House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(58)

I hated to disagree with him; arrogance was definitely a trait Daelighters had in spades. Although, I supposed there was a fine line between arrogance and confidence.

“Hold on,” the pilot announced, before the speaker cut off.

I tightened my grip on Xander, and he pressed in closer to me, like he was shielding me with his own body. “If you get hurt trying to protect me, I am going to kill you,” I warned him, pulling him even closer to me.

He buried his face into my neck, and my head went light and fuzzy. “Thank you,” I heard him whisper. “Thank you for showing me that there is more to Royale than what we are told to be.”

Don’t cry. For fuck’s sake, this guy was destroying me. How could this feeling be so painful and yet also so addictive?

I’d never loved anyone before, I knew that for a fact. Attraction and love were not the same thing. Usually one night was enough to get the attraction part out of my system. But Xander … no time would be long enough. No amount of sex would be enough to lessen my want for him.

The plane’s rattling cut off then, and for a second I wondered if we had landed and I’d missed it in all my Xander musing. No … it still felt like we were descending.

“They descended fast, but they’ll land silently,” Lexen said, from the other side of Emma. “Because we’re now in stealth mode.”

It was all so black ops. For a moment I wondered how the hell this was my life.

Xander leaned back a little; his gaze turned toward the front of the aircraft. “We’re almost down,” he whispered.

I understood why he was whispering; the lights were dimming and there was an air of secrecy washing over the cabin. Laous had his eyes open, and he looked focused. The bitch at his side was whispering something, but he just stared forward, determination in his gaze. Rao’s head was down, and his eyes appeared to be closed. I wasn’t sure if he was sleeping, or if he was just trying to escape reality.

When I couldn’t bear to witness any more of his grief, I turned away, only to find Daniel wearing the same expression, his eyes locked on his brother. Callie was stroking his arm over and over in an attempt to keep him calm. I wondered if Daniel had been like that for the entire flight. I hadn’t noticed, but I’d dozed on and off for parts and missed a lot.

The lights flickered out completely then, and Xander quickly unbuckled the front clasp on my harness, pulling me to my feet. “Stay close,” he whispered.

I did as I was told because there were only a few little lights up high, visibility was almost zero, and I wasn’t keen on being stuck in a dark cabin with Laous. He was all mild and calm right now, but I’d heard the stories. That man was dead on the inside. He’d killed people. He’d kidnapped my friends. He wanted to steal a powerful stone that was keeping my world alive so he could use it for his own personal power and gain.

I fought against the urge to turn around and take my chances at getting in one good throat punch. Seriously. I’d feel so much better. Xander captured my hand before I could put that plan into action, drawing me closer as if he sensed my sudden violent intentions. When we reached the exit, the pilot slid the door open, his face appearing in the half light from the moonlit land outside. He held a finger to his lips, urging us to be quiet, before he leaned in close. “I’ve dropped you a few hundred yards from your coordinates. We have word that there are locals living close by, but if you stay under the radar, you should be fine.”

He stepped back and let us leave. I glanced to the sky quickly, wondering if the other aircraft was closing in on us. Knowing backup was on the way, even if we had to do this next bit on our own, did help stem some of the icy nerves in my gut.

Lexen and Emma were first down the stairs. Laous brought up the rear … well, Rao was the actual last, his head still lowered as he followed silently.

My friends and I formed a tight circle at the bottom of the stairs. “The pilot said he will wait for us unless their cover is blown,” Chase said quietly. “If that’s the case, they’ll take off and disappear above until we need them.”

“Where exactly is the stone?” Laous interrupted our whispers, not even attempting to keep his voice down. He clearly didn’t care if we drew the attention of the locals.

There was an extended pause, and I wondered if maybe everyone was thinking about throat punching him now. “I’ll have to use my phone to track the coordinates,” Lexen said, swiping across the screen. He keyed something into it, and then stared for a moment.

“This way,” he said shortly.

The guys made sure the four of us girls were in the center, keeping Laous as far away as possible. Laous, with his people, strolled along behind us like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Despite the previous warning about the area we were in, there wasn’t anything in the vicinity that was a cause for alarm. The only details clear in the moonlit night were bushes and trees, and what looked like a huge jungle off in the distance. No signs of human life.

The Draygo who had hidden the stone went to a lot of trouble to put it somewhere that was isolated and would hopefully remain isolated for many hundreds of years, considering he had no idea how long the stone would be hidden with us as secret keepers for it.

“How much further?” Laous asked gruffly, a darker emotion bleeding into his words for the first time. He finally sounded frustrated.