House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(75)

“Lex—” I got partway through shouting out for him when a hand wrapped around my face and I was roughly yanked backwards. His name turned into a scream as agony crashed into my side, the numbness gone in a flash of twisting bodies and wrenched ribs.

Raging flames filled me, an intense heat that was impossible to fight against. No matter how much I struggled against the hands, the burning continued to grow. Right when I felt like my head was going to explode, the pressure and pain became too much, and everything went dark.





16





The dryness in my mouth woke me. I choked and it felt like I almost swallowed my tongue – an impossible feat – as I tried to find moisture.

What was going on?

My head pounded as I attempted to piece together my last memories. Why was my mouth as dry as a freaking desert right now? Had I gotten wasted with the Darkens? That didn’t feel quite right.

I squinted as best I could, allowing small slivers of light to enter; while still struggling on the smooth, stone-like ground.

After a few minutes of flopping around like a fish, I managed to pry my lids all the way up, swaying as I pulled myself into a sitting position … only to fall forward again. My brain was fried; this was definitely no hang-over. Or none like I’d ever experienced the entire two times I’d been drunk before.

Eventually I got my shaky hands down, using them as leverage. My eyes still didn’t seem to be focusing, because there was no color around me at all. Everything was white, the floor, the walls, even the ceiling, so starkly white it was like being in a world without any pigment.

Memories of an intense heat slammed into me and I lurched to my feet. I waited for the burst of pain in my ribs, but only a dull tightness lingered there now. Had someone healed me? Or had I been here for a long time? That would explain the dying-of-thirst thing I seemed to be doing.

On wobbly legs I crossed to the closest wall. Shit. Everything was literally glowing white, but at least my eyes were fine. I pressed my hand up to touch the semi-transparent thin and flexible plastic that made up the wall. Almost like someone had used white wrap to cover this place.

Before my hand could make contact with the wall, it flexed out, swelling away from my touch. I took another step closer to it, and the same thing happened. What in the actual fu—?

“Hello!” I screamed. Or attempted to. My voice was a rasp, and no amount of throat clearing was going to help.

Again I attempted to slam my hands into the side – the wall swelled outwards. I tried a few more times; it continued to move, avoiding me, even when I pressed closer. The view I saw through the murky plastic never changed. My prison was not moving. Outside was a ton more egg-shaped structures, and within them were shadows. Other prisoners?

Was this some sort of egg prison?

Great. Unless they had the word Easter in front of them, I wasn’t a fan of eggs. I started to pace back and forth, trying to work through my thoughts. My brain was coming back online slowly; clearly it had been fried by that burst of heat. I could remember talking with Lexen, discussing the possibilities that the overlord minors going to Earth might have had something to do with my parents’ deaths. That was the last thing I remembered before the darkness.

I panicked at the thought that something might have happened to the Darkens, to a family I had grown quite fond of. All of them were kind, caring, never once making me feel like I didn’t belong or was a burden to them.

And Lexen … the most infuriating, frustrating, intriguing guy in two worlds. He had comforted me through more breakdowns than almost anyone else in the past eight months. He had kept me safe despite not wanting to involve me in his world, because I knew he trusted no one else to do it. A burst of clarity was enough for me to acknowledge that he had protected me fiercely from almost the first moment we met.

It was also clear that I was a complete idiot.

My breathing grew ragged as my mind filled with worries. Had I put the Darkens in danger? Lexen would be the biggest of all targets, especially since he’d never back away from an attack. He’d also been hell bent on “killing an overlord.”

The sides of my egg prison swelled then; air whooshed past me. Every one of my muscles tensed as I waited to see what was happening. I hadn’t moved, and nothing was touching the walls, but they kept on expanding out. Then, with a pop that left my ears ringing, my egg prison shattered.

I wasted no time in trying to escape, but before I could make it more than two steps, a line of men stepped into view, blocking my path. I didn’t recognize any of them, but they had the same sort of look as Daniel: shaved heads, ink across their necks and arms – none on their heads.

House of Imperial.

Wait, the one in the center, who looked to be in his early thirties, had symbols across his head.

Laous. The overlord.

His eyes were small and mean, and they narrowed even further as he glared at me. He was around six foot tall, with a wide chest and skinny arms. Not to mention this dude had definitely skipped leg day. Bad move, barrel man. No one wants to look like a keg with spindly arms and legs.

“You were a hard one to get hold of, Earthling.”

My insane mental blather died off.

“I’m the overlord of House of Imperial. You can call me Overlord,” he said.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to stay calm.

Something twitched in Laous’ jaw as he stared me down, but I had grown quite adept at dealing with Daelighter animosity, so I kept my cool.