House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)

“Lexen…” The disbelief in my voice was strong. I wasn’t sure if this world was creating him, or if he was really standing before me.

“How?” Daniel asked, taking a step toward his friend. “How the fuck are you alive?”

Lexen shrugged, his face turning haunted for a second, before wiping clean. “Apparently dragon lords cannot be reset. The moment Laous realized that, he took off, and I came after you two.” His wings and scales faded away in a brief lightshow, then he was back to regular Lexen. Minus a shirt still.

I ran for him as fast as my clumsy legs would carry me. I wasn’t even that close when I leapt at him, but luckily he had all the skills I lacked, stepping forward and scooping me up, pressing me close to his chest.

“I thought you were dead,” I sobbed, smacking him on the chest. “I thought you had left me … alone.”

He dropped his forehead down on mine. “I thought I was dead too. Your face was the last thing I saw. The Draygo in me has decided. I can’t let you go. It might be selfish as hell, but if you want to give this a shot with me, I will do everything in my power to make sure that you and I have our chance.”

I kissed him, cutting off whatever he had been about to say next. The pain from my bruises hurt for a beat, but the moment he took control, the moment his tongue stroked mine, mouth moving over my lips with a skill and precision that had my body turning to jelly, I forgot all about my injuries. His hands cupped under my butt as he hauled me further up his body, my legs wrapping around his waist as I pressed into him.

Lexen captured the moan that escaped from me with his mouth. The kiss was just getting to the point where I felt like I was about to self-combust when he pulled back. I huffed, breathing embarrassingly deep, meeting his star-lit eyes. “Realllyyy glad you didn’t die.”

Lexen dropped his head back slightly, laughter bursting from him. “Me too, little human. Me too.”

Daniel’s drawl distracted us. “Why is it that I always feel envious and slightly awkward when I’m around you two?”

Lexen set me on my feet, tucking me in close to his side, before holding out his other arm to Daniel. The pair did some sort of fist bump, half-hug bro thing.

“Thanks for getting her to safety,” Lexen said, turning serious.

“Thanks for not dying. That would have sucked.”

Daniel was the overlord of understatement too, apparently.

Happiness lifted me up. I had to press a hand to my chest because it felt like my heart might actually beat right out of it. As I rubbed the heel of my hand across my sternum, I paused at the lack of bump there. Not the normal chest bumps, my boobs were still very much in their normal position, but there was something missing.

My necklace.

I rubbed the back of my neck and felt the sting. I must have lost it on the desire level, when Laous attacked me.

Lexen noticed my expression. “What?” he asked, his voice rumbling out as he stepped in front of me, surveying our surroundings.

I wrapped my hand around his left wrist. “It’s nothing. I just noticed that I lost my necklace.” The last thing I had from my parents.

Lexen brushed back my hair, sliding his thumb across my cheek. “We’ll find it. Once this reset is cleared, I’m going to figure out a way to search the justices. It is somewhere, Em.”

I smiled at him. “It’s okay. Apparently I’m dating a guy who can get his hands on a ton of starslight stone.”

Lexen’s eyes darkened, which meant they were pitch black in that moment. “I’ve got mountains of it. I can literally shower you with starslight stone. It’s just … none of it will be from your mom, and I know how much that one piece meant to you.”

It had meant a lot to me, but I would always have my memories of my parents. I would always have them in my heart. Losing the necklace wouldn’t take that away from me.

“I saw my dad in the desire level,” I told Lexen, my voice cracking. “Walking away from him was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But … I knew it wasn’t real. Laous didn’t understand how I could resist, but I think it was because there is a bond already between us, Lex. You, me, and your draygone soul. The bond gave me the clarity I needed.”

I was hauled up and into his arms in a flash, his lips pressing delicious kisses along my jaw and to my lips. “What do humans call it?” he murmured, as he continued to torture me with kisses. “Ride or die? You’re my ride or die, Emma Walters.”

Finally his lips found mine and I went completely mindless, lost in the sensations of kissing this guy.

Eventually Daniel called out to us. “Come on, you two. Enough with that … we need to hitch a ride on the next transporter out of here.”

I let out a breathy sigh as I collapsed against Lexen’s chest. “Not sure I can walk. Might need a moment.”

He laughed, hooking an arm around my waist and half carrying me to where Daniel stood, bemused expression on his face.

Despite the beauty of the redemption world, none of us looked back. There was nothing for me here, no reason to want to stay. I was ready to move forward, with Lexen, with the rest of my life.

And I was ready for some answers.





20





A multitude of faces stared back at me. The council seemed to be stuck between explaining what had happened and trying to dissect me with their eyes. At least a healer had somewhat dealt with my face and wounds, so now I was no longer in pain while I waited for them to get to the point.

“Get to the damn point!” Lexen snarled, reading my mind. His hands clenched on the table as he glared at each of them.

As soon as we had taken the secret transporter out of the level of redemption, Lexen had summoned the council. We were in House of Darken, in a room with a table large enough to hold everyone, which included Lexen’s parents, Star, Marsil, and Jero, all of whom had greeted me with hugs and shouts. They’d truly been worried about me, and their delight at seeing I was back safely – Lexen too – was enough to mend a few of the broken pieces of my soul.

A female council member stood. Like almost every other Daelighter on the council, she looked to be in her early thirties. She had straight dark hair and large reddish-brown eyes.

“Laous has disappeared, and based on your testimony of his recent actions, he will never rule House of Imperial again. Daniel will be stepping in as overlord for the interim, until he can be initiated into the position.”

Her speech was interrupted by Roland. “If Laous is going after the second secret keeper, how are we going to figure out where he is to stop him?”

Another council member, a blond male who was probably from Royale, let out a breathy sigh. “It appears that Laous has been planning this for a long time. We really should have seen it sooner, but he was always very uninterested in the treaty whenever we discussed it. He never showed any sign of wanting to destroy it.”

“He needed a key,” Lexen informed them. “He was trying to get Emma to tell him where it was.”

The councilman’s eyes shifted to me then. “Did you divulge the location to him?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea where the key is. My parents never told me.”

“Did they ever give you something of value? Something from this world perhaps?” another woman on the council asked, pushing back her long ringlets of ashy blond hair.

I stilled. “Like … a piece of starslight stone?” Holy shit I was slow. Was my stone the key? I’d been so focused on a literal key, something metal and long which could open a lock, that I forgot about the stone I wore. I’d never even considered the possibility, but it made sense.

“I had a necklace … that possibly had a piece of starslight stone on it,” I said slowly. “It disappeared in the justices. I’m not sure exactly when, but it could have been when I was fighting with Laous.”

The blond man let out a huff. “So now he will be heading for the next secret keeper, the one born in House of Imperial.”