House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(66)

I blinked a few times as I said, “Twelve percent of what you just said made sense to me. But do whatever you need to.”

He stared at me for an extended moment, the light of the nearby transporter flickering over his face. Then he stepped into me; all breath halted in my chest, rattling around in there, unable to be released because my lungs weren’t functioning.

“You ready?” he murmured, those dark as sin eyes burning through me.

I managed to nod. He took my hand, reaching out for one of the glowing strands of light. Just like last time, we were sucked through, hurtling along time and space … or whatever. I still had to close my eyes at the end, almost definitely sure this time I was going to end up dead by slamming into a wall.

We survived, and the moment my eyelids popped open I sucked in a breath. We were back on the platform, the one we had arrived on earlier this day. The sky was now lit in a twilight glow, bright enough to still see the three large shadows waiting off to the side for us. As Lexen released my hand, he leaned down. “Stay by my side,” he murmured in my ear. “This should be a quick meeting.”

A sense of déjà vu struck me as we walked closer, and it didn’t take me long to figure out where it came from. The entire scene here reminded me of my first night with the Darkens, when Lexen had had his clandestine meeting with three hulking, shadowy dudes. A spike of fear hit me as my mind went back to that night. It was still odd that I’d been so worried about my kidnapper, but Lexen had been under my skin even then.

He was relaxed at the moment, so I took a cue from him and pushed my unease to the side. I was interested to see who he’d been meeting with. As we got closer I recognized the blond-headed male standing with his arms crossed. His very impressive arms, muscles bulging out. He rivaled Lexen in size, and I could see every one of his muscles because he wore no clothes except a pair of soft looking shorts.

Xander Royale was definitely striking. And … he was a merman … caramina … which no doubt explained all of that golden skin on display. I didn’t know the other two men, and as Lexen stepped into the space left in their circle, keeping me close to his side, I took a second to observe them. All four of the Daelighters were around the same height, well over six foot – towering over me. Unnaturally tall. Unnaturally muscled. Unnaturally broody.

Not one cracked a smile. I sensed they were wondering why the hell there was an interloper in their midst. Small glances kept going my way but no one questioned Lexen. Xander just reached out and slapped his best friend on the shoulder, the two doing some sort of bro-hug. After this everyone seemed to relax.

The first thing I noticed was that all of them had symbols carved into their hair, just like Lexen, which meant they each were overlords. Minor or major, there was no way for me to tell at the moment. But I was literally standing in the midst of Daelighter royalty. When had this become my life?

I found my gaze lingering on the House of Leight’s overlord, fascinated by his beauty. He was slightly more slender than the other three – who were built like linebackers – his muscle was hard and lean, like a swimmer’s. His skin was dark, not quite as dark as his hair but the same tone. His hair was almost black, and most of it was short, especially where his symbols were marked. On the opposite side to those, he wore a few long braids, some of which fell to his thighs. Golden rope was threaded through those braids, glittering whenever he moved his head.

His shimmery green eyes met mine; their color was so light and intense that it was startling against his beautiful rich skin tone. Like Lexen and the other two, he was intensely beautiful. Hot dudes club, clearly.

Leights smiled and inclined his head toward me. I returned the nod, my smile genuine. There was something about him that immediately made me feel at ease. He oozed tranquility … and strength … and stability. Being a damaged human, I craved stability now. It drew me in.

“This is Emma,” Lexen said bluntly. “She’s under my protection. It’s safe to speak in front of her.”

He then went on to introduce the others to me. Xander of House of Royale, Chase of House of Leight, and Daniel of House of Imperial – overlord minors.

My head snapped up at that last name. I stared at the male who was from the house that had probably killed my parents. I wanted to hate him on sight. He even outdid Lexen in the badass vibe: bronze skin with a shaved head; his dark symbolic marks must have been actual tattoos. They peeked out of the neck of his dark, fitted shirt, before curving up along the back of his neck and into the side of his head. It seemed he had more marks than the other three. I wondered how many more were beneath his shirt.

He met my gaze without flinching, and I realized that despite my messy emotions there was no hate there. Daniel might have looked scary – gorgeous but scary – but his eyes, the color of cinnamon, rich and deep, with actual rings of gold in them – were sad. I recognized sad eyes. I’d stared at mine every time I looked in the mirror in the last eight months. His sad eyes, full lips, and almost-too-pretty-for-a-boy face offset the tattoos and shaved head enough to make him intriguing instead of scary.

“What’s so urgent that we needed to drop everything and get here?” Xander asked, relaxing his arms to his sides as he stared at Daniel.

I caught a glimpse of something strange across his stomach then – not the abnormal amount of abdominal muscles – but a flash of what looked like shiny scales. It disappeared quickly, but it had definitely been there. Fantasy world, Emma. I was in a damn fantasy world.