House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(24)

That’s when I saw them. The three shadows.

Only they were no longer shadows. My guess had been right. It was Jero, Marsil, and Lexen.

They stood much closer than me to the swirling mass, not an ounce of unease on their faces as those light tendrils twirled in arcs around their heads. Jero was in the middle, and he had his right arm extended as though he was waiting for someone to take hold of it from the other side.

Which is exactly what happened.





6





My gasp escaped before I could stop it, and even though the noise of the swirling tornado was loud enough to cover a lot, it didn’t cover that. Two starlit eyes pierced me, and a plethora of low growls was Lexen’s response. Before I could say anything, or run away, which is what my rapid pulse and freaked-out mind was demanding, there was a Darken on either side of me, each capturing an arm and dragging me over to the swirl of light. Marsil and Jero were my captors. Lexen had not moved.

As the pair dragged me right up to the swirling light thing I let out another gasp. I really needed to work on my poker face, but seriously, a person had emerged from within the light.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Jero said, his hypnotic blue eyes burning into me. For some stupid reason, I noticed he was wearing a different set of dress shoes, along with a very expensive suit.

Why I should care about something like that, I had no idea, but the suspicious notion of a teenager dressing like a billionaire businessman was not lost on me. I should have guessed from the start that something was really not right with these three. My gut started to churn as light flashed around me. I wondered if any moment now I might actually barf on a Darken. Jero would probably really appreciate vomit on his ten thousand dollar suit and shoes.

“What is this light thing?” I stuttered out.

Jero lifted his gaze to meet Marsil’s. No doubt they were having a silent conversation over my head. Here’s hoping that conversation didn’t involve all the ways they could kill me and make it look like an accident. Realizing I wasn’t getting an answer, I turned my attention to Lexen, who was ignoring me as he hugged a willowy girl with long raven curls.

A chick who could apparently travel through light.

As she stepped out of his shadow, she turned to the other two. “Jer, Marsil! I’m so glad to see you! It has been too long!”

Her shrieked greeting grated across my last nerve. That’s when I started to struggle. Neither of the Darkens must have expected that, because I managed to wrench myself from their grip, landing hard on the ground. I started to scramble back, but before I got more than a foot away, Lexen took a step forward and snatched me up.

Literally. He jerked me to my feet and up into the air, using just one arm wrapped around my back.

“You’re not going anywhere.” His words were a low, rumbly growl. His accent was even stronger than Jero’s. “Didn’t your parents teach you to mind your own business? You’ve stumbled into something you really should have left alone.”

Ignoring that threat, I continued to struggle. “My parents are dead,” I spat at him. “And my guardians are missing, so right now I don’t give a shit about right and wrong. I want answers.”

How dare he give me orders and manhandle me like a child!

“Put me down!” I snarled, feeling hot dampness behind my eyes. I willed my tear ducts to behave themselves for once. Angry crying was not appropriate right now.

To my surprise, he complied, placing my feet back on the ground. Then he stepped back like he was disgusted just being close to me. “Hold on to her, Marsil,” he commanded, before he turned in my direction one last time. “We can’t let you go now. You’ve seen too much. I need to speak with the council. They’ll advise what to do about this … situation.”

Great, now I was a situation.

Marsil wrapped a big hand around my arm. He was the shortest of the three Darkens, still well over six foot and heavily muscled. I was definitely not going to be able to fight him off.

“Council?” I parroted. “I don’t understand … like Astoria town council?”

Lexen didn’t answer; he didn’t even look at me again.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Marsil’s voice was gentle, and I found myself focusing on him fully. Up close I saw why he was referred to as Jero’s twin. They looked very similar, but I would say Marsil was not quite as beautiful. Features less refined. More rugged. A little harder around the edges. Which contradicted the softness of his eyes. “Please don’t struggle.”

I swallowed roughly. “Let’s make a deal. You don’t rape or kill me and I’ll play the good victim for now.”

There was a snort of laughter from Jero, but it was Lexen who answered, “You don’t need to fear rape from us.” Mild distaste was clear in his voice, and I totally hadn’t missed the fact he hadn’t included death in that statement.

The girl, who was standing close to Jero, watched me silently. I noticed from the corner of my eye, but I was too freaked to really pay attention to her. For some reason, the boys seemed more real to me. Maybe because they hadn’t just appeared in a ball of light.

Marsil started to move and I forced my feet to hurry to keep up. He kept his large hand wrapped around my right bicep as we moved along the rose vine path and then back onto the main road. No one spoke as we walked, and when the shacks came back into view I stared longingly at them. Part of me really wished I’d listened to the rules and stayed over there. I understood the world over there. It might have been cold, and lonely, and hungry, but it was mine.