by Jaymin Eve
My breathing was ragged. I tried to control it, because he was correct: this was definitely not the right place for this sort of intensity. But, my God, he was going to kill me.
I got a breather when the rest of our friends arrived. The eight of us wandered up to the next level with its amazing array of food that we basically had to ourselves.
“Should we … maybe share this?” I asked. Despite my love of the privacy, it still felt wrong.
Lexen chuckled and Emma shot him a look. “I told you it was shitty of us to have all the best food up here,” she told him, “and not share it.”
Lexen leaned toward her, doing the same thing Daniel did so well, loving her with just one look. “I know, Em. Which is why….” He trailed off with a sweep of his hand.
It took them a second to show their heads, creeping up the stairs. A dozen or more students made it to our level, and they were the last humans I ever expected to see up here. The scholarship kids.
Emma legitimately had tears in her eyes when she turned back to her mate. “I love you!” she all but squealed. “Thank you.”
Lexen shook his head; he brushed a kiss across her lips. “You should know by now,” he told her in a low voice, “there’s nothing I won’t do for you.”
I’d have swooned and been jealous as hell, except I had my own. He showed me multiple times a day how much he would do for me.
Right after the incident with Rao, I was broken. I never knew my heart could hurt so much and me not die because of that pain. And the guilt. Oh, God, the guilt had eaten me alive. It helped when I saw him in the justices, but it didn’t completely erase what I had done. Whether Rao was happy or not, he was still dead because of me. He never got a chance at happiness, and that wasn’t fair.
Daniel had been so patient with me, just holding me, letting me cry and scream and rage. When some of that calmed, we went to New Orleans and stayed there for weeks. It was the best time of my life. I even said goodbye to my mother, despite not knowing the exact location of her cremation. But I knew she was somewhere in that area.
I loved him so much.
“I love you, too,” he said, pressing a kiss to the spot just below my ear. Somehow he always knew what I was thinking. He cared enough to learn my tells, my facial expressions. It made me feel loved and cherished.
I was blessed in more ways than I thought I deserved.
Bonus Scene
Maya
This school was the best! Seriously. Not only were the teachers cool, letting us call them by their first names, and basically giving us zero assignments outside of the necessities, but there was an entire level in the cafeteria with three-star Michelin-rated food.
“Why did we not go to school here our entire lives?” I asked Brad, who had been late coming to lunch but was still managing to eat more than all of us combined. Okay, not more than the overlords, but he was holding his own with them. Which was impressive.
“I know,” he said as he swallowed. “Their football team looks amazing. They were complaining about losing Lexen and his brothers halfway through the season, but they still managed to win most of their games.”
I blinked at him, shaking my head. He grinned. “Right, I know. You don’t care about football. How’s it looking for graduation?”
A happy feeling fluttered into my chest. “Great, actually. With a little help from Chase, and being able to add my charity to my résumé, it looks like I have early acceptance into my top three schools. I’m still not sure about college next year, but it’s nice to know I got in.”
For someone who had been actively hoping to avoid the college decision, this was quite the change for me. But Chase had been the empty part of my soul, the part always searching. Now that he’d filled my life, I felt freer to plan a future.
“What about you?” I asked him, having to wait while he shoveled more pasta in his mouth.
“Pribsfljsf agot got—”
“Whoa…” I held up a hand to interrupt him. “No. Just because Star is not here doesn’t mean you can act like a heathen. Swallow before you talk, dude. How many times have we had this convo?”
Brad winked at me. “You love my heathen side,” he said with an empty mouth this time. “And what I was saying … I’m not sure I want to go to college next year. Roland has a role for me in Darken, if I want to take it. And … since that’s where Star is going to be … I want it.”
I would never have imagined my player of a best friend would fall so hard and fast, but Star had him completely consumed. “I’m really happy for you,” I said, reaching out to grab his hand. He returned my squeeze, his face softening.
“I’m happy for you too, Maiz.”
He went back to his food and I let him be; the bell was going to ring soon. I found Chase leaned back in his chair, silently watching the table.
And me.
Our bond tingled within me; I could feel him in my chest.
“You know,” he said, reaching out to drag my chair closer to him. “If you want to go to college, I will support you all the way. I will be at college with you, and we will have all of the human experiences.”
I tilted my head up to him, desperate to kiss him. He said the sweetest, most considerate things. “I’m not sure it’s the right path,” I admitted. “Part of me wants the experience, but a larger part of me will miss our home. The Galinta. The other Leights. I think that returning to…” I lowered my voice considerably because some students were up here with us now. “Overworld … is the right thing for our future. Besides, I don’t age. I can go to college in fifty years if I feel like it.”
Chase captured my lips, giving me exactly what I wanted. “I love you so much, sayana. Thank you for my life.”
I could never find the right words to tell him how much I loved him. But I was determined to spend the rest of my life showing him. The same way he showed me every single day.
Bonus Scene
Emma
Why in the hell had I suggested we finish up the final weeks of school?
“Come on, you need to run faster than that. This is just the warm-up.”
I glared at the coach as I huffed past. If looks could kill, he’d be so close to death right now. “Exercise is not right,” I spluttered, shaking my head as my wobbly knees almost gave out. “It’s not natural.”
I finally lost the fight with my balance, but before I could hit the deck, strong familiar arms swept around my waist and held me up. “I got you, baby girl,” Lexen drawled, laughter in his voice.
I glared at him too, but only strong enough for a slight injury. “You still haven’t developed the ability to maim with your eyes,” he said, lips tilting up at the corners. “But I love your persistency.”
Dammit. Another unfair thing. Callie got a cool power. Why not me?
With a sigh, I admitted, “I’d probably only abuse it anyway. It’s for the best.”
Lexen actually laughed out loud. It was still my favorite sound in the world. I felt like I had achieved something great when I made him laugh. He must have noticed the way I was looking at him, because the amusement on his face faded away, to be replaced with an expression I knew very well. Fire started low in my body, and I was wondering if maybe I did have some sort of energy in there. How else could Lexen make me burn like this?
We had stopped running now. The rest of the class had gone on ahead with their torture, and the coach knew better than to question Lexen. So no one bothered us.
“Are you happy?” he asked me, hitting me from the left with that random question.
I swallowed hard, unsure if I should be upset. “Um … why are you asking me that?” I finally said. “Do I seem unhappy?”
Lexen shook his head. “No, not at all. But I was reading this book, and they said that you should always check in with those you love. That sometimes … sometimes humans put on a brave face.”
My lips twitched and I tried really hard not to smile. Lexen was a tough guy, scary, but there was this spot deep down that w
as so caring. I almost couldn’t believe some of the things he had done for me. He showed me that he loved me in a million ways. Reading psychology books on humans to try to understand me better was just one of the latest.
I stepped into him, the tips of our shoes bumping. Tilting my head back, I let all the love I had for him pour out of me. “I am happier than I ever thought I could be. Despite the losses, which still hurt, I am not broken, and that is because of you. You keep me together. You make me.”
It was a very un-modern thing to say, and I didn’t mean that I needed Lexen to be a better woman. Or that I needed Lexen to make me feel okay. I meant that we were two halves of the same whole. I would not be the Emma I was today without him.
“You make me as well,” he said. And that was the part that made it okay.
Together we were whole.
Acknowledgments
Thank you! Thank you to every single one of you that took a chance on my secret keepers. These characters have completely captured my heart, and I can’t imagine not living in their worlds now. You might have noticed that I left a few side storylines vague and unfinished … this is because I want the option to come back one day and write about them again.
Because something tells me that they’re going to call to me if I don’t.
Thank you to Heather, my amazing PA, for making my life such smooth sailing. Your help, encouragement, and love for my worlds means everything to me.
Thank you to Tamara for the incredible covers. I adore you. Thank you to Lee and Liv from Hot Tree Editing. You make my words shine.
Thank you to my review team and my Nerd Herd. You know I heart you all. Your enthusiasm for my books is one of the best parts of my day.
