“Same,” Callie said, quietly. “Now let’s go save our worlds.”
“Does everyone have the coordinates memorized?” Lexen reminded us of the reason I was in a freezing stream with my shirt over my head. “We can’t use the network to figure out where it is, so we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
“Google!” Maya and Emma shouted at the same time.
“The first part is easy enough to remember,” Daniel said with a laugh. “I volunteer to remember the zero.”
Callie actually laughed out loud. “Always lazy at school, Dan. That’s the latitude,” she told him. “The equator is the center of the earth, so it’s always zero. The other coordinates are the important ones.”
“Definitely need Google for this,” Maya said. “Nobody knows coordinates off the top of their head.”
Xander gently pulled my shirt down and I turned to face them. “Got the numbers memorized?”
Lexen nodded. “Don’t worry, Daelighters have excellent memories. We won’t forget.”
Awesome. Time to go.
My emotions were mixed in that moment. Leaving House of Royale was hard. I’d only been here for such a short time. But it wasn’t as devastating as I expected, maybe because I had recently learned the most important lesson of all. Home was people, not places. It all made sense to me now.
Xander recruited some Royales to help us back to the round disc between the houses, and in no time at all we were standing on the edge of this water world, lacing up our shoes.
We weren’t the only ones on the disc either, preparing to cross to Earth.
The warriors had come.
17
We made our way through the crowds toward the center of the disc. There were two small groups waiting there, one with Lexen’s dad and sister, along with another dark-haired male who bore a scar down one side of his face. They were chatting with a pair of regal Daelighters. When Chase and Maya crossed straight to them, I figured they were Chase’s parents, the overlords of House of Leights.
Lettie and Tristall were also in that overlord group; they must have come up while we were in the sacred waters. Lettie had changed from her casual attire and now wore a floor-length dress of seaweed green, its lengths trailing across the ground behind her. The crown on her head was coral-like in structure. The protruding sections that weaved between her hair were in shades of purple and blue.
She looked amazing. And intimidating.
And I still hated her.
Royale warriors stood close by, their spears and spikes held aloft, looking all kinds of scary. I wondered, for a moment, if Xander went against his mother, would she send those warriors after him? Would she force his compliance?
She seemed like the type of leader who would do anything to get her own way. Especially if she thought it was for the good of her people.
Daniel and Callie, holding hands, moved to take their place as the fourth overlord majors. Imperial warriors shifted closer to them as well, backing their leaders. This was the first time I’d seen a large group of Imperials, and I noted that all of them had their hair cropped or shaved just like Daniel’s. Even Callie’s hair was very short, stopping just below her ears. Maybe it was really hot down there … the underworld might have gotten its “fires of hell” myth from Overworld as well.
“We have the location,” Lexen said to his father, and we all pushed in closer to hear the conversation. “We’re ready to find the stone and put an end to all of this. Have we figured out how to remove the secret keepers’ link to it?”
Colita stepped away from the nearby group. “The council can do that,” she said, gesturing to the half a dozen other Daelighters she’d been standing with. “We have devised a plan that will break the bonds between the four and the stone. The moment you find it, you need to contact us. We’re teaming up with the humans. They’ve decided not to hide the starslight any longer. Instead the location will be known, and a human and Daelighter army will rotate in guarding it.”
“They’re going to actually tell humans?” Daniel said cynically. “Is that the best plan? Humans are not known for taking news about impending end-of-world disasters well.”
Colita shrugged. “The human government assures us that they can spin this information to keep the panic at a minimum. They’re not going to break the whole aliens-walk-among-you to them just yet. We all agree that humans—most of them anyway—are not ready for that information.”
I’d barely felt ready for it, and I’d lived with being “different” my entire life.
Lexen moved on, his eyes doing that flashing white lights thing. “What’s the plan for right now? Should we leave the secret keepers in Overworld until we clear Laous out of Astoria? I don’t want Emma or any of them in danger. They must be protected.”
Emma elbowed him in the ribs. “Stop trying to leave me behind. We’re a team. I’ve told you that a hundred times. The eight of us … we’re stronger together. It’s a fact.”
His fierce expression softened, and he nodded. “I agree with you now. I feel it as well—”
“Finally convinced your stubborn ass,” Emma cut in.
