“So Laous obviously got Callie’s blood, which means he’s going to be heading for secret keeper three. What does the council think they can do now?” Emma asked.
“Hopefullythe councilwill tell us soon,” Lexen grumbled. “So far this is a repeat of useless information about the treaty.”
I’d been half listening, because it was new to me, but there really hadn’t been anything important said by the council so far. Just that both worlds had been dying, that this treaty was about peace, and that we needed to do everything to protect it.
Most Daelighters around us were having conversations amongst themselves. It was easy to tell who was from which house; they tended to stick to their own, standing in front of their territory. Lexen and Emma were currently in the Imperial section – Chase had left to rejoin the Leights – but very few others were cross-mingling.
“Do you live here, in Overworld?” I asked Emma, far more interested in this interdimensional relationship.
She shook her head. “Nope, I live in Daelighter territory, back in Astoria.”
“You’ll be staying there as well,” Daniel informed me. “I still have to keep up appearances. We have to go to school on Earth as part of the treaty.” Something I just learned from the council update. “You’re going to have to remain with me. I’ll bring you back to House of Imperial periodically to recharge.”
Narrowing my eyes, I looked between the three standing across from me. Emma was the only one shorter than me, but she didn’t look remotely intimidated by my anger. I supposed after dealing with these overlords I was nothing. “I don’t have time to go to school. I need to find my mom and kill Laous. In that order. Or either order. I don’t care.”
Emma chuckled. “I knew I was going to like you. Us secret keepers need to stick together.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest, dimming some of my anger.
“We’ll find Laous and your mother,” Daniel assured me. “But none of us can shirk our responsibilities. It’s the unfortunate part of being an overlord.”
Letting out a ragged breath, I just nodded. I was going to have to accept that there was no rushing in this situation and be grateful that everyone was still working to find my mom.
“Come on, Em, it’s time for us to get back to the Darkens,” Lexen said to her, wrapping her up into his huge body. The way he held her … it was like she was more precious than anything else in the world.
Damn you, romantic comedies. You’ve given me unrealistic expectations, and now I wanted a Lexen. Not him, exactly, because he wasn’t my type. Too pretty, too broody, too in love with another woman. I did not poach. That got you a straight punch in the boob.
“I’ll find you after,” Emma said, then she surprised me with a hug before they left.
I turned confused eyes on Daniel. “Emma is a great friend for you to have,” he told me. “She understands what you’re going through. Ever since her family was killed by Laous, she’s been struggling.”
Those words triggered a visceral reaction within me. Daniel responded to my pain by capturing my hand and squeezing it. “I’m so sorry, Callie,” he murmured. “That was thoughtless. Your mom could still be alive. Laous is very good at keeping his victims alive but miserable.”
I let out a long breath, before a snort of laughter hit me. “That’s really not much better. ‘Hey, Callie, your mom is probably alive while an evil former-overlord tortures her daily.’”
Daniel rubbed a hand across his head and I couldn’t stop from following the path of his overlord symbols. I kind of wanted to touch them too.
“I’m not the best at comfort,” he admitted, dragging my attention back to him.
“Have you ever been shown comfort?” I asked, curious.
His jaw turned to granite as he gritted his teeth. I was about to apologize, because clearly my question had hit on a nerve, but then he let out a long breath. “My mother and older brother were the only good things I had in my life. My brother disappeared when I was young. He was the oldest and had always looked out for me. One day he was there, and then he was gone. No one has seen or heard from him since. We presume he is … dead.” He growled at the last word. “And my mother died when I was in my second metamorphosis burst. So … around ten.”
I didn’t even want to know what ametamorphosis burstwas. It made me think of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly or something. I focused instead on the number. He was ten. Just ten when he lost the only decent member of his family. His mom.
“How did she die?” I asked softly, my heart already hammering at the possibility of his answer. Not only had he lost his brother, but his mom right after. It was so unfair.
Daniel lowered his head briefly, shuttering those eyes from me. I found myself a little bereft … I was growing far too accustomed to staring into his depthless irises. They helped me understand this man. His expression hid a lot, but his eyes were clear as day.
“She died in childbirth, having my youngest brother,” he bit out, and I could feel the hurt in each word. “When my father told me what happened … it almost destroyed me. I blamed Fraizer. Unfair of me, I know that now, but at the time I couldn’t see past my pain. It ruined our relationship forever.”
God, he’d basically lost two brothers and his mother almost in the same hit.
I followed Daniel’s line of sight then to a Daelighter with his arms crossed over his chest, staring daggers at us. There was no doubt in my mind that this was his brother; he looked like Daniel. A less rugged version of him anyway. He was a pretty-boy with a slicked-back faux hawk – shaved on the sides but longer on top – and long-runner muscles. He had a few marks, signs of the overlord family. About a quarter the amount Daniel had.
“Fraizer?” I asked softly.
Daniel nodded, before turning away from him. “We’re the last remaining members of the overlord family, my true blood brother. I started the destruction between us. Then greed, jealousy, and our father – who turned into even more of a complete and total asshole after Mom died – were the final nails in that coffin.”
