by Jaymin Eve
He would have been as worried about them as I was. His baby sister had been in that car; no wonder he’d continued to stare out the back window. He’d already lost one brother to this war. No doubt he was going to do everything in his power to make sure there were no other casualties.
I was going to do the same. My family had to remain safe. I would not entertain any other options.
12
“If you send the three humans across, no one else will get hurt.” The muffled threat came from a helmeted asshole nearby. Yep, it was time for the big curse words to come out. I was pissed.
“Screw you, dickbag, I would rather eat shit and die than go anywhere with you.”
Emma snorted quietly to my right.
“I get sweary when I’m mad,” I told her back.
Heat washed down my spine; it was such a sudden burst of warmth that I immediately stepped away, afraid my butt was about to catch on fire or something. Swiveling toward it, I let out a whimpering sound. It wasn’t my butt on fire, it was Callie and Daniel. Literally … literally on freaking fire.
“That’s normal, right?” My voice was still whimpering.
Chase took a step closer to me, angling his body across mine. “They’re fine. This is their power.” He started to change then, growing larger. “You three need to get out of here before Laous arrives. He’s always two steps ahead of us, knowing exactly what powers to use to counter ours. We can’t risk him getting his hands on you.”
“It has to be the starslight stone,” Lexen added. “It’s a huge asset for him.”
“All those years I carried the necklace,” Emma groaned. “Why did I never get awesome powers? I could have saved my family. Stupid ability to never get hurt enough to bleed on it.”
Lexen, who was keeping a close eye on the men surrounding us, let out a rumble. “The fact you never got hurt is a very good thing, Em. I’m eternally grateful for that.”
Her eyes went soft and dreamy, but before she could say anything, Lexen continued, “I can get the girls out of here,” he said. “But I’m going to need a little space.” His voice was deep … graveled. All the guys were rocking a husky voice at the moment, and that could only mean one thing. They were about to throw down.
Emma held out her hand to me, and with reluctance, I turned away from Chase. Staring at her for the first time since we left the car, I blinked at the blood running down the side of her face. “Are you okay?” I gasped.
She nodded, patting at her cheek. “I hit my head when we rolled, but I’m fine.”
No wonder Lexen sounded like he was ten shades of pissed. Seeing Emma like that was making me angry enough to want to start throwing punches.
Laous’ guys around us were pushing forward while still leaving us with a decent amount of space. Like they were waiting for Laous.
We had to get out of here.
A shimmer washed over Lexen and I gave him my full attention. He dropped his head back and lifted both arms to either side of him.
“This is his draygone form,” Emma murmured.
I found myself pressing back, instinctively searching for Chase. A quick glance over my shoulder told me that he hadn’t changed forms fully yet. He still looked the same, just larger, with a slight wood texture to his skin. As I touched him, I expected him to move, but he remained a solid wall against my spine. The warmth of his body cut through the chilly air, and that tingle of energy between us was in full effect.
His long arm wrapped around the front of me, pressing against my hip as he held me in place. I would have closed my eyes – the sensations were that good – but there was no way I was missing seeing Lexen’s final form. He was covered in white light, like someone had him in a spotlight, and a combination of ice and heat flowed over him. In a blink, wings sprouted from his back, huge and black, spanning out ten feet on either side. His skin darkened and took on a scaly texture. His body grew bigger, until he was almost twice his normal size; somehow, his clothes stretched with him. The white light running across him slowly died off at that point.
Holy mother of all that is holy…
Chase was pretty much holding me up now. That arm he’d wrapped around to rest at my hip kept my legs from collapsing under me. “He just … where … what?”
This was not something my human brain could comprehend. There were realities in this world, laws – things followed certain cosmic truths – and right now, Lexen was breaking all of those.
“You know my form changes like his, right?” Chase sounded slightly worried, and I realized how rude I was being. Daelighters were different to me, and different was okay. I needed to embrace it.
Spinning in Chase’s arms, I faced him. We were so close that the front of our bodies almost touched. I tilted my head back to see his face clearly. “I know you change, and it doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just shocking, because I’ve never seen anything like this before. But I don’t fear you.” My voice grew stronger. “I am not disgusted or upset. I actually think Daelighters are amazing, and I’m a little jealous that I only have my regular old human abilities.” I lifted my hand and placed it on his chest. I needed to touch him. “I’m ready to see your other form, whenever you’re ready to show me.”
He cupped my face again, brushing his thumb over my cheek in gentle sweeps. “I was not prepared for you,” he murmured. “I thought I was. I watched my brothers go through it with Emma and Callie … but I didn’t think it would be the same for me. In Leights, the Galinta choose our mates. But something far greater is at work here.”
I wanted to ask what he meant about the trees choosing, but there was no more time. Lexen was flapping his wings hard, sending up plumes of dirt and debris into the eyes of the guards around us. The helicopter, visible just over the tree line, was closing in fast. Laous had been holding back, waiting for his goons to take us down.
“You need to go,” Chase pushed me toward Lexen. “He’s going to get you to safety. Trust me.”
“What?” I half shouted, as a strong band-like grip went around my waist. In a split second I was jerked off the ground and my scream was lost in the wind. We were flying, but I didn’t struggle, because by the time I found my voice, we were already at a height that would kill me if I fell. The noise of the helicopter was almost deafening up here.
“Hold tight,” Lexen muttered in his deep voice. “I’m going to stir up some cover for us.”
I turned my head to find I was being held in one of his arms, a no-longer-on-fire Callie was in the other, and Emma was sort of in the middle, pressed against both of us, her arms wrapped around Lexen’s neck. Callie was holding onto her, so I did the same with my free arm, which allowed her to relax her grip on Lexen a tad.
Dark clouds were still thick across the sky, and we were flying right in the midst of them. “Laous is following in the helicopter?” Emma squeaked.
“He’s following,” Lexen confirmed. “Don’t worry, he’s not draygone, he’s not going to catch me.” I liked his confidence, and despite our combined weight, Lexen didn’t sound even slightly fatigued. Dude was Superman.
“We left the others behind,” I bit out, not happy about being yanked out of Chase’s arms. And what he’d been saying … I needed to know more. I needed to hear everything. “What if Laous doubles back and captures them?” I’d turn myself over in a heartbeat. I would not leave Chase to die at Laous’ hands.
Emma sent a wonky smile in my direction. Our faces were close enough that I could see the glassiness of her blue eyes. “They’ll be okay. Not only are they formidable opponents that Laous will not want to take on, it seems that the helicopter is focused on following us. The boys will get away. I know it.”
That had better be true, because I needed to know what Chase meant about the trees choosing their mates, and … everything else. I needed to know it all. I refused to think that was the last time I’d feel my stomach jump when he was close by, the last time I drew comfort from his calm presence. I wanted more moments with him. Trees and all.
No one back home would believe this was me. After all of these years being an indoors, dirt-a-phobe chick, I was embracing nature, embracing everything that felt right.
This felt righter than anything else in my life ever had.
Lexen continued to power along, the darkness of his clouds covering us. “Are you sure you’re faster than a helicopter, Lexen Darken?” Callie asked bluntly. “Because I do not want to be eviscerated by some rotors.”
A low deep chuckle was his reply. He sounded confident, though, so that was something. “The hardest part will be making sure no humans see us,” he rumbled. “There are some things the human mind just cannot process. Which means I have to concentrate on keeping this cloud cover around us.”
We all shut up then, letting him focus. He was swift at first, but the longer we flew, the more he slowed. No doubt it was a huge burden for him, carrying all of us and expending energy to keep the clouds around us. At least the helicopter noises didn’t appear to be getting any closer. It was still behind us, though. Which for me was comforting. It meant that Chase was not in Laous’ hands right now.
“We’re over Astoria,” Lexen said, speaking for the first time in a while.
“This town is not going to think anything of dark clouds, at least,” Emma chuckled before sobering up. “Bloody place rains six days out of every seven.”
I couldn’t see the town; there was nothing but black mist under us, but I thought I caught a glimpse of the ocean. Lexen started to drop lower, and as he did the helicopter noise lessened and lessened. Each time we dropped another few feet, we seemed to drift further from those pursuing us. Eventually, the darkness around us eased up, and I could see a street below. “He’s turning around,” Emma cheered, her voice loud. “Because we’re over Daelight Crescent, right?”
Lexen heaved in a deep breath, nodding. “Yes,” he wheezed lightly. “Laous knows we’re stronger here, in our territory. Closer to the transporter.”
Daelight Crescent. I paid closer attention to the street that belonged to the Daelighters. It was pretty. There was no other way to describe it. It looked a lot like the gated street I grew up in – well-maintained rose bushes, perfect roads, mansions … whoa, hold the phone. They were not your average McMansions. More like castles. Lexen was almost on the road now, and I noted the thick white line that ran right down the center of it. As he dropped to a final stop, I released Emma, my arms aching from holding her for so long. Luckily, I’d been sharing the strain with Callie. Poor Lexen, though. He’d had no help.
Turning around, I paused when I saw the side of the road opposite the castles.
“What are they for?” I asked. Everyone turned to see what I was talking about. “They don’t really seem to, uh, fit in with this area.” Understatement of the year. These dwellings were about as far from the mansion side as it was possible to get. Maybe they were like … houses for their staff. Groundskeepers and such.
Emma cleared her throat, turning narrowed eyes on Lexen. He ran a hand across his face, and I noted that he had already changed back to his human form. “Part of the treaty is that humans and Daelighters must integrate,” Emma explained, eyeballing her mate. “They built the ‘poor side’ of Daelight Crescent so that humans would be part of their world, but also not cross over to this side. Apparently, poor people are used to obeying rules blindly.”
“For their own safety,” Lexen protested, only looking mildly contrite. “You all know firsthand the dangers in our world.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “I know you believe that, but there’s a reason you call us grubbers. You think you’re better than us.”
“Never,” he said fiercely. I took a step back because a fierce Lexen was a scary Lexen. “I might have been resentful toward my life here at first, but I have never thought humans were inferior. Just different.” He took her hand and she swallowed hard, her throat visibly moving. “I think humans are amazing, for the most part. I know I’m the lucky one to be part of your life.”
The anger faded from Emma’s face, and her eyes were shiny pools of blue as she blinked up at him. “You just seemed to hate us so much … it’s always worried me.”
Lexen wrapped his arms around her, holding Emma tightly to his chest. Her feet were no longer on the ground, and her eyes were closed as she let out a sigh. He continued to talk to her, his voice too low for me to hear.
Seeing them like that, it only reminded me that Chase was not here.
Callie met my gaze. “They’re going to be okay,” she said, nodding decisively. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. Personally, I needed to see with my own eyes that Chase was okay. Daniel as well, of course. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. But Chase was at the forefront of my mind.
I hesitated just for a moment before patting Callie’s arm. She wasn’t as tactile as Emma, but I wanted her to know that I understood, and that she wasn’t alone. She sniffled for a second, then pressed her lips tightly together, trying to smile.
Emma and Lexen rejoined us then, their bodies close, holding hands.
“Do you know if my parents’ car got here safely?” I asked as my eyes ran along the street, stopping at a large gate at the end. A very imposing sort of gate.
“They got here,” Lexen said, pointing toward one of the castles. Just on the other side of the fence I saw the familiar black SUV. “They’ll be in Overworld already, and we should be on our way, too.”
Emma shifted forward with him, but I crossed my arms and shook my head. “Nope. No way am I going without Chase. What if he’s in trouble? We need to make sure they get here safely. No one is a sacrifice in this situation.”
“What Maya said…” Callie’s face held a very stubborn expression. “In reference to Daniel.”
Lexen’s eyes were so dark now that I could not distinguish between pupil and iris, which was freaky. Thankfully, there was still some white around the very outside; otherwise, he’d be repping a hot, scary-ass demon from Supernatural. “This is not a game. Four secret keepers are all that stand between the end of two worlds.” I became his sole focus. “Especially you, Maya. Laous needs you to find the fourth keeper. Once he finds her, he finds the stone. Do you understand?”
Anger flared inside of me. It was a guttural kind of thing, unstable, and much deeper than I usually felt emotions. “I’m not an idiot,” I bit out through gritted teeth. “I understand the larger concept of what is happening here, but sorry, I’ve never been big on ‘sacrifice one to save many,’ so you need to figure out another plan, one which doesn’t involve leaving without Chase or Daniel.”
Lexen moved preternaturally fast, wrapping an arm around me and yanking me off the ground for the second time in an hour. I was over his shoulder before my mind fully registered what he had just done, and then we were walking. I blinked down at Emma, who was by my side. Callie was keeping up too, even though she lagged a few steps behind.
“I’m going to give you until the count of three,” I seethed, anger and astonishment warring inside of me, “to put me down. This is kidnapping. You’re supposed to be the good guys.”
Emma’s worried expression briefly morphed into something resembling amusement. “Lexen lives in a gray area when it comes to good and bad. It’s relative, depending on which side of the war you’re on. Plus, he’s got a history with kidnapping.”
“I like to refer to it as abduction,” Callie added. “Kidnapping is for children. Abduction is for aliens.”
I screamed as loud as I could, bringing both fists down and pounding on his back. “Let me go! You should never use your strength to force my compliance. That’s the best way to lose any trust I had in your people.”
Emma stopped walking, and that was probably the only thing in the worlds that would stop Lexen. He turned to her, and I ended up staring out into the street. “She’s right,” I heard Emma say. “Maya is a grown woman. She needs to do what she feels is right – the same way Callie and I did. We’re going to be a team
, the eight of us. I can feel it with every fiber of my being. But for that to happen, there needs to be cohesiveness. A breach of trust will damage our dynamic severely.”
My body lifted as Lexen exhaled loudly. For a brief moment, I thought he was going to ignore her argument, but in the end his love and respect for Emma won. As my feet hit the ground, I took a step away from him. My instinct was to run, because I didn’t feel safe with Lexen at the moment. He had already demonstrated that he would do whatever it took for my compliance, in a bid to control the situation. Emma had stopped him this time, but maybe next time she would agree. Then we’d all be screwed.
“I’m sorry.” Those words took me by surprise, because I got the feeling he wasn’t an apologizer. “But you have to understand, I have thousands … no, hundreds of thousands of lives in my hands. Overlords put their people first. Their safety. Part of me wants to gather you three up and fly to the end of Overworld with you, out of the land of Daelighters and off to another of the sectors where I know Laous will never follow.” A blast of icy air hit me … disappearing as Lexen got himself under control again. “But I also trust in what Em is saying. The team thing. I … promise I will never force your compliance.”
He reached out and Emma went willingly into his arms. “Emma is always worried about losing her free will,” he said, staring down at her, before he turned back to me. “It was wrong of me to use my strength against you. For that, I am truly sorry.”
I relaxed and felt much more comfortable remaining near him. “Apology accepted. As long as you remember that I am a person, not a doll to throw around, then we should be all good.”
He opened his mouth but paused before he said anything. I waited a moment, thinking he might have forgotten what he was about to say, before realizing he was focused behind me. Spinning around, I saw that the huge main gate was opening. We all stared as it swung wide, and on the other side were two familiar figures. Chase and Daniel.
Without a word spoken, Callie and I both took off. My brain was too fuzzy for logical thought. I just knew that I had to see Chase. My sanity depended on it.