by Jaymin Eve
That was it, like the rest of my identity had been wiped clean. Gone.
A hand wrapped around mine, and I lifted my chin to meet Brad’s gaze. Seeing his familiar face, the boy I grew up with, who had been with me through so many of life’s obstacles … it made me feel a little better. Not everything was gone. I still had him. And my family.
I must have fallen asleep, my head against Brad’s shoulder, only waking as we landed. Blinking to clear my vision, I tried to figure out where we were. The only things I could see were trees, and I was really hoping that this “safe house” wasn’t like a tent or something. Nature and I, we were not exactly simpatico.
We had landed in an open area no bigger than a quarter of a football field, the only break in the endless trees. We filed out quickly, and then before I could ask what we were doing out here, the metal beast lifted again and was gone over the trees in less than a minute, leaving the four of us standing there like morons.
“Please,” I fake begged, hands in the prayer position, “please tell me this is not the safe house. You know how I feel about camping.”
My mom tsked at me. “Maya, come now, you need to focus on right now and stop worrying about what you cannot control.”
Her favorite mantra: do not waste energy on what you cannot control.
My father took a second to look around; he was clearly as confused as me. “I imagine they needed to land off the grid to leave no record of where we were dropped. No doubt someone else will be by soon to pick us up.”
Bet right about now he was regretting leaving the finer details up to Peter.
After a few minutes of waiting, the four of us grew restless and started to walk. I didn’t like being out in the open like this. Dad led us toward the closest trees. We stuck close together, stepping into the forest. It was very green, and it felt even colder than Washington, D.C. I had an open sweater on, which was barely keeping me warm.
The forest floor was quite dense in places, filled with messy undergrowth, and no doubt a ton of bugs. I was not a fan of bugs, one of my major reasons for declining every school trip that included camping. Hell, no. Not for me.
My mind flashed to my house and pool, to my soft mattress and organic cotton sheets. Gods, I missed my room. I was a total spoiled brat, but I’d really grown accustomed to the luxury of my life. It felt decidedly unfair that it had all been torn away from me now.
“How are they going to come for us?” I asked, following my father as he pushed further into the trees. “Can you see a path anywhere?”
He shook his head. “No path yet. I don’t want to get too far from the drop-off point. Just trying to see if there is a main road somewhere close.”
Great. I’d probably get bitten by something that would give me a rash and cause my arm to fall off. “Do you think those men who tried to take me were Daelighters?” I asked my father, gingerly following in his footsteps, trying not to cringe as I brushed against leaves and spiky plants. “Is there a way to easily identify a Daelighter?”
“They would have been Daelighters or humans recruited to Laous’ cause,” he replied. “And … they look like human, but in general they’re taller, more athletic, and quite intimidating. There’s an ‘other’ feeling about them. Special.”
Definitely humans chasing me, then. None of them had seemed particularly “special.” My father circled us around the drop-off point, getting a little wider each time. I started to worry that we’d been dropped into the middle of nowhere because the government was cutting their losses. I’d seen enough movies to assume there was some truth to their actions when they needed to tie up loose ends.
Just as I finished that thought, my stomach flip-flopped and my chest got tight and tingly.
It was the feeling…
The feeling from the party and the alley where my attackers had been snatched away. Back in the government lair, I’d tried to explain to my parents what had happened. It was clear they didn’t quite believe me, but I knew the truth – we’d been saved by my mystery guy.
I turned to stare out into the trees, spinning around to take it all in. It took me longer than it should have, but I finally found … them? Three men stood in the shadow of a huge tree, still and calm.
Stepping closer, I blinked more than once to make sure I was seeing them clearly. Because they were so … beautiful. All of them were tall, with dark skin and long hair. None of them were the guy from the party though, and I was just wondering if my stomach feeling had been wrong … when he stepped out from behind the other three. Our eyes met and those feelings in my body intensified. My body almost jerked forward. Just like at the party, I wanted to move closer to him.
By this stage my father had noticed them, too. When a relieved smile broke across his face, I figured we were dealing with friends. He hurried forward, pausing before the tallest of the four. The one – the guy from the party, who I was pretty sure had saved my life in the alley. His hair, unlike the other three, was short, dark, and cropped close to his head, save for a few braids that hung past his shoulders. It also looked like one side of his head was tattooed, the marks hard to clearly make out under his hair. Maybe symbols or words.
It was too dark under this canopy for me to tell the color of his eyes, but they looked light, contrasting beautifully to his dark skin and hair.
“Chase from House of Leights,” my father said, holding his hand out for him to shake. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Will you be leading us to the safe house?”
Chase acknowledged my father with a nod, but it felt as if his eyes remained locked on me. I wanted to go forward and take his hand as well, but something held me back. The pull I already felt to him was not natural or normal. For someone who’d been pretty lackluster with most things in life, this sort of strong emotion was really freaking obvious.
House of Leights!
I realized then what my father had said. Even though an idiot would know that these four were “special,” the reality took a moment to register fully. Holyfreakingshit. He was an alien, a Daelighter. Why were the good ones always gay, taken, or aliens? Seriously.
For a brief moment, I contemplated that he might evoke such feeling in me because of some sort of alien power, but the other three men at his sides, who were almost as stunningly handsome, did not make me feel anything except wariness.
There was something more about this Chase. And I wanted to panic about that. But I couldn’t seem to produce that emotion around him. He was just … calming.
Chase finally turned his gaze from me and I managed to suck in some deep breaths.
“We have to walk a small distance, then we can drive to the next destination,” he said to my father.
That voice…
If Chase had been looking at me still, there would have been no way I could have hidden my reaction to his smooth, accented tone.
Seriously.
Seductive, sliding across my senses, filling my body with needs. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt this way, and since I’d never even talked to this guy…
“No worries. We just want to make sure Maya is safe,” my dad said as he reached out a hand to me. I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want to get closer to these Daelighters. None of them.
Liar…
With reluctance, I stepped through the undergrowth, shuddering as a huge ferny-looking plant tried to attack me. Chase’s lips quirked as he watched me battle my plant-assailant, and eventually I made it to my father’s side.
“This is Maya Lewis,” he said. “She’s the third secret keeper, the one from House of Leights. She’s who we’re here to protect.”
His eyes were the greenest I’d ever seen, almost luminescent. “It’s nice to meet you, Maya,” he said, holding out a hand for me to take.
I didn’t want to. If his voice affected me to the level where I almost moaned out loud, then his touch would probably kill me. Before it got awkward though, the other men stepped forward, distracting everyone. Chase shot me a slow smile, lowered h
is hand, and introduced the other men. “This is Jordo, Luci, and Manita.” He pointed to each in turn. “They’re here just as a precaution. We’ve lost track of Laous’ movements, so we err on the side of safety.”
I heard what he was saying, but most of my focus was on breathing and trying to stay calm. We are not compatible species! I needed to get myself under control. I refused to be that girl. The one who fell for the drop-dead gorgeous guy without knowing a single thing about him. He might be the biggest asshole ever, with fifteen wives and a penchant for beating them up when he was drunk.
“Are you ready to leave?” my father asked, and I snapped out of my own head, stepping back to where Brad and my mom were standing.
Chase nodded. “Stay close,” he advised, then he moved forward into the trees. The other Daelighters fanned out around us, one going to the back, the other two to either side. Chase led us further into the trees, and I found myself watching him closely, for no other reason than the way he moved through this forest was unlike anything I’d ever seen. He was at home there, like he’d lived in the jungle his whole life. I could have sworn that trees and plants even got out of his way as he walked.
Got out of his way…
That was brilliant. I just needed to walk close to Chase and I should avoid all branches and leaves. I hurried so I was right behind him – and my dad, who was at his side. It felt slightly dangerous being this close to him, but since I was finally free from leaves and plants attacking me, I could deal.
As an added bonus, I also got to eavesdrop on the conversation he was having with my father.
“Did you have any trouble on the way?” Chase asked. “We heard that Laous and some of the resistance were in your area, which was why we moved with haste.”
My father’s rumbly drawl sounded coarse against the smooth accent of the Daelighters. “Yes, Maya was almost taken. She managed to escape … even though she’s not sure how. Luckily we got to the government facility before anyone found her again.”
I knew how … even though no one had believed me. There was no doubt in my mind that my escape was all to do with Chase. As if he’d heard my thoughts, I was suddenly staring into those green, pearlescent eyes. Not human. Those eyes were definitely not like any human’s.
Swallowing roughly, I reminded myself that breathing was not optional. “I’m glad Maya was not hurt,” Chase said, holding my gaze for another moment before he turned back to my father. “She’s very important.”
Those words were a splash of cold water to the face, reminding me that my life had literally just gone to hell, and that I was an idiot for lusting after an alien. These feelings had to be because of shock or something. That was the only thing that made sense.
Deciding it was better to brave the trees, I fell back to walk beside Brad. He leaned down close to me. “What’s going on with you and alien dude?”
He said it very softly, but for all we knew they had supersonic hearing. We really needed to find out more about them.
“What do you mean?” I muttered. God, please don’t let me have been obvious…
“I’ve never seen you stare at anything – except your mom’s cooking – like you’re staring at him.”
There was no way to stop the embarrassment I felt from flooding my face. Luckily, I tended to just get a little color in my cheeks when I blushed, not a full-on red, so it would not be hugely obvious. Except to Brad, who knew me very well.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I finally said stiffly. “I’m just fascinated … because they’re not human.”
He smirked, and it took all of my self-control not to smack him in the face. My mom followed Buddha’s teachings. She was all about peace and love. Meditation. Unfortunately, not a lot of her daily practices translated to me. I had a temper that took some time to appear, but when it did, I was like a crazy little ninja, throwing and kicking and breaking things.
Let’s just say I was working on it.
And Brad was pushing all of my buttons right now.
“Leave it,” I bit out when he opened his mouth to say something more.
His grin grew wider, and I sucked in deeply, trying to calm myself. I thought I might blow when he leaned down again. “Just so you know, he looks at you in the exact same way.” My stomach did that stupid flip-flopping motion again, and my chest felt like it might burst from all the feelings in there.
Brad tilted his head to the side, and I thought he looked a little sad. “Be careful of that one, Maiz. He’s not human.”
Like I was going to forget that anytime soon. But it didn’t seem to matter to my hormones. They were on the Chase train, with no intention of getting off.
6
I was pretty fit from gymnastics and cheerleading, but apparently I was not hiking-through-the-forest fit. After thirty minutes my thighs and calves began to ache, and after an hour I was pretty much ready to just hand myself over to Laous. Anything to end the torture.
I’d grown numb to finding bugs on me, the itchy arms from brushing across tree sap and whatever else was on their leaves, the stumbling over exposed roots. Brad was doing a lot better, and he helped me out on more than one occasion. I also managed not to stare at Chase too much. Which was a win.
Eventually the trees cleared and we ended up on a long road. There was a car waiting for us, black and huge, like one of those old army vehicles. I was pretty sure they didn’t make Hummers anymore, but this reminded me of that style of car a lot.
“It’s specially designed to keep you safe,” Chase told our group. “It’s bullet and bombproof. Along with being resistant to a variety of Daelighter energies.”
“What are Daelighter energies?” Brad asked, and I was grateful he did, so I didn’t have to show how interested I was in the answer to that.
Chase opened the doors for us first and we all climbed in, except the three Daelighters he’d been with. “They’ll walk the rest of the way,” he told me. “We don’t trust transport like this.”
Right. Walking was clearly their thing.
Once we were all buckled into the harnesses, Chase started the vehicle and with a rumbly roar we were off. He then answered Brad’s question from before.
“There are four houses on Overworld. All of us have different energies and abilities. House of Leights is mine. We have energy derived from the trees in our land. Our powers correspond to that.”
I could have guessed that by the way they moved through the forest. Another huge difference between us: he was one with the trees; I was one with my air-conditioned house. Eventually I was going to convince my body that he was off limits. Way off limits.
“House of Darken is a land of beasts and magic. Their powers are to do with nature as well – storms. They can control the lightning and winds. Bring about thunderstorms.”
Beasts and magic? I really wanted to ask what sort of beasts they had. Every mythical creature I’d ever read about flashed through my mind, and I was more than a little intrigued to know more.
“House of Imperial is the keeper of the underworld. Volcanic in nature, their power controls fire. The cleanser of souls.”
Keeper of the underworld? I was so not touching that one. Brad swung his head in my direction, eyes really wide. I lifted my shoulders in a shrug.
“And finally, House of Royale,” Chase said. “They control water, or as we call it, legreto. The energy which runs through the currents of legreto is powerful. It can shape worlds.”
I knew he’d given us a basic, one-line description for powers that no doubt needed a ten-thousand-word essay, and I really wanted the essay, because that didn’t seem like enough. I wanted to know more.
“And I was born in House of Leights?” I confirmed, my voice barely a whisper. “In the … trees?”
I was in the back seat, on the opposite side to Chase, so he was able to turn his head and see me. “Yes, you were born in my sector of Overworld. My parents were there. I was also there as a … teenager.”
“You were
there when I was born? Like in the same room?” Was that as weird as it felt to me?
Chase chuckled, and the sound was really nice. Too nice. Focus. “Not in the same room, but we were close by.”
“How old are you?” Brad asked. “You don’t seem that much older than us, but you said you were a teenager eighteen years ago.”
Right, he had said that. He didn’t look more than twenty.
Chase turned back to the road, even though it was still one long stretch of dirt. No obstacles to worry about. “Daelighters do not age as humans do. It’s not slow and gradual, more like random bursts of growth. I’d guess in human years I’m around fifty. But on my world, I’m young.”
Fifty!
“Daelighters also don’t die of old age,” my father cut in. “Not really. They age very slowly … so slowly that technically they could live forever.”
I had forgotten that my parents knew a lot about these aliens, having worked with them. My father’s family had been part of it as well. The family business I’d never known about.
“You don’t age?” My voice sounded a little raspy.
“Just very slowly, as your father said. But we can die from injury and there are a few diseases as well.”
I was having trouble wrapping my head around that, but even in my shock, I didn’t miss the exchange of a look between my father and Chase. My dad shook his head, answering whatever silent question had been asked, and I really wanted to know what it was. But I kind of felt like I might be at the end of my ability to process any new information right now.
I’d ask later.
After this I shut myself down and stared out the window, trying to ignore the consistent pull in my body to move closer to Chase. If I didn’t sort myself out soon, I was going to be labeled a stalker.