House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(74)

He was gone then, but in his place two figures slowly appeared, neither of them familiar to me.

The Darkens held each other in their grief, but Daniel stepped forward, astonishment on his face. “Rao … Fraizer,” he said. “You’re both here?”

Rao? I had not recognized him at all. He looked tall and handsome, the scars completely gone from his face. He stood beside Fraizer, who was a younger, happier, hawk-haired version of Daniel.

Fraizer spoke first. “I’m so sorry I betrayed you. I just wanted to save Rao.” He turned his head toward Maya then. “I’m sorry, I hope Laous didn’t hurt you.”

Maya waved a hand at him, tears streaking down her cheeks. “I’m perfectly fine. Sorry we couldn’t save either of you.”

Fraizer shook his head, smiling broadly for the first time. “I was saved. Rao is my family, something I’ve searched for my entire life. We’re together now.”

Daniel was crying. Not in an obvious way, but I could see the glints of moisture on his cheeks. “You both made it to redemption. How could I not know this?”

Rao chuckled, which made all of us smile. “You not had much time,” he said, in broken English.

Daniel chuckled too, wiping at his face. “Yes, that’s true. I was afraid to search for your names as well. Afraid I’d try to save you from the justices.”

“Told you I was a good guy,” Fraizer said with a wink. “You just had to have faith.”

Daniel stepped forward, sucking in a deep breath. “Stick together,” he told his brothers. He reached out and pulled them closer. “I’ll see you both on the other side.”

The three hugged, a bittersweet moment, which hurt as much as it was beautiful. Then Daniel stepped back, and Fraizer faded away. Rao stayed a moment longer … just long enough to hug Callie.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed against him. “You tried to help me so much, and I ended up killing you.”

“Shhh,” he said gently. “Not your fault. Saved me. Thank you.”

Her tears increased, her body actually shaking as she sobbed and cried. “I’m happy,” Rao said simply, before he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Then he was gone.

Daniel caught his mate as she collapsed.

“How … how did they appear?” Lexen asked Daniel, who was lifting Callie up into his arms.

Daniel shook his head. “I have no idea. I guess there is a lot I don’t know about my world. About the justices. Maybe if I figure it out, we’ll be able to see them again. I hope so, anyway.”

Everyone was emotionally spent, that much was clear, as Daniel called for a transporter to take us back to the surface.

“Where do we go from here?” Emma asked.

“Wherever you want, baby girl,” Lexen told her. “But my first suggestion is a long vacation for us all. I mean, what’s the point of a private airplane if we don’t use it?”

“You all have to go back to school,” Roland told them, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Some of you still have to graduate high school.”

Everyone groaned except Emma, who clapped excitedly. His words had lightened the mood, and by the time Xander grabbed on to the light beam to take us home, I felt better. My chest still hurt, but it wasn’t as deep.

This was the start of the rest of our lives.

And I for one couldn’t wait.





25





One month later





The first morning light was just cresting across the familiar sky as I kicked my legs out, staring at my ocean. My favorite time and place. I was just missing my favorite mate.

Xander would probably be pissed that I’d snuck out of bed this morning—we’d only flown in late last night—but it had been so long since I’d seen Hawaii. I couldn’t miss the first sunrise. Our vacation had taken longer than expected to get to. There was just so much that needed to be dealt with first.

But we were finally here.

I was in his pool, the ocean spread out before me. Xander owned one of the superfancy resort-style estates right along the ocean. He said we could stay here as long as we wanted. I was hoping for forever.

Royale was great, and the fact that I’d finally got to sleep under the water in our pod was all kinds of awesome, but this was my home. It didn’t help that his mother still hadn’t really warmed to me. But the Dawn situation was looking up. I finally convinced Xander to tell his parents and they went ballistic. They had her back in their pod straight away, under the excuse that she was needed for official overlord business.

Then they sent their warriors to search for the creature. So far no one had found anything, and everyone was half convinced that Donovan had already done away with it. Whether it was alive or not, there was no way any of her family was letting her go back to him, especially not now they knew she was pregnant. Something Donovan did not know. House of Royale was a world of water and drama; living amongst them was like being in a soap opera.

Which only made the peace and quiet here that much sweeter.

I was so enthralled with my ocean that I didn’t even hear Xander enter the water. It wasn’t until his arms wrapped around me, pulling us close together, that I realized he was there. “I’ve missed this place,” he said.