House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(48)

While I was having my internal existential crisis, the others turned toward Lexen and he gave a single nod. “Council’s orders. She’s going to be under Darken protection. We’re to remain at her side at all times.”

I was shaking my head, mind made up. “I’m not going with you,” I decided. “It’s too risky. I don’t even know anything about you!” My voice rose at the end, and when students turned to see what was happening, Lexen stepped in close, dropping his head closer to mine.

“You don’t have a choice.” His voice was low, and soothing somehow. “If you don’t come with us now, the council will send someone for you. And they’ll be far less interested in your cooperation.”

I backed up a little, fear rattling through me. I had grown complacent … fell into the trap of trusting beings who were not of this world, allowed myself to think for a brief moment that they were friends, that there was a bond between us. But what did I really know about them? They were … aliens.

Jero nudged his brother out of the way. “Lex, man, you’re scaring her.” He held a hand out to me, not demanding, just palm open. “Listen up, sweetheart. Lexen is not lying. If the council wants something, they get it. No matter what. We want you with us because we want to protect you. Our family has some influence in Overworld. You don’t need to worry about your safety.”

“I … I could get trapped on your world. I can’t take the risk.”

Most of me knew it was stupid trying to fight this. There was no way for me to hide from their council. I was a teenager with no money and missing guardians. If the council always got their own way, then it was going to happen. But I still had to protest. That was all the control left to me.

“Sara and Michael,” I choked out. “What happens to them if I don’t go with you?”

Lexen wore a blank expression again, except for those fiery eyes. “Reading between the lines of Father’s message, the council believes your guardians are being held in Overworld. If we want their help to find them, we need to cooperate.”

Damn, if they were on Overworld I was going to be there too. “How do I know you’re not lying?” I finally said, no longer backing away.

Marsil shot me his gentle grin; it put me at ease. “You’re just going to have to trust that we are on your side.”

Trusting was hard for me, but it seemed I really didn’t have a choice. In all honesty, my gut instincts since first meeting these four had been to trust them. It was a weirdness I couldn’t explain, but my gut was usually pretty good with those things, so I would go with it for now.

And hope it didn’t bite me on the ass.

Star, who had been quietly watching, letting her brothers talk me off the ledge, stepped in then and linked our arms together. “If I could stay here with you, I would,” she said, sincerity dripping from each word.

“You want to stay?” Marsil sounded surprised.

“I only just got here…” She stamped her foot. “Literally just got here and already I have to go home. It took me almost a year to get Father to agree. A year!”

Her voice wobbled slightly. I squeezed her hand.

Marsil patted his sister’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we won’t let the overlord keep you there. When this council meeting is done, we will all be coming back to our own little slice of Earth.”

“Don’t make any promises,” Lexen growled. “I think this little experiment has failed. It was one thing when it was voluntary, but the moment they started to force compliance, everything fell apart.”

No one said anything more, and I tried to ignore the small stab of pain I felt at his need to get away from Earth and … us humans. Whatever. I shouldn’t be surprised, Lexen had never made it a secret. There was a lot of background story I didn’t know, and a part of me was excited to be going to Overworld. Terrified, of course. But excited at the same time. An emotion I was more than a little happy to feel again. When my parents died, a part of me died also, the part that cared about the world going on around me. But … this felt different. For once I was not apathetic. I wanted to know everything. Hopefully I would get all of the answers soon.

Our first stop before leaving Starslight was a set of lockers near the entrance. Huge and shiny, they were at least twice the size and depth of mine. When Lexen pressed his thumb to the scanner, I realized it was his. I had no idea what they needed lockers for; they never carried books or bags.

“Dump your stuff in here. You won’t need it.”

Oh, right. The locker was for me. I thought briefly of grabbing my wallet, but no doubt the student identification and Daelight Crescent card were not going to be useful on Overworld, so I didn’t bother to take anything.

“We have everything you need in our territory,” Star told me. “Don’t worry about a thing.”

Did they have to be so nice all the time? The lines were blurring for me.

Meh, who the hell was I kidding? They had been blurred almost from the first second I moved onto their street and was told not to cross to the rich side. My fascination with these Daelighters was worrisome, but at least I understood what Cara was talking about. It was impossible to stay away once you’d tasted their world.

We left the school without a word to any teachers, and we weren’t the only ones. I was about to see the full scale of these Daelighters here on Earth. Well, at least here in Stars High. There were at least fifty students trailing out and climbing into their cars – all of which were worth more than the last three houses I had lived in put together.