Warrior's Hope （Dark Protectors #16）
Rebecca Zanetti
Dedication
This one is for my sister, Debbie English Smith, who reminds me of every tough and sweet heroine in this entire series.
Acknowledgments
As we close up this Seven Arc, I am so thankful that the interest in this series has grown through twenty-one books and three novellas with Kensington. I’m counting the Realm/Witch Enforcers in that total…and there will be more books coming!
Thank you to the readers who’ve been with the Kayrs family since the beginning, and those who have jumped in with this new era, starting with Vampire’s Faith. I have many wonderful people to thank for getting this book to readers, and I sincerely apologize to anyone I’ve forgotten.
Thank you to my truly wonderful family, Big Tone, Gabe, and Karlina for being so supportive as I’ve written in carpool lines, at practices, and on family vacations. I love you so much and sometimes miss those earlier days when you kids needed us to drive you everywhere. But I’m so proud of who you’ve become!
Thank you to my always insightful editor, Alicia Condon, who I really miss seeing at conferences since most of them have ended. However, there are new conferences and reader events being planned, and I can’t wait to have a drink together again! Thanks also to everyone at Kensington Publishing: Alexandra Nicolajsen, Steven Zacharius, Adam Zacharius, Lynn Cully, Vida Engstrand, Jane Nutter, Lauren Jernigan, Barbara Bennett, Elizabeth Trout, Arthur Maisel, Renee Rocco, Kristin McLaughlin, James Walsh, Jennifer Chang, and Lisa Gilliam.
Thank you to my wonderful agent, Caitlin Blasdell, who has worked so hard on this series from the very beginning, and actually signed me with Fated, the first book.
Thank you to my very creative assistant, Anissa Beatty, for her excellent social media work as well as the fun with the Rebels, my FB street team. Thank you to Lisa Ashley for naming Hope’s pet, and to Lisa Murray for naming Drew. A huge thank you to the Graves Book Club: Anissa Beatty, Madison Fairbanks, Asmaa Qayyum, Leanna Feazel, Suzi Zuber, Brenda Kay Vann, Amanda Larsen, Joan Lai, Karen Clementi, Marie Brown, and Heather Ates Harris, for their support in the charity auction and for naming Lyrica, who you will continue to see in future books.
Thank you to Writer Space and Fresh Fiction PR for all the hard work.
Thank you to Kimberly Frost, Heather Frost, Asmaa Qqyyum, Suzie Zuber, Madison Fairbanks and Leanna Feazel for Beat Reading this one.
Thanks also to my constant support system: Gail and Jim English, Kathy and Herb Zanetti, Debbie and Travis Smith, Stephanie and Don West, Jessica and Jonah Namson, Chelli and Jason Younker, Liz and Steve Berry, and Jillian and Benji Stein.
Chapter One
The Christmas tree lit the entire main room of the lodge with sparkling green and red lights, adding to the sense of whimsy created by the magical songs humming through the entertainment system.
Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood entered from the kitchen area, holding two heavy mugs and offering one to the woman looking at the tree. “Here you go. This will warm you up,” she said, handing over the hot buttered rum.
“Thank you.” Lisa Maloney accepted the mug. She still wore the ripped jeans and dirty green sweater she’d had on when she was rescued, but the soldiers who’d saved her had been called to another possible kidnapping, so Hope had instantly volunteered to help ease the woman into her new reality. She’d been through an ordeal, and spending some time in the cheerful lodge with a warm beverage should help.
“I don’t even know how to thank your people.” Lisa took a sip of the drink. Instantly, color washed across her face. “Oh, this is good.”
Hope sampled the concoction. “It’s my uncle Garrett’s recipe. There’s a lot of rum in it, but you’re not driving anywhere tonight, so that’s okay.”
Lisa turned to face Hope. “I’m sorry to be quiet. It’s just finding out about immortals has been a shock to my system. Here I thought I was so experienced and knowledgeable about the world.” The twenty-four-year-old teacher from Des Moines shivered. “Those creepy monsters had me. They were kidnapping me, and your people came out of nowhere to stop them.”
Hope couldn’t imagine the terror. “Yeah, the Kurjans have been kidnapping enhanced females all across the globe, and we’re trying to stop them whenever we can.” She watched the human closely. Her eyes were clear but her legs fidgety. She wouldn’t be able to sit and relax quite yet. Standing was fine.
Lisa’s hair was a bright red and her eyes a startling green. There was no doubt she had some Irish heritage, but according to Hope’s dossier, her family had lived in the States for a couple of centuries.
“I can’t believe that vampires actually exist.” Lisa’s eyes were still wide.
Hope kept her tone soothing and factual. “I have demon and vampire lineage as well as some witch and shifter, I think.”
“Wow,” Lisa said. “To think you live among us and I had no idea. How many vampires are there?”
“I’m not at liberty to divulge that, but I can say that I’m the only female with vampire blood in her ever born.”
Lisa blinked. “One of the soldiers mentioned that when he asked me to stay here while they went back out to the helicopter. Talk about pressure on you, huh?”
Hope had never known another reality. “I don’t feel pressure.”
“I’m sure you must,” Lisa said. “You’re the only one of your kind. Is it a genetic thing?”
Hope savored the delicious cocktail. “Yes. Vampires usually only give birth to males.”
“What’s an enhanced female?” Lisa looked back at the tree.
Ah. Hope had wondered when the questions would come. Lisa had accepted the reality faster than most. “Somebody with extra abilities. We don’t know if you’re cousins to the witches or are your own species like vampires or demons.” Hope’s gaze caught on the many handmade ornaments hung on the massively tall tree.
“This is adorable.” Lisa pulled at a pine cone that had been dipped in silver.
“My brother made that last week.” Hope admired the ornament. “He turned two not too long ago, and the kid’s really gifted.”
Lisa gingerly set it back in place. “Two? You have a two-year-old brother? How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-four. Same age as you,” Hope said. “It’s common for immortal siblings to be born many years apart.”
Lisa leaned closer to study a crystal globe ornament. “I don’t know if I can go back to teaching high school history and just pretend I don’t know all of this.”
“You have some time to figure it out. We need to keep you off the Kurjan radar for now.” At this very moment, experts in the computer center were working on an exit plan for the woman’s current life that would appease anybody who knew her—just in case she needed to hide for a while.
Lisa shuddered. “Kurjans. That’s how I pictured vampires. Pale skin, black hair, creepy purple eyes. I mean those dudes were terrifying.”
Hope agreed completely. “A lot of them are, I admit. It used to be that they couldn’t go out in the sun, but they’ve figured out a way to protect themselves, and now they can survive daylight for several hours at a time.”