by Jaymin Eve
Callie echoed my thoughts: “Did we just stumble into a fantasy world? Because I can see a dragon. Everyone else can as well … right?”
“Right,” was the return murmur from more than one person.
Lexen moved forward, heading toward a little clearing of green grass that must have been the dragon’s landing ground. I didn’t follow, because as fascinating as she was, she was also absolutely terrifying. Qenita could eat me in one bite. Whole.
Yeah, I was perfectly happy staring from back here.
Despite her huge size, she landed with so much grace that she barely even made a sound. Her wings tucked in behind her, and a tall blond man jumped off. Lexen and Xander did a quick guy-hug, pat-on-the-back-thing, before they both placed their hands on the dragon, speaking to her, and then her wings were out again and she was soaring back into the sky. By the time the two overlords made their way to us, Qenita was nothing more than a pinprick above.
Which was scary when one thought about trying to hide from a possible dragon attack. They could be a tiny dot above, and seconds later would be right on your butt. Made me want to shuffle a little closer to Lexen, the dragon lord.
Xander greeted Daniel in the same way he had Lexen, then he crossed to Chase. After their hug and back pats, Chase reached for me, bringing me closer. “This is Maya, the third secret keeper. She wears a bonded mark, blessed by the Galinta.”
Xander’s eyes widened, then he let out a series of colorful curses. “You have got to be shitting me.” I wasn’t the only one staring wide-eyed at the Royale overlord. “I don’t like this. It’s bullshit that we’re having our choices and freedoms stripped from us.”
I didn’t want to flinch, but tall, muscled, angry men hit all of my wary nerves. I’d never physically match someone like Xander, so I usually chose to retreat. Even though it was annoying that I had to.
Chase’s arm tightened, stopping me from moving. “Calm down,” he said to his friend, bite in his tone. “You’re scaring Maya, and I’m about five seconds from teaching you some respect.”
Xander’s face was awash in fury, blue eyes darkening to something very stormy. “You’ve all been brainwashed,” he declared. “Especially you, Chase. Seriously, you’ve always been content with your life. You turned down all of those possible matches when your parents suggested them between some of the other Leights. Now you’re telling me you’re just going to fall for the first pretty piece of ass—”
He was cut off by a fist to the face. Chase had released me, moving me back a few inches before he slammed his fist into Xander’s jaw. The punch knocked the Royale overlord back a decent six feet. He straightened, shaking himself off.
Chase did not hit him again, but he moved in front of me, his body changing. He was at least six inches taller than usual, which meant I was basically staring at his butt.
Short girl problems, I tell ya.
I peeked around to see Xander glaring and rubbing his jaw. “You know I’m right.” He sounded resigned. “Within a matter of months, the three of you have all bonded to a human. Doesn’t that sound a little coincidental?”
Lexen and Daniel moved behind Xander so that he was now surrounded by his best friends. “Fate designed it this way,” Daniel told him, turning so he could see Callie. “My life was shit before I met her. I would not give up my bond with Cal for anything in either world. I consider myself blessed.”
“It’s the same for me,” Lexen added.
“And me,” Chase finished. “I could search my entire life for a woman like Maya and I would never find one. Not even close. How do I know this? Because I have searched for fifty years already, and no one has stirred even one percent of the emotion inside of me that she did from the first second I heard her name.”
Holy gods. I was going to cry, seriously. I stepped up and pressed myself to his back. His body was back to normal size now, so my face wasn’t pressed into his butt. Was I disappointed or relieved about that? Hard to tell.
My skin was tight and flushed from all the energy and adrenalin, so I just breathed in the fresh, outdoorsy scent of Chase, and let myself calm down. His hands wrapped over mine.
Xander pushed his hair back in agitation. “I … fuck – sorry for being an asshole. I’ve had a hell of a week, which I know is nothing compared to what everyone else is dealing with. I don’t begrudge any of you this new happiness in your lives. Just … don’t expect the same from me. I’m never going to be the Daelighter for the fourth secret keeper. It’s better that everyone knows it from the start.”
No one argued with him, and I started to breathe easier as the palpable tension faded out of the group. “You’ve always been free to make your own choices,” Lexen said. “You do what’s right for you.”
Sounded to me like Xander did that anyway, but again, who was I to judge? I didn’t know what went on in his life. Maybe Xander was trying not to bring anyone into a mess of a world.
I’d give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
Lexen and Daniel went straight for their girls, needing to touch them. I understood that need. Xander’s rant had left a sour taste in my mouth, tainting some of the happiness I had been feeling. But the moment Chase turned around, his arms scooping under me so he could hug me properly, the world felt right again.
“None of what he said is true, not for me,” he told me, very seriously.
Using all of my strength, I pulled him closer to me. “I know, I’ve never doubted that for a second. What you said … that was beautiful. Thank you.” He squeezed me extra tight, and then set me back on my feet.
We moved into the main group, and I did my best not to stand near Xander, because he was kind of on my shit list right now.
“Okay, so the council used the network to find Callie and Maya,” Lexen explained. “But they don’t believe it can be done with the fourth. There are securities that make it nearly impossible to find the fourth without the stone.”
Okay, so why were we here, then?
“But they don’t know what we do, that together the eight of us are a very strong, powerful unit,” Daniel added. “A unit which is missing one part, and we believe that together our power will search for her.”
Xander crossed his arms, staring out into the mountains beyond. Moody bastard.
“So what do we have to do?” Emma asked, her hands clasped in front of her; she looked nervous. “I get the concept of the network, but the thought of trying to connect to it … I’m not sure I can do it.”
“Same,” Callie piped up.
Same, I mentally added.
“We’ll show you the way we learned as children,” Lexen told her. “Our parents take us in the first time, and then after that, the pathway becomes more instinctive and natural.”
Star stepped forward from where she had been standing back with Jero, both of them silent bystanders. “I have this to help you out.” She held something square in her hand, about the size of a large picture frame.
Once she handed it to Lexen, she returned to Jero’s side. My parents and Brad gave me a wave, then moved closer to Star, leaving just the seven of us in a rough circle.
“We need to hold hands,” Daniel said, and I shuffled around so that I was in between Chase and Callie. We reached for each other at the same time, and the moment my hands were in theirs, my stomach did a flip. It was like the “Chase feeling” – intense, but less … sexual. Which was definitely a good thing. It wasn’t that I had any problem with the poly lifestyle, but in this case, I was a one-man sort of woman.
Once the seven of us were joined, the energy running through my hands grew stronger. It felt like tingles that built up and then calmed down in waves. “The network exists beneath our feet,” Chase explained. “It’s a grid of energy; you can picture it as long lines of light, spanning Overworld, crisscrossing each other.”
Lexen nodded. “Exactly. These lines connect all around our world. Even into Earth, somewhat. You can use the lights to find something or someone. If you know what you�
��re looking for.
“We send coded messages to each other,” Chase jumped in, “because we are familiar with the energy of our friends and family. Now we just have to find the light that leads to the last secret keeper.”
Callie interrupted: “She’s going to be on Earth, right? Lexen said the network stretches somewhat into Earth, but will it be far enough?”
There was a beat of silence, and then Daniel said, “It’s not common knowledge, but since we set up the permanent transporter, our network crosses further into Earth’s energy. We’ve kept it from the people because too much network use on Earth could throw the balance off. But … desperate times.”
The council must have taken the same risk with the balance, which clearly turned out okay.
“Jero, we need your help now,” Lexen called out to his brother. The solemn male crossed over to our group, ducking under his brother and Emma’s clasped hands. He shook his head, body visibly shivering as he straightened.
“The energy you’re sharing right now is intense.” He sounded surprised. “For a moment, I wasn’t sure it was going to let me cross.”
“Lucky we aren’t intentionally trying to keep you out, isn’t it?” Daniel said with a grin. “Then you’d probably be peeling yourself off the mountain.” He inclined his head toward a nearby rock face.
Jero actually cracked a smile, and it changed his face so much. The difference was mesmerizing. He reached down and grabbed up the square frame that Star had brought with her, the thing that was supposed to help us connect. Jero held it up in front of Emma.
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “I loved these things when I was a kid.”
Immediately I wanted to know what it was, but since I couldn’t move I’d have to patiently wait until it was my turn.
“You need to let your eyes adjust, just like you did as a kid,” Jero explained. “Once you see the lines, let them extend out of the image until they reach the ground. Follow them down. You’ll understand once your mind is connected.”
“I’ll help you,” Lexen added. “Guide you along the lines of energy.”
Emma didn’t say anything, she focused her attention on the square Jero held. The rest of us were left to deal with tingling hands while watching Emma’s face go from interested to confused to frustrated, back to confused, before eventually landing on devastated.
“I can’t see it,” she wailed, tipping her head toward Lexen. “I tried everything I could to see the different image, but there’s nothing there.”
She sounded extremely upset; her eyes were watery. Lexen leaned down and kissed her on the lips, startling her, but also bringing a much happier expression to her face.
“You’re pushing too hard,” he said. “The key is to let your mind relax. Don’t force it. Try to remember that you have been in the network before. It’s the only way your secret keeper’s abilities could work. The only way the four of you could be linked the way you are. When you were born, your souls touched the network. The imprinting from that remains within you.”
Emma sucked in a loud breath. “I can do this,” she murmured, to no one in particular. “I will not let Laous beat us.”
I felt her statement deep in my soul. The truth of it. We could do this.
Chapter 18
It took Emma thirteen minutes to master the mystery picture. I was pretty excited for it to get around to me, but also nervous, because I had no idea what to expect. Callie was next, and while I had a side view of what looked like a dark blue pattern sprinkled through with lights, the image was angled away from me, limiting my vision of it.
Instead I watched Emma, who was now staring off to the side, unfocused. I wondered what she was seeing. Was she actually in the network? It seemed that the only way to know was to go there yourself, so I’d just have to work on my patience.
“This is insane,” Callie snarled, breathing deeply, until eventually her face relaxed. “I just need to calm down, I just need to focus.” She started murmuring to herself. “I can do this.”
“You got this, Cal. Just follow the lights,” Daniel said, lifting their joined hands up slightly. “I’ll help you go the rest of the way.”
It took fourteen minutes before her eyes took on the same unfocused cast as Emma’s, then apparently, she was in. Jero took two steps to the right and I tried to breathe through the absolute rapid pounding of my heart, feeling it in my throat and hearing it in my head.
“Your turn, Maya,” he drawled. Chase swung his head toward him, like he was shocked by something.
“No nickname?” Chase asked him. I was confused, but I figured this was a “Jero” inside joke that I’d hopefully find out one day.
Jero’s lip twitched a little. “I’m working on it,” he replied, with a lopsided smile.
He lifted the frame higher, and for the first time I could see exactly what it was. Like Emma, I was familiar with it. It was one of those three-dimensional images hidden inside a two-dimensional pattern. You had to readjust your focus and you could see the hidden image inside. I was always terrible at it. Like … horrendous.
The pattern was akin to a night sky filled with a million shooting stars, beams of lights crisscrossing each other. My eyes flicked across to Chase, who was watching me closely. As he inclined his head at me, the smile he wore never faded. You got this, that look said. And I nodded. So what if I sucked at this sort of thing when I was younger? People learned new skills every day.
Turning back to the image, I tried to calm my mind, blocking out the world around me.
Come on, Maya. No matter how hard I tried though, the damn picture still just looked like a night sky. It reminded me of when I’d been in the transporter, all of that darkness, with the pinpricks of light in the distance. Only these lights were closer and smudged into each other.
Maybe I needed to just focus on one light in particular and try to see which smudge belonged to it. I searched around for one near the edge of the image. It had a tail that spun and flipped around, crossing back in on its self. I continued to follow, losing the path once or twice and having to backtrack, but I eventually got there. As I reached the tail it … moved. So I continued to follow its path … which continued to move.
That feeling of excitement inside of me brought the thrum of energy in my hands to greater heights.
“That’s it, sayana,” Chase murmured close to me. “Follow that light.”
It extended off the page, and I kept my focus, scared if I lost sight of the line for even a second, I’d lose whatever ground I’d gained. It spiraled down the side of Jero’s leg toward the ground. It was easy to follow now; there were no other lights to interfere. The moment the beam hit the green grass, it solidified.
Lifting my eyes, I stared at all the lights on the image, tracing some of their paths, and without any effort this time, all of them started to move. It took me ten minutes to have hundreds of bright lights anchored to the ground. They were vibrating, and I could hear noises, maybe even voices coming from within them.
One twanged loudly at me, and within it I felt Chase. I mentally reached for his light and it hit me in the chest. The energy I felt when I was near him filled me up, then it dragged me down into the ground. I didn’t physically move, but my consciousness was going with that beam of light, and then I was “standing” … existing … in a world of darkness. Only it wasn’t just darkness, there were beams of light everywhere, crossing in front of me and over each other.
There was a lot of noise here at first, but when I focused, most of the chatter died away. I could feel them all here: Emma, Callie, Lexen, Daniel, Xander, and Chase. I couldn’t see them, but I recognized the bright beams of light around me. The seven of us glowed, running almost parallel to each other.
Maya, you did it, I heard Emma’s words in my head.
Be very careful what you say here, Lexen reminded us. All conversations can be recorded and overheard in the network.
We fell somewhat silent, and I wondered what we were supposed to do now.
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Let’s start with a little test, Daniel suggested. Try to find Jero. His energy will be close to ours, because he’s physically near us.
I hadn’t had much time to get to know Jero, but that didn’t seem to matter. I only had to picture him in my mind, had to remember the sad, heavy emotions he carried around, and my light immediately shot toward a tattered-looking beam about ten yards away. It strummed at me, almost like a greeting.
We can feel if someone is searching for our energy, Chase told us. Jero will know, but if he wanted to respond or communicate, he would have to enter the network.
Callie’s light went bright then and I felt like she was laughing. This is just like virtual reality. Our bodies are where we left them, but our consciousness and vision is now in another world.
That was true, and while there wasn’t much going on in the way of world building here, I felt the vast endless opportunities that lay beyond us.
Okay, now that we have found Jero, let’s try for someone on Earth, Emma suggested. Maybe my guardians. For those who have met them and know their energy.
That wasn’t me, so I sat that one out.
Easy as, Emma finally exclaimed.
That was definitely a positive, but since none of us had met the last secret keeper, it was no doubt going to be more difficult. I hoped they had a good plan.
Lexen sounded serious. We’re going to have mere seconds to find her, because the moment we locate her rough proximity, we need to cut the connection. Otherwise she could be found by others.
Daniel interrupted: And if there is any instability with Earth’s energy while we do this, we’re also going to have to abort immediately.
So how do we do this when we haven’t met her? Callie asked.
The pause felt very long, but it was probably only a second before Xander answered: Jero is going to prick each of the secret keepers’ fingers … if they are agreeable to this. We’ll mix the three drops of blood together, and then he is going to send it down into the network.
