I hurried to follow after him, not wanting to be left behind in this strange world. As we stepped back inside, I noticed there were Daelighters everywhere.Whoa.Either they came out of nowhere, or I totally spaced the first time we walked through.
As we passed, many of them lowered their heads to Daniel, some placing hands on their forehead in what looked like a gesture of respect. For all I knew that was their way of flipping each other off, but it didn’t feel like that.
Daniel nodded to each in return, and I sensed his discomfort as he continued forward in long graceful strides. I had to take three steps to keep up with each one of his. At the back of the room of eggs, there was a sink next to another doorway.
“You might want to wash up best you can,” Daniel said, before he pushed open the door.
Glancing down, I shuddered at the red staining my skin and clothes. Hurrying forward, I let the thick water run over me, and without almost any scrubbing it sucked the blood from my hands and arms. There wasn’t much I could do about my clothes, but by the time I stepped into the room after Daniel, most of my skin was blood free.
The new room was a small, stone-lined area, nothing like the white, sterile environment of the eggs. The only thing in there was a ball of light … actually, it was more like a ball made up of lots of strands of light, that moved about constantly.
“This is a transporter,” Daniel explained when I joined him, close to the lights. “This is just a small one, which will take us to the large permanent one between Earth and Overworld. That transporter is the one which gives us power and keeps our network functioning. Most of my council and advisers have gone on ahead, so we need to hurry.”
“I really should change first,” I said, waving my hands across my bloody clothes. Thankfully my Converse were dark, so if there was blood on them I couldn’t see it.
He shook his head. “Most of it is off your skin, which I needed to happen, because seeing you coated in blood was not doing much for my control. The rest can wait. We don’t want to be late. I need to hear what they have to say. I need to be there to keep my house in order.” He held out a hand and I stared at it. “You’ll have to hold my hand. You can’t navigate the network without me.”
Okay, then. My independence was pretty much toast anyway. Might as well get used to being a puppet. I reached out and his hand engulfed mine. He was gentle for such a huge guy.
“Do your tattoos mean something?” I asked, catching sight of them as he turned.
I wanted to know all the things about him, and this world I was now in. Maybe there was actually a chance at the freedom I had always craved, if I could just learn my place.
He ran his free hand across the maroon marks on his head. “They’re the symbols of an overlord. Each holds different meaning, written in the old language. Most Daelighters who are fit to be overlord are born with them. Some develop them later, or like Laous have them marked on their skin with ink.” He ran a hand across his shoulder and down his chest. “My marks are all the way down to my waist on one side. We’re the only House to have this happen.”
“What do yours mean?”
No doubt that was a hugely personal question, but what the hell. Our souls were tied together. Did it get any more personal than that?
Daniel let out a derisive sound. “Bringer of light. Keeper of souls. Unification of worlds.”
Those words hung heavy in the air, like they were more than just words. Like they were a prophecy of sorts. They suited him, though … felt right.
Daniel pulled me a little closer and I let him do it. Before I knew it, we were stepping toward the ball of light. He reached out, grabbed one of those strands, and my cry was lost as we were sucked into the brightness. Immediately I closed my eyes, because the sensation of travelling along this stream of energy was disconcerting and nauseating. I felt like a wimp not taking it all in, but I was also trying to give myself a break from the pressure to be perfect all the time. A break from having to always be strong. I’d lived in a world of fear and anger and control for eighteen years. Then I died. It could have all been a waste. I would not squander whatever time I had been given now.
“You can open your eyes.” Daniel’s rumbly voice sounded mildly amused.
When my eyes flung open, I immediately tried to take in everything around us. Which was impossible, because there was so much to see. Hundreds of Daelighters were already gathered, but they were standing a little away, clearly waiting for this all to start. Moving past them, I focused on everything else. We were on a huge circular platform with a diameter of at least a mile, or maybe even two. A ball of light – the permanent transporter we’d just stepped from, I would guess – was right in the center of it all.
The platform appeared to be made of metal, and carved into the metallic-like surface were lots of symbols like those marked on Daniel’s neck and side of his head. More of their ancient language, no doubt. Moving away from Daniel, I remembered my almost-death – and new dependency – and halted before turning back to meet his hooded gaze. He seemed to know exactly what was worrying me.
“You don’t have to stay by my side, Callie. As long as you are within a few hundred feet of me, you won’t fade away.”
I sucked in a relieved breath. That was a win, because I’d freaked that maybe I’d literally have to stick to his side at all times. “It will get easier,” he added.
“What do you mean?” I asked, wondering if he meant that figuratively or literally. Because in lots of aspects, I was already coming around to the entire concept. Maybe I’d have a breakdown later, but so far, I was okay. I’d always been very good at taking things in stride. As long as I understood what was going on, that there was a logical reason for what was happening, my brain could deal.
He took a step closer to me and I tilted my head back to keep his face in my line of sight. It was odd for me to have to look up at someone like this; my height usually gave me the advantage.
“I don’t know for certain,” he said, “because this sort of bond has never happened in my lifetime, or to my knowledge, but we did learn during our schooling years that a soul link can charge up over time. Your soul will grow stronger again. Eventually, you’ll be able to spend extended periods of time away from me and my land.”
OhmyGod.I didn’t think, I just launched myself at him, hugging my arms around him. “Thank you,” I murmured. “Thank you for that sliver of hope…” My voice caught, but I pushed through to add, “And thank you for being the only alien I could imagine being bonded to.”
It was an irrefutable truth. There had been a comfort with Daniel right from the start. I’d never given Michaels the time of day, but those inner securities never kicked in with the Daelighter I was hugging. Fate had doubly blessed me, because without Daniel I would be dead, and if another Daelighter had been the one to bond me, I might have wished I was dead.
When I pulled back, there was a moment of awkwardness there, but then it drifted away in the breeze. I turned back to stare out across the view, and he stayed at my side.
“That’s House of Darken,” he said, pointing toward a land filled with snow-topped mountains, and gorgeous valleys and streams. It was so pretty that I let out an exaggerated sigh of appreciation.
