House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)

The boiling hot water was still cascading down; I had tucked myself right into one corner, which seemed to be the only corner not getting soaked. I heard the door to the bathroom open, and I would have been mortified if all of my attention wasn’t currently on staying alive.

The glass was fogged, so I couldn’t see anything, but I had to assume it was Lexen. The door swung open and he appeared, his eyes darting over me briefly before he reached in through the water to the control panel. He showed no sign of distress as the boiling water ripped across his skin, and I tried not to gasp too loudly. He hit a few buttons, swiveled a dial, and the water cooled considerably to a medium warm. I relaxed, tension seeping out of me

“Did you get burned?” His eyes were locked on my face. For once he wasn’t scowling at me.

I blinked a few times, unused to that look from him. “I don’t think so. It hit my back, I … I’m fine.”

“Turn around,” he commanded. “Let me see. If you told me you were going to shower I could have changed the temperature. It’s programmed to my preferences.”

I crossed my arms, trying to hide most of my naked parts. For freak’s sake, this was worse than my cliché moment before. Now I was naked in the shower with him. “I’m not turning around. I’m fine. You can leave now.”

He seemed to realize then that he had me cornered, naked, and he hated humans. In a flash the glass door closed, and I slumped even further until I was pretty much sitting on the floor, warm water beating down on me. I hadn’t for one second felt vulnerable or scared that he might take advantage of me. His eyes had not even drifted below my face. He didn’t care. He wasn’t attracted to me.

We were not the same species! I was going to keep repeating that mentally until it started to sink in.

Exhaustion pressed in on me and it took everything I had not to curl up under the massaging shower heads and go to sleep. I forced myself to stand, to wash my hair with whatever amazingly expensive shampoo was in here. Then I figured out how to turn the water off, stepping out to find a thick white towel on the sink. Next to it was a shirt.

I blinked a few times, my hand going out to pick up the soft piece of clothing. Had Lexen given me one of his shirts to sleep in? It definitely hadn’t been sitting there when I’d got into the shower.

I dried off quickly, gingerly patting the tender parts on my back. It didn’t look too bad in the mirror, just bright red, no welts yet. I wished I had some cream to rub on it, but I didn’t want to push my luck. Slipping back into the underwear bottoms from Star, since I hadn’t worn them for long, I then pulled the huge shirt over my head. It caressed my skin, silky and smooth, falling almost to my knees.

There was a comb on the bench and I used it to tame my mane. The curls would still spring up haphazardly when they dried, but combing it out would help a little. When I had procrastinated as much as I could, I gathered up the rest of the clothing and slowly left the room. I didn’t see Lexen anywhere, so I chose to run like a bitch and hide in my cupboard bedroom. When I was safely inside, the door closed firmly behind me, I dropped Star’s clothes on a chair in the corner and made my way to the bed. There were a few pendant lights on, as well as a lamp right near the bed. I shut everything off except the lamp.

My stomach gave a rumbling protest. I shushed it. I was not asking Lexen for anything else tonight. Crossing to the bed, I was about to yank the covers down and slip beneath them when I noticed a small white plate resting near the pillow. On top of it was a sandwich.

What in the…? All thought faded as my stomach rumbled again, almost painfully. Uncaring of etiquette, I dove and snatched the bread up, shoving it into my mouth. I had no idea what was on it, and frankly I didn’t care. It was food. I was not going to turn my nose up at anything edible.

When half the sandwich was gone, I took a drink of water from the glass on my bedside. It had been set there with a little note propped next to it. I wasn’t surprised that it was Star who had brought me the food. That made much more sense than Lexen.

I didn’t quite finish the sandwich, my stomach protesting. I set it aside on the bench and climbed into bed. I had planned on lying there with the lamp on for a while so I could run over everything that had happened today. Just before falling asleep was always my favorite time to process my life, when there were no other distractions around. It helped me see clearly, pick up details I would have normally missed.

But my eyelids kept fluttering closed, my blinks getting far less frequent, so I switched the lamp off. I would think everything over in the morning.





It’s so hot. I can’t breathe. Why can’t I breathe? The smoke is everywhere. It’s choking me. Slithering into every part of my body. I’m dying. Crawling with desperation, unable to see, unable to breathe. Searching for them. Hissing as embers bit into my exposed flesh. As smoke and heat charred my throat and lungs.

It had been a long time since I’d had the dream, the one that had consumed me for weeks after the fire. In it, I was always battling the heat and smoke. It choked me. I fought to escape. But unlike real life I never made it out of the dream fire.

With a muffled yelp I managed to wrench myself awake, sitting upright, my heart hammering hard in my chest. I had probably been yelling. Sara and Michael used to tell me I made a real racket when I was in the fire dream. I’d always awoken to find them standing at my bedside, worried faces staring down at me. I got hugs after that though; it was the one time I really craved the touch of another human.

Anything to wipe away the taste, smell, and feel of smoke choking me to death.

I was disoriented for a beat as I stared around the dark room. The Darkens. Right. I was at their house. No wonder the dream had returned; my stress levels were at an all-time high. Pulling myself out of the bed, I started to pace the room. I could never stay still after the dream.

I wondered what time it was. If it was almost morning I’d just stay up, but there was no way to tell from this room. I switched on the lamp to double check there wasn’t a clock in the room. Nope. Creeping toward the door, I slowly eased it open, and then ducked through before shutting it just as quickly. I didn’t want the light to wake Lexen.

His room wasn’t that dark; there were beads of illumination coming in from a few different places, which helped in not tripping over anything. From memory there was a window near the bathroom door, so I headed in that direction, trying my best not to focus on the bed and the supernatural sleeping there.

Surprised to make it to the window undetected, I wondered where the “I don’t need much sleep” asshole was now. Reaching out, I gripped the curtain, pulling them apart.

Oh. Instead of the window I’d expected, there was a double set of doors behind the heavy material, and the wood and glass doors were ajar. I noticed Lexen a beat before he said, “Nice to see you weren’t murdered in your sleep. For a moment there I wasn’t sure.”

“Thanks for checking on me,” I said drily, slipping out onto the wide balcony.

I immediately felt better being outside, breathing in the fresh air.

Lexen, who was still shirtless, had his shoulder propped against a nearby wall, staring out into the ocean. I had never realized quite how loud it was being near the water as it crashed against the cliffs.

“My job is to keep you alive,” he said softly. “The rest … you’re going to have to look to Marsil, Jero, and Star.”

I found myself leaning against the glass railing. “They seem to defer to you as their fearless leader … or whatever. Why are you the boss?”

In this dull light I couldn’t really make out his face. “It was the position I was born into.” His voice was emotionless. “It’s not something I chose.”

I realized then that we were having an actual conversation that didn’t involve yelling or insults.

“What did you dream about?” He straightened as he asked, and even though most of my attention was focused out into the world, I sensed his eyes on me.