House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(62)

Daniel interrupted: And if there is any instability with Earth’s energy while we do this, we’re also going to have to abort immediately.

So how do we do this when we haven’t met her? Callie asked.

The pause felt very long, but it was probably only a second before Xander answered: Jero is going to prick each of the secret keepers’ fingers … if they are agreeable to this. We’ll mix the three drops of blood together, and then he is going to send it down into the network.

We all agreed, because there wasn’t much choice. We had to find her.

You might feel a pinch, Chase added. Don’t let it pull you from the network. Keep your focus here.

With those words, I locked myself onto his light and waited for the pain. My energy jolted when it came, but it was mild and over so quickly there was no danger of me disappearing. After another beat, a new beam of light entered in our midst, one that was not the bright white I’d grown accustomed to. This one had a tinge of red to it.

Our blood.

Hold on to that beam, Daniel said. Use the secret keepers’ connection.

I felt more comfortable in the network now. It felt almost instinctive to reach out with my own energy and connect to that reddish beam. Find the fourth. Find our fourth, I chanted, urging the light forward, the same way I had when the beams spread off the paper. I needed that light to follow its path. All the way to the last girl.

The red started to vibrate, moving with such frequency that it blurred. All I got were flashes of color in the darkness. But it wasn’t extending, it seemed to be anchored to us, not interested at all in moving.

What are you three thinking? Xander asked with impatience. You all have to give it the same goal, or it’s going to just remain where it is.

Find our fourth, I said.

Let’s all go with that, Callie chimed in.

I focused everything again on that red line, that had slowed its vibrations, only to start up again as soon as I mentally pushed it to find the fourth. Just like before, though, it didn’t move. Almost like it was caught on something.

You said that all seven of us were needed to find the eighth, Emma reminded the guys. So … maybe you all need to bleed a little, too.

There was a pause, but no one disagreed. Then Daniel said, Jero is on it.

In the next moment, the red of the blood beam went blindingly bright. It splintered in almost the same instant, part of it shooting away from us. My focus latched on tightly, and I found myself zooming away with the beam. I could feel the others close by as well.

Focus, I heard Lexen shout.

Find our fourth. Find our fourth. Find our fourth.

The moment we crossed out of Overworld and into Earth was very obvious. It was like a jolt, and then a surge, and then a foreign feeling. We were in a place we weren’t supposed to be in. The darkness even had a divide – a chasm – that we had to mentally leap over.

This is so weird…

Our lights were dimmer on the Earth side, even though the endless darkness around us remained. The red beam stayed on course, and when it started to slow down, I slowed with it. It spiraled toward a dull, bluish-looking light, which I threw myself toward, letting it guide me up to the surface.

How did I know how to do this? No freaking idea.

The moment my energy hit the surface, it was all sun and sand and waves. And since I had been there before, I knew exactly where we were.

Maya! Don’t follow the light like that.

The shout startled me and I lost my focus. The sun faded away, and with a snap I was back in my body in House of Darken, my hands still held tightly in Chase and Callie’s. I looked between them, and then the rest of the group, realizing I was the only one back. The others still wore that faraway gaze.

My parents, Brad, Star, and Jero rushed over to me. “Did you find her?” Star asked, her hands pressed tightly together in front of her. “You’ve been gone for about two minutes. I expected longer. Why are you the only one back?” Her questions picked up pace, rushing together as she wrung her hands.

I shook my head hard. “I think I might have done something wrong. I followed the light, and it led me to Lanai, in Hawaii. I lost focus and snapped back into my body. Wait a minute … did you say two minutes?”

“Time moves differently in there,” Jero said. “Usually we can get in and out in under thirty seconds when we need to utilize the network. Two minutes is actually quite a long time.”

“How do you form a transporter?” I asked, realizing now that there was so much more I could do in there. No wonder the Daelighters didn’t need Earth technology, they had the network. So much cooler.

Jero’s lips curled up slightly. “You move along the network until you find the place you want to travel. Then you take the lights there and spiral them. Spin and twirl them until they form a solid doorway. If you do it right, the transporter appears in the physical world as well as in the network.”

“You have to be so careful, though,” Star told me. “Anyone can track and follow you when you do that. To stay off the radar, it’s better just to travel the human way.”

That should be easy enough to do. Hawaii was just a plane ride away, after all. But it was definitely a lot slower than the transporter. My dad brushed strands of my hair off my face. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, definitely. Mostly because I think it worked. The fourth secret keeper is in Hawaii. Remember that little island of Lanai that we went to for our 2013 holiday … that’s where the line stopped.”