House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)

Well, shit. “We need to find them first!” I demanded, on my feet as my chair screeched across the floor.

“We’re working on it,” the council informed us. “It is extremely difficult to find these humans without the piece of stone you had. That stone was a sliver from the original piece gifted in the treaty.”

Saywhatnow? I’d been wearing something that important for years and had no idea. My parents really should have told me, but knowing them as well as I did, they no doubt wanted to protect me for as long as they could.

“What will the necklace do? How is it a key?” I asked.

A small woman with silver hair stepped forward. She had been hovering at the back of the council group, not sitting. The moment she pushed to the front, all conversation died and everyone turned to her. She was definitely someone important.

Her silver hair threw me off at first, but her face was unlined, her eyes almost as dark as Lexen’s.

“Did you bleed on the stone, at all?”

Her question took me completely by surprise, and I was a little slow to reply. “Uh, yeah, I probably did.” I touched my now healed shoulder. “I got stabbed by a tree. I had blood all over me.”

The woman gave a single nod. “That sliver of stone is the key to finding the original stone. It can be used as a scrying tool, when activated with the right blood. Your blood on it will lead to the second secret keeper, the Imperial born human. Then it needs to be dipped in the blood of the second secret keeper to track the third, and so on.”

That was why Laous reset the justices. He wasn’t trying to make sure any of us got to safety. He had found my necklace and knew he had what he needed. So he’d tried to kill us all.

“What is our next step?” Marsil asked. As he stood tall, decked out in all black, with shit-kicker boots on and a heavy expression, he totally looked like a warrior.

“With Emma’s permission, we’d like to take a little of her blood and see if we can track the second secret keeper ourselves.” She looked directly at me, and I nodded without hesitation. I would do anything to make sure Laous didn’t get his hands on him or her.

She continued: “While we do that, everyone else will return to their normal lives. The treaty is not under any direct threat.”

Ambra stood. Her graceful form seemed frailer than the last time I’d seen her. “Will the overlord families return to Astoria? To Starslight Prep?”

Everyone on the council nodded this time. “Oh yes, they must finish their school year,” the silver-haired woman answered. “Laous might have initiated it for the wrong reasons, but the human government is loving this sign of ‘trust.’ It’s important to keep up appearances, especially now.”

School, right, totally forgot we still had that thing going on. Ambra joined her sons in looking unhappy, all except Lexen, who was watching me with an amused expression.

The entire council stood. Each lowered their head into a half bow toward Roland and Ambra.

“We will be in touch when we have any information,” silver-haired lady told the Darkens. She then turned to me. “Do you mind?” she asked, holding her hand out. Rising to my feet, I took a step toward her, and she reached out and placed her hand in the crook of my elbow.

A brief prickling sensation followed, and when she pulled back there was a thin trace of red following her fingertips. “That should be enough. Thank you,” she said, lowering her head slightly to me. Much easier than a blood test, that was for sure.

She faced Lexen. “I’m really glad you and your draygone mate are okay.”

Dead silence filled the room. I wiggled a little on the spot, immediately uncomfortable.

Lexen was the only one to still look relaxed. In fact the asshole laughed, like she’d just amused him immensely. My mouth dropped open as he crossed to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder, dwarfing the tiny female. “Colita, I never could keep anything from you.”

My stunned face must have tipped him off to my astonishment, because he released Colita and stepped over to me. “She’s my drenita, or as humans would call it, godmother. She’s also a powerful seer, able to scry visions of the future in the sacred legreto.”

“The same sacred waters I was born in?” I asked, my eyes flicking between him and Colita.

She nodded. “The very same. And you’ll be happy to know, that having been born in those sacred waters, you – and the other three secret keepers – have the longevity of life that is part of all Daelighters. Even though you are almost completely human, in your blood runs some of our energy.”

Jero laughed. “Are you telling me that pretty girl here is hooked into the network? That’s fuc … damn awesome.”

Roland, who seemed to find Jero amusing – had to be the only one who did – let out a chuckle. “We can show her how to plug in – one day, when she isn’t due back at school.”

That sounded like a good idea. I was full up on new experiences at the moment.

“Wait,” I called, halting the council just as they were leaving. “If secret keepers live forever, what happened to the ones before us?” I knew that all four had to be born in the same year, so I assumed the other three with me were all around my age. But the treaty had been active for over a hundred years.

Colita answered: “There was only one set of four before you. One of the men was hit by a car and killed. Luckily his wife was pregnant at the time. His daughter became one of the secret keepers in your four.”

“So if one dies, you have to replace the entire four?” I wondered out loud.

Her smile was kind. “Yes, because the bond is broken.”

They left then before I could think up any more questions. I had probably learned enough that day to keep my mind busy for a lifetime anyway. As soon as the door closed, Star burst up from her chair and threw her arms around me again.

“I can’t believe you were in the land of Imperial. You were in the justices. You could have been reset!”

She’d been saying this over and over since we all got back, her arms strangling me like she was worried that if she let me go I would disappear. The only time she had stopped was when the council arrived.

Untangling her arms, I sucked in some deep breaths. “I’m fine,” I reassured her again. “Lexen and Daniel were with me almost the entire time.”

I turned my attention to the overlord major. “Are the Finnegans still okay?”

“Yes,” Roland answered immediately. “As soon as they got word to me, I stationed guards on them. They’re keeping Daelight Crescent locked down. The Finnegans have been informed that you are safe. They can’t wait for you to return home to them.”

I swallowed the rough lump in my throat. Ace had really come through for my family. Apparently he had been in on the big secret. All of the security was. And he had a means to get a message to Overworld.

“Will I be able to return to Overworld?” I asked, needing to know while also dreading the answer.

Lexen let out a rumbling growl that sounded very animalistic. Some of his dragon soul was making an appearance. “You’re one of the few humans who will always be able to wander between the worlds. Once you learn the network, you can use the transporters just as we do.”

He tore his gaze from mine to meet each of his family’s. “Colita was correct, my draygone soul has chosen Emma. We’re going to take it slow, but if I have anything to do with it, my little human is going to be around a lot.”

The guy had smooth moves, that was for sure. I couldn’t disagree, because in my heart there was nothing I wanted more than to stay here in Darken. In this house filled with a family I adored. With the man I more than adored. It was bittersweet, learning the truth of my parents’ deaths, and my true purpose as a secret keeper. But there was also some hope. Hope that I might eventually find happiness and a home again.