by Jaymin Eve
Men moved in closer on either side of him, lots of men, armed with the biggest guns I’d ever seen in my life. What the hell were they? Bazookas? I didn’t have much experience with the army or guns, of course, but these looked like they should be on top of a tank, not in a person’s arms.
The Daelighters didn’t react, so I made sure not to as well. No need to show this guy that we were nervous. Or that they had the upper hand. “I’m waiting,” Laous continued. “My men here are getting very frustrated about not being able to kill any humans. They enjoy killing.”
His men had hard faces … mean, narrowed eyes, and … huge fucking guns. There was legitimacy to his statement.
“We don’t want the humans hurt,” Daniel said, moving to stand right at Lexen’s side. “They are innocents in this entire situation. So, as a good faith gesture, we will allow you to accompany us to the stone. Along the way, we will discuss with you your plans for the stone, and then maybe we can reach some sort of accord that satisfies everyone. This war has gone on long enough. There will be no more casualties.”
Laous grinned. “That was easier than I expected, which probably means this is some sort of trap for me. How about … you give me the location, and the four secret keepers. Then I can go and fetch the stone myself. We are all sure that these four … humans … will be required to retrieve the stone. Once I have the stone, I’ll return your ladies to you. And all the humans will go free.”
“Not a chance,” Xander shot back at him. “The power required to find the map took the eight of us. We’re all bonded. You’re going to need the eight of us to find the stone.”
Some of the cocky confidence faded from Laous’s expression. He looked between our groups slowly, like he was trying to discern the lie in Xander’s words. One of the men closest to him, an older guy with a dark beard-goatee combo, leaned in and whispered something.
Laous listened for a moment before nodding and straightening. “Fine, if you insist on the eight of you accompanying me, I will insist on leaving my men here to watch over this town. They are all in position to act with lethal force. Your little army will not have the time to stop them before there are mass casualties.”
Hopefully Laous was thinking that the Daelighters he could see was the entirety of our people. Better he didn’t know that a lot more warriors were still coming through the transporter.
We’d already expected to receive these sorts of demands, but we took a moment to pretend we were having a serious discussion about it. “Think he’s up to anything else?” Callie whispered, when our heads were close together.
I glanced over my shoulder to find Laous in a relaxed stance, arms crossed over his chest. He was definitely up to something. No one was that confident without a backup plan.
“We’re not going to turn our backs on him for one second,” Daniel whispered. “We even take shifts for sleeping, if anyone has to do that. Laous murdered my family to gain power. He killed his own damn brother. There’s nothing he won’t do to achieve his goals.”
We all nodded, and Daniel straightened, turning to Laous. “We accept that deal, as long as you promise nothing will happen to the humans if we cooperate.”
Laous smiled broadly. “Of course. I am a Daelighter of my word. I’ve never lied about my intentions. This would have been much easier if you’d just cooperated from the start.”
Emma growled, no doubt thinking that this started when he killed her parents. Lexen, reacting to his mate’s pain, let out a much louder growl. His eyes went a blinding white as he took a step forward. Laous actually flinched back, just a brief reaction that he quickly covered. But we’d all seen it.
“We have a private plane waiting for us,” Chase said.
Laous, once again wearing a confident expression, nodded. “I will be bringing a few of my people with me, so make sure there is room.”
We all had no idea what this special government-Daelighter aircraft was like, but we didn’t argue. They could squish in somewhere. Laous again murmured something to the man at his side, who then turned and hurried away, reappearing a few moments later with three others. The first was a very tall man, with a scarred face. Rao. This had to be Daniel’s brother.
Daniel took a step forward. I could already feel the heat pouring off him. “Rao stays here,” he declared.
Laous shook his head. “Oh no, my son will be coming with us. He’s disappointed me. His betrayal on Hawaii was not expected, and now he cannot be trusted to be away from me.”
Rao did not look up. He didn’t meet Daniel’s eyes—anyone’s eyes. The scars on his face looked quite raw. I’d been under the impression that the burns were old, but … unless the sort of burns he had didn’t really heal, his were fresh.
“Rao…?” Callie’s voice was low, filled with pain. “Has he been hurting you?”
The big man lifted his head just a touch and my eyes grew hot and damp. He looked shattered. Defeated. And somehow he’d still managed to reach out to Colita. Still tried to warn us so we had a plan in place.
“We have to get him back,” Callie said, almost panicked as she lurched forward. Flames burst to life around her, and only Daniel’s hand on her arm stopped her going right through the barrier to Laous.
I blinked a few times, watching the fire dance across her skin without burning her. Holy shit. I was pretty sure there were some things about this world I was never getting used to.
“We will save him,” Daniel said, his words bit out in quiet rasps. I wasn’t sure Laous could hear their conversation, but he looked pleased with himself anyway. Just seeing that he had caused unhappiness was enough for him.
Why were there so many evil people in the world? In all worlds, apparently? I mean, when did it become the norm to expect that your needs trumped millions of others? Who the fuck did this Laous think he was? My hair started to move around my body, like it did sometimes when I lost control of my emotions. Xander noticed straight away, reaching out to brush his hands across the long strands.
“Your hair is definitely a by-product of the ancient energy you carry,” he told me. “Very few Royales’ hair responds to emotions like that.”
If I had been a less mature person, I would have turned and stuck my tongue out at Lettie. See, not completely useless, powerless, and un-Royale.
“Time to go,” Lexen said, striding forward. He touched the barrier and a small opening appeared, large enough for each of us to exit single file. “The barrier stays in place,” he told Laous as we moved closer to him.
The overlord majors pressed close to the other side of the barrier, prepared to help their children if Laous tried anything. There was a heavy layer of tension in the air as we crossed closer, and not just from our side. One of his men started to fumble at his gun, half lifting it, but before he could point it at us, Chase shot out a long branch from his body and snatched it right out of the man’s hands.
Yes, a mutha-effing branch. Tree-shifter.
Noise broke out and Laous threw both of his arms in the air, fire crackling off his fingertips in long plumes. He was either having a lot of trouble controlling his energy, or he was trying to act tougher than he was, but he had power leaking everywhere.
“Enough,” he shouted. “I will be back with the stone very soon. Then the power and money we deserve will be ours. Until then, remain in position. Craig will be in charge while I’m gone. The line of command remains the same after that.”
The noise slowly died down. These men were very used to following orders. Craig reached out and grabbed onto Laous’s arm as we got closer. “Don’t betray us,” he said, his voice loud and clear. “We want what you have promised,” he said.
Laous nodded as he shook him off. “I’m a Daelighter of my word. I will share the power with you. Together, we will rule Earth.”
That surprised me, and I could see I wasn’t the only one. “You only want Earth?” Roland asked from where he was standing right behind the barrier.
Laous nodded. “Yes, the stone is extra
powerful here, in a world without any network or true power of its own. This is where I will use it.”
No one said another word. I was starting to see the cracks in Laous now. Up close, his eyes were feverish, his face flushed with a manic sort of look. Like a junkie coming off a high, or ready for the next one.
“Are you ready?” he gasped, clenching and unclenching his hands.
We all nodded. Chase and Lexen turned and bowed to their parents. Xander was still angry with his mother apparently and spared her no more than a single glance. She looked pained by the way he was leaving, but there was nothing I could do to fix the situation she’d caused. I still had sympathy for her though; he was her son, and she no doubt believed she was doing the right thing for him.
As we moved forward, sticking close as a group, Laous fell into step beside us. The Gonzo parted for us to move through them. Rao, and a man and woman, remained on either side of Laous—the Daelighters or humans he was bringing along.
Callie seemed to know at least one of them. She growled in the direction of the chick. “Worn anyone’s skin lately, bitch?”
Daelighter then. The bitch grinned and said, “It took me weeks to get the stench of your dead mother off me. Humans are truly disgusting.”
Callie lunged forward, Lexen and Daniel both catching her before she could land a blow. “You better watch your back,” she yelled, “because I’m going to fucking kill you the first chance I get.” Callie growled, flames springing up across her arms.
I was surprised when Lexen didn’t let her go, even as the fire licked across his hands. Apparently he always rocked the dragon thing, even when he no longer looked like one.
Even though Callie calmed herself quickly, she didn’t stop shooting death glares at the chick, who appeared completely unconcerned, turning her back on us and striding ahead. Two black SUVs screeched to a halt on the main road, just outside the huge gates of Daelight Crescent. Laous got into the second SUV with his people, and Lexen strode across to the front vehicle, yanking the driver right out of the seat and tossing him about ten feet away.
The man didn’t get up, and none of us bothered to care as we piled into the car. Eight people did not fit that easily, but we made it work.
Xander, who was next to me in the very back of the car, turned around as we started to move. “Laous is ready,” he said, “let’s get out of here.”
Lexen took off then in a squeal of tires. He leaned over and whispered to Emma in the passenger seat, and she nodded. I noticed the other two guys do the same thing to their mates.
“Don’t say anything important, the car could be bugged,” Xander said, close to my ear.
I nodded, sinking back against the chair. Exhaustion was starting to press on me. I’d barely slept last night, and then when we’d supposed to be resting today, I’d been … really busy with Xander. I had no regrets about that—I’d never forget my afternoon with him. But it did mean I was edging toward needing some sleep.
“The airfield is about forty minutes away,” Xander told me. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep.”
How the hell he knew I was tired was beyond me. I was doing everything in my power to appear like I had my shit together. “It’s fine,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m perfectly fine right now.”
He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me against his chest. “You need sleep. You also need food. I can’t remember the last time we all ate.”
On the plane, if I recalled correctly. Which was hours ago. It was nearing nightfall now. The storm clouds still hanging low over Astoria had washed the world in darkness. Shifting around in my seat, I gave up fighting my heavy eyes and allowed myself to relax against Xander. I might have been naked with him a few hours ago, but sleeping was a completely new sort of vulnerability. My body apparently trusted him though, because I almost immediately fell asleep, waking only when the car pulled to a stop.
Xander brushed a hand across my cheek. I lifted my head, groggy and disoriented, and it took me a few moments to remember what had happened, to remember that we were on our way to find a stone, and we had a small entourage of evil psychopaths with us.
I didn’t even want to know what that chick had meant about wearing Callie’s mother. Just no.
Xander lifted me up. I shook my head, trying to wake properly. “You can sleep again on the flight,” he told me. “Even with special tech, it’s still going to take quite a few hours to get there.”
Special tech indeed. When we exited the vehicle, it was to stand before a gleaming black beast. Nighthawk was etched into the side of it in large letters, and I noted that it appeared to have twin engines on either wing, plus rotors on the top. I blinked as I stumbled closer, still half asleep.
“What the hell sort of material is that made of?” I asked, trying to see it clearly.
The black metal, constantly shifting color, shimmered silver one second, black the next, even going almost sky blue.
“Looks like it has chameleon technology,” Maya noted. “My dad told me that the government has been working on this for our defense systems. The aircraft will mimic its surroundings, blending right in so they can stealthily fly over enemy territories.”
That was exactly what this helicopter-plane was doing. If you changed the angle of your head, it looked different. Two pilots were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. Laous crowded right up to them, a creepy smile on his face
“Welcome aboard,” the first pilot said in a serious tone of voice. He looked between all of us. “I’m Major Kenneth Cole, and I’ll be guiding this aircraft for you this evening. We will be departing at eighteen-hundred hours. Please make your way on board and secure yourselves into one of the chairs. We move extremely fast, so it’s best to remain seated and buckled in at all times.”
Major Kenneth Cole was certainly confident. I wondered if he knew that almost all of his passengers tonight were aliens … of some description.
Laous tilted his head to the side. “How long will our journey be?”
The human met his eyes dead on. No fear at all. “No way for me to estimate that until we’re in the air. It will be at least three hours.”
Laous just nodded, pushing his way on board, his people right behind him. I almost chuckled out loud. It was like being forced to go on vacation with your most hated family members, knowing you were going to be stuck doing activities with them for days on end.
Chase was the first of our group to step onto the silver stairs, Maya right behind him, followed by Daniel and Callie, then Lexen and Emma. Xander ushered me in front of him, and then he brought up the back of our group. We stayed close together, and I hated it when Chase entered the black beast, disappearing from sight.
Thankfully we weren’t far behind. When I stepped in through the front section, it was to find a huge round open area, seats backed onto either wall. Nothing fancy like Xander’s private plane; this was bare basics. I quickly crossed to the seat beside Emma and dropped into it. The straps were harness style, but easy enough to buckle up, with a single clip over my chest. I tightened each side of the shoulder straps, pressing myself back into the chair.
It wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel, but it was probably safest. Xander took the seat directly across from me, which was good and bad. I couldn’t accidentally touch him, but I got to stare at his too-perfect face for three hours.
I noted that Laous already had his head back, eyes closed. He was so damn relaxed. The Daelighter didn’t strike me as the stupid kind—he’d already stated that this was probably a trap for him—so he knew we had no plans to just hand the stone over to him without a fight. So why all the confidence?
It made me uneasy.
My worries were cut off when the engines roared loudly around us and the wall behind my chair started to vibrate. Unlike a normal airplane, there was no long takeoff. We pretty much started to roll, and then boom, we were in the air. There were no windows for us to see the progress, but judging on how quickly my ears blocked up, we w
ere rising quickly. Opening my mouth a few times, I shook my head to clear it.
“Are you doing okay?” Emma asked, shooting me a worried look.
I blinked at her for a moment, wondering what the hell she was talking about. Then I remembered. The last flying incident, which hadn’t gone over so well.
“Uh, actually, I’m fine.” I really was. I’d barely even thought about the fear that had rocked me on our flight from Hawaii. “Maybe … my body is not as shocked because we flew just recently.”
Emma nodded. “Yeah, I would guess that it would be a daunting experience the first time you fly … when you’re more used to swimming.”
Yeah, I mean … it had to be that. Right? What else had changed in the last few days? My eyes locked on Xander and I felt that pull inside of me, urging me forward. There was a bond between us. It had been there from the start, only cementing when we had sex. I wondered if that was helping me stay grounded, the same way his scent did because it was like my ocean.
If that was the case, what would happen to me when we had to part ways? I couldn’t live without the water. I knew that without a doubt. But I was starting to fear I might not be able to live without Xander either.
19
The flight was fast. Still, by the time the captain announced that we were starting to descend and that they would be searching for a secure location to hide the aircraft, my butt was numb.
Jiggling on the spot, I bit my lip. Xander chuckled and my head shot up. “We’ll be on the ground in about two minutes,” he told me, his smile tearing at my insides. I managed to smile back, even though I was about as far from happy as it was possible to be.
Xander had barely taken his eyes off me the entire flight and I’d sucked up every moment of his attention, craving it, because he filled an empty part inside of me. I’d always thought it was because of my colder nature, being more fish-like. But I could see now it was a space in my soul for Xander.
A space he’d never get a chance to truly fill.
