Secret Keepers: The Complete Series

by Jaymin Eve

  That made me smile a little, relief at knowing that Brad was okay replacing the panic.

  Dad continued: “Daniel took Callie to House of Imperial, so she could recharge her energy, and Chase … you’re hearing the aftermath of his rage.” A wiry smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “Anything you want to tell us, little one?”

  Breathing deeply, I ignored the urge to tell them to mind their own business. The absolute last thing I wanted was to talk to my parents about whatever was going on with me and Chase. Mostly because they were my parents, and also because I really didn’t have any idea. But this wasn’t a normal teenage crush. This was more. I knew with everything inside my body that Chase and I were meant to be. Callie’s words had never left me. I didn’t care what brought Chase to me. All I cared was that something had.

  Another crash, the platform rocking again. My stomach flipped and my heart clenched – he was close. Stepping around my parents, moving toward the House of Leights, I said, “Chase and I … nothing has happened, and at the same time … he’s changed my entire life. I don’t know what it was like for you and mom, but for me … it’s like I’ve known him forever … as if he is as essential to my survival as oxygen. I … need him.”

  It was as simple and complicated as that. I didn’t know him very well, that was true. And I definitely wasn’t ready to get married or anything. I’d like to get to know him before we did anything too crazy. But I couldn’t deny my need – and want – any longer.

  “You should go to him,” my mom said as she turned me toward the trees. “He’s hurting and you’re the only one who can help him heal.”

  My mom was so wise. I couldn’t imagine living without her sage advice. My father looked less convinced, but he didn’t object as I started toward House of Leights. No one stopped me. Emma briefly hugged me as I moved past them, before she moved back to stand against Lexen. He wrapped his arms around her.

  “I’m sorry you were lost,” Lexen told me. “But you have proven your connection to Overworld by finding your way through the transporter.” I sensed his pride, which kind of made me want to blush, because I hadn’t really done much.

  Nodding, I started to walk again, only stopping when he added. “Bring him back, Maya. We need to go to House of Darken and track the fourth secret keeper.”

  “We’ll be back as soon as possible,” I promised. I was determined to make sure Laous didn’t destroy this world, because I was already in love with it.

  Home.

  “Be careful,” Emma called after me. “Trust the trees. They’re good.”

  Those words barely registered with me, because I was completely focused on my land. Well, on the trees. I stood right at the edge of the metal platform. The tree trunks were thick, close together, and I could see no clear path to enter. Not sure what I was supposed to do, I reached out to touch the nearest one. Hopefully at minimum I’d feel that same sense of peace like last time. Its trunk was an unusual gold, with barky flakes giving it an aged and roughened appearance. The moment my hand connected, I jolted. It felt like someone had attached a rope to my center and then tied the other end to the tree … like I was tethered to it. There was no other way to describe it.

  A rush of whispers entered my mind, an unnatural noise. At first I could not differentiate anything, but the longer I remained with my hand against the trees, the clearer it was starting to become.

  Daughter.

  They called me daughter, over and over, a million voices speaking at the same time, until it was almost deafening. I felt much more than peace. I felt everything. I wanted to stay there forever, but I needed to get Chase. Though, I’d be back for the trees.

  Closing my eyes, I brought forth a mental image of Chase. Those beautiful green eyes. The marks etched into the short hair on his head. The perfect planes of his face.

  Can you take me to him?

  The ground started to shake, rocking me back so that the connection between me and the trees broke. Within five seconds the shaking had subsided, and the trees parted. Like … actually shifted out of the way to form a path through their branches. Peering over the edge, through the gap between the platform and the first branches, I could see no ground at all in sight, just long trunks below. I drew back, blinking and breathing to calm myself. Heights were not my favorite thing, and if there was ground below, it was much further down than I could see.

  It was only the knowledge that Chase was close by, and that he was hurting, that calmed my racing heart. I stepped in under the dark canopy. My feet were surer against the branch path than I expected, and each step forward felt a little easier. After a few moments I continued without worry, the only sound a rustling behind me as the trees closed the path.

  The tether in my stomach remained as it was when I first touched the tree. It didn’t stretch or strain, but I could feel it there like a physical connection. For the first time in my life, I walked among nature and did not stop for one moment to freak out about bugs. And that wasn’t because there were none, because as my ears adjusted to the “quiet,” it became apparent that this world was filled with small noises, different creatures rustling through the branches, some tiny, others larger and more unique. I particularly liked ones that looked like a cross between an owl and … maybe a koala, those Australian animals. It was fluffy and bear-like, but with large feathered wings. It perched on the branches in the same manner as an owl.

  One in particular, almost completely midnight black, barring one splash of terracotta across its chest, started to follow close behind me. I’d turn my head and there it would be, moving through the branches, and after some time I started to feel like I’d made a friend. I even chatted to it as I moved.

  “You’re very beautiful,” I cooed, my hand lifting almost involuntarily to touch it. Large yellow eyes darted toward my hand, and I hesitated, not wanting to scare it away. “Thanks for taking this journey with me,” I continued on, lowering my hand. “I’m searching for Chase. Do you know him?”

  A small chirp of noise; I took that as an affirmative. This creature did indeed know Chase. “Will you help me find him?”

  There was a soft whooshing sound, and then those stunning wings spread out on either side of it, somehow finding the space within the tightly packed trees. Before I could blink again, a heavy weight landed on my shoulder, and while at first the urge to freak out was strong, I took a moment to calm my mind. After a few deep breaths, I accepted my new friend.

  We were going to find Chase.

  Chapter 15

  The further I ventured into this House of Leights, the lighter I felt. I truly believed it was my soul that was growing … healing … soaring. Whatever essence made me Maya Anne Lewis was bursting free from the confines my life on Earth had placed on it. The bear-owl squeaked on my shoulder, a soft, gentle sound that I took as an agreement even though I hadn’t spoken my thoughts out loud.

  The trees within Leights were consistent: huge, ancient, tightly-packed. I assumed there were villages somewhere in this land, hidden away, but so far, I’d not stumbled across anything more than a few animals.

  I also heard no more crashes, and I wondered if maybe Chase had left or calmed down. Still, I continued to follow the path laid out for me by the trees.

  Galinta…

  The whisper of the name flittered across my mind, and I remembered Chase telling me about them. They were all around me, these ancient, godlike beings. It was overwhelming, trying to take it all in. Stepping cautiously, the path seemed a little darker than before. I ducked my head under a few low-lying branches. My skin felt sensitive and tight as I moved, cool air brushing across it, the feeling similar to the time I’d gone to the pyramids in Egypt with Gracie – like I was stepping through ancient air, filled with history and magic and energy, so much that it was literally seeping into my blood.

  My stomach jumped. Strong. The tether in my center started to tug me forward. Chase. I ran. Not something I would advise when you only had branches to jump across and oftentimes
the gap between was large enough to get your foot stuck and break an ankle. At that moment, though, I didn’t care. I had two ankles. Chase was more important.

  I heard my name, like a whisper on the wind, so much pain in that one word that I misstepped. My new friend let out a low sound of alarm, taking flight just as I tumbled down. Rough bark bit into the skin on my hands, tearing more of my skin. My foot was screaming at me, because I had managed to wedge it in a hole, and it was being held at a crazy angle. I tried to roll over, hoping to dislodge myself.

  I groaned as a sharp stabbing pain shot up from my ankle and through my shins. “Crap, ouch.” The discomfort increased the longer I was wedged in. I wanted to turn over so I could see what damage I’d done, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get my foot free. And I wasn’t quite brave enough to just yank it out, because it was killing me already.

  There was a whisper from the trees around me, and my body tensed a heartbeat before warm hands wrapped around my biceps. My head jerked up to find Chase right before me. His eyes were wide and wild, the green dark.

  “Maya…”

  He breathed my name like it was a prayer, and I had never seen any human guy look at a girl the way Chase was looking at me. It sent my heart fluttering. He ran his hands up my arms until he was cupping my face. “I thought I’d lost you,” he murmured. “How did you make it out of the transporter?”

  I had to swallow and clear my throat to be able to talk. It was overwhelming being with him like this. Just … so much of everything. I almost couldn’t handle the intensity.

  “My connection to House of Leights,” I finally got out. “To this land and … to you. I managed to find a beam of light which took me back home.”

  Home. There had never been a greater truth than that one. This was my home. In the trees. His face moved closer, and my heart was thundering so hard that I was at a very real risk of a heart attack. He adjusted my weight forward, taking the strain so he could lift me up. I heard him whisper words – not English – and my foot was suddenly free. Chase lowered himself down to rest against a nearby trunk, holding me close to his chest.

  “Are you too hurt to move?” he asked me.

  I shook my head, my face brushing his shirt. He stood then, carrying me with him. He walked along the branches more gracefully than I could walk on solid land.

  “The Galinta tell me you were running, that’s how you got hurt.” He sounded upset.

  I grimaced. “I needed to find you … tell you I was okay. The others said you didn’t take it well.”

  Chase chuckled darkly. “Understatement, but sure, let’s just say I did not take it well. I sent you ahead to keep you safe, then Lexen tells me that you were attacked, hurt, and lost in a transporter.” I tilted my head back, resting it against his arm so I could see the play of muscles in the dark skin at the base of his neck. “I should have followed my instincts and kept you with me.”

  His eyes met mine, and I was relieved to see that the shimmering light green had returned. He slowed, and my breath caught in my chest, the air almost visibly strumming between us, him looking all Tarzan and me looking like I’d been hit by a car. But in that moment, all that mattered was this feeling and how we could capture it.

  His lips brushed against mine, but before I could kiss him back, that tether in my stomach sprang to life. There was an almost audible sound as the end which had been attached to the tree dislodged and slammed into Chase, tethering me to the overlord minor. As the two ends settled, it felt much more permanent than it had when I was tied to the Galinta.

  “What … what just happened between us?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. “Did you just feel that…?”

  “Bond,” he finished for me.

  “Bond,” I choked out. “We’re bonded?”

  I knew he wasn’t lying. Firstly, why would he? Secondly, I could feel it. It was real, tangible.

  “The Galinta have not blessed a union like this in a long time,” he said, voice low, eyes locked on mine. He started to walk again, apparently not needing to look where he was going.

  “I don’t understand,” I said honestly.

  He ducked down, stepping under the low-lying branches, ending up in a round clearing. We were still in the trees, but instead of tightly-knit branches, there was a large space. It had a floor of leaves and branches, and it felt like we could move about more freely.

  Chase gently sat me down in the center. “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll grab something to help your foot.”

  He made sure I was comfortable before taking off. I let my eyes linger on those broad shoulders until they completely disappeared. I wanted to touch him, wrap my arms around him, hold him close.

  Bonded. I suppose I should be able to touch him, right? There had to be a perk to being bonded without my permission.

  Do you not want this union? The whisper of those words in my mind had me jerking upright and looking around. Was that the … Galinta? Speaking to me in those ancient whispering winds. Were they giving me a choice? Would they break the bond if I said I didn’t want the union?

  My immediate reaction was one of complete and total horror. The thought of losing Chase to another, of not having that twirling sensation in my chest and body again, of losing the feeling of completion, of home … I could never say I didn’t want it. It was a force greater than anything I’d felt before.

  “I choose him,” I said out loud and mentally. “I choose Chase.”

  Fire burned in my belly, matching the throbbing pain in my ankle. I cried out, because it felt like I was being branded, flames across my skin. Scrambling to pull up my shirt, I stared down at my bellybutton. Just above it now was a dark green mark about the size of two quarters. I stared at it for an extended amount of time, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. The mark was a lot like the symbols the overlords had tattooed onto their heads, swirls and lines intersecting in what looked like tribal patterns.

  Footsteps padded lightly across the leaves, and I lifted my head. “What. Is. That?” I pointed at my stomach.

  Chase stopped a few feet from me, then lifted the bottom of his shirt up. My eyes just about fell out of my head as I traced the lines of his abs, and the mark that matched mine across them. “What the hell … you have one, too?” I half lurched to my feet, groaning as my ankle protested.

  Chase caught me, taking my weight as I pressed my hands to his chest for balance. I was touching bare skin at the neckline of his shirt. It felt so warm and silky, hard and soft at the same time, I wanted so badly to continue moving my hands under his shirt. I wanted to touch him, press my lips down and see how he tasted.

  Mark. You have a damn mark.

  That reminder was enough for me to gain some composure and pull myself back from him.

  He didn’t seem upset. “What happened while I was gone, Maya?”

  “I … think the Galinta gave me the option to break our bonding, and I told them I choose you. Always. Then my stomach started to burn.” I’d done this, there was no other explanation. I jerked my head up to meet his gaze. “I’m so sorry. I think I might have taken the choice away from you.”

  He cut off my babbling by kissing me. Unlike last time, this was no brief gentle brush of our lips. This was open-mouthed, tongues tangling, lips moving across each other. This was desperate, and perfect, and … I could not feel my legs or body any longer. My head spun, and the taste of Chase was everything I imagined, plus more. He shifted me around and picked me up so I could wrap my legs around him. I thought briefly of my sore ankle, but at this point I really didn’t care. Chase was the best kind of pain reliever.

  My eyes had closed initially, but I needed to see him in this moment. Our first kiss. As my lashes fluttered up, so did his, like he had known I was about to look. Our mouths stilled, and I tried not to get lost in the multifaceted color of his eyes.

  His breathing was slightly accelerated when he said, “You didn’t take my choice away – I chose you long ago. The moment I heard your n
ame, I knew that I had to find you. I had to save you.” I was mesmerized by him, unable to look away. “I followed your energy, believing that my purpose – the reason I felt such a draw – was because I was supposed to keep you safe … and then I saw you at the party, dancing. You threw your head back as you laughed with such joy. That was when I knew that there was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you, that there was no other for me in either world.”

  “Were you worried I wouldn’t feel the same connection?” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

  His eyes twinkled then as a slight grin lifted the corner of his mouth. “Not too worried. I figured I’d eventually convince you we were meant for each other. I had an eternity to try.”

  An eternity. That was a freaking long time. But I decided not to worry about that for now. Now I would just enjoy Chase, try not to get killed or kidnapped by Laous, and save the world. Dropping my head against his chest, I let out a sigh. “As much as I hate to say this, because I want to stay in our tree bubble so badly, we have to head back to help the others. We have to try to find the fourth girl before Laous, since he has my blood now.”

  Chase’s hands flexed against my thighs and his chest rumbled under me. “Lexen only told me a little about Laous’ attack. I’d like to hear the full story from you … now that I’m in a more reasonable state of mind.”

  I wiggled for him to let me down. If I was going to tell this story, we might as well both be comfortable. With reluctance, he lowered me down near a tree trunk, which I leaned back against. He then took a few steps away, returning with a deep bowl – which must have been what he fetched before. My shoe and sock were removed gently, and now that I wasn’t wrapped around Chase, the pain was kicking in again.

  “It’s getting very swollen,” I said mournfully, staring down at my puffy foot. “That’s going to slow us down through the trees.”

  With great care, and a gentleness that should have been difficult from such a huge guy, he lifted my foot and lowered it into the warm water. It wrapped around me, thick and gel-like, and the relief was immediate. “This will help with the pain and inflammation,” he told me. “Just give it a few minutes to work.”