Before my hand could make contact with the wall, it flexed out, swelling away from my touch. I took another step closer to it, and the same thing happened. What in the actual fu—?
“Hello!” I screamed. Or attempted to. My voice was a rasp, and no amount of throat clearing was going to help.
Again I attempted to slam my hands into the side – the wall swelled outwards. I tried a few more times; it continued to move, avoiding me, even when I pressed closer. The view I saw through the murky plastic never changed. My prison was not moving. Outside was a ton more egg-shaped structures, and within them were shadows. Other prisoners?
Was this some sort of egg prison?
Great. Unless they had the word Easter in front of them, I wasn’t a fan of eggs. I started to pace back and forth, trying to work through my thoughts. My brain was coming back online slowly; clearly it had been fried by that burst of heat. I could remember talking with Lexen, discussing the possibilities that the overlord minors going to Earth might have had something to do with my parents’ deaths. That was the last thing I remembered before the darkness.
I panicked at the thought that something might have happened to the Darkens, to a family I had grown quite fond of. All of them were kind, caring, never once making me feel like I didn’t belong or was a burden to them.
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.”Iwas 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.
