House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(13)

He took a step back and I sucked in a quiet breath. “Where’s the bathroom?” I asked Maya, who was close by.

“Just down the hall,” she said, pointing. “There are a few bathrooms back there. Feel free to use whatever one you want.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

I could feel eyes on me as I hurried off, but I didn’t look back.





5





My breathing was ragged as I moved quickly toward the bathroom; my face felt very flushed. When I got inside the first generic white, tiled space, I closed the door and leaned back against it.

Eventually I made my way across to the sink and mirror, letting the towel drop to the ground. My hair fanned out around me, dry and wavy from the ocean. Other than that, I was a mess: barely clothed, salt and sand across my skin, eyes wild and greener than usual.

It was hard for me to believe that I had woken up this morning with the same life as always, and within a matter of hours everything had changed. I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

I stood there for a long time, trying to calm myself. Hiding in the bathroom all day sounded like the best idea ever, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen. They wanted to get back to Overworld. They wanted to find this map I possessed. Basically, all of their family talk could be construed as “we need you, so we’ll keep you around for a bit.”

There was a light knock on the door then and I swung around. “Yes?” I said shortly.

“Hey, it’s Emma.”

“And Callie,” another voice added.

“And Maya,” she finished.

“We’d just really like to introduce ourselves, explain everything,” Emma chimed in again.

Knowing I couldn’t avoid them forever, I decided it was better to get it out of the way.

“Sure, come in,” I called, leaning back against the sink.

I couldn’t get comfortable of course, so when the three girls trooped in, I was shifting left to right like there was a sea urchin on my ass. I forced myself to stop fidgeting because they didn’t need to know how awkward I was.

The room wasn’t huge, and with the four of us in there it felt downright small. Emma was the closest; she stopped right before me. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, though; she maintained just enough personal space.

“Hi,” she said softly, her blue eyes soft and kind-looking. “I’m so happy to finally meet you.”

She held her hand out and I didn’t hesitate in reaching forward to grasp it in greeting.

“Sorry for bailing,” I said quietly. “It’s just been a really weird day. Usually when that happens I escape to the ocean. Being stuck inside … it makes me a little insane.”

She squeezed my hand briefly, and in the same moment Callie touched her shoulder, and Maya moved in close enough for her arm to brush against Emma’s.

The four of us gasped. Mine was because a buzz of what felt like electricity had just zapped through me and was still running up and down my arm.

“You all felt that, right?” Callie asked. I immediately pegged her as being a little reserved. Her eyes were gray and guarded, but not unkind.

“Yep,” Maya said as she nodded. “Holy crap, that was stronger than when we all went into the network.”

The buzz seemed to be increasing, and I was about to mention something to Emma when she wrenched her hand out of mine. “Sorry,” she said breathlessly, “but I was afraid we were going to blow up or something. That was intense.”

My chest heaved up and down as I tried to breathe and process what had just happened. “What was that?”

Before anyone could answer, a heavy knock on the door had us all jumping. “Everything okay in there?” asked a deep voice. I was pretty sure it was Lexen, but I couldn’t be sure. “We heard you all gasp.”

Emma cleared her throat before answering. “We’re all fine. We’ll be out in a minute, Lex.”

There was no sound for a moment, and then I heard his footsteps leaving. Emma straightened and said, “I knew there was going to be a strong connection between the four of us.” She looked between us. “The secret keepers are connected on a basic level, the same way we are connected to the four overlords.”

“I noticed that,” I cut in dryly. “It’s actually one of the reasons I ‘needed some air.’”

Maya chuckled. “Been there, done that. I was running off for ‘air’ far too frequently when I was first initiated into this world. When I realized that there seemed to be a common theme of secret keepers being soul mates with Daelighters … I didn’t really handle that information too well.”

“So, the three of you are all...?” I trailed off.

All of them nodded.

“Lexen’s dragon soul chose me as a mate. They only have one in a lifetime,” Emma said.

“Daniel tied our souls together when Laous killed me,” Callie added. “So now I have to stay around him and the House of Imperial land or my soul starts to fade.”

I blinked at her. “Uh, killed … what?”

She smiled, which turned her face from pretty into breathtaking. “Yeah, it’s a fun story, but suffice it to say I’m doing great now. I’m very happy with my fate.”

She looked like she was doing great, definitely not like someone who had been killed recently. Her platinum blond hair was thick, her skin was glowing, and she looked healthy and fit.