by Jaymin Eve
When I got a chance, I would try to get Callie an e-reader. Just the simple change of black page and white writing had helped Denise. Also, different fonts could make a huge difference. There were lots of things we could try.
Callie smiled at me, her first real, proper smile. “Thank you. My mom was kind of a bitch. She put the word stupid in my head. Called me stupid almost daily. I need to break the habit.”
Daniel pulled her back into his arms, fitting her spine to his front, and she let him support her. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, but I was too far away to hear his words. Whatever he said, though, made Callie very happy. Her eyes brightened.
Lucky chick.
“So, have they filled you in on what the plan is?” Emma drew my attention back to her. “I know you only just got here and everything, but time is of the essence.”
I shook my head. “Just that we’re to stay here for a day or so, then we’re moving to another safe house. We have to keep moving while they’re working on the tracking down Laous thing.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “They never give us the entire story in one go, do they? We’re not just passively running around while they deal with Laous. We’re going to try and find the fourth secret keeper. We don’t have the stone, which would have made it easy, but we have your blood. And the network. Which is more than Laous has.”
Peter might have mentioned that, now that I thought about it. Trying not to freak out about people wanting to steal my blood, I asked, “What’s a network?”
Lexen beat her to the explanation. “The network is the energy source of Overworld. Sort of like your sun, it runs through the world, giving it life and energy. It’s especially strong in our sector.”
“A sector is a country,” Emma chimed in. “Unlike Earth, though, none of them travel to other countries. They can only come to Earth or stay in their house.”
“It’s forbidden to visit other sectors in Overworld,” Lexen said. “It’s also very dangerous. There are a lot of different species throughout the sectors. Most of them are not compatible with Daelighters.”
Which meant they were not compatible with humans either. “So, this network is your sole source of energy?”
“Yes,” Lexen told me. “It’s almost like a grid crisscrossing under the land.”
“Like ley lines,” I said, the mental image clear in my head. “We did a study session in school about witchcraft and sorcery. They spoke of ley lines and using the energy of the Earth.”
Callie nodded, seeming to know exactly what I was talking about. “Ley lines is how I think of them in my head too,” she told me.
My natural curiosity about this new world was piquing again. “Can you communicate through the network? Can you find people? What does it do exactly?”
Lexen crossed his arms over the broad planes of his chest. “We’re always connected, but when we tap in fully, we can use it sort of like a search engine. We can also communicate within the network, even over long distances. It’s the closest thing Overworld has to cell phones.”
“Clearly we’ll have to go to Overworld to search for the fourth?” Made sense if that was where the network was.
Emma nodded. “Oh yeah, once we know the coast is clear to travel, we’ll head to our second safe house, in House of Darken.”
I must have gone very pale, because Emma reached out and patted me on the arm. “Seriously, I know exactly how you feel, but don’t stress. It’s beautiful there. Natural. And Overworld’s energy will call to yours, since you were born there.”
Callie stepped away from Daniel, not touching me, but seeming to offer comfort with her closer proximity. “You don’t have to fear Overworld. I have to spend a certain amount of time in House of Imperial, because Laous tried to kill me ... and long story, I am now tied to Daniel and the land of my birth. But I don’t think of it as a sacrifice. House of Imperial is more home to me than any place on Earth ever was.”
“Laous tried to kill you?” I focused on that horrifying fact. “Remind me not to get captured.”
A strong burst of gratitude for Chase lit up inside of me. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be in Laous’ hands right now. No doubt, as soon as that crazy creep got my blood, he’d kill me.
I could have been dead before the dawn of this day. Gone. Never to see the world, or my parents, or Brad, again. “Are you okay?” Emma’s concerned question sounded like it was coming from very far away. My breathing started to come in and out in gasps.
“Maya!” Callie tried this time, but I couldn’t focus on anything except the thought of my death and the knowledge that it could still happen, because Laous would not stop coming for me. Not until he got what he wanted.
Chapter 8
“You all need to take a step back. She needs some space.” The low voice, with its smooth accent and deep timbre, finally got through to me.
Chase appeared on the porch like magic and everything inside of me responded. Even in my half freaked-out state, the familiar jumping sensation was in my stomach … the pull in my body. I wanted to move closer to him.
Emma and Callie exchanged a look, then they grabbed hold of their guys, gave me a wave, and disappeared back into the house. As more clarity returned, the first thing I felt was the ache in my hands. Glancing down, I realized I had them clenched on the railing, white knuckles standing out starkly.
“Do you want me to leave also?” Chase asked, exuding that amazing calm of his. It seeped into me, slowing the racing beat of my panicked pulse. “It can be hard to truly have privacy here in a shared house, but I’ll keep them all away if you need.”
“No,” I stuttered out, not even giving myself time to think about it. “I don’t want you to go.”
That was the truth.
He didn’t say anything more. He crossed the few feet between us, his strides long and even, before he leaned against the wooden rail. We stayed like that in silence for many long moments. “Are my parents worried?” I asked, staring down at the grain of the wood below.
“They are,” he said gently. “I told them I’d check on you and that I’d get them if you weren’t okay. Brad…” His jaw tightened. “Was a little harder to convince.”
That didn’t surprise me. Brad was probably freaking out just as much as me, but he’d still be worried and protective. He was a good guy.
Chase shifted slightly, and I surprised us both when I reached out and grabbed his arm. It was the first time we’d touched, and it hit me as hard as I expected. As the jolt of energy went through me, I yanked my hand back, and Chase made this low rumbling sound in his chest. It stirred something deep inside of me also, and I almost closed my eyes to try to hide my obvious reaction to his touch.
“S-sorry,” I stuttered.
He held my eyes for a long moment, saying nothing. The energy flowed between us and I eventually had to wrench my gaze away, needing the relief from my strong emotions. As we both sank back against the railing again, I wondered if his heart was beating as fast as mine. More minutes ticked by, and he continued waiting with me. In silence. Eventually the warmth of the sun on my back, teamed with the icy breeze drifting in through the forest, returned some of my natural optimism.
“I didn’t die,” I said out loud. Needing to hear those words. “I. Did. Not. Die.” Turning to Chase, I breathed deeply. “You saved my life … thank you.”
I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. God, he towered over me, and I wondered how we could ever be compatible with this sort of height difference. Seriously, get it together, fate. “Thank you for saving Brad and me when we were attacked. I wouldn’t have made it to my parents without you.”
His expression darkened; the furrowing of his brow turned his model good looks into something a little more intense, like the hot bad guy who was planning on taking over the world. “Those recruits of Laous’ should not have gotten that close to you.” He didn’t waste time denying he was there, and I appreciated his honesty. “I lost track of you when you left the party. I
t took me longer than it should have to find your energy again.”
He paused for a moment, shifting around to face me. “How did you know I was there? I wasn’t that close to you.”
Hmm, should I be as truthful as he was? I owed him that much. “From the moment I saw you at Mitchell’s party, there was this energy in my body … like sparks of adrenalin and confusion. I recognized that same sensation when we were in the alley.”
That was the watered-down version. No need to tell him it was taking actual restraint to stop myself from touching him. His body went very still, and I was afraid of what he would say, so I hurriedly asked, “How exactly did you find me?”
His lips tilted up, and I decided then that his smile was one of the nicest things I’d ever seen. His lips were full and kissable, and there was the slightest of dimples in his right cheek. “Once I learned your name, it didn’t take me long to figure out where you lived. Then, when I got the feel for your energy, I talked to the trees. You don’t have many in your town, which is why I lost you a few times, but nature creeps into unexpected places. It’s hard to hide completely.”
“You talk to trees?” I deadpanned … because I had no idea what sort of emotion I was supposed to be feeling right now.
His grin spread a little further. “On Earth we communicate in images mostly – it’s easier, less open to interpretation.”
I stared at him, trying to understand what he was saying. “How?” I stuttered out. How could that work? Trees didn’t have brains, right? They couldn’t send images to people. They were alive, of course, but in a different way to sentient beings. Still … there was no denying that they got out of Chase’s way when he needed more room. Which meant they had to understand what he wanted, to some extent.
Chase straightened and held out a hand to me. I stared at it for a longer-than-comfortable amount of time, and eventually placed my palm against his. I was expecting the jolt, so it didn’t take me as much by surprise. But there was still no stopping the swirling and clashing of energy inside of me.
“I’ll show you,” he said, wrapping long masculine fingers around my hand. He might have said something more, but I was too focused on the sensation of his skin against mine. It wasn’t the first time I’d held hands with a guy. I’d had multiple boyfriends and had been almost all the way to a homerun. I’d done everything before sex – something always held me back from the final deed. Maybe it was that even the most erotic of acts was almost negligible when compared to the simple feeling of holding Chase’s hand. If I’d experienced even a small sliver of this with any of the guys I dated, I had no doubt there would have been no reticence on my part to give up my v-card.
“You feel it too, right?” The words were out before I could stop them. I’d cut him off before he could say it earlier, but I needed to know. Heat started to rise in my cheeks, but I stood my ground.
“I feel it,” he said. “I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do about it, especially right now, but from the first moment I heard your name, I knew you were going to be trouble.”
Now, normally that phrasing would annoy me. Boys used it back home all the time, in an overtly discriminatory way. Like women who were strong and sure and confident were automatically “trouble.” When, in reality, strong women were too much for those boys to handle.
But Chase didn’t say it like that. He said it in a way that made me think that he knew I was going to disrupt his life, his emotions, the calm aura he possessed. I was going to shake up his peaceful existence, and that wasn’t something he knew how to handle. But there was no indication that he wanted me to be anything less than what I was.
“Let’s just deal with it one day at a time,” I suggested. “We have some real life and death stuff going on. Not the best time to try and unravel whatever connection exists between the four secret keepers and the four overlords of the houses.”
He shot me a half smile. “They told you about that?”
I shook my head. “Not in so many words, but I could deduce it from Emma and Lexen, and Callie and Daniel. Kind of made sense, especially with the … pull … I feel whenever you’re around.”
“Both couples had an immediate bond,” Chase confirmed for me. “But when the others described it to me, I think it sounded less intense than ours. At least at the start. It grew stronger the longer they were together. Ours—”
“Is really hard to ignore,” I finished for him.
He nodded. “Right from the first moment.”
This. Was. Insane. But I needed to follow my advice – take it one day at a time.
At some point, Chase remembered the tree thing and started to walk again, only stopping long enough for me to pull my shoes on. He led me through a clearing and into a section of densely-packed trees. When we were surrounded by dark tree trunks, the cabin still visible in the distance, he stopped. “I’m going to need you to trust me,” he said, releasing my hand.
Forcing myself not to mourn the loss of contact, I folded my arms across my chest, tucking my hands in under my armpits. “Think it might be a little early to throw the t-word around, especially considering you’re not…”
I trailed off, wondering if I was about to make some sort of rude, derogatory statement.
“Human…” he said. “You’re right, I’m not human, but our species are fairly compatible.”
“I see that,” I murmured.
Secret keeper one and two were making that very obvious.
“Am I completely human?” It was insane that I felt comfortable enough to ask Chase that when I hadn’t been able to bring it up to my parents. “I mean, being born in your waters and on Overworld…”
Shadows washed over his face, only a few rays of light able to penetrate the canopy here. The trees were particularly dense in the part he’d taken me to.
“You’re mostly human,” he told me. “You have human DNA, but you’re right, being born in the legreto of House of Leights, you inherited some of the energy of my land. The energy of the Galinta.”
“What’s a Galinta?” I asked, not sure if I was ready for the answer.
It’s better to know. It had to be better to know.
“The Galinta are an ancient species of tree gods. They fill my house, making it very limited on any open land. They’re sentient, and if they want, mobile. It’s the power from them which allows me to merge into another form at times.”
Tree gods? Merging into another form? Was he serious? “So … Lexen is a weredragon, and you’re a weretree?”
I mean … why not, right?
Chase’s eyes were laughing at me, even though his lips didn’t smile. “I assume you’re speaking of your werewolf lore, and if that is the case, then you’re on the right track.”
This was too much. I waited for the freak-out to hit me again, the need to run, but … it never came. I remained there, in the dark, with Chase.
“So, if I carry some of this energy from the Galinta, does that mean I will change into a tree?”
What would that even look like? All I could picture were those old Halloween costumes with the tree trunk you pulled down over your body, arms stuck out through holes in the side, legs through holes in the bottom, face through a cutout section of the trunk.
I almost laughed out loud at the mental image.
“You won’t turn into a tree.” Chase brought my attention back to him. “But you will have some advancements on regular humans. You’ll have the same longevity as Daelighters. You can be killed by normal means – you’re not resistant to bullets or anything. But if you don’t suffer a life-ending injury or get one of the few diseases that can hurt us, you will live for many years longer than humans.”
What. The. Frack?
Was he for real? “That’s terrible!” I almost shouted. ‘I’m going to outlive all of my friends and family. I didn’t sign up for that!”
Chase’s hand came down onto my arm, and again he soothed the crazed emotions inside of me. “I understand. But you should know that the
re are certain foods from our world you can give to your family to lengthen their lives considerably – increase their good health.”
His eyes bored into mine, and in those green-glass depths I found my calm again.
“If there have been secret keepers for over a hundred years, and we don’t die, what happened to the ones before us? Or the ones before them.”
I had so many questions. It felt like the moment I learned one thing, it only opened the door for a million more thoughts.
“There was only one set of keepers before you,” Chase told me. “One of them – Callie’s father, actually – was killed in an accident. The moment the line of four is broken, another four have to be brought in.”
Right, made sense. Because one of us led to the next one. “Poor Callie,” I said, my eyes drifting toward the porch, even though she was no longer there. “She said her mom was a horrible person, and her dad died.”
Chase nodded. “Both secret keepers had it rough, in different ways. Emma’s parents were killed by Laous in a fire.”
Sounded like I’d been lucky to have the life I did. My parents were getting a huge hug when I went back inside. “I’m glad they’ve finally found happiness,” I told him. Now we just had to make sure Laous didn’t screw it all up for everyone.
Turning back to look into the forest, I asked: “What did you want to show me? The thing I need to trust you for?”
He reached forward and put his hand on a nearby tree trunk. “Touch it,” he said, inclining his head toward the rough bark.
I took a moment to observe the spot I was about to drop my hand. You know, just in case there was a spider, or ant, or thorny plant. Nature might be beautiful, but it was also deadly as hell. Just ask that girl who died last month from a parasite going into her brain after she ate some tropical fruit. The story had been all over the news. For a while there, I gave up fruit completely.