by Jaymin Eve
Callie shuddered. “I’m not a very good swimmer, so underwater exploring will have to be done by someone else.”
Xander rubbed a hand across his head, mussing the blond strands. “You all know that I can take anything underwater. I think she’s just moving around a lot. That’s why Maya saw more than one location.”
It made sense, but it didn’t help us figure out where to go.
Fraizer spoke up: “I know where Laous is stationed … and since he doesn’t know that I’ve jumped ship, do you want me to head there to see what he’s learned?”
Everyone turned to Fraizer, and I knew I wasn’t the only one with suspicions clouding my mind. Had this all been a setup? Pretending that he was switching sides? Helping us take Laous down? Had we stepped into another trap of Laous’ making?
21
“I promise, this is no trap.” Fraizer had his hands up in front of him, a pleading expression on his face. “I’ve already told you that I disagree with Laous, with the way he is going about this. He sucked me in initially because I believe that family sticks together, and I guess I wanted a way to punish Daniel. But he has gone too far.”
He sounded sincere, and I was a pretty trusting person, so my instincts were to believe what he was saying. But this wasn’t my call. I let the overlords do their thing.
“I’m inclined to believe him,” Chase said.
Lexen shook his head. “If he goes to Laous, we’re all going as well. That way we’ll see for sure that he’s telling the truth.”
No one else had a better plan, and since the drivers had already taken off in one of the cars, we squished into the other. Emma and I ended up in the middle seats, Chase and Lexen on either side of us. The rest fit themselves where they could; Xander was driving. Once we were out of his estate, Fraizer told him to head toward the city.
The car was quiet, tension riding all of us. Closing my eyes, I tried to reach out for the fourth girl, wanting to pinpoint her location now that we were closer. But there was no clear entry to the network on Earth, not really. I could feel the energy, but it was faint. We were going to have to find the fourth secret keeper the old-fashioned way.
Thankfully, Lanai City was less city and more sprawling village, so we shouldn’t have to search for too long. I wasn’t sure how many locals lived here, but it didn’t seem like a lot. I personally loved the vibe. It was usually me who requested we come here for our yearly holidays. I’d never stayed in the town, though. We generally hired out a private rental on the beach.
Fraizer leaned forward in his seat. “He’s on this side of town. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot him. We tend to stick out on Earth.”
I had no idea how the four overlords managed to pass for humans at all. They were so far beyond normal males that it was almost laughable.
“Laous has probably already found her. He might not even be here,” Callie said, her words clipped. “This could all be a complete waste of time.”
“At minimum I’m hoping we ferret out some more of the traitors,” Xander said. “In particular, I’m looking for my father’s best friend. He’s been missing for a few weeks.”
“Your father’s the overlord?” I asked. It felt like this might be an obvious question, but maybe it was his uncle or something.
Xander shook his head. “My mother is the overlord. She was the one born to royal blood. My father rules with her, of course, but there’s only one true overlord.”
That was awesome. Good to see it wasn’t only males wearing the title.
We continued weaving through the small town, locals waving in their friendly way. For the most part. After about ten minutes, Fraizer leaned forward. “I’m not sure randomly driving is the right way to go,” he said. “Do you have a phone? I’ll just call him and tell him I’m here.”
Xander flicked his head toward the center of the car. “There’s an untraceable cell in there.”
Fraizer found it quickly, powered it on and entered a number. I was surprised when Fraizer put it on speaker.
“Who the fuck is this?”
The unfamiliar voice was female, each word snapped out like bullets from a gun.
“Fraizer. I’ve acquired one part of the package. Laous needs to give me a drop-off location.”
Chase tensed at my side, and I reached out and laced my fingers through his. Comfort for both of us. “There was a little trouble, but mostly, it all went to plan,” Fraizer continued, and you could have cut the tension in the car with a blunt knife. “Send me the coordinates. My ETA is about ten minutes.”
He hit the end button, and I was pretty sure it was taking every ounce of Chase’s control not to reach out and punch him. “What’s the package?” he bit out, not sounding at all like his normal chill self.
Fraizer dropped the phone into his lap, letting out a sigh. “The secret keepers are the package, of course. This is a double-cross, but Laous doesn’t realize he’s the one being crossed.”
That sounded great in theory. But another part of me wondered if this was actually a triple cross, and we were about to be screwed.
“He won’t believe I managed to grab more than one of you, which is why I mentioned only part of the package.” The phone dinged then, and Fraizer lifted it. “He’s stationed near the cat sanctuary. Apparently, your secret keeper girl works there.”
I’d always wanted to go to the cat sanctuary. They had hundreds of cats that were kept there to ensure their safety, and the safety of the native wildlife of the island. I’d never managed to visit, but it looked like I was going to get my chance now.
Xander wasted no time swinging the car around, heading in the opposite direction. The sanctuary was back near the main airport, so we passed familiar sights as we headed that way.
“So, what’s the plan, Fraizer?” Daniel asked from the back.
Fraizer hesitated, before he said: “If you let me go in with one of the secret keepers, Laous will be distracted. That’s the perfect time for you to try and take him out. Or at least get the stone away from him. My suggestion is that when we get near the sanctuary, everyone hops out of the car, except for one of the girls. I don’t care which one. I just need a distraction to give you all time to follow us.”
No one jumped at that suggestion, but I kind of thought it wasn’t a half-bad idea.
“He’s not going to hurt the secret keepers,” Fraizer reminded us. “He’s convinced that he will need all four even once he has the final map. He has so many plans in place to snatch them up.”
Chase, Lexen, and Daniel all growled simultaneously. Not even kidding, it was like the car was filled with angry lions. “If you think for one second I’m leaving Callie with you, you’re insane,” Daniel said bluntly.
“If Laous touches Emma again, I will not be able to stop myself from shifting and alerting the humans to the very real aliens in their midst,” Lexen snarled.
Chase was equally as pissed. “Maya has no defense against a Daelighter. She cannot be the one.”
They continued to throw around insults and curses. All the while Fraizer remained quiet. As did Xander, because he had no personal stake in this decision.
“It has to be me,” Callie’s voice rang out over the rest. Heat flared from someone, and I couldn’t tell if it was Daniel or Callie losing control of their power. “I’m literally the only one who can defend herself.”
“No,” Daniel snapped. “Laous knows you have that ability. He will counter anything you throw at him. He almost stole your life from me last time. I won’t let it happen again.”
She lowered her voice, murmuring things to him I couldn’t hear.
“The sanctuary is just around the corner,” Xander said. “Decisions need to be made now.” He stopped the car, because if we went around the next corner we’d be right where Laous was. “We might as well get out,” he suggested. “Because not all of us will be going at him head-on. Even I know that’s a bad plan.”
He slid the car into neutral and we all climbed out. The arguing was
circular; no one was willing to risk any of us. Callie was the only one volunteering, but Daniel flat-out refused to even consider that. I leaned myself back against the door of the car, letting them continue to argue back and forth. If it was decided I would be the bait, then I would accept the decision. But I didn’t really have an opinion on the best way to do this.
As I dropped my head against the window, I felt the tiniest twinge in my neck. Muscle spasm. I used to get them on occasion during gymnastics. I tried to stretch my head around to ease the cramp – too much time spent on a plane and running for my life. That shit was stressful. The pain continued for a few minutes, in which time I lost track completely of the conversation.
Lifting my hand, I rubbed the spot, kneading the muscles, pulling away. A splash of red caught my attention, and I stared at my fingers, wondering what the hell was on them. Using my other hand, I rubbed my neck again, pulling the hand away to find it was also slicked with red. Like … blood.
Had I been hit? The twinge hadn’t been that painful, but … I was bleeding. I didn’t want to interrupt the conversation, so I quietly opened the car door and crawled into the front seat to search for something to wipe my neck with. I also wanted to use the mirror behind the visor to see what hit me.
As soon as I climbed in, the door swung closed behind me. I hadn’t remembered pulling it, so the wind must have caught it. My head spun. Leaning forward, I scraped at the latch to open the glovebox, but I couldn’t seem to get any grip. Another door opened near me, and I figured it was Chase checking on me, so I didn’t even turn my head.
“Think I hurt my neck,” I mumbled, pretty much resting my head against the dash. “Can you … see … anythi—?”
What was wrong with me?
“You were just the first to break from the group,” said a voice that was not Chase’s. “I hit you with a little speck of starslight stone. It should wear off soon.”
Fraizer. Shit.
The car lurched forward, and since I wasn’t belted in, I got bounced around, smashing my face into windows and the front of the car. I clawed at my neck, trying to remove the stone that was incapacitating me, but I couldn’t keep myself steady enough to get it out.
Fraizer held his foot flat to the floor, and I let out a muffled scream when the car pitched strangely and almost flipped over onto its side. Somehow we didn’t crash, but Fraizer immediately started to curse.
“Of course you would be bonded to the Leights able to turn his arms into vines.”
The car lurched again; this time Fraizer swung it to the right. “Luckily…” he said, “he doesn’t want to hurt you …. and he also has a limit of how far his reach is. I think we’ve just managed to get outside of that limit.”
“Was … thwis … your pwan all awong?” I wasn’t exactly making much sense. My tongue couldn’t form the words, but Fraizer understood.
“Actually, no, it wasn’t. I didn’t lie. I do disagree with Laous and everything he represents. But … I just learned I have another brother. He deserves to be freed from the life he’s in, and to help him out, I’m going to need a ticket in. That happened to be you. I’m sorry.”
My head hit the glass again, and this time I lost a few minutes of time. When I finally opened my eyes, the car was slowing. I could see the fenced section of what I assumed was the sanctuary. There wasn’t anyone around who looked like they could save me from this situation, so I’d have to save myself. Which should be simple – I had so many survival skills, like … uh…
Yeah, I was so dead.
Fraizer dragged me out of the car, and I tried to fight him, but just lifting my limbs felt like a mammoth task. He moved fast, dragging me as he started to run. He jumped over the fence, clearing the four feet with me in his arms no problem. The landscape flashed in black and white, my vision not working properly. Fraizer dragged me toward a group standing near their white kidnapper-special vans. And I recognized the guy at the center.
Laous.
Fraizer did not stop until he was standing right before the very man I had grown to both fear and hate. “This is an unexpected surprise,” Laous said, grinning at us. “For some reason, nephew, I thought for sure you had betrayed me.”
Fraizer sounded robotic. “I would never do that. They’re after her. You need to get going immediately.”
Laous moved toward me, but when he was about a foot away, Fraizer yanked me back and pressed a blade to my throat. What in the…?
“What are you doing?” Laous asked him, tilting his head in a curious manner.
“I want Rao first,” Fraizer demanded. “I will swap her for him, otherwise I’m going to spill her precious blood right here. Maybe you don’t need it to find the starslight stone, but what if you do?”
A very tall man stepped forward. I hadn’t noticed him until then. He’d been hidden in the shadows. His face had some serious burns on it, the scars extending down under his shirt. “Why do you want me?” he asked slowly, sounding confused.
Fraizer snarled. “Because you’re my brother. They’ve been lying to us from the very beginning. They told me you died!”
Rao’s face took on a similar confused mask, before he twisted toward Laous. “What is he saying? You’re Fraizer’s father, too?”
“No,” Fraizer screamed, but before he could say another thing, one of the men nearby took advantage of his distraction and shot him in the chest.
Fraizer jerked, the knife he held at my throat breaking the skin, but I managed to slip free before he could do too much damage. I landed at a heap near Laous’ feet, and before I could fight or kick or scream – or turn to see if Fraizer was dead – dark material was pulled over my head, and I was tossed hard into what I guessed was the van.
The engine started and any sliver of hope I had of being rescued disappeared in an instant. Everything ached as I lay on the cold, hard floor, feeling the bond in my center stretch further and further as the distance between Chase and I extended.
If there was a worse feeling in the world, I hadn’t experienced it yet.
Laous was loud, barking orders from his seat, which was way too close to mine for comfort.
“Stop!” he shouted. “She’s close by. Get the girl up. Fresh blood will be the best.”
The van screeched to a halt. I was hauled up off the floor, the bag ripped off my head. Laous’ face was right before mine. “Didn’t want you to communicate with your mate. I know some of you can see through the other’s eyes.”
I had no idea how he knew Chase was my mate, and it really didn’t matter.
“Lucky for you,” Laous added conversationally, “you’re already cut, so I won’t have to hurt you more. For now.”
He lifted a long chain up from under his shirt. “Collect some blood,” he ordered one of his followers.
They looked human to me, and I wondered if this was the military group. It would certainly explain their use of guns, which I’d never seen the Daelighters do. Rao was back to standing in the shadows, his features pinched. He was shooting some angry side-eyes at Laous. Fraizer’s declaration had stirred something in the scarred Daelighter.
Maybe seeing his brother killed would be enough for Rao to turn on Laous. That might be my shot. It wasn’t hard for me to bring tears to my eyes, mostly because I was freaking the hell out. I winced as someone wiped a rough hand across my throat, collecting blood for Laous. I tried to fight them off, but my arms were being held tightly, and I had barely any strength left. At least it did feel like whatever Fraizer hit me with was wearing off.
Laous lifted the chain over his head and I stared at the starslight stone. This was what he’d been using to find the secret keepers. My blood was wiped across it, and then one of Laous’ guys pulled out a map.
“You don’t have to stress,” Laous said, watching me closely, the stone held in his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. I need you four. I know how humans and Daelighters work. There will be another obstacle that stands between me and the stone.”
I gla
red as hard as I could. “You’re going to destroy Earth and Overworld. You’re completely insane.”
Whatever calm he’d been possessing disappeared. He took a step closer to me, ignoring the map. “Let me tell you a little something about insanity. My father … now he was insane. He kept me locked up from my first metamorphosis aging until I was in my last. I got fed once a day, beaten five times a day, and molested three. I had not an ounce of power. I was at his mercy day and night.”
My stomach swirled at those mental images, and I just managed to stop myself from vomiting. Laous spoke matter-of-factly, but his demons were rising to the surface.
“The moment I found my strength, the moment I managed to break free of my cage, I killed my father. Turned out, I have a very special skill, forged under fire: when I kill a person, I can absorb their energy. It doesn’t last long, but it lasted long enough for me to murder my complicit mother first and use her boost of power to rip my father to pieces.” He got a satisfied look on his face. “I wasted no time then planning for my future. For a future which would mean I was never weak again. Ever. I’ve been biding my time for years, waiting until all the pieces fell into place. Now my time has come.”
It sucked when the bad guy had layers, because I really wanted to just hate him. Hate him so hard that I could kill him if I had to. But right then, I saw that little boy tortured by his family. I saw and could not purge the image from my mind. He turned away, striding the few steps to the map, which he leaned over. Sucking in deep breaths, my pulse was racing, but I couldn’t give up on my plan to escape.
While he was distracted, I looked around, hoping to find an escape route. We were reasonably close to the edge of a cliff. I didn’t recognize the spot, but other than jumping into the rough ocean below, it was all open fields and long plains. I’d be taken out by a gun in a second. No coverage at all.