House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)

And Lexen … the most infuriating, frustrating, intriguing guy in two worlds. He had comforted me through more breakdowns than almost anyone else in the past eight months. He had kept me safe despite not wanting to involve me in his world, because I knew he trusted no one else to do it. A burst of clarity was enough for me to acknowledge that he had protected me fiercely from almost the first moment we met.

It was also clear that I was a complete idiot.

My breathing grew ragged as my mind filled with worries. Had I put the Darkens in danger? Lexen would be the biggest of all targets, especially since he’d never back away from an attack. He’d also been hell bent on “killing an overlord.”

The sides of my egg prison swelled then; air whooshed past me. Every one of my muscles tensed as I waited to see what was happening. I hadn’t moved, and nothing was touching the walls, but they kept on expanding out. Then, with a pop that left my ears ringing, my egg prison shattered.

I wasted no time in trying to escape, but before I could make it more than two steps, a line of men stepped into view, blocking my path. I didn’t recognize any of them, but they had the same sort of look as Daniel: shaved heads, ink across their necks and arms – none on their heads.

House of Imperial.

Wait, the one in the center, who looked to be in his early thirties, had symbols across his head.

Laous. The overlord.

His eyes were small and mean, and they narrowed even further as he glared at me. He was around six foot tall, with a wide chest and skinny arms. Not to mention this dude had definitely skipped leg day. Bad move, barrel man. No one wants to look like a keg with spindly arms and legs.

“You were a hard one to get hold of, Earthling.”

My insane mental blather died off.

“I’m the overlord of House of Imperial. You can call me Overlord,” he said.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to stay calm.

Something twitched in Laous’ jaw as he stared me down, but I had grown quite adept at dealing with Daelighter animosity, so I kept my cool.

“Do you know why you’re here?” Laous broke the silence, and I gave myself a mental tick for winning that round.

“I have no idea. There’s nothing I have that you could possibly want,” I said evenly, clenching my fists, which were tucked under my armpits to hide their shaking. This bastard had already taken everything from me – meeting him more than cemented my belief that he was behind my parents’ deaths – so what the hell did he want now?

His chuckle startled me. “Actually, that’s quite far from the truth.” He started to pace, his men remaining in a stoic line behind him. “It took me longer than I’d like to admit to figure it all out. How the secret keeping worked. The “information” which is scattered between all four members…”

He turned and took a step closer to me. Then another. I barely held my ground, wanting to turn and run, but as there was nowhere to go, I forced myself to remain calm.

“Did you know you were born here, in Overworld?” That casual question took me completely by surprise.

I sort of gasped, stifling the sound. It was enough, though, to let him know that I had been very unaware of that information.

“Born in the sacred legreto of the House of Darken, actually.” His voice was a slimy coo. Barrel man was enjoying this. “This legreto was blessed by the starslight stone, the same one from the pact. The stone which was stolen by the humans. Its energy fills your blood. Blood that I need.”

I swallowed roughly. “You killed my parents.” I was the secret keeper. It had been me all along. How was this possible?

He nodded. “A Draygo stumbled into House of Imperial, not the one who buried the stone, but one who knew a little about this secret keepers business. He told me that there are four humans, born in this world, one for each house. Darken first, then Imperial, Leight third, and last Royale. The four would lead me to the stone I sought. The hardest part was finding the first, but eventually I figured out a way by using the energy of the overlord minors.” I knew he had sent them to Astoria for a reason. The piece of shit. “The power of the four houses led me to your parents. I thought one of them was the first, so I took his blood, and then disposed of him so he would not inform the council.”

Disposed, like my father was trash that needed to be thrown away.

“Only it turned out I was wrong.” Laous still sounded shocked, even though this event had been months ago. “His blood held no properties from Overworld. Nor the wife’s, which I took as a precaution. That was when I figured out where I went wrong. It was you I needed. You and a key, apparently. Which that useless Draygo had neglected to tell me the first time I questioned him.” His eyes were boring into me and I wanted to gouge them out. “He didn’t make that mistake again.” His chuckle was low and raspy. “Once I finally figured it all out, it was easy to lure you to Astoria. Then just as easy to get you here in Overworld. All without drawing any attention to myself.”

Not exactly true. Daniel had noticed, and he had told the other overlord minors. They would be able to go to the council … hopefully it wouldn’t be too late for me by the time they convinced them.

“Now that I finally have the right blood…” Laous scowled at me, like it was my fault he screwed up. “It should lead me to the key, and then that will lead me right to the other three.”

He flicked his fingers and two of the men in the middle of his line of defense stepped forward. I tensed, taking my first step back, arms falling from across my chest to rest at my sides, loosely held, ready to protect myself.

“It’s in your best interest to help us, human.”

Those words had me blinking at the overlord. “Oh yeah, I’m sure it’s totally in my best interest,” I replied, sarcasm strong.

A pop nearby blasted through us, my ears doing that weird ringing sound again. As the prisoners tumbled out of the egg about twelve feet from me, a single tear tracked down my cheek. Sara and Michael could barely drag themselves along the ground as they tried to move closer to each other, their emaciated forms weak, near dying.

“I will do whatever you need – please just help them,” I said in a rush, never taking my eyes from my guardians.

Laous chuckled, another psycho switch of emotion. “Your parents’ oldest friends, who’ve spent their lives trying to track down my world. Your parents caused that, you know, telling them stories that they shouldn’t have, opening their eyes to the wonders beyond Earth.”

Sara’s dark eyes were pools of pain, locked on me. I returned that gaze with my own, barely able to stop myself from rushing toward them. I needed to be smarter than that. There were a bunch of assholes standing in the way who could knock me out with one blow. Now was not the time for rash actions. Whatever happened, I was determined that Sara and Michael would be safely returned to Earth.

“If you need my blood, then just take it,” I demanded, my voice vibrating with emotion.

“Oh, I will.” A bark of words in return. “But it would be much easier for me if you just told me where the key is, rather than the tedious task of tracking it down. It will be something very special to your family, something which you feel a tie to.”

“Release my guardians first.” For once there was not an ounce of fear in my voice. Mostly because I was very serious about rescuing Sara and Michael. I owed them so much.

Sara lifted her head as high as she could manage, her dark curls matted and bunched on one side. “No,” she called out in a reedy voice. “Don’t … Em … no…”

My chest was hurting so badly, not the ribs this time, but right around my heart. I had to help them. I had to save them.