by Jaymin Eve
“Daniel?” I guessed.
Her face lit up like I’d handed her a limitless credit card and her own private plane, Christmas and birthday all wrapped into one huge moment. “Having someone like Daniel in my life … there’s no comparing it to anything else. Emma will tell you the same.”
I snorted before I could stop the rude sound. She blinked at me, and then raised both eyebrows.
“Sorry…” I said quickly. “I just … I’m not really down with this whole soul mate thing. I mean, does Daniel love you because of some stupid destiny? Or does he love you because of you?”
“I love her because of both,” came the deep voice from across the porch. He’d clearly come in search of her and had heard the end of our conversation.
Despite the fact that he’d been answering my question, his eyes were all for Callie.
“That’s the funny thing about fate,” she said, moving toward him like she couldn’t help herself. “Sometimes it knows better than we do about what is absolutely perfect for us. What will fulfill us. I don’t care how Daniel and I found each other. All I care is that we did.”
She pushed into his arms then, and as his lips gently brushed across her forehead, her eyes closed and the contentment on her face…
Turning away, I stared out into the forest again, giving them a few moments’ privacy. They were doing nothing but hugging and it still felt like such an intimate moment.
I could have that?
My inner voice, a part of me hidden deep down, the part which was never satisfied with any of the guys I’d ever dated, or with my life in general, made me wonder if I had been waiting for Chase.
“Oh. Em. Gee!” The shriek had me spinning around to find a pretty redhead heading in my direction. She was wearing a white shirt, black jeans with torn knees, and black Converse. What was this, the secret keepers’ uniform?
She stopped right before me. “I’m so glad you’re finally here,” she said with excitement. “And you’re totally beautiful, and tiny. Plus, I love your hair. I always wanted to get purple through mine, but it just wouldn’t go as well with my red tone.”
This had to be Emma, the one enthusiastic about us being one big happy family.
I smiled, and it didn’t even feel forced. “It’s nice to meet you,” I told her with sincerity. Knowing that both of these girls had been through the same thing as me, sent relief through me. I felt less stressed all of a sudden.
“This is perfect…” Emma ran her hands through her long wavy hair, her blue eyes sparkling in happiness. “Now we just have to find the last secret keeper before that asshole Laous. Then the four of us will be a team.”
I smiled again. How did these two make me like them so quickly? I’d never had that happen before.
Emma dropped back to lean against the rail next to me. She was taller than me by quite a few inches but wasn’t as tall as Callie. I was feeling like a real shorty around all of these people. I mean, the men alone were at least a foot taller than me. Most of them even more.
“Were you a cheerleader, too?” I asked her randomly, wondering where all of her pep came from.
A deep masculine chuckle sent goosebumps over my skin, and I turned to find the second hottest guy I’d ever seen – tied with Daniel – stepping out through the open doorway. Chase was the hottest, but that was not something I was ready to deal with, so I’d go back to the newcomer.
Tall, dark-haired, with a face carved from the gods, and a huge, well-muscled body, he could have been the perfect man, but there was way too much scary there to ever interest me. His intensity, the way he moved in an almost animalistic way, I knew this had to be Lexen. Weredragon.
His chuckle faded off, and he stared at his girl in a way that almost made me blush. “Let’s just say that Emma is not exactly athletically-inclined.”
Holy hell. The chemistry between the two couples was explosive. Made sense now … that feeling I got whenever I was near Chase. It was a lot, and I didn’t know how to process it. Even worse, I had no real idea if it was the same for him or not. I didn’t know him well enough to tell yet; he seemed to be good at hiding his emotions.
Emma distracted me when she sighed. “First Callie is a ninja who can climb ropes, kick ass, and enjoys jogging. And now I find out you’re a cheerleader. Let me guess, you can do a dozen backflips and the splits.”
I gave a half shrug as a small burst of laughter escaped from me. “You got me. I’m really into the gymnastics side of cheer.”
She pouted so dramatically that everyone laughed. And I joined them, feeling like I was part of this world for the first time.
“I’ve been teaching Emma some self-defense,” Callie added. She was no longer in Daniel’s arms, but they were still very close to each other. “And she’s helping me with my reading.”
Emma beamed. “I’m a total bookworm, I love fantasy stories.”
“I love to read,” I told her. “Sci-fi for me. I’ve kind of fallen out of the habit in the last few years. Life got busy in high school, but I’d like to find time to start up again.”
Her eyes and face lit up, and now she was the one with the credit card and private plane. “I have the best series for you to start with,” she burst out. “Oh my God, I have at least six favorite fantasy worlds that are so good you’ll never stop reading again. I can’t wait to have a book friend to talk to.”
Callie groaned. “Don’t get her started. She will literally chat your ears off for hours about all the books.”
“All the books,” Emma chimed in, her smile lifting her cheeks high as she took no offense to Callie’s scrunched-up face.
“You’re not a reader?” I asked Callie.
She shrugged. “I can’t really read. Words get all muddled when I stare at them. Letters move around. I’m probably just too stupid. But … Emma is determined that I live in these cool worlds, so we’ve been trying to figure out a way to help me.”
Emma left my side so she could throw an arm around Callie. It was clear they were great friends. I wondered how long they’d known each other.
“You’re not stupid,” Emma groused at her. “You need to stop saying that. You have dyslexia. It’s an actual condition which makes reading hard for you.” She turned to face me. “Callie is ultra-smart, seriously. She basically taught herself everything, and I’m pretty sure she did a better job than the hundreds of teachers I’ve had over the years.”
Callie pushed her away gently, but there was a twinkle in her eye. She adored Emma, and I got it. It was hard not to like her. She was funny, and quick-witted, and super-nice. Both of the secret keepers were. I felt like an outsider, the one who didn’t know the jokes, who hadn’t done the miles to earn her place yet. But a part of me wanted to stick around long enough that I became a true member of this group.
“One of my friends back home has dyslexia,” I said to Callie. “She had to do a bunch of therapies, and they use a computer program to change tone and depth and color of letters. It helps her immensely. She told me it never really gets easy, but it does get easier.” I quickly hurried to add, “And it definitely doesn’t make you stupid. She gets better grades than me, if you’re judging on that sort of thing.”
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 an
d 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.
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. It 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 slight
est 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.