening up here.

  “Hold tight,” Lexen muttered in his deep voice. “I’m going to stir up some cover for us.”

  I turned my head to find I was being held in one of his arms, a no-longer-on-fire Callie was in the other, and Emma was sort of in the middle, pressed against both of us, her arms wrapped around Lexen’s neck. Callie was holding onto her, so I did the same with my free arm, which allowed her to relax her grip on Lexen a tad.

  Dark clouds were still thick across the sky, and we were flying right in the midst of them. “Laous is following in the helicopter?” Emma squeaked.