House of Royale (Secret Keepers Series Book 4) Page 3

  Turning in my seat, I focused on Maya. She was the one I felt most comfortable with. “I’m going to need you to tell me everything, in detail. Don’t beat around the bush, just get to the point. What are Daelighters? How am I involved? What are the four?”

  That covered the most pertinent points at this time.

  Maya smiled, looking happier than I’d seen since I’d been shot into the boat. “You’re already so much cooler than I expected. I love honest, straight-up people.” I did also, so it was nice to know we had that in common. “Okay,” she started, “Daelighters are aliens. Pretty much.”

  What in the…. Well, I definitely had not seen that one coming. I’d thought mutants. Aliens just seemed so much more … out of this world.

  I managed to keep my expression neutral while images of little green creatures and ray guns ran through my head. I mean, clearly Xander and Chase were not even remotely little … or green, but maybe these were like human suits they wore or something.

  Maya cracked up then. “If you’re anything like me, you’re trying to work out how they aren’t bulbous-headed mutants. The planet they’re from is called Overworld, and they actually have a lot in common with humans. This is what they look like, no disguises. They need the same basic fundamentals as us to survive. Water, oxygen, and the rest.”

  We might have a little in common with these aliens, but I’d seen Xander in the water—there were also a ton of differences. And since I had a small amount of their abilities, that meant…

  “Am I half alien? Is that why I can swim in the water the way I do?”

  I didn’t mean to sound so horrified, and judging by the way Xander leveled his narrowed eyes on me, he wasn’t very impressed with my tone of voice.

  “You’d be lucky to be half-Daelighter,” he said bluntly. “We are superior to humans in a lot of ways.”

  “Especially your ego,” I shot back before I dismissed him completely, turning back to Maya.

  She wore a soft look on her face. I was really hoping it wasn’t pity. “You’re not half-Daelighter,” she said. “You’re the same as me. We’re humans who were born in their land. Some of their energy infiltrated into ours. This is why you have a semblance of the Royale abilities.”

  If I wasn’t sitting down, I might have fallen over at those words. “I wasn’t born on Earth?”

  There was no way…. They were wrong. This was some weird, messed-up joke.

  I half-lurched out of my chair. I needed to swim. I needed to forget everything I’d just learned. Xander got to me so fast that I barely even had a chance to step forward.

  “No, wait.” He held me tight and I struggled against him, hating that I felt so out of control. “Listen to me,” he demanded, his arms like steel bands that I was uselessly smashing against. “You are important to both worlds. Without your help, millions, if not billions, of people and Daelighters will die.”

  A sob choked from me before I could pull it back, but I stopped struggling because it was futile. “I have nothing,” I said to him. “No family. No future. And now you’re all telling me that I don’t even have my past, that everything I believed about myself is wrong, a lie told by my parents, who bailed as soon as they got me to the age of eighteen.”

  No wonder they bailed on me. Their human freak of a child.

  A familiar feeling of despair washed through me. Some days I just felt like nothing. I knew my self-worth shouldn’t be tied to anyone else, to their actions, but I believed that humans needed a tribe. And I didn’t have one. I was adrift in this world, trying to find my tide pool.

  “You don’t have nothing,” Xander told me firmly, loosening his grip just enough to lean back. “You have a destiny far greater than you could have imagined. You have a family you don’t even know about, and if you bail on us now, you’ll never know about them.”

  He released me completely, and I lifted my hands to wipe away the stray tears that had escaped. I was an emotional crier. The last time I’d shed tears was when I woke up to the note from my parents. In this moment, my chest hurt almost as much, and I couldn’t quite figure out why.

  Maya pushed Xander to the side, shooting him a glare. “Stop manhandling her, you big jerk. This is a huge shock. I remember how it felt and I had my parents—who I trusted—tell me about it.”

  Xander just crossed his arms, leaning back against the side of the boat railing, not at all off-balance even though we were still flying through the water. Maya returned her focus to me.

  “I’m sorry, Ava. I really wish there was an easier way to tell you it all.”

  I waved my hand at her, clearing my throat. “No, I told you to just hit me with it. I’m standing by that. I … I won’t run until you’ve finished.”

  She moved, almost like she was going to hug me, but stopped at the last moment. I was both grateful and kinda sad that she did.

  “Okay, so Daelighters and humans have a treaty,” she continued. “This is the reason you were born in Overworld. You’re part of the treaty.”

  I managed not to comment on this, wanting her to finish.

  “Basically, there are four houses in Overworld: Darken, Imperial, Leights, and Royale. These four houses have a wormhole transporter thing set up between Earth and Overworld. It’s permanent and the government knows about it. In exchange for this transporter—which helps to power the land of Overworld—the humans got a stone. Starslight stone, to be exact. Which is very powerful and was buried somewhere near the equator to stop an out-of-control series of storms that was rocking Earth.”

  This was insane, but it would certainly make a great sci-fi television show. Reality, not so fun.

  “How do I come into this?” I murmured.

  She shot me a wry grin. “Well, the stone is so powerful that it’s hidden from everyone except for one Daelighter and four humans. The four humans are like a map. Together they lead to the stone if the need ever arises to find it. They’re called the secret keepers.”

  “And I’m one of them,” I guessed.

  Maya nodded. “You are number four, actually. The final one who can lead us to the stone.”

  “You were born in Overworld, in the House of Royale.” Xander spoke up, his voice low and dangerously rumbly. “My house.”

  His assertion felt right; not believing would only be pure stubbornness at this stage. Maybe if I hadn’t spent most of my life under the water, with abilities far beyond a human’s, I would be more skeptical. But truth be told, the story made sense. Especially with the evidence of Xander right in front of me.

  Land came into sight then and this spurred Maya on. She hurriedly explained the rest to me. She told me about the four overlord minors—Xander and Chase were apparently royalty in their land, which explained the arrogance. And she went into a little more detail about the four secret keepers, and then finally about Laous.

  The one creating all the drama in both worlds.

  This Laous was a Daelighter who wanted to find the stone, wanted the power, and would stop at nothing to get it. He’d hurt and killed and kidnapped his way through the first three keepers. All that was left was me. It had been his people who’d shot at us yesterday. I rubbed my arm. The bandage was long gone now, just a thin line of stitches from Doc’s handiwork remaining.

  “What happened to your arm?” Xander’s question was abrupt. I wasn’t sure why he’d bothered to ask when he clearly didn’t give a shit.

  Not wanting to look at him, but not able to be that rude, I gave him a quick glance and said, “Just a scrape from yesterday. A bullet grazed me.”

  Before I could avert my eyes, I noticed his darkened from blue to something that resembled a sky about to rain bloody hell down on earth, dark and stormy.

  Swallowing hard, I turned away and hurried to say, “I have no idea at all where this stone is … like, not a freakin’ clue. If I’m the final, and I’m the one who is supposed to hold the knowledge of this location, then shouldn’t I … know?”

  Chase turned, hands still on the w
heel holding us steady in the ocean. “I have a theory about that, actually. We can talk more about it when we get back to our home.”

  “Secret lair,” Maya cut in, shooting her mate a cheeky grin. “Home would be a little … homier.”

  Ugh, they were just too darn cute. Couldn’t they take that somewhere else so us lonely people didn’t have to hate them through envy? Deciding it would be easier if I just turned away, I swiveled around again to face forward. Xander stayed on the side, just in the periphery of my vision. Annoying squid.

  We were closing in fast on land now, and I was somewhat excited by the prospect of meeting the others. I’d heard a bit about Emma and Callie, the first and second of the secret keepers. Apparently the four of us had a special sort of bond. They’d been waiting for me to see if we would feel a stronger connection together.

  Someone had been waiting for me. Pretty sure that was a first.

  Chase took the boat around familiar headland. We were no longer on Lanai but I knew a lot of these islands well. He slowed and docked on a private mooring. “The others are still out searching for you,” Maya explained as we moved to get off. “You were moving around so much every time we tried to track you using the crystal.”

  The crystal part was a little extra weird. Apparently when dipped in the blood of the previous keeper, it would track the next one. Daelighters really needed to come up with a better system for hiding their things.

  “I was moving across the island last night,” I confirmed. “Walking to reach my friend. He’s a doctor. He patched me up. And then this morning I was swimming all over.”

  Maya’s face fell. “I’m so sorry you got hurt because of me. Laous is…. He needs to die. Nothing else will suffice.”

  My very brief and limited experience with Laous had me agreeing with her. He’d been power-spraying bullets into the ocean like a madman, trying to pick us off like we were nothing more than animals. In fact, he might have actually hit some of the sea creatures, and that was not okay with me.

  Oh, and there was also the small thing of him wanting to steal a stone that was keeping both worlds alive and functioning. Worlds he lived on. He had to be completely insane. “What is Laous’s plan once he gets this stone? Does he think the threats to both worlds are no longer there? That the treaty is obsolete?”

  Maya shrugged. “I’m not sure he’s thinking clearly at all anymore. He had a very traumatic childhood. He let some of it slip to me when he thought I was in his custody and not going to be released. All he sees is the power. He’s determined to never be vulnerable again.”

  Xander and Chase both shook their heads then, almost in sync. “There was never any indication that Laous had an abusive upbringing,” Chase said. “From what my parents said, he was top of his classes, succeeded in all areas, had a close tie to his brother, Lucas.”

  Xander made a sound of agreement. “And Daniel’s father, Lucas, never mentioned anything about his parents being that horrible. He would have said something, right? The only thing he ever told Daniel was that his parents were killed in an accident just before Daniel was born.”

  Daniel…. I was trying to remember who he was. Pretty sure he was the mate of another secret keeper. Callie, maybe.

  We all just stood on the dock, and since security was an issue, I found myself looking around, trying to make sure there was no attack on the way. “You’re safe right now,” Xander said, brushing by me so he could take the lead.

  I tried not to react, but his skin sliding across mine, even for that brief second, created a strange sensation in my body. I had momentarily forgotten I was standing there in just a wet shirt and underwear, but Xander definitely created an awareness in my body. My blood was bubbling … fizzing. Like water when it was disturbed.

  Shaking that off, I hurried after the small group. Maya fell into step with me. Before I could stop her, she reached out and linked our arms together. Somehow, despite her tiny stature, it worked comfortably. “I’m so glad we found you before Laous.” She flashed those kind blue eyes at me and I couldn’t bring myself to pull away.

  It kind of felt nice, actually. Like I had a friend. I remembered how it was done. I hadn’t been a loner my entire life, but it had been a while.

  “I’m glad as well, as long as you all aren’t leading me to my death now.”

  Maya just chuckled and squeezed my arm. I had to laugh too. I mean … their story was so far-fetched that it had to be true. No one would make up something that crazy. Plus … it explained so many things about me. My water abilities. The reason my parents always called me a burden and a responsibility. They needed to make sure the secret keeper was kept alive until I turned eighteen. After that, I was on my own. My own responsibility.

  It would have been nice if they’d told me more about Daelighters before they just bailed. I almost walked right into a huge situation involving aliens. Freaking aliens!

  “Why do you think my parents never said anything to me? I mean, if they work for the government and this was their job, surely they shouldn’t just take off?”

  Maya let out a tiny huff, almost like annoyance. “They will be in big trouble when the government catches up to them. Not to mention, you’re not just a job, you’re their child.”

  I shrugged. “I thought I was, but maybe they had to adopt me? Maybe my actual parents were killed?”

  For some reason, that made me feel better, an explanation I could go with rather than that the very people who should have loved me most thought of me as nothing more than a job to get through.

  “I will check with my parents as soon as we’re back in contact,” Maya said. “We’re off the radar now, in case Laous figures out how to track us.”

  Her face fell, and I could only guess that if you had a loving family, it would be really tough to not be able to talk to them.

  Our conversation was cut off when we arrived at a very fancy black car parked just around the corner from the moored boat. “This is our ride,” Chase said, holding the door open for us. “Time to get back to the secret lair.”

  He winked at his girl, and she shook her head, a soft smile spreading across her face.

  Meanwhile I was trying to control my breathing because it was all getting real for me now. Secret lair. Aliens. Fancy cars. None of this was my life.

  I had no choice. I needed to see this through. So I was getting in the car.

  4

  “I’m soaking wet,” I reminded them, staring at the seats. “I will destroy the leather.”

  “Here is a towel to keep you warm.” Xander surprised me by handing across a huge, warm, white beach towel. “Don’t worry about the seats, you won’t hurt them.”

  Maya shot me a grin. “These guys have more cars than brain cells. Don’t stress about it. They really don’t care.”

  I shrugged. “Okay, then, I can only offer.”

  My hair was mostly dry from the boat ride, so I just quickly rubbed the towel over the ends.

  “Your hair is amazing,” Maya said, her gaze running along the strands. “It’s silver and rainbow. Unicorn hair.”

  More like mermaid hair. “This is a House of Royale thing, right?” I asked Xander, wanting it confirmed. I’d seen it in his hair, so I was pretty sure.

  He nodded. “Yes, this is a feature from my house. The pigments in our hair open up under the water, which creates a rainbow effect. Like when rain and sun mix together in the sky.”

  Such a cool fact. It was nice to finally know why some of these things happened to me.

  Once I’d wrapped the towel around myself, I climbed into the back. Xander ended up taking the seat on the other side of me. Chase drove, with Maya sitting shotgun. I spent most of the trip staring out the window. Maya shot me worried looks every now and then, but mostly she just held hands with her mate and sat quietly. After some time, I felt Xander’s eyes on me, and had to shift around in my seat toward him. He had answers I’d sought my entire life. I wanted to know about the world under the sea, about my abilities.
I wanted to know if I would eventually be able to stay under there, in the world of my heart.

  “Do you live under the sea?” I asked softly.

  His eyes were too beautiful; it was hard to concentrate when they were focused so intently on me. Luckily he had such a rotten personality. That helped me not look at him as anything more than a means to an end.

  “Yes,” he said. “House of Royale is a world under the water.”

  “They call it legreto,” Maya chimed in from the front. “Not water.”

  I didn’t turn to her. Xander held my attention too strongly. “You sleep under there?” I hated the note of hope in my voice. I wasn’t a Royale. I was a human with a little Daelighter energy within me, but I wanted so badly to live under the sea.

  He nodded. “Our ability to breathe below and above the water is what makes us unique on our world. So, when I’m in my house, I’m always beneath the water.”

  My eyes burned as I tried to clear my throat. “I have to come up for air,” I whispered. “I can stay under for a long time, but not forever. I always—”

  I broke off because he didn’t care about my hopes and dreams. It was better for me to keep it to myself.

  Xander didn’t say anything more, but his gaze wasn’t quite so dismissive the next time he met my eyes. Eventually I turned back to the window, watching the island flash by. They had taken their boat out quite a way from their safe house, which was probably to hide the trail if anyone was following.

  Chase eventually turned off, taking us inland, toward a small patch of rainforest. He had to use the four-wheel drive capabilities of the car to get over some of the rougher areas. I noticed through the trees there was an estate of huge beach houses, and when we pulled up and all got out, that was the direction they led me in.

  Their secret lair wasn’t really secret or lair-like. It looked like an upmarket beach shack, one of those new builds trying to mimic the original island shacks in design and materials, only everything was too fancy and new to actually fit in.