by Jaymin Eve
“Back off.” Lexen’s voice was like a whip, and I felt his heat at my back. Without thought, I stepped back into his chest. His protection. I was usually all about fighting my own battles, but I knew this was above my grade. And not because I was female and Lexen was male – hell no – I didn’t play ball with that kind of bullshit. It was because I was not a supernatural, and I was not stupid. No point throwing myself into a fight I couldn’t win.
Lexen let me rest against him.
“She’s human … and under my protection,” he added, voice deceptively calm. “Walk away now before you violate our treaty and start something your house can’t win.”
Her joking demeanor disappeared. “I’m really going to enjoy wiping your house out of both worlds. You think you have all the control … you just wait. Change is coming, and no power is going to be able to stop the decimation of your people.”
Part of me wanted to grab some popcorn, pull up a squishy arm chair, and watch the drama. This was better than the Spanish soap operas I occasionally caught on television. She left before I could get too involved, and as she walked away I remembered that there were lives at stake. Many lives. My family’s lives.
I spun around, only realizing just how close I was to Lexen when I brushed his chest. I knew I should step away, but in my panic I couldn’t. I just tilted my head up to see his expression better. “Could the Imperials have Sara and Michael?”
If they were the bad guys, and I was already painting them with that brush in my story, then it made sense.
“I don’t know.” He sounded frustrated. “I can’t think of a reason for them to orchestrate the situation to get your family here. But … they’re up to something. They’ve only recently come into new leadership, and Laous is not someone I trust. I’ll talk to Father about investigating him.”
Vulnerability rocked through me. It was on the tip of my tongue to admit I was scared, but I couldn’t say the words. I refused to let the fear win. I had made it through bad things before. I was still alive, still functioning. I could beat this too.
Lexen’s phone made a chirping noise from his pocket. He took a small step away from me, pulling his phone out. As he lifted it, I heard a few other chirping sounds in the class and I turned to find the Imperial chick and Kotar both lifting their cells.
Well, that was an awfully weird coincidence.
I turned back to Lexen – he was wearing an unusual expression. Almost like … worry. My stomach cramped tightly, fear spiking through me.
“What?” I said, reaching for his arm. “Is it my family?”
He shook his head. “They haven’t found them yet. Father just sent a message – the council is calling a meeting. They want to discuss some findings with the four houses.”
“And you have to be there for this meeting?” I asked.
He nodded, looking down at his phone again. I wondered again then where this “home” of his was. Was it on Earth or another world? Could I handle it if they weren’t from Alaska or the Sahara?
“What do I do while you’re gone?” I asked, resigned. “The danger should be minimal, right? If there are no … supernaturals here.”
Amusement creased the corner of his lips, only for a moment, before those hard, stressed lines reappeared. He leaned down and murmured the next part in my ear: “I think it’s time to learn exactly what world you’ve stumbled into. We’re not supernaturals. We’re called Daelighters, and we’re … more like aliens … if you want to classify us.”
Aliens. I paused, waiting to see if I was about to lose my mind with this information. Definitely not from Earth … but surprisingly enough it felt okay. It fit with everything I knew.
“Guess the street name makes sense now,” I choked out. “You’re really from another world?”
He nodded. “Overworld, and you’re coming there with us.”
11
I was hurrying to keep up with Lexen as he rushed through the school. “I don’t understand,” I said, breathlessly. Why was I so bad at running? “How can I come with you? I’m not a Daelighter or whatever. I can’t go to another world. Can I even breathe the air there? Will the gravity kill me?”
I’d done enough science classes to know that humans were perfectly designed for Earth. We had evolved and developed as a species to suit this world, and we had very specific requirements to stay alive. Most other planets we’d discovered would not support our biology. I’d never heard of Overworld, of course, so no doubt it wasn’t in our solar system. But the same principle applied.
Lexen grumbled down at me, his previously prickly personality returning in full swing. “Clearly we’re compatible species. We’re here on your world, aren’t we?”
Way to not so subtly call me a moron. “Yes, but you all keep telling me how special you are. I assumed my inferior human genetics were going to hold me back.” I sarcastically drawled the last part so he knew I really thought his species were a bunch of dickbags.
His chest swelled as he stopped suddenly. I slammed right into him, because I was just barely managing to run and breathe at the same time. Dude was built like a rock wall. Huge hands wrapped around my biceps and I was lifted up slightly off the ground as he dragged me closer, his voice dropping ominously low. “Listen up, human. You’re going to have to get with the picture, and fast. There is no time for you to freak out, or need a period of adjustment. Suck it up, deal with it, and maybe all of us will get out of this mess alive. Do you understand?”
“Lex!” Star’s shocked voice washed over us. “What are you doing? You’re hurting her.”
It was possible it looked like that from her angle, but despite the steel-like strength I could feel in his hands he wasn’t hurting me – unless you counted the way my heart was racing, and that dull ache low in my traitorous body. I was attracted to Lexen. I couldn’t deny it any longer. But it was all chemical, because he was not good for me in so many ways, no matter how compatible our species were.
Lexen’s dark eyes bored into mine and he released me. I swallowed hard, turning as Star wrapped her arms around me. Looked like I was pretty much cured of my aversion to touch, since I let these four Darkens handle me in whatever way they saw fit.
“Are you okay?” Her beautiful face was creased in concern, her gaze sliding down my arms.
I shook my head. “I’m fine. Thanks for looking out. Lexen didn’t hurt me, though.”
I found my eyes locked on his for a brief moment. His expression was unreadable, but the look felt different. Heated somehow.
Jero and Marsil sprinted up then, distracting us. “What happened?” Marsil asked, his gentle voice still taking me by surprise. His nature was so soft, and yet he was built like a linebacker. The contrast was odd, but … I liked it.
Lexen straightened fully as he went into some sort of command mode: “Father wants us home for this council meeting. It’s called for all four houses. We will be gathering at the white field.”
I expected the boys to salute at the end, but they just nodded their heads. “We should head there now.” Jero already had his phone out, typing into it. When he was done, he seemed to notice I was still standing in his sister’s half-hug.
“Hey there, pretty girl! What are you doing here?”
I snorted. “Apparently I’m coming home with you four to … Overworld.” My calm from before was starting to disappear under the reality of how freaking weird this was. What would happen once I was on their world? I’d be stuck there. What if the Darkens forgot about me and I couldn’t get home?
While I was having my internal existential crisis, the others turned toward Lexen and he gave a single nod. “Council’s orders. She’s going to be under Darken protection. We’re to remain at her side at all times.”
I was shaking my head, mind made up. “I’m not going with you,” I decided. “It’s too risky. I don’t even know anything about you!” My voice rose at the end, and when students turned to see what was happening, Lexen stepped in close, dropping his head closer
to mine.
“You don’t have a choice.” His voice was low, and soothing somehow. “If you don’t come with us now, the council will send someone for you. And they’ll be far less interested in your cooperation.”
I backed up a little, fear rattling through me. I had grown complacent … fell into the trap of trusting beings who were not of this world, allowed myself to think for a brief moment that they were friends, that there was a bond between us. But what did I really know about them? They were … aliens.
Jero nudged his brother out of the way. “Lex, man, you’re scaring her.” He held a hand out to me, not demanding, just palm open. “Listen up, sweetheart. Lexen is not lying. If the council wants something, they get it. No matter what. We want you with us because we want to protect you. Our family has some influence in Overworld. You don’t need to worry about your safety.”
“I … I could get trapped on your world. I can’t take the risk.”
Most of me knew it was stupid trying to fight this. There was no way for me to hide from their council. I was a teenager with no money and missing guardians. If the council always got their own way, then it was going to happen. But I still had to protest. That was all the control left to me.
“Sara and Michael,” I choked out. “What happens to them if I don’t go with you?”
Lexen wore a blank expression again, except for those fiery eyes. “Reading between the lines of Father’s message, the council believes your guardians are being held in Overworld. If we want their help to find them, we need to cooperate.”
Damn, if they were on Overworld I was going to be there too. “How do I know you’re not lying?” I finally said, no longer backing away.
Marsil shot me his gentle grin; it put me at ease. “You’re just going to have to trust that we are on your side.”
Trusting was hard for me, but it seemed I really didn’t have a choice. In all honesty, my gut instincts since first meeting these four had been to trust them. It was a weirdness I couldn’t explain, but my gut was usually pretty good with those things, so I would go with it for now.
And hope it didn’t bite me on the ass.
Star, who had been quietly watching, letting her brothers talk me off the ledge, stepped in then and linked our arms together. “If I could stay here with you, I would,” she said, sincerity dripping from each word.
“You want to stay?” Marsil sounded surprised.
“I only just got here…” She stamped her foot. “Literally just got here and already I have to go home. It took me almost a year to get Father to agree. A year!”
Her voice wobbled slightly. I squeezed her hand.
Marsil patted his sister’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we won’t let the overlord keep you there. When this council meeting is done, we will all be coming back to our own little slice of Earth.”
“Don’t make any promises,” Lexen growled. “I think this little experiment has failed. It was one thing when it was voluntary, but the moment they started to force compliance, everything fell apart.”
No one said anything more, and I tried to ignore the small stab of pain I felt at his need to get away from Earth and … us humans. Whatever. I shouldn’t be surprised, Lexen had never made it a secret. There was a lot of background story I didn’t know, and a part of me was excited to be going to Overworld. Terrified, of course. But excited at the same time. An emotion I was more than a little happy to feel again. When my parents died, a part of me died also, the part that cared about the world going on around me. But … this felt different. For once I was not apathetic. I wanted to know everything. Hopefully I would get all of the answers soon.
Our first stop before leaving Starslight was a set of lockers near the entrance. Huge and shiny, they were at least twice the size and depth of mine. When Lexen pressed his thumb to the scanner, I realized it was his. I had no idea what they needed lockers for; they never carried books or bags.
“Dump your stuff in here. You won’t need it.”
Oh, right. The locker was for me. I thought briefly of grabbing my wallet, but no doubt the student identification and Daelight Crescent card were not going to be useful on Overworld, so I didn’t bother to take anything.
“We have everything you need in our territory,” Star told me. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
Did they have to be so nice all the time? The lines were blurring for me.
Meh, who the hell was I kidding? They had been blurred almost from the first second I moved onto their street and was told not to cross to the rich side. My fascination with these Daelighters was worrisome, but at least I understood what Cara was talking about. It was impossible to stay away once you’d tasted their world.
We left the school without a word to any teachers, and we weren’t the only ones. I was about to see the full scale of these Daelighters here on Earth. Well, at least here in Stars High. There were at least fifty students trailing out and climbing into their cars – all of which were worth more than the last three houses I had lived in put together.
“So … all of you are rich?” I said, half envious, half impressed with their setup here on Earth. “Couldn’t you have just gotten by with your exceptional good looks and photographic memories?”
Jero chuckled. “I’ll take the good looks, but photographic memory is not one of our gifts.”
“So the no books thing…?” I’d asked him before, but I wanted more explanation.
Lexen opened the door for me, which had me a little stunned, but … I also liked that he’d done something thoughtful.
“We have already completed all of our schooling,” he said as I climbed into the passenger seat. “We’re older than you, in a way. Therefore we’re not learning anything new. This is just to keep up appearances.”
“How are you older in a way?” I asked, when all of the Darkens were inside the vehicle.
They exchanged a smile like I was missing out on an inside joke. I hated when people did that. So freaking rude.
“We’re … older than you, that’s all you need to know.”
Fact of the day: Lexen was a dick.
“Why would your age be a secret?” I said, my tone filled with derision. “I mean, seriously, why the hell would I care if you’re old?”
Lexen tilted his head, flashing me one of his very rare grins. “Why are you asking if you don’t care?”
I bit back my frustrated scream.
“I’m fifty-five in human years,” Star cut in, shooting her brother a narrow-eyed look. “I’m the youngest.”
What. The. Freak?
“Fifty-five?” I repeated, trying to wrap my head around what she was saying. She looked younger than me. “So, I’m going to guess that Daelighters age differently to humans?”
Four head nods. Marsil filled me in: “We stop aging once we reach maturity.”
“You don’t age?” I almost collapsed against the shiny door of Lexen’s car. “My human brain can’t compute that sort of information.” I mean, did they die? Or were they immortal?
“Hence why we don’t talk about our age,” Lexen said with a shake of his head, starting the car.
I could sense Lexen’s urgency to get going, so I wasted no more time on questions. I buckled myself in. As soon as my belt clicked, we took off in a squeal of tires. I gripped the door, because Lexen was channeling a racecar driver on the way home, foot flat to floor, weaving in and out of traffic.
“Please remember that one of us is human,” I griped, my knuckles aching from the death grip I had on my handhold.
Lexen just laughed, the carefree sound mildly distracting me from my fear. “You’re safe, little human. I can handle her.”
I muttered about boys and their toys, closing my eyes for the rest of the way. Lucky there weren’t a lot of cars on the road. Well, except for all of the aliens following us. When we reached Daelight Crescent, the huge gates were already open and Lexen flew down the road, pulling into his driveway. We all piled out, and I realized that we weren’t going insi
de at all. Great, I was going to be stuck in my gym uniform.
Even worse, I would have to use that swirly light thing that Star had emerged from.
As though she had heard my worries, Star popped up beside me. “Don’t be nervous,” she told me. “It doesn’t hurt. The portal between our worlds is linked strongly at this gateway. You just need to step through and you’ll be on the other side.”
“More or less,” Marsil said, patting me on the shoulder.
I looked between the two of them. “Well, is it more or is it less? Because I’m not feeling very confident with that answer.”
They both shrugged and I bit back an angry retort. When I got nervous, I turned into an asshole. I was working on it. Among my many other faults.
“House of Darken takes the first light beam home, so we need to hurry.” Lexen was already walking, his words drifting back to us.
Star moved then, dragging me along; she was surprisingly strong. Then we were all hurrying. A glance back told me the street was filling with teenage-looking Daelighters, all of them ditching their cars in front of their mansions. There was not one person on this street who looked older then late teens, early twenties.
“Do you die?” I whispered to Star.
She looked astonished for a moment, and I realized that my blurted question might have sounded vaguely threatening. She recovered smoothly. “Yes, of course we do. We’re very long-lived but not immortal. We really do just age differently to humans.”
I sensed that was the best answer I was getting for a while, so I shelved any further questions and focused on the simple – and hideous – task of running to keep up with all the long legs around me. In the bright light of day, streets usually showed their grimier side, trash, graffiti, potholes. Not Daelight. It was pristine, not a leaf out of place in the hedges. Not a dead flower in the gardens. The asphalt was untouched. The lines were bright white.
