The others started murmuring behind us, talking about finding the other crystals. They wandered off, probably to give us some privacy.
“Do you want this bond?” Xander asked me, his blue eyes killing me with their intensity.
I nodded before I even had a chance to really think about it. It was the truth. “More than anything,” I admitted. “It’s been killing me thinking about not having a chance to explore the connection between us. But even with our bond you still have to deal with your mother. She hates me. She’s never going to accept a human as your mate.”
“We will figure it out,” he said, kissing me hard. “But first, let’s deal with the stone and Laous.”
A ricochet of energy rocked him for a moment. We turned to find Callie and Daniel at the huge fire pit, flames dancing high above them, and a glint of crystal at the top of the flames.
“They found the Imperial crystal,” I said.
Xander did not let me go, wading us back toward the land. When we stepped up, I pulled my hand back. We held the crystal together.
“The fact you want to fight for us means everything to me,” I told him honestly. “If it doesn’t work out, if this is all I get with you, I don’t regret our short time together. Or this bond. I’m honored that fate decided to put you in my life.”
My voice cracked. I bit my lip to keep the tears from falling. “I’m pretty sure I’ve half loved you from the first time you arrogantly ordered me out of the water. You make me … feel.” The damp heat in my eyes was too much. I felt the moisture slide down my cheeks.
Xander finally let me down so he could cup my face with both hands. “You are perfect,” he told me. “I will fix this.”
Someone shouted before I could reply. We turned to find everyone near the wall of symbols, three crystals visible in their hands.
“We found them all,” Emma said.
“Now get my damn stone,” Laous roared from behind the group. Flames burst up, visible over Lexen’s head. “I have waited long enough. Find the starslight stone, and just know, I’m taking the crystals as well. Extra payment for keeping me waiting so long.”
“He’s losing it,” Xander murmured. “We don’t have a lot of mental illness in Overworld. The network keeps us all in balance, but for those who do travel down that path, it can be very dangerous. Especially for someone in the overlord bloodlines. The power inside of us becomes unpredictable. We can’t control it.”
That sounded scary. Didn’t we already have enough scary going on right now?
Focused again on our task, no one argued with Laous. We didn’t plan on letting him have any of the stones, but he didn’t need to know that. The eight of us moved toward the wall, each of us holding our crystals.
Flames erupted to the side of us and we swung around to find Laous completely on fire, his people on either side of him standing as close as they could get without burning. “Find my stone,” he said. There was no inflection in his voice at all, which made it scarier.
I exchanged a look with Xander. “Any idea what we do now?”
Callie, still watching Laous’s out of control fire closely, said, “Maybe something to do with the symbols?”
We were already near the wall, so I reached out and put my hand against it. Xander placed his next to mine. The others followed our actions. “We should touch as well,” Chase suggested, shuffling in closer from the side. Everyone moved so that our arms and bodies touched while our hands remained against the wall.
Energy, like we’d felt the first time the secret keepers had connected, flared to life between the eight of us. “Holy shite,” Maya gasped. “It’s strong.”
The stone in Xander’s hand started to vibrate. It sent out a low-pitched sound that appeared to be making the ground we stood on vibrate as well.
“The wall is changing,” Emma said in a rush.
Focusing all of my attention on the symbols, I noticed five small indents in the wall now, between our symbols, deep enough for us to insert our crystals. Xander and I didn’t wait. Laous’s fire was even bigger than before; he had run out of patience.
Lifting our joined hands we shoved our crystal into the rock, and even though the hole hadn’t looked that deep, the entire crystal disappeared completely. I tried not to freak out, hoping we’d just done the right thing.
The moment the Royale symbols started to swirl, the others hurried to do the same with their crystals.
“What’s the fifth hole for?” Callie asked, peering into it like it was a peephole.
No one said anything, all of us wondering what we’d missed, until Emma moved forward. Her hand reaching for the neckline of her shirt. She lifted out a chain with a stone on the end.
“You think…?” Callie asked, trailing off as Emma undid her chain and slipped the stone off. A wistful expression crossed her face as she placed this last piece of stone in the center of the others, and it too disappeared into the rock.
“That’s a piece of starslight,” Xander told me. “A piece from the very stone we’re looking for.”
