House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(63)

My dad exchanged a look with Mom, and she nodded, agreeing with what his eyes had been telling her. “What?” I demanded.

“One of the families was stationed near there,” she said. “They were Astronomers, I think.”

That had to be them. “We have to get there now before Laous finds her. From what I saw, she was fine. Her energy felt stable.”

Chase shifted at my side, and I turned to him. “Are you okay?” he said immediately, releasing my hand and Xander’s so he could turn to me.

I stepped into him, pressing my hands to his chest. “I’m fine. Sorry if I did something wrong back there. One minute I was rising up to the surface to see where the red and blue light stopped, and the next I was back here.”

He regarded me without an ounce of judgment. “Did you see where she was?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “The cord stopped at Lanai, an island near Hawaii. I’ve been there before on holidays.”

He snatched me up, hugging me tightly, before his lips crushed into mine. I had no idea what was happening around us after that. All I knew was Chase. The feel of his lips. The tether to him that rested in my center thrumming.

“Guys, seriously, can you all get a room? I don’t want to see my best friend slash sister doing that…” Brad’s complaint registered faintly, and with a disappointed huff I pulled back.

Mostly so I could flip him off.

“The number of chicks I have had to see you suck face with…” I trailed off at the panicked look in his eyes. As his gaze shifted to Star, I realized what he was worried about – that once she found out about his past, she might not like the person he was. Later I would remind him that there was no point hiding his past. He would just have to show Star that he was no longer that same guy.

Everyone was out of the network now, and there was a lot of confusion as they all spoke at once. I realized that no one thought I’d made it to the surface. When I told them I did, the mood lightened.

“We need to move, now,” Lexen declared, his eyes glittering with white lights. It was freaky when he did that, because I knew the draygone soul he hid inside. He turned to my parents and Brad. “You three should stay here. I will have Star escort you to our home, where you can wait safely for our return.”

My dad opened his mouth and I recognized that stubborn clenched jaw and pursed lips. He was going to argue about this and generally make life very difficult for everyone until he got his own way. Before he could, I reached out and wrapped my hand around his forearm. “You can’t protect me from this, Dad.” That stopped him in his tracks, and when he slowly lowered his head to meet my eyes, the stubborn emotion had been replaced with sadness. “I know you blame yourself for choosing to involve me in this world … but no matter how this works out, I want you to know that I have no regrets. I have found a place here, a future. I have found more members to add to our family.”

“Hells yeah, you have,” Emma chimed in, before slamming her mouth shut and slapping her hand across it.

Lexen laughed. “She will forever be listening in on your conversations. You might as well get used to it.”

“Emma is right, though,” Callie added. “I had no family at all, and now I feel like there are so many of you damn people I care about. And that scares me…” She trailed off for a moment. “But I believe that together we’re the strongest team I’ve ever seen. There is nothing we can’t accomplish. It’s … a true family. None of us will be left behind. Laous will not take any more from us.”

Amen.

When I returned my gaze to my parents, my dad had glassy eyes. “Take care of my little one,” he said, still looking at me while he spoke to the others. “And welcome to our family.”

He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. My mom kissed me on both cheeks, holding my face in her hands, staring at me. When they turned away – and I was trying not to cry – Brad wrapped both of his arms around me and hoisted me up into his big body. His familiar smell brought back a million memories.

Brad would always be my best friend, but our lives were changing, expanding. We were finding new people to love and that was a good thing.

“Come back to me, you hear,” he said as he pulled away, dropping me down to my feet. “Best friends forever does not have an out clause. You’re in for life.”

I patted his chest, and he cleared his throat and turned away. Star didn’t argue about having to stay behind, she just smiled and hugged her brothers and Emma before she joined my parents and Brad. The four of them then made their way back up to the mountain city.

I watched them until they disappeared from sight. “They’ll be okay,” Chase told me. “The overlord’s home is protected by the draygones. This is the safest place for them.”

“I know.” I nodded. “As hard as it is to watch them walk away, I would prefer they were not out in the battlefield. Still, I have to wonder if I’ll ever see them again.”

There were no guarantees in life.

“You’ll see them again, Maya,” he said, somewhat fiercely. “I will not let anything happen to you.”

Before I could answer, low laughter echoed down through the valley we stood in. Chase – and the other overlords – reacted in an instant, moving to surround us. That laughter had been loud and unnatural, and even though I could not see who it came from, there was no doubt…