by Jaymin Eve
I struggled down and he let me go. Before I could dive into the pool, he captured my face in his hands. Holding me tightly, he pulled me closer. “I love you, Avalon,” he said, his tone soft but sure. “You’re my mate. I will have no other.”
Then his lips were on mine and I couldn’t think anymore. I just felt.
When he pulled back, I fought the urge to drag him into the water with me. “Come back to me,” I said, stepping away, even though it was painful.
He nodded, unsaid emotions filling his face. Then he turned and walked away.
I stood there for a long time, then sucked in a deep breath and fell backwards into the water. My shoes were still in another country. I hadn’t slept or eaten for days. And I might have just said goodbye to the love of my life while he went off to be betrothed to another woman. I was still scared that Lettie would win the battle. So, kicking my legs as hard as I could, I swam and swam until I couldn’t breathe, until I felt like I would pass out and had no choice but to rise to the surface. Closing my eyes, I floated around, letting the water soothe me just as it had done my entire life.
Only it wasn’t working. I felt restless; my energy was spent but I couldn’t stay still. My skin felt two sizes too small, and my insides were trying to stretch their way out. I was so caught up in my own head, I never even heard Xander enter the water. It wasn’t until his arms wrapped around me and I let out a shriek that I realized I wasn’t alone.
“You look like you have heavy thoughts, baby,” Xander said, cradling me closer.
I spun myself around, wrapping my legs around him and hugging him close. My hair, silvery and tangle-free again, spun out around us like a translucent cloud. “You came back,” I said, burying my face in his neck.
Xander’s hands, which had been running up and down my back, slowed. “You didn’t think I would? You let me go knowing that I might not return to you?”
I pulled my head back so I could see him. “I know you meant what you said, but Lettie is a determined woman. I was preparing myself.”
He chuckled, jerking me closer so the center of my body was pressed intimately to the hardness of his. “Why do you think it took me so long? I told her I would walk away. That if she made me choose, I would choose you every single time without hesitation. I think for the first time in my life, she knew that this was not something she could order me to do. So she agreed.”
“She agreed?” I gasped. “She’s not going to fight you? Or … like kick you out of Royale?”
Xander laughed, brushing his thumb across my cheek. “She tried, but father stepped in. He gave his blessing. He forced my mother to think about her actions, and … she’s still not happy, but she is going to break the mate alliance.”
I kissed him like a starving person, openmouthed, tongue tangling against him, body straining to move even closer. Our clothes were gone in seconds. I wasn’t even sure how that happened, but I didn’t care. Xander was inside me so fast that my head spun, and I cried out as all the pleasure he could bring thrummed through my body.
Having him like this, in the legreto from our home world, was a dream.
My body, which had already been primed, started to unravel. I knew I was not going to be able to hold out any longer, even though I desperately wanted to feel this sort of pleasure forever. I must have said something to that tune, because Xander growled, his speed increasing. “You’ll feel it forever. I can promise you that. This is just the beginning.”
For the first time since meeting him, I let myself truly believe that I might have this forever.
Home.
Chapter 25
All I saw was white. For a moment I wondered what had happened, then a warm arm slid across me and dragged me closer, and I remembered everything.
I was with Xander. In his bed—our bed, as he told me last night. We were still in the house in Daelight Crescent, on the second floor in the master suite. It was massive, taking up ten times the space of my last shared apartment.
“Good morning,” I said, burying my face into his chest. We were both naked. We had not gotten much sleep through the night. The morning got here way too quickly in my opinion. When we weren’t making love, we were discussing everything that had happened yesterday. The council still wasn’t sure how Laous had managed to invoke the Fires of Ether through Callie, but they had assured us that he was definitely dead now. Daniel confirmed this, because his soul was in Imperial, awaiting judgment.
“What if Laous chooses to be born again?” I asked, needing to know he’d be punished for what he did. For Rao and Marsil.
“Reborn souls are pure,” Xander told me, running his hand along my side. “If Laous chooses to be reborn, his soul will have another chance at a good life.”
Still didn’t seem fair, but I guess a new soul shouldn’t be punished for its previous life’s actions.
“How are you feeling?” Xander asked, changing the subject. His tone was serious enough that I lifted my head to see him clearly. Ocean blue eyes framed by thick dark lashes met my gaze.
“I feel….” I hesitated, trying to determine what I really felt. “I’m not really sure, to be honest. Overwhelmed. Shocked. Happy.”
All of that was true. While a small part of me was waiting for the bad thing to crash into us again, I was happy.
“I’ve never been this happy,” Xander said, still serious. Then he smiled, and my breath caught, just for a moment. “I can’t actually believe you’re here with me.”
I swallowed roughly, reaching out to caress his face. He wore light stubble across his chin and cheeks now, and I was digging it. “I can’t really believe it either,” I confessed, my hands pausing to cup his cheeks.
I kissed him then, because I could. Because in this moment, he was mine.
“I can feel you in my chest,” he said against my lips. “Our bond, it’s growing stronger.”
He’d told me that might happen, that after we were bonded sex and emotions would tie us closer to together. “I feel it too,” I said, snuggling against him.
His hands were just starting to move across my skin, around to cup my ass, when his phone buzzed on the bedside table.
Xander let out a low curse, followed by a deep breath before he rolled over and grabbed it. I noticed that he wasn’t one to let his phone go without checking it, just in case it was an emergency back home. Being on Earth made network contact harder, so their phones were always on.
The white sheets pooled around him, making his skin look an even darker bronze than usual. This was enough of a distraction that it took me a few moments to realize that he was still reading his phone quite seriously.
“Is everything okay back in Overworld?” I asked, drawing his attention to me.
He nodded as he lifted his head. “Everything is fine. Daniel is having his initiation ceremony today. He’s already overlord, or acting as overlord, but the official ceremony will give him complete control of his house and the justices. He’s asked if we can be there.”
“Is that not normal?”
Xander shook his head. “No, we’ve always kept that sort of thing quite separate. But … we’re changing the way our world is run now. We’re going to make sure that no one can divide us again.”
“Laous brought about something good after all,” I decided.
We were both silent, thinking about everything that had happened.
“He didn’t beat us,” I said out loud, needing to hear it. “We learned that the four houses are stronger together.”
Xander dropped his phone and then his hands were around my waist as he lifted me onto him. As I settled down against his body, my insides hummed.
“Do we have time?” I asked.
His eyes darkened. “Always.”
House of Imperial was underground, literally. We took a transporter to the top level of the justices, along with a lot of other Daelighters. All four houses would be here today, spread out across the incubation level.
Xander and I stood at the head of R
oyale. A select few of his people were there, and I was so happy to see Dawn among them. She had given me a hug and expressed her joy at my mateship with her brother.
Lettie wasn’t quite so happy, but since she mostly ignored me, I took that as a win. I knew I would have to keep an eye on Xander’s mother in the future—she was going to do everything she could to drive a wedge between Xander and me. Whatever her long term plan was though, I would not let her steal this life from me. She was in for a fight.
I was happy to see Emma and Lexen with House of Darken. Star was also there with a tall, good-looking guy. They were holding hands.
“That’s Brad,” Xander explained, noticing my stare. “He’s Maya’s best friend.”
Ah, this was the human best friend. He actually looked a lot like a Daelighter as he stood there hand in hand with a Darken princess. I mentioned that to Xander, and he nodded.
“He’s eating some of our food to extend his human life. He’s hybrid now.”
That’s what the secret keepers were as well. Humans changed by Daelighter energy.
“It’s nice to see Ambra is finally out again,” Xander said sadly. “Lexen’s mother has barely left her room since Marsil died.”
Lexen’s mother was ethereal and beautiful, but there was no hiding how pale and thin she looked. Jero, the other brother, stayed at her side, holding her hand. He looked strong and sure, standing tall. But a deep pain was etched across his face as well.
It was too great. The losses were too much.
Another group exited the incubation level and I had to stop myself from running to Maya. It felt like years since I’d seen them all, even though it had only been one night. I missed them.
“Who’s that with Maya?” I asked, seeing a tiny Asian woman and a large, robust man on either side of her. “Her parents?”
Xander nodded, his lips brushing against my ear. “Yes, they’re here as well now, staying with Maya in Daelight Crescent. They work for the human-Daelighter section of the government, so they’re used to our ways. It worked out pretty well.”
Maya appeared to have the best kind of family there was, the kind that loved and accepted unconditionally. House of Leights still fascinated me the most. I’d see a lot of them before, of course, but I was in love with their nature-based lifestyle. Living with their trees. And they were all gorgeous, in a supermodel, I-have-cheekbones-for-days kind of way.
Maya fit in perfectly, even if she was almost the shortest among them. Her mother was the only one I could see who was even smaller.
“It’s starting,” Xander told me, and I turned to face forward.
Daniel and Callie, along with a bunch of their people, were standing right on the edge of the justices’ cliff. Council members stepped closer carrying stones and crystals. Not the ones from our trip to Columbia. Nope, they were all gone forever. These were just ancient energy stones that would bind Daniel to the network and his house.
I had no idea what was being said. The ceremony was not in English, but there was a magical feel in the air.
Daniel did not hesitate when it was his turn to repeat the words, his hands on the stones. But before he finished, he did something that must have been unexpected, judging by the hushed gasp that went through the crowd of Daelighters. He reached back and grabbed Callie’s hands, bringing her forward, placing her hands on the stone with his.
“I’m going to guess this is not how it usually goes?” I murmured to Xander.
He shook his head. “No, the overlord couple rules together, but there is only one true overlord. Daniel is … sharing his power with Callie, giving her full access to the overlord energy he will control.”
Callie looked like she was going to resist at first, but Daniel whispered something to her and she just shook her head at him, relaxing. They both repeated the final words together, and the dress she was wearing, floor length and black with a scooped neckline, started to shimmer. White and blue energy rocked across her body, moving to Daniel.
“This is the part where one of them could be rejected,” Xander said, sounding worried.
I felt nervous for them. They were our family. I wanted them to be able to take this new step together. Light shot up and I gasped, not sure if that was a bad sign. Another beam of light, from whatever was above, shot down to meet their beam.
“The network accepts them,” a council member shouted.
The cheers that erupted were almost deafening, and my heart swelled at the thought that all the houses were joined together in this moment. In celebration. The rest of the ceremony was over pretty quickly after that, then all of the overlords met to congratulate each other, while the members of the houses started to make their journey home.
Daniel asked all of us to stay until the end, sending messages to his friends via the network. “You’re going to have to show me how this network works soon,” I joked to Xander.
He gave me a wink. “You got it, babe. You have forever to learn about my world. I can’t wait to discover everything with you.”
He was perfect. Most of the time, anyway. The arrogant asshole came out on occasion, but to be honest, I loved that side of him almost as much as his sweet side.
Emma just about barreled me over as she tackle-hugged me. “I missed you,” she exclaimed.
I burst out laughing. “I missed you too. I was wondering if I might be a little crazy, since it was only one night apart.”
Maya joined us then and we pulled her into the hug. “Nope, not crazy,” she told us. “I was almost going to sneak out of Chase’s place last night and come find you all.”
“Tell me that Chase’s place in Daelight Crescent is a tree house,” Emma said with a laugh. “And we can have sleepovers there?”
Chase joined us then, after saying farewell to his parents. “It’s a very large tree house. And you’re all welcome anytime. There’s enough room for us all to live together and still have our own wings, if you’d like.”
Everyone laughed even though he’d said nothing particularly funny. It was just nice to think about the future. About being together. And I guess … we were all happy.
“Callie!” Emma cried when our friend finally escaped from the council and others gathered around the new overlord couple. “You’re an overlord major.”
Callie hugged all of us, her face glowing even though her eyes were tired and somewhat haunted still. “I can’t believe it, but … I feel the energy now. Inside. The same way my fire is there. And while I’m really happy, Daniel is still getting his ass kicked for dropping that on me with no notice.”
Her mate chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her. “You’d never have turned up today if I told you what I had planned. It all worked out for the best.”
She shook her head at him but didn’t argue. The last of the crowds were disappearing, and I realized how huge this top section of Imperial actually was.
“So, what did you want us to wait here for?” Lexen asked Daniel.
Daniel and Callie’s faces went somber. I worried for a moment they had more bad news.
“I’ve been waiting for my full powers,” Daniel said. “Because I wanted to offer you all one last chance to say goodbye.”
Lexen froze, like he knew exactly what Daniel meant. “You should call your parents, Jero, and Star back as well,” Daniel prompted his friend, who still looked frozen. “It’s a one-time offer.”
“Are you sure?” Lexen said hoarsely. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before. I don’t want to get their hopes up.”
Daniel clasped his friend on the shoulder. “I will break the rules for you all. Just this once.”
Emma started to cry, and so did Callie. My eyes felt very damp as I stared at the ground, still not totally sure how Daniel was going to allow them to say goodbye to Marsil.
“He’s in redemption?” Emma asked, sobs escaping her.
Daniel nodded. “Yes, he sacrificed himself to save two worlds. His soul went straight to redemption.”
Emma nodded
rapidly. “Of course it did.”
Lexen’s parents appeared from the huge building that was near the back of this level. Star and Jero were with them. Lexen met them halfway so he could explain everything. Ambra started to cry, burying her head in her hands, while Roland comforted her. Jero and Star, though, both looked happy, their faces almost bright as they hurried across to our group.
“They all accept your gracious gift,” Lexen told Daniel.
Roland cleared his throat. “You’re breaking a lot of rules today, Overlord Daniel.”
Daniel shrugged. “First day on the job—everyone makes mistakes on their first day.”
Roland chuckled. “I can see you’re ready to bring about the sort of change Lexen has always pushed for. I can’t wait until the day the four of you stand at the pillar of Overworld. That will be a fine day indeed.” His wife lifted her head, her dark blue eyes rimmed in red. Roland’s arm was still around her, solid, supportive. “Ambra and I are going to seriously discuss when to hand the mantle over to Lexen. Whenever he and Emma are ready for it.”
Emma went very pale, but she also looked pleased that they had included her.
“Can I see my son now?” Ambra asked, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. “I need to see him one last time.”
Cue waterworks again. This was going to be one emotional visit, and I wondered…
“If you’d like this to be a family thing,” I offered quietly, “I’m happy to stay behind. My heart is breaking for all of you, but I don’t know Marsil personally, and maybe I’m—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish before Ambra and Roland stepped forward, and then they … hugged me. Tight. Like parents would. Which had my heart cracking right down the center.
“You are family,” Roland said, his deep voice rumbling all around me. “Lexen told me everything that happened while you were gone, and there is no doubt in my mind that the eight of you … you’re family.”
“We would like you there,” Ambra added as they both released me.