House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(41)

Lexen, who was keeping a close eye on the men surrounding us, let out a rumble. “The fact you never got hurt is a very good thing, Em. I’m eternally grateful for that.”

Her eyes went soft and dreamy, but before she could say anything, Lexen continued, “I can get the girls out of here,” he said. “But I’m going to need a little space.” His voice was deep … graveled. All the guys were rocking a husky voice at the moment, and that could only mean one thing. They were about to throw down.

Emma held out her hand to me, and with reluctance, I turned away from Chase. Staring at her for the first time since we left the car, I blinked at the blood running down the side of her face. “Are you okay?” I gasped.

She nodded, patting at her cheek. “I hit my head when we rolled, but I’m fine.”

No wonder Lexen sounded like he was ten shades of pissed. Seeing Emma like that was making me angry enough to want to start throwing punches.

Laous’ guys around us were pushing forward while still leaving us with a decent amount of space. Like they were waiting for Laous.

We had to get out of here.

A shimmer washed over Lexen and I gave him my full attention. He dropped his head back and lifted both arms to either side of him.

“This is his draygone form,” Emma murmured.

I found myself pressing back, instinctively searching for Chase. A quick glance over my shoulder told me that he hadn’t changed forms fully yet. He still looked the same, just larger, with a slight wood texture to his skin. As I touched him, I expected him to move, but he remained a solid wall against my spine. The warmth of his body cut through the chilly air, and that tingle of energy between us was in full effect.

His long arm wrapped around the front of me, pressing against my hip as he held me in place. I would have closed my eyes – the sensations were that good – but there was no way I was missing seeing Lexen’s final form. He was covered in white light, like someone had him in a spotlight, and a combination of ice and heat flowed over him. In a blink, wings sprouted from his back, huge and black, spanning out ten feet on either side. His skin darkened and took on a scaly texture. His body grew bigger, until he was almost twice his normal size; somehow, his clothes stretched with him. The white light running across him slowly died off at that point.

Holy mother of all that is holy…

Chase was pretty much holding me up now. That arm he’d wrapped around to rest at my hip kept my legs from collapsing under me. “He just … where … what?”

This was not something my human brain could comprehend. There were realities in this world, laws – things followed certain cosmic truths – and right now, Lexen was breaking all of those.

“You know my form changes like his, right?” Chase sounded slightly worried, and I realized how rude I was being. Daelighters were different to me, and different was okay. I needed to embrace it.

Spinning in Chase’s arms, I faced him. We were so close that the front of our bodies almost touched. I tilted my head back to see his face clearly. “I know you change, and it doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just shocking, because I’ve never seen anything like this before. But I don’t fear you.” My voice grew stronger. “I am not disgusted or upset. I actually think Daelighters are amazing, and I’m a little jealous that I only have my regular old human abilities.” I lifted my hand and placed it on his chest. I needed to touch him. “I’m ready to see your other form, whenever you’re ready to show me.”

He cupped my face again, brushing his thumb over my cheek in gentle sweeps. “I was not prepared for you,” he murmured. “I thought I was. I watched my brothers go through it with Emma and Callie … but I didn’t think it would be the same for me. In Leights, the Galinta choose our mates. But something far greater is at work here.”

I wanted to ask what he meant about the trees choosing, but there was no more time. Lexen was flapping his wings hard, sending up plumes of dirt and debris into the eyes of the guards around us. The helicopter, visible just over the tree line, was closing in fast. Laous had been holding back, waiting for his goons to take us down.

“You need to go,” Chase pushed me toward Lexen. “He’s going to get you to safety. Trust me.”

“What?” I half shouted, as a strong band-like grip went around my waist. In a split second I was jerked off the ground and my scream was lost in the wind. We were flying, but I didn’t struggle, because by the time I found my voice, we were already at a height that would kill me if I fell. The noise of the helicopter was almost deafening up here.

“Hold tight,” Lexen muttered in his deep voice. “I’m going to stir up some cover for us.”

I turned my head to find I was being held in one of his arms, a no-longer-on-fire Callie was in the other, and Emma was sort of in the middle, pressed against both of us, her arms wrapped around Lexen’s neck. Callie was holding onto her, so I did the same with my free arm, which allowed her to relax her grip on Lexen a tad.

Dark clouds were still thick across the sky, and we were flying right in the midst of them. “Laous is following in the helicopter?” Emma squeaked.

“He’s following,” Lexen confirmed. “Don’t worry, he’s not draygone, he’s not going to catch me.” I liked his confidence, and despite our combined weight, Lexen didn’t sound even slightly fatigued. Dude was Superman.