Secret Keepers: The Complete Series

by Jaymin Eve

  “This is surreal,” I whispered, my body molded to his. “I feel like I’ve known you my entire life.”

  Chase’s lips brushed across my forehead and I just breathed him in, that mint and pine scent that was already so familiar. “I was there when you were born,” he told me. “It was a special, sacred moment. We waited on the other side of the trees that held the legreto. When your mother was able, she wrapped you up and brought you over for us all to see.”

  I let the silence cloak us while I thought on what he’d said. “My entire life, I’ve felt out of place,” I admitted. “Fitting in wasn’t the problem. I was popular, a cheerleader, but always seeking more. Now … that feeling is gone. It’s clear to me that I was searching for you.”

  He tilted my head up and our lips met. Lying side by side, the difference in our heights didn’t matter, and I had easy access to his mouth. My leg went up over his body because I needed to be closer to him. Everything inside of me was thrumming, and it was really difficult to remember that not only was I a virgin, I was on a plane filled with Daelighters who no doubt would have fantastic hearing.

  Did I really care, though?

  As my tongue brushed against his, a low breathy sound escaped and Chase’s chest rumbled under me. After endless minutes – or days – of pure bliss, he pulled away, both of his hands cupping my face. “We should cool off,” he breathed against my lips. “Because my control is shot right now.”

  He wasn’t the only one.

  “You need to sleep,” he added, pulling me closer until I was half sprawled across him. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  At this point I’d completely forgotten that I’d been nervous to sleep in the same bed as him. Tangled up in his arms was the most right my life had ever felt, and as I drifted off to sleep, I sent out a hope for many more nights like this.

  I woke up with less than an hour to go in our flight. It was the first time I’d managed my fear of flying without medication, or a lot of emotional trauma. Chase remained asleep, holding me against his chest. The warm smoothness of his skin, along with his steady heartbeat, almost lulled me back to sleep, but my stomach was protesting too much about lack of food for me to actually doze off.

  “I think I’d better feed you,” Chase rumbled, his eyes opening. “Starving my mate on the first day we’re bonded does not seem like a good way to start our lives.”

  Groaning, I buried my head into him, blocking out everything else. “Do we have to leave? The moment we get off this plane, we’ll be back to tracking down Laous and trying not to die. I like it better in here.”

  In an instant I was flipped over onto my back, Chase perched above me. “What did I tell you before? You’re not going to die. I won’t let it happen.”

  His confidence was cute and amusing, and while it bordered on arrogant, I didn’t mind. Chase was just doing Chase, and I happened to like exactly who he was.

  “Neither of us will die,” I agreed. “It’s a deal.”

  Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling his body down onto mine. I wanted to feel his weight while I wrapped my legs up around him and pressed my body to his. Chase did not fight me, and he was strong enough to resist if he wanted to.

  “We still have an hour,” I murmured, my lips pressing to his, while my body ached for his touch.

  Chase let out a low groan. “We don’t need to rush.”

  “We don’t have to have sex,” I reminded him, because he was right about the rushing. “Plenty of other fun things to do to kill time … if you can be quiet.”

  I winked, even though it was no doubt going to be me screaming the plane down. Chase pushed himself back up, the muscles in his biceps standing out starkly as he stared down at me. I had no idea what he was looking for, so I just let all of my emotions and love for him rise to the surface.

  I might not have said the words yet, but I definitely felt the emotion. In my old life I would have laughed at any girl who said she was in love after knowing the guy for less than a week, but as far as I was concerned, I’d known Chase my entire life. We were destined. He stirred feelings in me that went beyond the normal.

  “You’re my everything, Maya,” Chase told me, still holding himself just away from me. “Beyond love. Beyond life. Beyond the worlds we are from. You are my first and only priority, and I will strive every single day to never fail you, this I can promise.”

  I pulled him down again, and this time our kiss felt different. Hotter, more intense, and also more emotional. As he moved those full lips across mine, down my cheek, and along my neck, I threw my head back and bit my lip to stop from making noises. He stripped my shirt away, leaving me just in my black bra. I was thankful at this point that I’d taken the time to clean up last night. Not that Chase seemed to really care about a little dirt.

  We wasted no time, touching, kissing, learning each other, and before I knew it there were only thirty minutes left in the flight. When I stepped out of the bedroom fully dressed – and wholly satisfied – I was still a virgin. But it felt like everything had changed.

  I did agree with him, though. I wasn’t quite ready for that step, and it would be nice for my first time not to be on a plane filled with other people. Although it certainly had felt romantic in our little bedroom. Our bubble.

  “Come on,” Chase said, leading me back to our original chairs. Mostly everyone else was seated. I waved to Emma and Callie as I passed them. They both looked more relaxed than before. Callie had white gauze visible behind her ear but didn’t seem bothered by it.

  I wondered if they’d enjoyed the use of the bedrooms as well. At least I didn’t have to feel embarrassed to think I might have been loud. Over the noise of the plane, I hadn’t heard anything. So hopefully they hadn’t either.

  “Do Daelighters have better hearing than humans?” I asked Chase as we buckled ourselves in.

  His smile was knowing. “Yes, but not by that much. No one heard us.”

  Thank you, Jesus.

  Just before taking their seats, a steward brought us a sandwich and bottle of water. We had twenty more minutes to descend, so there was time for me to get some food in my stomach. And hope I didn’t throw it up as we came in to land. Chase held my hand the entire time, and even when the wheels touched down, bouncing a little – which normally was the point I’d freak out – he kept me from losing it. By the time all the checks were complete, and we’d waited for our turn to taxi into the main hub of buildings, I barely felt stressed at all. Someone needed to bottle these mate bonds; they were ten times better than Xanax.

  “When we disembark,” Daniel told us, “a car will be waiting. We have government contacts in this airport. They’ll make sure we get through without any issue.”

  I freaked for a second, because I had completely forgotten I didn’t have any identification on me. Really should have been something I thought about before this moment, but I guess no one had any on them, so it wasn’t like they were going to leave me behind. As the stairs lowered for us to exit, there were two dark SUVs waiting a dozen feet away. Their engines were running, and the drivers – wearing slacks and casual shirts – got out and opened the doors for us. I slid in the back seat next to Chase. Xander took the passenger seat, while Emma and Lexen got in the very back. The others got in the second car.

  “Straight to the house,” Xander said, and the driver didn’t waste a second spinning the car around and getting out of the airport. There were some security personnel on the gates as we exited, but none of them stopped us. Being rich opened doors … or gates, apparently.

  Once we were onto the road, I recognized where we were. Our plane had landed on a smaller airfield near Lanai Airport. I could see the bigger airfield just off to my right. So we were about four miles from the city.

  “Why did your family choose this island to holiday?” Chase asked, while both of us stared out at the sights.

  “Mostly because it’s quieter than the bigger islands,” I replied. “And it’s absolutely stunning here –
sightseeing, swimming, day tours. We liked to stay active, but in between have really relaxed downtime, which was harder in the crowded areas. This was like … being off the grid for a short time.”

  “There are no stoplights here,” the driver said, joining the conversation. “A lot of the roads require a 4-wheel drive vehicle.”

  “Tommy is usually manning some of our businesses in Honolulu,” Chase explained, “but he always raves about Lanai. I think it’s his favorite.”

  Tommy didn’t say anything, but if his grin was any indication, he was definitely a fan. As the car wove along the winding road, we ended up going past the main part of Lanai City toward some exclusive little alcoves where rich people built their beach houses.

  Beach houses and private beaches.

  “Who owns this property?” I asked.

  Xander’s hand went up. “It’s mine. I have a house on each of the islands here. Surfing is kind of my thing.”

  For a merman, that made sense.

  Xander’s house was definitely not a house in any sense of the word. Okay, it did have walls and a roof. A lot of walls, if the size of the estate was any indication. It looked like a resort. We turned into the main drive and waited for the double fences to open. We were at the top of the land and had to wind our way down to the main residence. It was white, a sprawling square building. I caught a glimpse of multiple pools adjacent to a long stretch of stunning white-sand beach. You could swim in the pool and stare out into the ocean beyond.

  Ah-Ma-Zing. “Could we maybe visit here another time? When we’re not saving the world?” Emma asked from the back seat. “Because I wouldn’t mind a few days swimming in that pool.”

  Dream come true for sure.

  Xander’s smile was crooked. “You’re all welcome here whenever you want, of course. This is my personal property, so you won’t run into any other Royales.”

  He was much more personable when he wasn’t scowling and worrying about being forced into a romantic relationship. “Okay, let’s make a deal right now,” Emma piped up again. “Get rid of Laous quickly, no one else … dies…” She choked on the last word before recovering. “And then we all finally get a chance to enjoy the beauty here, and in Overworld…”

  “Deal,” I said immediately.

  The rest of the car, including Tommy, added their voices.

  “Tommy, I’m going to need you to rustle up some clothing for everyone here,” Xander said as the car pulled up. “We have to start our search, but we’ll all need to clean up later and no one has a change of clothing.”

  Tommy nodded. “I’ll just need your sizes and I can make that happen.”

  He got out of the car, hurrying around to let the rest of us out. Once we were all in front of the vehicle, we told him our sizes and then he crossed to the other car. As the second group joined us, I didn’t miss the tension between Daniel and Fraizer. They stood as far apart as possible. It was only the withering looks Callie was shooting between them that connected the two at all.

  “What’s the plan now?” Xander asked, his back to the magnificence that was his house. “Did you get any other details about her location, Maya?”

  I thought for a moment of the glimpses of Lanai I’d seen when I surfaced. “I think she was near Hulopoe Bay – one of the main beaches. I also saw … the underwater cathedrals, I think. I’ve dived a few times there with my parents. We’re all big into water sports. Well, my dad is, my mom not so much. But the light streaming through the water reminded me of them.”

  Callie shuddered. “I’m not a very good swimmer, so underwater exploring will have to be done by someone else.”

  Xander rubbed a hand across his head, mussing the blond strands. “You all know that I can take anything underwater. I think she’s just moving around a lot. That’s why Maya saw more than one location.”

  It made sense, but it didn’t help us figure out where to go.

  Fraizer spoke up: “I know where Laous is stationed … and since he doesn’t know that I’ve jumped ship, do you want me to head there to see what he’s learned?”

  Everyone turned to Fraizer, and I knew I wasn’t the only one with suspicions clouding my mind. Had this all been a setup? Pretending that he was switching sides? Helping us take Laous down? Had we stepped into another trap of Laous’ making?

  Chapter 21

  “I promise, this is no trap.” Fraizer had his hands up in front of him, a pleading expression on his face. “I’ve already told you that I disagree with Laous, with the way he is going about this. He sucked me in initially because I believe that family sticks together, and I guess I wanted a way to punish Daniel. But he has gone too far.”

  He sounded sincere, and I was a pretty trusting person, so my instincts were to believe what he was saying. But this wasn’t my call. I let the overlords do their thing.

  “I’m inclined to believe him,” Chase said.

  Lexen shook his head. “If he goes to Laous, we’re all going as well. That way we’ll see for sure that he’s telling the truth.”

  No one else had a better plan, and since the drivers had already taken off in one of the cars, we squished into the other. Emma and I ended up in the middle seats, Chase and Lexen on either side of us. The rest fit themselves where they could; Xander was driving. Once we were out of his estate, Fraizer told him to head toward the city.

  The car was quiet, tension riding all of us. Closing my eyes, I tried to reach out for the fourth girl, wanting to pinpoint her location now that we were closer. But there was no clear entry to the network on Earth, not really. I could feel the energy, but it was faint. We were going to have to find the fourth secret keeper the old-fashioned way.

  Thankfully, Lanai City was less city and more sprawling village, so we shouldn’t have to search for too long. I wasn’t sure how many locals lived here, but it didn’t seem like a lot. I personally loved the vibe. It was usually me who requested we come here for our yearly holidays. I’d never stayed in the town, though. We generally hired out a private rental on the beach.

  Fraizer leaned forward in his seat. “He’s on this side of town. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot him. We tend to stick out on Earth.”

  I had no idea how the four overlords managed to pass for humans at all. They were so far beyond normal males that it was almost laughable.

  “Laous has probably already found her. He might not even be here,” Callie said, her words clipped. “This could all be a complete waste of time.”

  “At minimum I’m hoping we ferret out some more of the traitors,” Xander said. “In particular, I’m looking for my father’s best friend. He’s been missing for a few weeks.”

  “Your father’s the overlord?” I asked. It felt like this might be an obvious question, but maybe it was his uncle or something.

  Xander shook his head. “My mother is the overlord. She was the one born to royal blood. My father rules with her, of course, but there’s only one true overlord.”

  That was awesome. Good to see it wasn’t only males wearing the title.

  We continued weaving through the small town, locals waving in their friendly way. For the most part. After about ten minutes, Fraizer leaned forward. “I’m not sure randomly driving is the right way to go,” he said. “Do you have a phone? I’ll just call him and tell him I’m here.”

  Xander flicked his head toward the center of the car. “There’s an untraceable cell in there.”

  Fraizer found it quickly, powered it on and entered a number. I was surprised when Fraizer put it on speaker.

  “Who the fuck is this?”

  The unfamiliar voice was female, each word snapped out like bullets from a gun.

  “Fraizer. I’ve acquired one part of the package. Laous needs to give me a drop-off location.”

  Chase tensed at my side, and I reached out and laced my fingers through his. Comfort for both of us. “There was a little trouble, but mostly, it all went to plan,” Fraizer continued, and you could have cut the tension in the car with a
blunt knife. “Send me the coordinates. My ETA is about ten minutes.”

  He hit the end button, and I was pretty sure it was taking every ounce of Chase’s control not to reach out and punch him. “What’s the package?” he bit out, not sounding at all like his normal chill self.

  Fraizer dropped the phone into his lap, letting out a sigh. “The secret keepers are the package, of course. This is a double-cross, but Laous doesn’t realize he’s the one being crossed.”

  That sounded great in theory. But another part of me wondered if this was actually a triple cross, and we were about to be screwed.

  “He won’t believe I managed to grab more than one of you, which is why I mentioned only part of the package.” The phone dinged then, and Fraizer lifted it. “He’s stationed near the cat sanctuary. Apparently, your secret keeper girl works there.”

  I’d always wanted to go to the cat sanctuary. They had hundreds of cats that were kept there to ensure their safety, and the safety of the native wildlife of the island. I’d never managed to visit, but it looked like I was going to get my chance now.

  Xander wasted no time swinging the car around, heading in the opposite direction. The sanctuary was back near the main airport, so we passed familiar sights as we headed that way.

  “So, what’s the plan, Fraizer?” Daniel asked from the back.

  Fraizer hesitated, before he said: “If you let me go in with one of the secret keepers, Laous will be distracted. That’s the perfect time for you to try and take him out. Or at least get the stone away from him. My suggestion is that when we get near the sanctuary, everyone hops out of the car, except for one of the girls. I don’t care which one. I just need a distraction to give you all time to follow us.”

  No one jumped at that suggestion, but I kind of thought it wasn’t a half-bad idea.

  “He’s not going to hurt the secret keepers,” Fraizer reminded us. “He’s convinced that he will need all four even once he has the final map. He has so many plans in place to snatch them up.”