House of Leights (Secret Keepers #3)(56)

He looked between me and the creature multiple times, then shook his head. Using this to my advantage, I slipped around him, and this time he let me. Holding out my arm to the oliconda, I smiled. It didn’t hesitate, spreading those broad wings and soaring across to me again. As the heavy weight landed, I let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks for coming back to me, Oli. You don’t mind if I call you Oli, right?” Oliconda was too much of a mouthful.

It squawked lightly, and then we both turned in Chase’s direction as he let out a rumbling sound, shaking his head. “I cannot believe what I’m seeing. Not in all of our history has anyone tied themselves to an Oliconda. In fact, usually the ones to see them do not live to tell the tale. Luckily, they tend to remain hidden, in the shadows. Otherwise, we’d be down a lot of members of my house.”

I shrugged. “This one seems okay. Maybe it’s different to the others?”

You’re different.

That voice in my head was not like the Galinta. It was a single feminine tone, and it took me more than a moment to realize it had come from Oli. It had to have; there was no one else it could be.

“You talked to me,” I said out loud. “You can talk!”

Yes, and I don’t mind if you call me Oli … I will also answer to Flet. If you ever need me, just call and I will come.

With that, Flet’s wings spread again, and then she took off.

Once it was gone, Chase wrapped his arms tightly around me, his breathing fast and ragged. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” he grumbled. “I was afraid to try and interfere, in case that upset the oliconda and it attacked. But allowing it that close to you went against every one of my protective instincts.”

Patting his shoulder, I had to chuckle. “You definitely don’t have to worry about that particular oli. She spoke in my mind, said her name was Flet, and that I could call on her if I ever needed.”

He shook his head a few times. “I don’t know what you are, Maya, but you seem to fit into this world better than most Daelighters. Your energy feels ancient … like the original overlords. You were meant to call this world home.”

He set me gently to my feet and I regarded him for a moment. “Why would that be?” I had a thought then. “Do you think the last secret keepers had the same sort of balance and energy with each other?” We already knew none of them bonded to overlords.

Chase lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug. “I have no idea. If we get a chance, it wouldn’t hurt to speak with one of the three still alive. Maybe they’ll have information for us. Something they have learned in the last hundred plus years.”

That was a good idea, but I doubted we’d have the time to do that. Our pace picked up then for the rest of the journey, and I mentally thanked the Galinta more than once for their water. My ankle barely even smarted at all, and that was solely because of their healing. Still, by the time we reached the end of the trees, I was exhausted. It felt like a million years ago that we had set out from the house in the forest. Two million years since I first saw Chase at the party. How could so much have happened in such a short amount of time? How could I have changed to the point where I barely felt like the same person anymore? It was impossible, and yet here we were.

“You need food and water,” Chase said, pressing his hands to the branches blocking our path. “You’re tired.”

He was observant; it made me feel cared about. “I’m ready to do whatever needs to be done,” I replied, “but if I can get food before we start, that would be great.”

As we stepped out onto the platform, we found everyone gathered and waiting. I ran straight to my best friend and he growled at me. “Can you please stop disappearing on me! Star and I did everything we could to find you. Thank God Lexen got a message through the network to her, because I was about to panic.”

I hugged him as hard as I could, so happy to see he was okay. “Sorry,” I said as I pulled back. “You weren’t here when I got back, but my parents said you were okay, so I went after Chase.”

I knew Chase was standing close to my back. That feeling in my tummy was almost permanent now, especially with the tethering between us.

“We’re bonded,” I told my parents and Brad, who were all looking at me. “It’s something that was chosen for us by the Galinta, and … fate.” The three wore expressions that told me they didn’t know if they were supposed to be happy or concerned. I let my happiness free, smiling broadly. “Chase fills that restless part of my soul which has always searched for its home.”

“Maya is my home,” Chase agreed.

Yeah, we were the cliché couple who had known each other for mere days and were already declaring our everlasting love for each other. But when you looked at it another way, there was nothing cliché or normal about us. We were born to greater things than just a regular life, and I was going to embrace every second of it.

Smiles broke out across my parents’ faces. My dad stepped forward to shake Chase’s hand, his welcome to the family. I expected Brad to make some sort of disparaging remark, but he just stared off into the main group of Daelighters and murmured, “I think I understand what you’re saying.”

I followed his line of sight to a flash of dark hair and laughter. Star. I knew I’d seen something between those two. I really hoped Brad wasn’t setting himself up for heartache. For all we knew, Star was in love with someone else. Or at least betrothed.