The next knock on the door was not quite as heavy. I still jumped of course, because it felt like I was in a bubble in this room. A warm, sweet bubble.
“We have food out here,” Chase said. His voice I would recognize anywhere, it was so damn smooth. “Whenever you’re ready.”
My stomach growled in response, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten at all today. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt like hours since I woke for my swim.
“I could eat,” Callie admitted, laughing. “This soul-bond thing is kind of draining on me, especially when I’ve been away from House of Imperial for an extended amount of time.” She met my eyes then. “Are you okay to come out now? Because we can totally stay in here longer if you need more time.”
“I’m hungry too,” I decided. “Let’s eat.”
Emma clapped her hands and the other two threw indulgent smiles at her. “Emma is our cheer squad,” Maya told me with a huge grin. “Even though I’m the one who was the actual cheerleader, Emma is the one who rallies us all together.”
“She’s the best,” Callie added.
Emma’s cheeks went very pink and she waved them away. “I’m just all about showing people how much I care about them. I lost my family—I felt lower than I ever had. I didn’t think I’d ever be happy again. But I am.” Some of the joy filtered out of her eyes. “Even though I miss my mom and dad so much. God … so damn much. It still hurts to even think about them. I know they’d be so happy if they could see my new family, and that makes it a lot easier. Every day it gets easier.”
Maya let out a strangled sob. “We need to leave before I start bawling. It’s going to happen. I promise.”
I was right there with Maya; my eyes felt damp and hot. Thankfully as we all started to file out of the room, I managed to get my emotions under control. I also felt … better. Truly calm and content for the first time in a long time. Of course, the moment I came face-to-face with Xander—leaning against a nearby wall, staring in our direction—all the confused emotions from before smashed right back into me.
I need the ocean.It was the best thing to clear my head.
When he walked over to us, my chest got tight. I tried to figure out what he wanted.Wait, are those sweats in his hands?
“They’re going to be way too big for you, but I figured you might want some … pants,” he said, holding them out.
His eyes were filled with humor, and I was pretty sure he was checking out the long length of my bare legs. Reaching out, I worked very hard not to snatch the clothes out of his hands. I seriously didn’t want to wear his pants, but I also didn’t want to keep walking around in my underwear.
I quickly shimmied into them, tightening the drawstring as much as I could so they stayed up. “I have clothes,” I told him as I rolled the legs up a few times. “They’re at the lifeguard tower back in Lanai. They keep my bag for me when I go swimming.”
Xander shrugged. “You’re going to have to say goodbye to that bag for now. We can’t risk going to any of your normal hangouts.”
When I was clothed and upright, Callie reached out and linked her arm with mine. “It’s okay, we’re practically the same height. I’ll share until we can get you your own.”
Thankful for her intervention, I turned my attention in her direction. Together we moved over to the table. I could feel Xander’s eyes on me, but I was determined not to look back.
When we reached the food, Callie released me and I mouthed a thank-you to her. She just smiled. Trying not to act like a starving weirdo, I took my time looking everything over, when all I really wanted to do was grab as many things as I could and stuff them into my mouth.
“Swimming at the speeds we do burns a lot of calories.”
I knew it was Xander; I could feel the energy running between us. It had been there from the first moment in the water together. When he touched me it increased greatly, but I would be stronger than it. I knew now this was just a byproduct of the secret keeper thing. Nothing more. Wearing his clothes was literally the only time I was getting into his pants. End of story.
“I already know that,” I told him. “Generally I have to eat five or six full-size meals a day. Otherwise I lose a lot of weight.” Not to mention I was six feet tall—I had a lot of body to fill up.
“Take as much as you want,” Emma said, shooting everyone a look. “Let Avalon go first,” she told them.
“It’s okay,” I cut in. “Seriously, don’t worry about me. I don’t need any special treatment ... and it’s just Ava,” I added.
“I’m Lexen, it’s nice to meet you,” the dragon lord dude said. The gorgeous, intimidating, scary overlord.
“Nice to meet you, too,” I managed to chirp back.
“Daniel,” the shaved-headed one said. “Overlord of House of Imperial.”
He was blunt. He suited Callie, who I felt had the same honest bluntness to her—from what I had seen in the ten minutes I’d known them all, of course.
All eight of us were standing around the table now; no one had moved toward the food. It almost felt like … we needed this moment. The eight of us together.
“It feels different now.” Maya broke the silence. “The energy between us. It’s stronger. More complete.”
