Sometimes Hope forgot how smart her mother was and how insightful she could be. “The green book is still there,” she offered.
Janie blinked. “Oh man, I hated that book. The closer I’d get to it, the farther away it seemed to be. I had hoped I’d be the one who could read it. Do you think you’ll get to read the pages?”
Janie’s dreamworlds had been a lot like Hope’s, and that book had always been there.
“I hope so,” Hope breathed. “I felt even closer to it last time, and something tells me I will get my hands on it.”
Which would be amazing because then all the riddles would be answered. She would know what to do. She knew it contained her story and Janie’s and those of all of the chosen females through the years, maybe some of the males, though the book felt very feminine. She needed to get her hands on it to see what happened next. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“Of course,” Janie said. “You are my daughter. After all, saving the world is kind of what we do.”
Chapter Fourteen
Paxton came to with a snarl, leaping up and instinctively going for the biggest threat. His hands closed around a muscled neck, and he shoved a male soldier back, twisting his leg around the guy’s knee and taking him down. Paxton landed on top of him, and the guy smoothly rolled until Pax was beneath him. He grabbed Paxton’s head, lifted it, and smacked it down onto the ground.
“Would you knock it off? I’m trying not to hurt you here,” Zane snarled.
Pax looked up to find shockingly emerald and slightly pissed eyes staring down at him. It took him a second to realize he was only wearing boxer shorts. “What happened?”
“Good, you’re back.” Zane grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up, shoving him none too gently toward the bed. “At least sit down.”
Paxton’s vision went blurry, and he sat, noting pain down his entire right side. He looked down to see the flesh raised and bumpy. “Did something explode?” He looked numbly around the innocuous hospital room.
“Yes,” Zane said shortly. “The device in your head was detonated.”
Huh. Paxton rubbed his eye, which for the first time in too long didn’t feel as if needles were poking into it. “So they didn’t lie. The thing really did explode, huh?” He stilled. “Is Emma okay?” There was no doubt in his mind that Emma had been the surgeon performing the extraction.
“She’s fine,” Zane said, watching him closely.
Fire rolled through him. “What about Hope? Did they get the cluster bomb out of Hope’s head?”
“Yes,” Zane said. “It was no bigger than a dime. Pretty incredible, really.”
Paxton scrubbed both hands down his face, still feeling her soft mouth beneath his. “I’ve been terrified for years, but they wouldn’t let me get close enough to warn anybody. Until now, when they want me to make a move.”
“How did they get in her head?” Zane asked.
Paxton felt dizzy, but he remained upright, facing the recrimination he deserved. “One of the nights I was home a few years ago, we watched movies at my uncle’s. I don’t know what happened. We were drinking some wine and watching the movie, and we both kind of fell asleep. We woke up when the movie was over and that was it. I didn’t sense anything. I didn’t feel anything at all.” He frowned, having gone over the night in his mind a million times as he painstakingly wrote that note.
“I’ve brought your uncle and his cronies in for questioning,” Zane said quietly.
In Paxton’s world, questioning meant interrogating, probably torturing. “My uncle was out of town,” he said evenly. “He was in the Baltics at that time, hunting down a seer who supposedly had information about the Seven ritual. I think Henric operated on us. It wasn’t Fralep. He doesn’t have the hands for it. It was definitely Henric.”
“I’ve brought them in as well.”
Paxton stood, the floor chilly beneath his feet. It was nice to feel anything right now. He figured he’d be dead. “You have to know that the Defenders have many cells in different locations throughout the world, and even after all this time, I don’t have a line on any of them. They’re traditionalists, autonomous, and each has a different mission. Mine was concerned with the Seven. For now, I want a shot at Henric.”
“I’m sure you do,” Zane said. “I’ll give you a go after I’m done.”
“I’m really sorry about this,” Pax said. “I got word to you as soon as I could. I had to be careful because I really do believe Henric wants Hope dead.”
Zane straightened, coming off the wall. “Why is that?”
“Because she’s the Lock. If she’s not around, the Seven can’t perform the final ritual,” Paxton admitted. “I have them convinced that if something happens to her, another Lock will show up. That they can’t just end this by taking her out.”
“It’s a good strategy,” Zane admitted.
He’d been plotting for so long. “Yeah,” Paxton said. “So now their grand goal is to kill everyone. The Seven, the Keys, the Lock, and even the Keeper of the circle. I think. I’m not privy to what they’re really planning, but that’s been my fear.”
Zane’s gaze narrowed. “Paxton, I’ve seen some of the missions you went on. You know there are cameras or satellites everywhere. You could have killed all of them and not built up a sweat.”
“I know,” Paxton said, the constant ache in his chest starting to unravel now that Hope’s brain was clear. “But they have safeguards, or at least they did. Henric has somebody out there I’ve never been able to find. If he doesn’t check in with that person on a regular schedule I’ve never figured out, then Hope dies. I couldn’t take that chance.”
Zane scrutinized him. “I need you to tell me everything you know about the Seven, the ritual, and the leader of the Kurjan nation.”
“Gladly,” Paxton said. “Unfortunately, even after all the research we’ve done, the fights we’ve encountered, and the training I’ve undergone, all we know is that the Seven, many of them being your relatives, are planning a ritual that will somehow kill Ulric. They need the blood of the three Keys, and Hope has something to do with it—my guess is it’ll take her sacrifice. Something like this requires a price. Nobody knows anything more than that, which means it’s all probably bullshit.”
Zane snorted. “No, there’s always truth with the bullshit. We just don’t know what it is. Hope wants to meet Drake in the real world. She thinks she can broker some kind of peace. What do you think?”
“I think the Kurjans want war,” Paxton said honestly. “If there’s to be any peace, as far as they’re concerned, it means they’re the only ones left standing.” He knew that to his soul.
When Zane spoke next, his eyes darkened, going from green to greenish black. That could be mesmerizing to some, but it was a warning to Paxton. “Hope believes there is a fight within the Kurjan nation, and our source inside confirms that.”
“Maybe,” Paxton allowed. “But that doesn’t mean Drake wants peace with us. He may just want to get his people under control. If I were you, I wouldn’t let Hope get within a foot of him. You know she saw him the other night in a dreamworld.” He hated reporting her activities, but the more people protecting her, the better.