Warrior's Hope (Dark Protectors #16)(20)

He’d kicked the soldiers out of his house and then sat in the dark for two hours after Hope had gotten her sweet butt off his beloved truck. He didn’t have much time left, and if he got this next move wrong, he’d never forgive himself.

So he forced himself to turn on the lights and start a crossword puzzle, hating every second of it. When his eyes had gone blurry, he casually moved the papers out of sight and began to write. Then he stood and swiped the papers into his pocket.

Finally, when he was sure there was nobody still lurking outside, he walked down the stairs, through the basement, and slid open a panel that revealed a door in the concrete. He made quick work of the keypad before moving inside to find his uncle and his dog, two of the three beings on this planet he actually cared about.

Santino looked up, his curly white eyebrows out of control, his faded blue eyes worried. “Pax, you’re okay.” He stood up and rushed forward to hug him, his head not quite reaching Paxton’s chin. “I was worried about you.”

“I’m fine. Nothing to worry about,” Paxton said. “There was an attack squad in Nuremberg. I think they were after Hope, not me, but I’m not sure.” He leaned down to pet his dog. The collie had been with him since he’d moved in with his uncle, and a healthy diet and a little bit of vampire blood once in a while kept him young. It was a pretty cool way to keep a dog. “Thank you for not eating the soldiers.” He scrunched the dog’s ears. Gibson yipped and then ran around in a circle and darted out the concrete door. There was a doggy door upstairs, and no doubt he needed to go outside. “Did you hear them coming?” Pax asked.

“I did,” Santino said. “So I just brought the dog in here and waited them out. When we built this place, we built it right. Neither king knows this underground lab is here. I’m so sorry about this disaster.”

“Time for apologies is over,” Paxton said, walking into the next room, which held a computer bank almost as good as the one the Realm had. He had made a deal for additional components since his other lab had been taken out by Hope, and those would be available to him within the next week or so.

Santino pulled a chair up to the banks of monitors. “Three more enhanced women have gone missing in Prague. I was going to send you there while you were in the area, but then the attack happened.”

“Do we have anybody on it?” Pax stared at the monitor.

“We’re going to feed the info to the Realm and let them take care of it. Our forces are, well, nonexistent.” Santino threw back his head and laughed, the sound strained.

Every muscle in Paxton’s body felt as if it was stretched too tight. He’d been headed down this path for too long, and he hadn’t found an off-ramp. His head was killing him.

The door on the opposite side of the room opened, and Henric Jones walked in, followed by Charles Fralep. Their homes were connected via the tunnel.

Paxton instantly felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. He didn’t know when and he didn’t know how, but he was taking off Henric’s head the first chance he got. The male was a hybrid who looked more like a vampire than a demon. He had brown hair, metallic eyes, and a broad body.

“I heard you had some trouble in Nuremberg,” Henric said.

“I took care of it,” Paxton said shortly. His time was running out. His fists clenched at the thought, and he quickly relaxed them. Control. It was all he had.

The vampire glared. “Good, because the time’s coming near for the ritual, and you know what you have to do.”

Paxton kept silent but ground his back teeth together.

Santino looked from one to the other, his jaw slack. “When we started the Defenders, I really thought we were doing something good.”

“We are,” Henric snapped. “We’re saving the fucking world. Don’t you think that’s something good?”

“I don’t think you’re going to be able to save yourself,” Paxton said quietly.

Henric’s head swung, and whatever he saw in Paxton’s eyes had him blinking. Just once, but that was enough. “I don’t think you understand who holds the power here.”

Paxton flicked a glance at Fralep, who was a purebred demon with buzz-cut white hair and dark black eyes. “Power is fleeting and often changes hands, in my experience.”

“Not this time,” Henric retorted. “More importantly, why did they let you go?”

“I don’t entirely know,” Paxton said. “My guess is they don’t think I’m a threat to anybody they care about. Dage didn’t seem too bothered about me hacking into his schedule.” Yet the Realm’s response didn’t feel right at all, and his instincts told him something was coming for him—hard.

“We saw what happened,” Henric said. “You saved the female in Nuremberg when you could’ve taken her. No doubt the king, actually both kings, are aware of that same fact.”

Yeah, there was no doubt about that. The two kings most certainly had eyes everywhere. “Exactly,” he retorted, drumming up some anger. “You wouldn’t have gotten two feet with her. They had a squad of four on the ground and no doubt reinforcements close. And I’ve already told you repeatedly: I will not kidnap Hope.”

“We just need her blood.” Fralep patted his flat belly. He smelled like pepperoni, as always, and it was really fucking annoying.