by Jaymin Eve
“Your shoes have been cleaned. They are over on that stand.” He pointed to a small table near an open door. I was just reaching out to grab them when a travel mug emitting a delicious smell stopped me in my tracks.
Before I could think, I was diving on the cup, cradling its warmth to my chest. “Oh my precious,” I cried. “I have missed you.”
Daniel let out a low rumble of laughter. “I figured you might need that to start the day.”
He had no idea; the scent of the coffee was actually bringing tears to my eyes.
“My mom got me addicted,” I said, lifting it to my lips. “When we would move towns in the middle of the night, she’d ply me with coffee so I’d stay awake and make sure she didn’t sleep. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.”
The first sip had my eyes closing; a sigh escaped. Holy God above, they made good coffee here.
“Do you think you can drink that and walk?” Daniel sounded amused and I opened one eye to glare at him.
“Could you maybe leave us alone? You’re interrupting a perfect moment.”
His grin was lethal. I was starting to think that between Daniel and coffee, there was too much stimulation going on right now. Placing my precious cup down just for a moment, I wasted no time pulling my shoes on, then we were off, moving along a hallway. I took sips as we walked, and with each mouthful I started to feel more like myself. The hall continued on for some time, and I kept expecting to see other doors, or rooms spanning off it, but there was nothing except some very fancy pieces of art.
I made a comment about that, and Daniel flicked his head to me. “This is the overlord’s wing,” he said. “We’re on top of the incubation level of Imperial; no one else lives here. It changed itself to my preferences when Laous had his title removed.”
I blinked a few times, stumbling and grinding to a halt. “What do you mean it changed itself?”
He had walked a few more strides before he realized I wasn’t following; he spun to return to my side. “This entire world is formed from a powerful energy…”
“The network, I know that,” I interrupted.
His lips twitched slightly. “Yes, the network. Imperial, being below the surface of Overworld, makes its connection stronger than any other land. My house literally changes with the whim of the overlord. I could rewrite everything here. The only thing which saved us when Laous was overlord is that the council monitors our activities, and any abuse of the system would start a war.”
Un-freaking-believable. “He probably kept his crazy contained because he thought he had bigger fish to fry with this secret keepers thing.”
Daniel nodded, eyes narrowed. “Yep, it was his plan all along. Kill my father. Somehow confuse the system and take over. We still don’t know how he did that, but there was something in the way my father died … I think Laous absorbed his energy, which made the network believe he was the next overlord.”
That sounded like a horrible way to die, and I wondered if Daniel had seen the body.
“He was a husk, drained of life and blood and energy. Like petrified wood.”
Guess that answered that question.
“My father was killed, too.” Oh, for fu—
Why did I over-share when I felt upset by something? This was not about me, it was about Daniel. He focused on me, concern creasing his forehead.
“What happened?”
I shrugged. “Workplace accident was what they told my mom. I wasn’t born yet, so I never met him. Apparently, he used to work in factories. The forklift malfunctioned and pinned him against a huge shelf. It was instant death.”
I still felt a pang for the man I had never known. In my mind, I always believed that he would have made my life better. He would have brought me love.
“Do you think the ‘accident’ had anything to do with the secret keepers?” I asked Daniel. It was something I couldn’t just disregard; too much was happening in my life that seemed to be connected to it.
He considered it, before shaking his head. “I doubt it. The secret has not been in jeopardy until recently. Most likely it was just an accident.”
I sighed. “Apparently my dad was the one who brought me into this crazy life. Probably why my mom has always been so angry with me.”
Daniel surprised me by stepping a little closer, his heat warming my exposed skin. “Did you know you were born in the springs which run through the bottom level of the justices? Redemption.”
I tried to swallow down my shock. I’d known bits of this, but the more I learned the crazier it seemed. I’d thought I was born in Austin, Texas. My mom was a little off on her geography.
“I’m still human, right?”
Daniel nodded. “You’re still a human. Just a more advanced version than the rest of your species. On top of the longevity of life, which you share with me, you should also have an increased ability to heal. The network helps us heal quickly, which is how your throat is no longer sporting a blade mark.”
On instinct I reached for my neck, those damn images of my death springing up again to torment me. Pushing them away, I said, “There’s at least three others like me. We can be a human super-squad, kicking asses and taking names.”
Daniel almost looked pleased by my words. “The four secret keepers this time are all female, according to the council.”
So, four secret keepers, all born in the same year, all born here in the different houses of Overworld. And all female. I liked the girl-power side of it immensely. Still, it was a freaking lot to take in, especially with my upbringing. My mother had tried to poison me toward these Daelighters, but she hadn’t counted on Daniel. From almost the first moment I heard his voice, he had soothed my distrust. Now, I was open to the possibility of being part of their world.
“Come on,” Daniel finally said, walking again. “We’re going to be really late if we don’t make it back to Earth soon.”
I hurried after him, trying not to let all of my confused thoughts and emotions overwhelm me. Lifting the coffee to my lips, I could have cried at how empty it was. One cup was never enough.
“Tell me about this Hades and Persephone fable.”
I was so caught up in mourning my coffee that I almost missed the question. It surprised me that he remembered that from yesterday, but it was nice that he had. The story was one of the few myths I was well-versed in. A favorite of my mother, who liked to push the consequences of messing with bad boys who needed a woman to change them. “Will never happen, Callie!” she’d yell at me over and over. “Just stay away from them. Men like that don’t change.”
Whoops. Sorry, Mom, I didn’t listen and now I’m tied to a powerful alien that rules the underworld.
Holding my cup with both hands, I smiled at him. “It’s a Greek myth. Hades was the god of the underworld – he ruled over the dead. The myth said that one of the rare times Hades left his domain, he caught sight of Persephone, who was the daughter of a goddess.” I paused for second to think. It had been a while since I heard the story. “I’m not actually sure what her mother ruled over, but something to do with nature. When Hades saw Persephone, he fell instantly in love with her and kidnapped her – as you do – bringing her to the underworld. I’m not sure exactly what happened after that, because I’m crap at reading and my mom liked to only tell the parts she enjoyed, but I believe that Persephone’s mother … Demeter … was really upset, for obvious reasons. Hades ended up making a deal with her that Persephone would stay with him six months of the year, and then go back to her mother for the other six. I think that’s why there’s beautiful weather like spring and summer for half the year, and winter for the other half. Persephone’s mother mourns the loss of her daughter and brings the icy weather.”
We had reached the end of the hallway now. Daniel hadn’t looked in my direction since I started talking, but I knew he was listening. He hit a button on the wall and finally turned to me. “Did Persephone always hate Hades for what he did? For how he trapped her with him for six months of
every year?”
Gold burned into me, those eyes too much for an almost-mortal human to stare at. Swallowing the huge lump in my throat, I cleared it and said, “No, actually, she fell in love with him. She saw past the mean, lonely bastard and … well, gave him her heart.” My voice was way huskier than I’d ever heard it before. “She mourned the six months she was away from him.” There might have been another version where she hated him, but I preferred the one with the love.
I could not tear my gaze from Daniel’s. I yearned to know what was carving his face into such an intense expression. I couldn’t tell if he was pleased or not with the final part to the myth, the happyish ending of their story. Before I could ask, a ding had him turning away.
A door slid across the wall, and when Daniel stepped inside, I followed. He pushed a button on a side panel and I realized this was very reminiscent of an elevator, only we shot up in the air so fast that my stomach rolled. I was not losing all of that coffee, though, so I closed my eyes and tried to focus on keeping my stomach contents in place. If I’d had some food to go with it, I might have been less nauseous.
“You need to eat.”
I jerked my head up. He was staring ahead at the wall. “Can you read my mind?” I asked, a little horrified by all of my recent thoughts. Dammit. They should have told me that from the start. I could have guarded my random internal conversations then.
Amused eyes lowered to meet mine. He lifted a hand and brushed his thumb across my cheeks. “You’re blushing. What have you been thinking to put pink in these cheeks?”
I shook him off with a huff. “Uh, it’s really rude to read people’s thoughts. I did not give you permission for that.”
He laughed then, his head tilting back. I glared at him until he finished, flashing me another dimpled smile. “I can’t read your thoughts. You have your hand pressed to your stomach, and I can hear it grumbling. I also haven’t seen you eat since New Orleans.”
The box we were in slowed and another ding signaled that we had reached our destination. I waited for the door to open in front of us, but when the whoosh sounded, it was the roof that slid across. I stared up at the emerald sky before turning to the Daelighter.
“I’ll go up first,” he said, striding toward a metal ladder built into the side of the wall, a ladder I had not noticed until then. “To make sure it’s all safe.” He scaled the side in about a millisecond.
I waited with one hand on the ladder, and the second his head reappeared, I was already moving. Climbing was easy. I could scale the rope all the way to the top in my gym, also vault and hurdle … I loved stretching my muscles and using my flexibility.
When I pulled myself over the top, I stood to find we were back on the huge metal platform, the one with the sparkling transporter. “So this permanently exists between my world and yours?” I asked him.
He nodded and held a hand out to me. “Yep, for some reason this transporter is allowing Earth to power our network. Which is why the treaty cannot fall.”
With a deep sigh, I took the proffered hand and then we were off, heading back to Earth. The journey was longer than the last time I’d been in a transporter, but I enjoyed it more. Knowing what was going to happen made it less scary to watch the streams of energy zipping past. An experience I knew I’d never forget.
At the end we landed in a stone courtyard, then we walked along a rose covered walkway. There was an early morning feel to the sun when we stepped out onto a pretty street, and it was actually colder than I expected. “What’s the date?” I asked. It kind of felt like a million years had passed since I found my mom missing.
“It’s October 30th.”
Disappointment hit me. I tried not to let it show, but I must have failed, because Daniel was giving me a look of inquiry.
“Tomorrow is Halloween,” I said. “I thought I would be in New Orleans for it this year. I wanted to see all the crazy.”
Understanding blossomed over his face. “Maybe we can go next year, if the worlds are still spinning.”
I chuckled. This was definitely one of those “laugh or you’ll cry” situations. As another burst of cold air hit me, I shivered. Daniel surprised me by reaching out and running a hand along my bare skin. A trail of heat followed his touch.
“How can you use your power here?” I asked him. “Away from the network.” He’d been strong even in New Orleans, but I didn’t understand how. My understanding was that their powers were directly linked to the network. Which was on Overworld.
He sent more heat along my body. “The network does cross into Earth, thanks to the permanent transporter. But we’re much weaker here. In fact, most Daelighters have no power on Earth at all. Overlord families carry a lot of their own energy inside. As long as we connect with the network on occasion to recharge, we’re always pretty strong.”
“Does everyone in your house have the same fire power?”
“A small measure of it,” Daniel told me. “But it’s nothing compared to the energy I control. Each of the houses has a specialty, something which ties them closer to a certain part of the network. Darken can control electricity and storms, like lightning. Royale has control over legreto; the water is theirs to call and shape. Leights are all about nature. They have a hybrid side that they share with the trees – which is a formidable weapon…” I was trying to picture how they could “hybrid” with the trees, but I had no idea what he meant. Hopefully one day I’d get to see it in person. “And Imperial is all about the fire. As you’ve seen.”
“So, overlords are very strong, but the rest of your house has only small amounts of power…”
He nodded. “Pretty much.” His hand lifted to run across his marks. “These symbols give us extra power. They allow us to channel much more of the network without being overwhelmed.”
That explained the strength and lethality that Daniel exuded. Before I could ask anything more, he steered me further down the street, picking up our pace.
“We should stop at my house and grab you a coat,” he said, his fingers wrapping around my forearm, branding more heat into me. “Keep you warm until you get a uniform.”
I nodded, even though I was feeling quite heated all of a sudden.
My coffee was long gone, but I still held the cup in the hope it would be refilled at some point. We continued along the most picturesque street I had ever seen – rose bushes, chirping birds, pruned hedges, huge mansions with gates and landscaped gardens.
“This is Daelight Crescent,” Daniel told me. “This is the spot where humans and Daelighters coexist. It’s actually the location which is closest between our two worlds. That’s why the permanent transporter is here.”
As I opened my mouth to ask which mansions were occupied by humans, I noticed the tiny rundown shacks. They were grouped together, starting about halfway down the street, on the opposite side to the mansions.
I jerked to a halt; his hand released me. “Please don’t tell me that you make the humans live there?” I said, pointing, anger giving my words a ragged sound.
His gaze flashed across there for a beat, before it came back to me. “Yes, it’s not something I agreed with, but this was all put in place long before I was part of the world. As you’ve already discovered, it’s not in the best interest of humans to interact with Daelighters. It’s dangerous, but part of the treaty states that we must mingle our two people. This was the compromise. We rent to those who will not ask too many questions, who will obey the rules, rules which are in place to keep them safe. We’ve never had an issue with this until Emma moved in. She’s not a fan of rules.”
Something else I had in common with my fellow secret keeper.
“You’re trying to tell me that part of the reason you treat humans like shit is because you’re protecting them…?”
Daniel shrugged. “Sounds bad when you put it like that.”
I snorted, amused despite my irritation. “It’s bad, whatever way you put it. But…” Now it was my turn to choose my words carefully
. “But … I do sort of understand. Most of the time, I feel like I’m way out of my league, living in a dream world. Once you get a taste for that sort of life, it’s hard to walk away.”
Daniel acknowledged this with a nod. “There have been cases of addiction,” he confirmed. “The energy within us is attractive to humans. Some of my fellow Imperials have had to be reprimanded about overstepping boundaries with human girls. Obsession can get ugly fast.”
He wasn’t kidding. “Would that happen to me?” I asked, suddenly wondering if that might explain my thing with Daniel.
“No,” he said without pause. “You’re not a normal human. You can hold your own with us.”
Well … relief on one hand, but on the other … still feeling a little obsessed and no explanation for it. Turning back to the mansion side, I had to shake my head at the sheer opulence. Did these aliens understand the meaning of overkill?
“Are you all rich?” I asked with a sigh. Logically, I knew money wasn’t everything, but did they have to have money, amazing looks, height, intelligence, cool light transporters, everlasting life…? Come on, share the gifts, people … aliens.
“In terms of human currency, then yes, all Daelighters have millions. The overlord families have billions. We could literally buy the human world, which is something your leaders do not realize. We have investments and interests in almost every industry. We hide them within shell corporations.”
I blinked a few times at him. Not only did he just say billions, which was a number too big for me to contemplate, he was also sharing the sort of information that Daelighters would no doubt kill to keep.
“You trust me?” I blurted. For the first time, I wondered if this pull I felt to Daniel went two ways. Did he think of me as more than just a burden he’d been stuck with? A forced friend?
Daniel captured my hand, pulling me to a stop. I stumbled into him, our bodies pressing close, and I almost closed my eyes at the delicious warmth seeping into me. When I realized he was speaking, I forced myself to pay attention.