by Jaymin Eve
His words died off when he caught sight of me standing there shivering in the cool air. I shook off some of my chill, narrowing my eyes on him. “Good job on the name.”
He relaxed, his signature smirk crossing his face. He seemed so much more approachable not wearing his normal suit. There was no denying it, Jero was intimidating dressed in all of his finery. Without his suit there was a little more vulnerability about him, and I liked seeing that part of him. Of all the Darkens. They had let me into their inner sanctum. I was one of the lucky few to see the real beings.
As I strolled a little closer to Jero, I tilted my head to the side and smiled broadly. “Looks like someone was worried about me. You even remembered my name. Come on, Jero, admit it, you like humans.”
He chuckled, reaching out and ruffling my hair. “Never said I didn’t. Lex here is the one who thinks he’s allergic to humanity.”
The man in question didn’t agree or disagree with that statement. He just pointed at the door and told us both to get out. Apparently it was time for us to dress, grab some food, and make it to the meeting of the houses. I was nervous. Soon I would meet this council and find out everything. Find out about my guardians.
Find out if my life was going to end all over again.
15
Star loaned me clothes. Ambra handed all of us delicious crunchy bread rolls filled with a creamy cheese-like spread, and then we were ready to go. Setting out from the overlord’s home, back through Silver City, it was a long progression, Daelighters joining behind us as we travelled.
The Darkens were dressed far more formally than they had been the day before. Roland and Lexen, who led the way, wore floor-length maroon robes covered in silver symbols like those in their hair. The robes had hoods – which were down at the moment. They had jewels embedded in their hair, almost like a small crown, intertwining among the dark strands. They also wore a sword-shaped weapon down their spine, in a sheath.
I tried not to take that as a bad sign. It was just part of their uniform, right?
Jero and Marsil wore robes as well, theirs blue, with only a few swirling symbols. Ambra and Star looked stunning, like true royalty. They were decked out in formal gowns, floor length. The material was a shimmering maroon, in the same shade as the overlord’s.
Glancing down, I shook my head at what was probably the nicest dress I’d ever put on, black velvet, with a scooped neckline and long fitted sleeves. The design hugged my body, ending in a soft swish around my ankles. It was comfortable, as dresses go. I’d even let Star pile my hair in messy curls and pin it to the top of my head, along with some sparkling gems pinned in amongst the disarray. The only other jewelry I wore was my necklace, which somehow perfectly set off the entire outfit.
For a few moments after Star finished my makeup, I pretended to be as royal as the family I had temporarily found myself part of. But I got over that pretty quickly. If the dirty looks from the fellow House of Darken members were anything to go by, I was not going to find myself very welcome in this world. I was certainly never going to be accepted as a Darken.
“A grubber is equivalent to ‘piece of crap,’ right?” I asked Star as we made our way through the mountain city.
Her lower lip popped out as her face fell. “I really wish Daelighters would stop using that word. It’s rare now. Mostly from those who are too limited to see that both worlds need each other. Those who believe we have weakened ourselves by sharing power.”
“We’re not very tolerant of those who use it,” Jero added, from where he was trailing behind us. “It’s the name of a bug which lives in the dirt of the underworld, a creature which survives from eating the essence of those who don’t make it out of the cascades. Like a bottom feeder.”
I shuddered, trying not to think about what sort of bug this grubber might actually be. Safe to say, it was probably gross and scary. I wasn’t really offended by being called that, mostly because the word didn’t mean anything to me, so there was no connotation to hurt me. But it was nice that some Daelighters were insulted on my behalf.
Lexen, a dozen or more feet in front of us, caught my eye. I couldn’t read anything in his dark gaze; he was back to being aloof and uninterested, but I was too nervous about where we were heading and what information I might learn to feel upset by it.
I wasn’t so far gone though that I couldn’t admire how good he looked as a prince. The robes. The stance. There was no missing how important he was. Far more important than anyone at Starslight Prep could have imagined. They thought he was out of their league because he was rich and gorgeous and a member of the founding family. They had no idea.
No. Freaking. Idea.
I had to keep reminding myself that Lexen was so far out of my league we weren’t even the same species.
By the time we reached the cave entrance there were a few thousand Darkens behind us. Star had explained to me that not everyone would attend, only those who were willing, able, and interested. Apparently the Silver City alone held over a hundred thousand inhabitants – it was a big-ass cave. There were also many other cities within the Darken territory of Overworld, but, still, only a few thousand total would attend.
I knew they were planning on creating a temporary transporter, but I still expected the dragons to be outside when we emerged.
“No dragons?” I asked, not seeing any.
Star shook her head. “No, the only reason they met us yesterday was because of Lex. The draygones do not usually lower themselves to pull the oblong sphere. Qenita and her mate do that for Lex and only Lex.”
No wonder he was such an arrogant bastard. I wanted to hate him, mostly because it was easier than admitting he stirred other feelings inside of me, but after his comfort last night I couldn’t say that any longer and not be a straight-up liar. Something had shifted between us; there had been a wall up, a wall he had continued to reinforce by being such a dick all the time, but it was crumbling. He’d let me see some of the real Lexen and now I couldn’t unsee it.
As if he’d sensed the heavy thoughts I was having, Lexen shifted those broad shoulders so that they were angled in my direction. He held out a hand, and just as I was wondering what he wanted, Star hurried over to join her brother. Okay, then, not for me. Sometimes I was an idiot.
All of the feelings stirring inside of me had me acting like a lovesick fool. I’d never done that before, not even with my one serious boyfriend, Jake. We had broken up because he couldn’t handle me being an emotional wreck any longer. He would never admit that of course, but there was no doubt in my mind. I couldn’t really blame him either. I had been a mess. With no sign of ever recovering.
I eventually realized it was for the best. A long-distance relationship wasn’t something either of us were particularly interested in. He had been the first and only boy I’d loved – or thought I loved. He was my first in all ways, but whatever feelings I’d had had faded very quickly when he declared – two weeks after my parents’ death – that I was no fun anymore.
Apparently, according to him, sex heals all wounds, and I was just being selfish not indulging that truth. Funnily enough, “sex” had not been listed as one of the stages of grieving my therapist gave me, but apparently Jake Mcloughlin subscribed to a different theory.
Thinking back, I’d barely even noticed when he walked away. Compared to everything I’d lost, it was such a minuscule sliver of pain. I had a terrible feeling that it wouldn’t be that way with Lexen. That if I let myself care about him, and then lost him, it could destroy me. Which was exactly why I was going to step back. No more sleepovers. I would share with Star tonight.
“Emma?”
My head shot up as the girl in question called my name. I realized everyone was waiting for me; I was holding the line up. Fiery heat shot through my body. I lowered my head to dash forward, trying not to trip over the long gown. I wasn’t used to wearing something like this dress, especially with the black low-heeled ankle boots I had on underneath.
When I reac
hed the gathered royal-Darkens, Ambra held out a hand for me. “We all go together,” she said. “Overlord’s family first, so we can protect our people from dangers on the other side.”
I blinked a few times before placing my hand into hers. I was feeling a little choked up at their continued acceptance. It wasn’t like parents hated me or anything. On the contrary, I was actually pretty good at dealing with my friends' parents, even when they were difficult. But these were monarchs … surely royal people were much fussier. Snobby.
This theory was based off books and movies of course, because the Darkens were my first real-life royalty meeting. So far they were blowing all of my theories out of the water.
As soon as my hand was in Ambra’s, she reached out and snagged a string of light. The others did the same, and then we were yanked along. I closed my eyes again for that final hurtle-at-the-wall thing, because I was never going to convince my mind that I wasn’t about to die.
When Ambra squeezed my hand, I figured it was safe to reopen my eyes. She released me just as I got my first glimpse of where we were. I blinked a few times before spinning in a circle. How in the … were we floating in the sky?
As far as I could see, surrounding us in all directions, were clouds, fluffy and stereotypical. Except they weren’t white … they were a deep, rich, dark gray. I couldn’t see any sky above or below; it was as if this entire world was gray clouds. Walls, floors, ceiling. Wherever we were, I officially dubbed it “Cloudland.”
I took a tentative step forward, surprised by the firm and slightly buoyant surface. My heels didn’t sink in or anything. Jero chuckled when he caught sight of my face. No doubt I was looking a tad shocked.
“What’s got you all confused, little petal?”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “I thought there were no clouds here? In Overworld.”
“There aren’t,” he replied. “This isn’t Overworld. It’s a land between. A neutral zone we use for meetings. Daelighters couldn’t survive here for long. There’s no food or sustenance, so we only use it for mass gatherings of the four houses. Works well because we don’t tend to cross into each others’ territory. All the wars and fighting and such … we’re suspicious aliens.”
He shuffled me along, keeping us with his family, who were moving away from the golden ball of light. I noticed then something I’d missed earlier. A few hundred feet away were five raised platforms, shiny and metallic; one sat a little in front of the other four. The Darkens were heading toward one of the middle ones in the back four.
“Overlord families stand on the platforms,” Jero told me as we caught up to Marsil.
Marsil reached out and placed a firm hand on my shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze. “Are you doing okay, Emma?” His gentle voice soothed some of the nerves inside. “You’re handling all of these new experiences really well.”
“Was it hard for you on Earth?” I counter-questioned him, knowing there was no way I could lie and say I was calm. It felt like I might only be one more “new experience” from a screaming breakdown.
He nodded, completely unashamed to admit he had struggled. “We know a lot about Earth. We have adopted customs and languages and many other practices from your world, while also sharing some of ours with you, but knowing and experiencing are two vastly different things. Even the smell of Earth was odd. It doesn’t smell like home. It took me longer than I expected to adjust.”
Funnily enough, I hadn’t had the smell problem with this place. Which kept this niggling thought in my head that maybe I’d been here before. Could my parents have come back when I was really young?
Realizing Marsil had bared his soul and I was just standing there lost in thought, I cleared my throat. “I’m eternally grateful that I’ve had you guys to help me out. I’d definitely be less calm navigating on my own.” I was hoping my true depth of my gratitude was clear.
I surprised Marsil – and myself – by leaning forward and giving him a quick hug. Jero was next. He chuckled and hauled me in. As I pulled away, I could feel a burning gaze on me, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see it was the oldest Darken brother. He was standing beside Star, already up on the platform. His gaze lowered to my hands, which were still flat against Jero’s chest.
I lifted one brow, narrowing my eyes on him. What? my expression said.
He opened his mouth, but at the same time Roland said something and Lexen had to turn away to answer his father. All breath rushed out of me.
Jero chuckled again. “As much as I enjoy your hands on me,” he drawled, “making Lexen jealous is a bad idea. You’re playing with fire.”
I snorted out some laughter, dropping my hands off him as quickly as I’d put them on. “I’m not trying to make him jealous. That would be an absurd action.”
“Whatever you say, pretty girl.” He smirked and, turning away, gracefully vaulted up onto the platform.
Again I was last, and since I wasn’t sure if I should be up there, I kind of just hovered near the edge. There were a lot of Daelighters around now. From my low vantage point I could not see the full scope of the numbers, but I saw enough to know this cloud land was filling up. Along with all of the platforms.
The noise was almost overwhelming. The acoustics in this place were perfect for bouncing sound around, making it appear that the thousands of Daelighters were really ten times that number.
As I remained standing at the edge of the raised platform, minding my own business, people-watching, a few young, overexcited boys bumped into me. They looked to be about fourteen, but I had no idea what their actual age was because of that metamorphosis aging they did here. I let out an oomph as they knocked me into the side of the platform, which was definitely not made from anything soft or cloud-like.
Pulling back, I grabbed my aching ribs, freezing at what sounded like a burst of thunder.
Before I could look up, there was a harsh command from above. “Don’t move a damn muscle.”
Every single Daelighter around me froze. Tilting my head back, I found Lexen standing right above me, his eyes a blaze of white lights. In fact, the blackness seemed to have faded away to be replaced completely by starlight. Everyone in the vicinity – myself included – was completely mesmerized.
When he spoke next, it was not in English, so I couldn’t understand, but I definitely recognized the fear in the eyes of those around me. Especially the four teens who’d hit me.
Knowing it had been an accident, I straightened. “Lexen!” I demanded, hoping to break whatever tension was lacing the air.
Everyone gasped. Like a loud, dramatic hand slapped over their mouths kinda gasp.
Those blazing eyes locked on me and I had to force myself not to flinch. I reminded myself I had been through far worse than a pissed-off dragon lord, so I hurried on: “It was an accident. They’re just kids.” Kids who were probably twenty years older than me, but whatever. They looked like kids.
Some of the darkness flickered back into his eyes as he narrowed them on me. “They hurt you.”
He pointedly looked at where I was still holding my ribs. I released them, swinging my arms as casually as I could without wincing. “It. Was. An. Accident,” I repeated, getting a little annoyed now.
Cue another series of shocked gasps.
Jero and Marsil stepped up on either side of their brother. The overlord and his admirals. I had to admit it was an impressive sight. Scary. Intimidating. I was really feeling for the Daelighters around me. This was the Lexen from Starslight Prep, the enforcer, the one who everyone feared.
I’d never seen him that way though, so with almost no hesitation I turned and faced the small crowd, who were still frozen in place. “Go,” I murmured to the boys. “You’re not in trouble. I’ll keep them occupied.”
I winked at the closest boy to me, and he managed a shaky smile. “We are so sorry,” he choked out, his accent heavy. “Thank you.”
With a few final terrified glances at their overlord, they sprinted off into the crowd, and everyone els
e who had stopped to look did the same. I turned back to the Three Stooges.
“I have to join Father,” Lexen said to no one in particular, even though his eyes were still blazing and focused on me. “Keep an eye on her.”
“Her is standing right here,” I muttered under my breath as he turned away.
Marsil dropped off the stage, and before I could stop him he pressed a hand to my side. I gasped, even though his touch had been gentle. My breath was coming in and out roughly as I fought through the dizzying pain. Holy crap, why did bruised ribs hurt so much?
“You need to see a healer,” he said, lightening his touch even more. “We should go now.”
I shook my head, still panting. “No, you all need to be here, in case there is trouble. I’ll be fine. It’s just a bruise.”
He gave me a look that was far more like Lexen than his normally calm stare. “Okay, then, get up on the stage if it’s just a bruise.”
I sucked in deeply and straightened the best I could. “Okay … I will.”
I eyed the five-foot-tall structure, squaring my shoulders. I could deal with the pain long enough to not weaken the House of Darken by taking away some of their royal family at a time like this. Before I could do more than lift my arm, though, a loud voice boomed out. It sounded like it was amplified over a speaker.
I turned to see what was going on. All of the Daelighters appeared to be gathering before the front platform now – which held about two dozen beings. I was going to guess this was the council’s stage, judging by the fact that I could see members of all four houses on there.
A male and female appeared to be the spokes-Daelighters for the council. They switched between English and another language, making it hard for me to follow along.
“They’re talking about your guardians,” Jero said, startling me.
I swung my head around to stare right at him.