House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(25)

Callie pushed her away gently, but there was a twinkle in her eye. She adored Emma, and I got it. It was hard not to like her. She was funny, and quick-witted, and super-nice. Both of the secret keepers were. I felt like an outsider, the one who didn’t know the jokes, who hadn’t done the miles to earn her place yet. But a part of me wanted to stick around long enough that I became a true member of this group.

“One of my friends back home has dyslexia,” I said to Callie. “She had to do a bunch of therapies, and they use a computer program to change tone and depth and color of letters. It helps her immensely. She told me it never really gets easy, but it does get easier.” I quickly hurried to add, “And it definitely doesn’t make you stupid. She gets better grades than me, if you’re judging on that sort of thing.”

When I got a chance, I would try to get Callie an e-reader. Just the simple change of black page and white writing had helped Denise. Also, different fonts could make a huge difference. There were lots of things we could try.

Callie smiled at me, her first real, proper smile. “Thank you. My mom was kind of a bitch. She put the word stupid in my head. Called me stupid almost daily. I need to break the habit.”

Daniel pulled her back into his arms, fitting her spine to his front, and she let him support her. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, but I was too far away to hear his words. Whatever he said, though, made Callie very happy. Her eyes brightened.

Lucky chick.

“So, have they filled you in on what the plan is?” Emma drew my attention back to her. “I know you only just got here and everything, but time is of the essence.”

I shook my head. “Just that we’re to stay here for a day or so, then we’re moving to another safe house. We have to keep moving while they’re working on the tracking down Laous thing.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “They never give us the entire story in one go, do they? We’re not just passively running around while they deal with Laous. We’re going to try and find the fourth secret keeper. We don’t have the stone, which would have made it easy, but we have your blood. And the network. Which is more than Laous has.”

Peter might have mentioned that, now that I thought about it. Trying not to freak out about people wanting to steal my blood, I asked, “What’s a network?”

Lexen beat her to the explanation. “The network is the energy source of Overworld. Sort of like your sun, it runs through the world, giving it life and energy. It’s especially strong in our sector.”

“A sector is a country,” Emma chimed in. “Unlike Earth, though, none of them travel to other countries. They can only come to Earth or stay in their house.”

“It’s forbidden to visit other sectors in Overworld,” Lexen said. “It’s also very dangerous. There are a lot of different species throughout the sectors. Most of them are not compatible with Daelighters.”

Which meant they were not compatible with humans either. “So, this network is your sole source of energy?”

“Yes,” Lexen told me. “It’s almost like a grid crisscrossing under the land.”

“Like ley lines,” I said, the mental image clear in my head. “We did a study session in school about witchcraft and sorcery. They spoke of ley lines and using the energy of the Earth.”

Callie nodded, seeming to know exactly what I was talking about. “Ley lines is how I think of them in my head too,” she told me.

My natural curiosity about this new world was piquing again. “Can you communicate through the network? Can you find people? What does it do exactly?”

Lexen crossed his arms over the broad planes of his chest. “We’re always connected, but when we tap in fully, we can use it sort of like a search engine. We can also communicate within the network, even over long distances. It’s the closest thing Overworld has to cell phones.”

“Clearly we’ll have to go to Overworld to search for the fourth?” Made sense if that was where the network was.

Emma nodded. “Oh yeah, once we know the coast is clear to travel, we’ll head to our second safe house, in House of Darken.”

I must have gone very pale, because Emma reached out and patted me on the arm. “Seriously, I know exactly how you feel, but don’t stress. It’s beautiful there. Natural. And Overworld’s energy will call to yours, since you were born there.”

Callie stepped away from Daniel, not touching me, but seeming to offer comfort with her closer proximity. “You don’t have to fear Overworld. I have to spend a certain amount of time in House of Imperial, because Laous tried to kill me ... and long story, I am now tied to Daniel and the land of my birth. But I don’t think of it as a sacrifice. House of Imperial is more home to me than any place on Earth ever was.”

“Laous tried to kill you?” I focused on that horrifying fact. “Remind me not to get captured.”

A strong burst of gratitude for Chase lit up inside of me. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be in Laous’ hands right now. No doubt, as soon as that crazy creep got my blood, he’d kill me.

I could have been dead before the dawn of this day. Gone. Never to see the world, or my parents, or Brad, again. “Are you okay?” Emma’s concerned question sounded like it was coming from very far away. My breathing started to come in and out in gasps.