House of Royale (Secret Keepers Series Book 4) Read online

  When the familiar rocks came into sight, some of the tension in my chest eased. Whatever the events of yesterday, this was grounding. It was weird that I couldn’t get that chick’s face out of my head, but since I’d never see her again, it was better I just moved on.

  She was just a girl I helped; nobody special.

  2

  I got an hour’s exploration in before the thrum of another engine disturbed my trip through the lights of the underwater cathedrals. It was probably time for the tourist boats to start, which was my signal to get out of there. I rose to the surface for one more gulp of air, then dove down again and was about to start swimming when an unusual noise caught my attention. Turning in the water, I tried to determine what it was.

  Definitely not an engine—it almost sounded like something was zooming through the water the same way I did, only much faster. Since I’d never seen another human move at those speeds, or animal for that matter, I wondered if it was a projectile of some description? A missile … maybe?

  A missile? Not many missiles usually shot around the Hawaiian Islands. Had I missed an announcement about Navy drills in this area? Was war about to start? Were we under attack?

  Or was it possible that this was linked to yesterday? Did those maniacs with the guns decide to up their arsenal?

  My first thought was for the dark-haired girl. She’s nothing to you, Avalon. Seriously, one would think she was my sister, that’s how worried I immediately was. Not family. Not. Family. If I repeated it enough, hopefully it would sink in. Apparently I was so hard up for a family now, I was simply going to create a fantasy world where I had one out there, waiting for me.

  Diving lower to hide under some of the rocks, I waited to see what was coming through the water. A more intelligent person would have gotten out of there, but I was pretty confident in my underwater abilities. If this was a threat, I’d be able to get away in time.

  Spiraling water was the first thing I saw, and whatever was moving at those speeds was hidden within that spiral. I was already holding my breath, being under the water and all, but it felt like everything inside of me was on edge waiting to see what could move that fast.

  Excitement, fear, and anticipation warred inside of me, but despite the small part of me that dreaded what I was about to see, I didn’t leave. Just before it neared the first rocks, the turbulent water started to ease, then slowed and stopped completely.

  Holyseashellshit!

  A long pair of well-muscled arms came into view, followed by the rest of a male body—thankfully, because it would have been some sort of horror story otherwise. I thought I’d been pretty well hidden in my crevice, but as soon as he stopped moving, his gaze shot straight to where I was, our eyes meeting through the water.

  Fuck! I should have taken off when I had the chance, because apparently there was a massive, blond, tanned, muscled man who could swim even faster than me. And he was heading right in my direction. Go! a part of me screamed over and over, like it could propel me into action. But I couldn’t seem to move. I’d have to eventually; I was going to run out of air sooner or later. But right then I found myself edging out of the rocks and into open water, dancing—that’s what I always called it when I was upright under water—closer to him. He danced the same way I did, drifting forward as if gliding.

  At first I was fascinated by the hypnotic blue of his eyes. They were almost electric. As we moved even closer together, I noticed small slashes of deep green that bisected right near his iris, like the ocean had crashed into his eyes and he bore all the colors of it. His hair was blond, but not like the gray tones of mine, more yellow, and it almost looked like he had tattoos on one side of his head and neck, partially hidden by his thick hair.

  Wait … was that a rainbow sheen? He had a freaking sheen, just like me. I froze, my brain unable to comprehend that I might finally be meeting someone like me. Of course, I wasn’t stunned enough not to notice all of his golden skin stretched taunt over heavily roped muscles. He was not as lithe as most swimmers I’d seen, but he moved gracefully. His lower half was still covered in swirling water, so I couldn’t see anything but his broad chest.

  My lungs started to protest then—the first sign that I needed to start thinking about getting some air. The first discomfort usually meant I had a minute left, maybe two. I was only about fifteen feet down, so it wasn’t a big deal.

  The boat noises from before roared over our heads, and then the engine cut off, almost directly over the top of us. Unease flickered inside of me. A boat and a speed-swimming stranger made me nervous. I had the sudden thought that I was in a very vulnerable position right now.

  I’d just decided to take off when he lifted his right hand and pursed his lips like he was going to blow me a kiss. I blinked as a bubble formed on his palm. It drifted away from him toward me, growing larger as it moved. I wasn’t sure what to do; I couldn’t look away. Not even when it grew bigger than my head. I expected it to pop when it hit me, and I closed my eyes waiting for the impact.

  But there was no pop. Instead it enclosed my head, trapping me inside.

  The water drained out of it in an instant and I sucked in a deep breath, able to breathe again. Holy freaking hell. What was happening right now? How could he control water like this?

  And why hadn’t I swum away yet?

  A small waterspout shot off my bubble, spiraling toward the guy, and then he too wore a bubble around his head.

  “What’s your name?”

  A deep voice echoed around my new little air pocket, and if jumping under water was possible, I’d have been six feet higher than usual. How in the…. Did he just talk to me?

  “I don’t understand.” I felt stupid speaking like this.

  His reply was almost immediate. “My name is Xander,” he started, his voice accented and rumbly. “I don’t want to scare you, but we are running out of time. You need to come with me for your own safety.”

  Creepy. Seriously, this was too creepy. Even for me, the girl who wanted to live in the ocean. I decided to see if I could break free from the bubble. I had enough air now to swim a decent distance. I might even make it to shore.

  “Wait,” he called as I started to back up. “I know you’re scared, I get it, but you should know that the girl you saved yesterday … she is just like you. An advanced human.”

  I knew it! I knew there had to be a reason I felt a connection to her. I wasn’t just a crazy needy person. But how was it possible that the two of us ended up in the same bad place together? I slowed my retreat, giving him one last chance to speak.

  “The people shooting at her, they are looking for you as well. We’re the only ones who can protect you. I’ll explain it all if you come with me now.”

  I wanted to believe him. I was almost desperate to place my trust in this gorgeous stranger. But I wasn’t that naïve. Just because someone told you they were the good guys didn’t mean they were. I’d learned that the hard way with my parents. They’d abandoned me, which had hurt more than I expected, considering they’d always acted like I was a burden they’d been saddled with. Then, on top of that, a lot of friends had given up on me as well, mostly because I couldn’t live the surfy life anymore. I had to work. I had to be responsible.

  I was a little scarred and jaded from the entire thing.

  “Why should I believe you?” I asked, the back of my head pressing against the bubble. “You could be lying just to get me to go with you.”

  I heard and sensed his frustration as he bit out, “Wouldn’t I have just grabbed you? I’m faster than you could ever be in the water, so if I wanted to take you by force, I would have already.”

  That was a fair point.

  “Who’s in the boat?” I changed the subject. Somehow I knew the boat was his. He’d just been way too unconcerned about it sitting above.

  “Maya, the one you rescued, and her mate, Chase.”

  My burst of excitement at knowing she was close by, an advanced human like me, was overshadowed
by my confusion over the word mate. Were they like … Australian or something? We had tons of Aussie surfers over here, and they called their friends mate. Like buddy, pal, dude. But not only did this guy—Xander—not have an Australian accent, he also hadn’t said it like they did. His inference was boyfriend, but I’d never heard any person call someone’s boyfriend a mate.

  “Just get in the boat. We’ll tell you the entire story and then you will understand.” He sounded a little less pissed now, more resigned. “I promise no one will touch you. You can dive over the side anytime you want.”

  As tempting as it was to see Maya again and explore the connection between us, my self-preservation won out, and I regretfully said, “I can’t. Sorry. I just don’t trust you. Later, dude.”

  Water started to churn around us then, and I knew I’d lingered too long.

  “Don’t run…” was the last thing I heard before my head was out of his bubble and I was swimming as fast as I could. I hadn’t forgotten his statement that he was much faster than me, but I knew these waters better than anybody. Ducking and diving, I used the tunnels to my advantage. I wanted to call for the dolphins, but putting them into possible danger was a really shitty thing to do, so I refrained.

  Somehow, though, they knew. Dark shadows closed in around me, and I could have cried at the familiar company of my favorite pod. I clicked in greeting, and they returned the gesture as we dashed across the sea. I had no idea if he was behind me. I wanted to look back and check, but it felt more important to keep powering forward.

  We were still out very deep, and it was dark below me, so I didn’t notice the churning water until he was close. Damn. It.

  He wasn’t going to leave it alone, that was very clear. The only question was: would I make it to land before he caught me? When the swirling water shot straight up, I tried to get out of the way. With a normal human I would have had no trouble, but he was too fast. It felt like steel bands wrapped around my body, holding my arms down against my sides. I kicked hard, but he was too strong.

  The dolphins turned to come after us, but I sent out a last call, warning them away. I would not have them hurt because of me, and this Xander seemed desperate as he flew through the water, holding me tight against his chest. He wasn’t even using his arms and somehow still moved at rapid speed.

  The boat came into view again; he aimed straight for it, shooting up out of the water just before we would have smashed into the side. I sucked air in as I flailed through the sky, before another pair of arms caught me, arms as strong but slightly-less muscled than Xander’s. My new captor had skin that was a deep, rich, stunning brown, a few shades darker than the kidnapping bastard under the water.

  “Sorry about that,” a smooth, accented voice said. “Xander can be a bit of—”

  “An asshole,” I spat.

  I struggled in his hold, expecting to be dropped. Instead I found myself gently seated in one of the padded captain’s chairs. A familiar face pushed past the guy and stopped right in front of me. “I can’t believe we finally found you! The stone kept changing locations all morning. I thought it was faulty.”

  Maya. She looked Asian, maybe half, with creamy brown skin and straight dark hair. Her eyes were blue, though, and she had a straight-up American preppy accent. I was just staring at her, not speaking. “Thank you for saving me,” she tried again. “Honestly, if you hadn’t been there, I would be dead now.”

  The dude behind her made a deep rumbling sound—he must be Chase, her mate. He was clearly very upset by those words. His hand brushed across her arm and she tilted her head back to see him. I lifted my gaze to look at his face for the first time and I almost gasped. Holy sweet hotness, he was beautiful, all cheekbones and hard lines and perfect features. Together, as a couple … they were almost too pretty.

  “Who the hell are you guys?”

  I did briefly wonder if I’d asked the right question. Maybe it should have been “what” instead.

  “I’m Maya, and this is my boyfriend, Chase,” she said, focusing on me.

  “Boyfriend? Or mate?” I asked, because I couldn’t help myself.

  Her eyes got really wide then. “You already know about us? How? Did your parents tell you? Where are they?”

  She shot each question off rapidly, and before I got a chance to answer, the boat rocked. At first I thought it was wake from another vessel, but it was the Poseidon-looking asshole. As he pulled himself gracefully onto the fancy boat, I found myself lurching to my feet.

  The water fell away from his lower half to reveal normal, well-muscled legs to match the rest of him. A very naked rest of him. Maya must have known, because she’d turned away as soon as he stood up. I, on the other hand, did not.

  Well … he was definitely a normal male. Actually, normal didn’t quite fit. I’d seen my share of naked guys—you couldn’t surf or swim in Hawaii without seeing more than a few male goodies—but there had been none like Xander.

  It was a real shame he was a fucking douche.

  “You threw me into the boat,” I snarled, taking a step forward while he pulled on a pair of board shorts. Do not be distracted. Do not be distracted.

  “You didn’t listen to me,” he shot back. “I told you we weren’t going to hurt you. I told you that you were in danger, and you still took off like an idiot ready to die.”

  Excuse me? Was he actually for real right now?

  “Well, I guess since you told me, I should be apologizing right now for doubting you, a complete stranger who can create air bubbles to talk under the water.” I shook my head while pasting on a broad, fake smile. Then I flipped him off.

  Maya made a small squealing noise. “Air bubbles? I want to see that.”

  Xander shot her a smile and his face softened slightly. “They’re called exprendo channels. They form a link, almost like an underwater cell phone.”

  While they were distracted, I eyed the side of the boat. I was pretty sure I could dive over the edge from here.

  “Don’t even think about it, human.” Xander’s warning slammed into me with force. “There is no way you can outswim me, even with a head start. I’ll just keep bringing you back, so you might as well hear us out.”

  I spluttered. “Human? What in … did you just call me human? Like you’re not….” I trailed off as the implication of what I was about to say registered. Why would he call me human like that unless he was something other than a human?

  “I’m human,” Maya jumped in, her voice higher than it had been before. I pulled my attention from the guys and turned it to her. “I’m exactly like you.”

  I swallowed hard. “And these two?” I tilted my head toward the unnaturally beautiful and unnaturally tall and unnaturally perfect guys. They aren’t human. Somehow I knew they weren’t, but I needed to hear her say the words.

  “They’re Daelighters.” She didn’t hesitate, but her voice was very soft, like she was trying not to spook me.

  “Daelighters … what does that mean? Are they fish people?”

  It was the only thing that made sense to me. Like mermaids. But I didn’t want to call them that in case it was offensive. No doubt movies had badly represented them.

  “No.” Maya shook her head. “Only Xander is of the water. Chase is a forest guy. Trees are his thing.”

  My head felt a little fuzzy, which might just be adrenaline, or it might be because I was trying to figure out how trees were his “thing.” What did that mean?

  “You’re confusing her.” Xander’s deep voice sent a shiver down my spine. I wanted to say it was disgust, and part of it was, but another part went deeper than that. Something I was determined to ignore. “You need to explain from the beginning, so that she—” He cut off, eyes drilling into mine. “What is your name? I don’t want to keep calling you she and her.”

  “Avalon,” I replied, without thought. “Ava.” I should have said Mind your own business, fish face, but I really didn’t want to insult the fish. They were amazing. “Ava Shortlin. Alt
hough, since my parents all but abandoned me, I guess I don’t really have much of a family to go with the family name.”

  Maya gasped before reaching out to touch my arm. She was the only one I’d let get close enough to do that, but I still flinched back before she could make contact. “Sorry,” she said, retracting her arm. “I just hate that I’m the only one of the four who managed to make it to this point with parents intact.”

  “The four?”

  Did I really want to know what that was? Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

  “We’ll tell you everything,” Maya assured me. “But we need to move back toward land. Is that okay?”

  “Because I’m in danger?” I asked, dubious.

  Chase nodded. “You and Maya both. The Daelighter and humans who attacked you yesterday are actively searching, and we don’t want to just sit around and wait for them to find us.”

  Half of me was screaming no, but the part wanting to learn more about these people was slightly stronger. “I will stick around,” I decided. “As long as you don’t try anything weird.”

  “We promise,” Chase and Maya said together. Xander didn’t answer, and since I was choosing not to look at him any more than was necessary, I was cool with that.

  Chase stepped forward to the other captain’s chair and pressed a button. Powerful engines roared to life. I hadn’t seen an anchor when I’d been below, but somehow the boat hadn’t moved at all since it stopped here. Probably Xander’s doing; he apparently controlled water. Daelighter. Excitement bubbled low in my stomach and I had no idea why. This situation should be scaring me. I had been dropped into a completely new world where I knew none of the rules. Instead, I felt like maybe, for the first time in a long time, I was not quite so alone. There were others like me.

  3

  At first there was only the noise of the ocean to keep us company, and I relaxed because this was my favorite tune. But, while I wished I could just remain in my cocoon of comforting water sounds, I needed answers, and that required me to ask questions.