by Jaymin Eve
“I really should change first,” I said, waving my hands across my bloody clothes. Thankfully my Converse were dark, so if there was blood on them I couldn’t see it.
He shook his head. “Most of it is off your skin, which I needed to happen, because seeing you coated in blood was not doing much for my control. The rest can wait. We don’t want to be late. I need to hear what they have to say. I need to be there to keep my house in order.” He held out a hand and I stared at it. “You’ll have to hold my hand. You can’t navigate the network without me.”
Okay, then. My independence was pretty much toast anyway. Might as well get used to being a puppet. I reached out and his hand engulfed mine. He was gentle for such a huge guy.
“Do your tattoos mean something?” I asked, catching sight of them as he turned.
I wanted to know all the things about him, and this world I was now in. Maybe there was actually a chance at the freedom I had always craved, if I could just learn my place.
He ran his free hand across the maroon marks on his head. “They’re the symbols of an overlord. Each holds different meaning, written in the old language. Most Daelighters who are fit to be overlord are born with them. Some develop them later, or like Laous have them marked on their skin with ink.” He ran a hand across his shoulder and down his chest. “My marks are all the way down to my waist on one side. We’re the only House to have this happen.”
“What do yours mean?”
No doubt that was a hugely personal question, but what the hell. Our souls were tied together. Did it get any more personal than that?
Daniel let out a derisive sound. “Bringer of light. Keeper of souls. Unification of worlds.”
Those words hung heavy in the air, like they were more than just words. Like they were a prophecy of sorts. They suited him, though … felt right.
Daniel pulled me a little closer and I let him do it. Before I knew it, we were stepping toward the ball of light. He reached out, grabbed one of those strands, and my cry was lost as we were sucked into the brightness. Immediately I closed my eyes, because the sensation of travelling along this stream of energy was disconcerting and nauseating. I felt like a wimp not taking it all in, but I was also trying to give myself a break from the pressure to be perfect all the time. A break from having to always be strong. I’d lived in a world of fear and anger and control for eighteen years. Then I died. It could have all been a waste. I would not squander whatever time I had been given now.
“You can open your eyes.” Daniel’s rumbly voice sounded mildly amused.
When my eyes flung open, I immediately tried to take in everything around us. Which was impossible, because there was so much to see. Hundreds of Daelighters were already gathered, but they were standing a little away, clearly waiting for this all to start. Moving past them, I focused on everything else. We were on a huge circular platform with a diameter of at least a mile, or maybe even two. A ball of light – the permanent transporter we’d just stepped from, I would guess – was right in the center of it all.
The platform appeared to be made of metal, and carved into the metallic-like surface were lots of symbols like those marked on Daniel’s neck and side of his head. More of their ancient language, no doubt. Moving away from Daniel, I remembered my almost-death – and new dependency – and halted before turning back to meet his hooded gaze. He seemed to know exactly what was worrying me.
“You don’t have to stay by my side, Callie. As long as you are within a few hundred feet of me, you won’t fade away.”
I sucked in a relieved breath. That was a win, because I’d freaked that maybe I’d literally have to stick to his side at all times. “It will get easier,” he added.
“What do you mean?” I asked, wondering if he meant that figuratively or literally. Because in lots of aspects, I was already coming around to the entire concept. Maybe I’d have a breakdown later, but so far, I was okay. I’d always been very good at taking things in stride. As long as I understood what was going on, that there was a logical reason for what was happening, my brain could deal.
He took a step closer to me and I tilted my head back to keep his face in my line of sight. It was odd for me to have to look up at someone like this; my height usually gave me the advantage.
“I don’t know for certain,” he said, “because this sort of bond has never happened in my lifetime, or to my knowledge, but we did learn during our schooling years that a soul link can charge up over time. Your soul will grow stronger again. Eventually, you’ll be able to spend extended periods of time away from me and my land.”
OhmyGod. I didn’t think, I just launched myself at him, hugging my arms around him. “Thank you,” I murmured. “Thank you for that sliver of hope…” My voice caught, but I pushed through to add, “And thank you for being the only alien I could imagine being bonded to.”
It was an irrefutable truth. There had been a comfort with Daniel right from the start. I’d never given Michaels the time of day, but those inner securities never kicked in with the Daelighter I was hugging. Fate had doubly blessed me, because without Daniel I would be dead, and if another Daelighter had been the one to bond me, I might have wished I was dead.
When I pulled back, there was a moment of awkwardness there, but then it drifted away in the breeze. I turned back to stare out across the view, and he stayed at my side.
“That’s House of Darken,” he said, pointing toward a land filled with snow-topped mountains, and gorgeous valleys and streams. It was so pretty that I let out an exaggerated sigh of appreciation.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before. It looks almost like a fairy tale,” I murmured, awe lacing my words.
Daniel made a sound of agreement. “My best friend is the overlord minor there. He will take over from his father one day. Lexen and his draygone are the rulers of this land, and they would not tolerate anyone hurting her.”
Draygone? That had sounded an awful lot like dragon, only all drawled out and slow. But surely they didn’t have dragons … that would be … impossible? The fact I was on an alien planet and still somehow thought things were impossible was not speaking highly of my intelligence.
Only one way to find out. “Is a draygone … a dragon? Like the myth on Earth?”
Daniel’s lips twitched, probably at my lame attempt of mimicking his accent. “Yes, they would be closest to your dragon. Daelighters have been crossing to Earth for thousands of years, long before our treaty arose, creating the similarities in our language.”
Okay, that was pretty cool. Also, the fact he had a best friend with a pet dragon … yep, Daniel would definitely be the quarterback in my high-school fantasy.
“So, overlord minor is like … second in line?” I asked, trying to piece this world and its leaders together.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Overlord major is the highest leader of the house, together with their partner. The overlord can be male or female, depending on who is more suited to the crown. But always in the same family group. There are other roles for members of the overlord’s family, but the major and minor are the most important.”
And Daniel was an overlord major. Almost. Which was a really big deal. Before I could freak out more, he pointed toward his left.
“That is House of Royale.”
There seemed to be three distinct landscapes surrounding this disc, all of them extending out into the distance with no end in sight. House of Darken was the largest, taking up a decent portion of the space, but the House of Royale, where he was pointing now, was a close second.
It was a world of only water, beautiful blues and golds mingling together in a long calm line of tranquility. My heart started to hammer hard in my chest as I stared and stared. “Daelighters live there?” I asked, taking a few steps forward.
“Yep, they’re our legreto … water dwellers. Able to exist on both worlds.”
Wait a freaking minute. “Water dwellers?” I choked out. “Like … merpeople?”
I loved me
rmaid movies when I was young – literally my favorite for years. I knew every line of the few I owned word for word, and watching them were some of the only times I could remember being happy.
Before Daniel could stop me, I was sprinting toward the edge of the round circle, heading toward the world of blue, green, and gold. Low, heady laughter followed me as I ran, my heart almost bursting with joy as I let the beauty of the water entrance me. Somehow, Daniel was right at my side when we reached the edge. I stared down into the clear depths, trying to see something.
“Xander Royale is another one of my best friends,” he explained, and I tore my gaze from the water to him. “He’s the overlord minor of Royale. I’ll make sure you meet him, one day, when everything calms down. He might even be able to show you some of their world below.”
I gasped and reached out to grasp onto his shirt. “I would love you forever.”
He chuckled again, tilting his head to the side, examining me. I swallowed roughly, suddenly feeling a little exposed. Probably a little too soon to throw out the L word, even if we were soul-bound.
“What?” I asked when he continued to stare at me that way.
“You’re just really different to the person I first met in NOLA. You should let your guard down more. It’s a good look on you.”
Heat filled my cheeks. I willed the blush away, but as usual, my bodily functions never listened to my mental commands. Feeling like he was waiting for me to respond to his last statement, I shrugged. “I almost died – I mean, I’m still covered in my own friggin' blood.” My eyes went back to the water. “It changed me. I’m feeling everything so much stronger, and honestly … I can’t find the energy to continue holding onto my anger and fear any longer. None of that stopped my mom from being taken. Or stopped me from being killed. All that happened was I missed out on the life I could have had.”
I allowed the water to fill me with joy again. “I’m doing things different this time around, even if I’m still a prisoner to some extent.”
Daniel didn’t reply, but he did settle in closer to me, his side pressing against mine, our arms brushing against each other as we stared out into the distance.
“Daniel!” The call jolted us from that moment of peace.
Standing a dozen feet away from us was another Daelighter. I knew this because one, we were in Overworld, and two, he was as tall and beautiful as Daniel. His skin was a perfect shade of dark brown, eyes much lighter, although I couldn’t make out the color from this distance. Daniel started walking and I felt a new sort of happiness coming from him. He was genuinely pleased to see this other guy.
As we got closer, light green eyes – sparkling unnaturally – met mine. A sense of calm and peace weaved through my body, and I wondered if this new guy had some sort of hypnotic power. Whatever it was, he carried an ancient energy. Those sparkling eyes saw everything.
He, too, had symbols in his dark hair; one side was shaved short, the other had these long braids interwoven with glittering bands of material. His skin was completely flawless, as was the rest of him.
“Hello there.” His low voice was as rich in tone as his skin. “I’m Chase, from House of Leights.”
He pronounced it like “lights,” only he dragged the “le” part out, letting it roll off his tongue.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied, letting a genuine smile cross my lips. “I’m Callie, from almost-died-so-now-I-have-to-stay-close-to-Daniel.” I paused. “And Earth.”
Chase looked momentarily disconcerted, his gaze lifting to his friend. Daniel started to fill him in on all the events from the past few days, and while they talked, I ran everything I knew over in my head. Daniel had now mentioned three best friends, all of them overlords. Lexen, Xander, and now we had Chase.
My impression had always been that their houses didn’t get along with each other, the mention of war between the houses had happened more than once, but this group of guys was proving that wrong.
“I had no choice, she was going to die,” Daniel finished. “Laous…” He growled, angry and low. “We need to figure out where he is going to hit next. We need to stop him before he makes it to the next secret keeper.”
Chase just nodded, and this time as our eyes met, his were softer. “I’m very sorry for what you’ve been through, but there’s no better Daelighter for you to be bonded with. Daniel will keep you safe.”
I snorted, startling them both. “I don’t rely on men to keep me safe. I keep myself safe. I’ll also look after Daniel when the time comes.”
I felt their amusement, but both of them managed to refrain from laughing. Arrogant aliens. There was a shift in the light ball then and we turned to stare. Chase took a step away from us, heading back toward the area of this world that was filled with trees. That was a section I hadn’t had a chance to observe yet, but it looked as if it was just one huge forest.
“The four houses have been at war for centuries. This is the first time of peace,” Daniel explained to me, confirming my previous feelings. “For some reason, despite the tensions between our families, Xander, Lexen, Chase, and I have always been best friends. Brothers. As the overlord minors, we were often thrown together during meetings and such, and we bonded. Years ago, we decided to hide the true nature of our bond. We were afraid our parents would disapprove and keep us apart.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why we do it anymore. No one could control us now.”
“Old habits, I’m sure,” I said, and he nodded. “Are you going to try for total peace when you’re all overlords?” I asked, taking a step closer to his side.
He tilted his head in my direction. “Yes, that’s exactly what we hope for in the future.”
Before we could speak more on it, the ball of light sparked and another group of Daelighters appeared. They dispersed quickly, moving toward those already waiting.
Before we could move closer to the council, though, we were ambushed by another overlord, and a chick who didn’t have the same look as most of the Daelighters I’d seen. In fact, I was pretty sure she was … human. Blinking a few times, I suddenly knew who I was about to meet.
Secret Keeper number one. Emma.
6
Emma Walters stared at me. I stared back. Both of us taking a moment to assess the other. I felt a spark of something between us, same as I had with Daniel, but different. Like camaraderie, a sense of kinship because of who we were and the things we had gone through. Plus, she was wearing Converse shoes, which in my books was a very good start to any friendship. We matched. That was a thing, right?
I could be way off base, though; it was hard for me to understand friendship. If I ever did get friendly with anyone, it was usually a guy at the local gym where I trained. I’d never told my mom, of course, but I’d been sexually active since I was fifteen. Not a part of my past I was particularly proud of, but there was a time that I tried to assuage my loneliness through sex. I’d stopped that just before my seventeenth birthday, vowing the next time I shared my body would be because I wanted to share my heart as well. Blame that on my obsession with romantic comedies; those movies were always my go-to when I was feeling down. If the Hallmark Channel had a group for addicts, I’d be a member.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you.” She startled me by speaking out loud. Before this our conversation had been mostly body language and eye contact.
She kept her voice low – the meeting had started, but so far the council was just going over old news, so we had a few moments to chat.
“Happy to meet you, too,” I said, and I really meant it.
I felt eyes on me, and I knew they were going to be cinnamon and gold. Somehow I always knew when Daniel was looking in my direction. This time, though, he wasn’t the only one. I met the gaze of the huge male standing behind Emma. Lexen Darken, the overlord minor of House of Darken.
Dragon lord apparently.
Just like Daniel, this guy gave off scary, badass vibes. Unlike Daniel, I did not feel comfortable with him. He was gorgeous on a scale
that should be illegal – I was starting to see a pattern with these aliens – but he was also dark and brooding, with eyes so black they were almost reflective. The way he moved was otherworldly. Like an animal, assessing me and all my weaknesses. Teaming that with the fact that I already knew he had a dragon friend meant Lexen was going right into the box where I kept things that frightened and fascinated me.
Emma cleared her throat and I managed to turn away from her scary boyfriend. One might think that an Earthling and Daelighter together would be an odd couple, but they made it work. It didn’t hurt that Emma was adorably pretty, with long auburn curls and stunning blue eyes. I could see why the Darken overlord had fallen for her.
She lowered her gaze, brow pinching. “You’re covered in blood. What happened?”
Oh, right. That little thing. I gave my clothes a rueful glance. “I kind of … died today. Apparently having your throat slit is messy.”
Emma gasped, her head flinging up as she glared at Daniel. “You were supposed to get to her before Laous.”
Lexen placed a hand on Emma’s back, and it was hard to tell from my angle, but it almost looked like he was stroking her spine. As she tilted her head to smile at him, his irises flashed with what appeared to be a white light, just for a moment, then it was gone, so fast I wondered if I imagined it.
“Laous used the stone in your necklace to temporarily disconnect Daniel from the network,” Lexen explained to her. “We didn’t know it could do that, so Dan was not prepared.” He paused, as if choosing his next words carefully. “If we are disconnected from the network, our powers…”
“Reboot,” I supplied, excited to know something for once.
Emma didn’t gasp this time, she growled. Fire leapt in her features, lighting up her eyes and skin. She had a temper to match the red in her hair, I could see that now. It made me like her even more. Perfect people were not something I dealt well with, mostly because I was always a mess.
