House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)

“I’m on to you, buddy. You’re the suave one. Marsil is the nice one. Lexen is the—”

“Asshole,” the man in question interrupted me. I hadn’t even realized he had stopped and was waiting for us by the front door. “I’m the asshole.”

He held the door open. I watched him with suspicion before I stepped out. We crossed to the front of the house, where his car must have been left by Jero. No doubt there was a garage around somewhere. I knew they had a bunch of cars. Which meant this had been left out deliberately.

“Do you four have parents here? Do you live in this house alone?”

Star had mentioned a father, but it sounded like he was far away. Felt weird thinking of them all alone in this huge house. Even though I was often on my own, I still always knew there were adults around somewhere to do most of the adulting. I might be turning eighteen soon, but I wasn’t ready to hand in my irresponsible kid card yet.

“Stop asking questions,” was Lexen’s hugely helpful reply.

He had definitely been correct before. He was the asshole.

The powerful, low-slung sports car was even more impressive up close. The purple paint shimmered in the dull lights from the house. It had suicide doors, which opened silently.

Lexen stepped aside, gesturing me forward. “Get in the back.”

I resisted the urge to salute him again. I tried to crawl my way into the low car without scraping my heels across the leather, or flashing my goods to the world in this short dress.

“You can have the front,” Jero finally said, a smirk tilting up his lips. “For all of our sanities.”

He reached down and plucked me out of the car – I’d only managed to get half in anyway, my skirt almost over my head. He then sprawled himself out across the narrow backseat, having to angle his long legs to the side. I sort of fell, somewhat gracefully, into the wide wraparound bucket seat in the passenger side. I waited for Lexen to complain, or order me to the back again, but he just slid into the seat beside me and started the car.

The powerful engine thrummed to life. I felt the vibrations go right through my butt and up into my chest. Somehow it was smooth and also rugged at the same time.

“Seatbelt,” Lexen said gruffly, and I had only seconds to click it into place before he changed gears and took off down the driveway.

No one stopped us at the front gate. In fact the gate was already open by the time we sped through. “No abuse of power there,” I muttered to myself. I could feel dark eyes on me, but I didn’t turn to look at him. I would not give that sanctimonious dick the satisfaction of knowing he was getting under my skin.

It was very dark. No doubt another storm was brewing just off the coast to come inland and smash this little town. Still, I couldn’t help but strain to see where we were going. The only thing I knew for sure was that we weren’t heading into the main town of Astoria. Lexen seemed to take a bunch of back roads, curving and winding into a thick forested area.

Jero, who had been surprisingly quiet in the back, leaned forward between the seats and asked me: “Are you warm enough? You have to remind us of things like that. We forget.”

“You don’t get cold?” I shot back, somewhat astonished. They still looked and acted like humans, clearly had blood pumping through their veins if the warmth they emitted and healthy flush to their bronzed cheeks meant anything. They also ate, because they had their own food in the cafeteria. I was still rocking the advanced human angle, so maybe one of their advancements was that they completely controlled their body temperatures.

My curiosity about what they were continued to grow. I was almost certain vampires were out, as they didn’t fit any of the lore I knew. They could be werewolves, because they were huge and angry a lot. Well, Lexen was huge and angry a lot. Maybe they were something weird and obscure? I hadn’t exactly had a chance to research. My theories were so far all formed from movies and television.

Jero chuckled. “We get cold. Just not … at these temperatures. And you’re not wearing a lot of clothes.” There was definitely a low rumble in his chest now.

Without thought I slapped his arm. “No! Sit back there and be a good little sleaze.”

From my peripherals I caught his wide eyes and slightly open mouth. “Did you just … hit me?”

He lost it then, laughing hard enough that I swear the car rocked from side to side. “You have brass ones, girl. I’m kind of glad you decided to friendly-stalk us tonight.”

He was just so much like a teenage boy in that moment. Like a human. I turned fully in my seat, watching him, trying to unravel the mystery. I learned nothing from his cocky grin, so I let out a sigh and faced forward again. Staring out as the trees flashed by, Lexen remained silent, which was a blessing. He didn’t speak again until the car started to slow. Leaning forward, peering through the front, all I could see were trees, spookily lit up by the play of lights from the car. There was maybe a small clearing up ahead, but it was hard to tell.

“Stay in the car,” he said as he opened the door. I didn’t know if he was speaking to Jero or me, and it really didn’t matter. No way was I getting out in the spooky forest.

A sliver of unease wrapped itself around me and wouldn’t let go. For some reason I wanted to reach out and pull Lexen back into the car. I didn’t like him going out into the dark either. Which was a really weird thing to feel.

What is wrong with you, Emma?

“You’re wasting your worry, sweetheart,” Jero said softly. He had moved forward again. “Lex is the predator in this situation.”

I let out a low huff, crossing my arms over my chest. “He’s holding me hostage. I don’t care if he gets eaten by bears.”

“And yet you haven’t fought that hard to get free. Why is that?”

Jero was starting to annoy me. I let out another huff. “Because I want answers. Because your council seems to know about my guardians. I followed you to figure out what was going on. I still don’t know, therefore I will be staying until someone tells me what I need to know.”

“Uh huh,” he said, sounding not at all convinced. “Don’t put your heart in Lexen’s hands, honey. Trust me, he’s not for you.”

I didn’t bother to reply again; more protest would only make it worse. I remained silent, my eyes locked on the figure visible in the headlights of the car. Actually, make that figures. Lexen had been joined by three other tall men, all of them pretty much equal to his giant height, all of them broad shouldered and throwing off an aura of menace I could somehow feel from the car.

Jero, losing his relaxed attitude, focused on them as well, his body tense beside me as we stared. Despite the lights from the car, I couldn’t really make out the features of the other three. One was very blond; another looked to have a shaved head. The last was hidden in the shadows.

“Who are they?” I asked, not expecting Jero would answer. He just leaned even farther forward, pushing me to the side with his bulk. His scar was shining in the dimly-lit interior, and I looked closer – this was the first time I’d been in close proximity.

“How did you get your scar?” I tried, pausing when I realized how rude it might be to ask that. I was on edge; my brain and mouth were working independently it seemed.

Thankfully Jero just winked at me. “Chicks dig scars, right? Lexen gave it to me when we were younger. He lost control of his … temper. He says it was an accident, but since I had been annoying him at the time, I wonder if there wasn’t a little intention behind it.”

Jero didn’t seem torn up about it, and he was kind of right. The scar gave a rakish look to his handsome face. It didn’t detract at all. “Lexen is a bastard, but … your scar is pretty cool. I wouldn’t go around thanking him for it, though. He could have taken your eye out.”