House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(100)
As soon as everyone was seated, Lexen leaned forward. “What have you learned?”
Daniel mimicked his pose, his hands clasped in front of him. “I’ve just been updated from the council. They have figured out a rough location of the second secret keeper. They want one of us to head there and pick her up before Laous figures it out.”
I swallowed hard, trying to work down the lump in my throat.
“She’s in New Orleans,” he said.
I was on my feet in a flash; the sense of kinship I felt for this person was second to none. They were just like me. Human, born on Overworld. And they were in danger – their family was in danger. We had to help them.
All eyes turned to me. “We have to get to NOLA now, before he finds her.”
Daniel also stood. “Since the second was born in House of Imperial, this is my responsibility. I’m going to head down there tonight. I have some friends in the area, allies if you will, and I think that one of us going has a better chance of staying under the radar.”
No one argued with him, but I thought it was a terrible idea. These four shouldn’t split up. An idiot could tell that they were stronger together, as a team.
Daniel must have noticed my agitation. “I promise to call as soon as I find them. I won’t try and take Laous on alone.”
Knowing there was no real choice, I nodded.
“Are you heading out right now?” Lexen asked, all of us moving toward the door.
Daniel nodded. “Yes, I’m going to have to fly out. A transporter is too easily traceable.”
“The council is holding off on sending anyone,” Chase added, his braids twinkling in the lights above. “But we don’t have long. They’re dying to take Laous out before humans even know there is a problem.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Daniel added. Then he surprised me with a quick hug before he left. “Glad to see you looking healthy and whole, badass.”
I shrugged. “What can I say, life with Lexen suits me.”
He appraised me for an extended moment, then nodded. “So it does.”
Once he and the others were gone, I leaned heavily against the closed door. Lexen interrupted me before I could make a suggestion: “I think we should pick this up in the morning.” I had been about to propose some research time. Somehow he always knew.
“Bed sounds pretty good, actually.”
I conceded defeat for now, secure in the knowledge that Daniel was on his way to New Orleans and that he would keep us updated. Once we were in the room, I barely managed to crawl my way across the bed before collapsing face-down on it. Lexen pulled the covers over us both.
“I need to brush my teeth,” I mumbled.
There was a rustling and then Lexen was back with a new toothbrush still in the package, toothpaste, and a glass of water. “That’s very thoughtful,” I said, smiling around the brush.
I made quick work brushing and rinsing my mouth out, finally surrendering to the super soft bed. My eyes were closed by the time Lexen rejoined me, once again pulling the covers over us, spooning his body behind me.
“I’m not going another month without you in my arms, in my bed,” he said into my hair. “My draygone was impossible to control. I almost climbed through your window.”
“When?” I asked, twisting around so I could see him. Only the faintest light shone through his nearby window, but it was enough to make out his features.
“Every night.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I let myself relax against him, and as he captured my lips in the most gentle of kisses, I decided that Lexen was right. As usual.
No more time apart. We were a team. We would figure out whatever battle was coming for us and we would not be defeated, because we would fight together. Always.
House of Imperial - Secret Keepers#2
Release June 30th 2018
Chapter One
www.amazon.com/House-Imperial-Secret-Keepers-Book-ebook/dp/B07D1YQLPL/
The French Quarter was a place I wanted to tell my children about. Not that kids or family were an actual possibility in my life, but this city … it was a world worthy to be passed on, to be spoken about in stories and song. There was something special here. I had felt it the first moment we arrived.
As I strolled along the colorful street that led into Jackson Square, I wondered what my life would have been like if I’d been born here. I mean, not right here on this somewhat grimy pavement, but in New Orleans. Maybe I would be reading tarot cards like the woman on my right, set up at her small white table, long dark curls spilling out from under the jeweled headpiece adorning her forehead, purple nails flashing as she placed cards down for an eager tourist.
Or maybe I’d paint.
That always looked like a fun way to tell a story. Street artists were everywhere, some amazing, others average, but all of them expressing their creativity in a way that I couldn't imagine doing. I’d never held a paintbrush, not even as a child. Circumstances from before my birth dictated that my life would never be my own.
Something I’d grown numb to over the years.
As if to prove me wrong, a haunting saxophone tune started up from a jazz musician leaning close to the wall of a café; the low reverberations hit me deep in my soul, in the place that had been cold and dormant for a long time. I basked in that feeling for a moment, closing my eyes and letting the music take me away.