“Is the Realm all right?” Hope asked, reaching for a shirt to tug over her head. “Headquarters hasn’t been attacked yet?”
“No, we got the warning from Hunter and Vero in plenty of time,” Derrick said. “We’re on the offensive. With Vero’s help, we traced the location of the camp where Ulric is. We’re going to take them instead.”
“We’re going on the offense,” Liam called out from the pilot seat.
“Hell yeah,” Collin joined in.
Hope gulped. She hadn’t intended on seeing battle so quickly after becoming mated, but it was her job. “All right, where are we right now?”
“Alaska,” Hunter said. “So we’re about two hours out from hitting the camp.”
“An hour,” Liam called back. “You wouldn’t believe how fast this baby goes. Collin tweaked it last week. We should get there at the same time as the Seven.”
Hope yanked the cargo pants beneath the blanket and pulled them up. It felt good to have clothes on, and even though the pink socks looked ridiculous, they were her favorite and they were warm. “The Seven are coming?”
“Yes,” Libby said soberly. “They don’t know the next time they’ll have Ulric’s location pinpointed, and this camp is not the main Kurjan headquarters, so half of their force is elsewhere. The compound is well armed from what we could tell by satellite, but we finally know where Ulric is based.”
Hope settled into battle mode. “Did they bring the three Keys?”
“No,” Derrick said. “They have the blood of the three Keys, combined with yours, which should be all that’s needed. Their presence isn’t required. They have the combined blood in bullets, they have it in bombs. They even have it in darts. If there’s a way to get the concoction into Ulric, we’re going to do it.”
She reached for the black scaly book. “I don’t think that’s it.” The book felt familiar in her hand.
“That’s the other half of that book,” Derrick said, reaching for it.
“Yeah,” Hope said, pulling it back. He could read it after she did. “I think there’s an answer in here somewhere.” She hadn’t had a chance to read it yet, and curiosity rode her hard. She only had an hour to figure this out. She flipped the book open to see an illustration of three keys. Her heart started to drum.
“What does it say?” Hunter asked.
She looked up. “I don’t know yet. I’m still deciphering the symbols.” Then she narrowed her gaze on her cousin. He sported fresh cuts on his face and bruises on his jaw. She looked at Vero, who was similarly injured. “What happened to you two?”
Vero cut a look sideways at Hunter. “We found a cabin with a radio and were able to call the Realm, but they were two hours out from reaching us with this amazing vehicle, and so…”
Hunter grinned. “We had some things to work out.”
“Yeah, like the fact that you lied to me for five years,” Vero muttered. “I thought we were best friends.”
“We are best friends,” Hunter said logically. “We worked together. We fought together. Crap, we nearly died together a couple of times. We are best friends, but we just needed to work through a little anger before we reached that conclusion.” He flashed a smile at Hope, and a hint of Dage Kayrs showed in his face.
“I can’t wait to see your real face again,” she said.
Hunter snorted. “I know. It’s hard to catch the ladies with this one.”
Vero punched him. “Shut up. Kurjans are better looking than demons or vampires. Everybody knows that.”
Paxton snorted. “I would’ve disagreed last week. However, now…”
The group chuckled. Libby winked at Paxton. “I can’t believe you’re part Kurjan. That is so weird, but it is what it is. So what happens now?”
Hope didn’t miss the surprise that flashed quickly across Pax’s face. Had he really thought his friends would reject him just because he had Kurjan blood in him? He should have known better. “That’s a good question. What does happen now?” she asked.
“Now we’re at war,” Paxton said grimly. He looked at the team. “Hope, you have thirty minutes to read that book, and then we need battle plans. I assume they’re coming through your phone?”
“Oh yeah.” Derrick yanked the phone out of his back pocket and tossed it at Hope. Libby snatched it out of the air, her shifter reflexes making the movement too fast to see. “The Realm wants you to coordinate with the other six squads they’re sending in. There’s a laptop in the bag to your right. The king wants you fully informed before we hit the ground.”
Hope glanced into the bag. “Got it.” That left her only twenty-five minutes with this book. The text wasn’t in plain English but in symbols and archaic languages, but she knew them all. She painstakingly went through the text and once again found the lock in the shape of a heart. Her stomach started to drop as she finally deciphered the directions on how to take down Ulric. She sighed. That made sense.
“What is it?” Libby asked.
“I knew it would come down to a sacrifice,” she murmured. “I just didn’t realize how extreme.” But she should have. Ulric was invincible, and there had to be balance in the universe. To be able to kill him, to be able to take him down, blood had to be shed.
“What does it say?” Paxton asked softly, a dangerous note in his voice.
She shivered because this Paxton she didn’t know. This male was hard and unbendable. “It says that it takes the blood of the three Keys combined with the heart of the Lock.”
There was dead silence in the helicopter for a moment.
“No!” Hunter burst out first.
“Not going to happen,” Liam called from the driver’s seat.
Even Collin, the more mellow of the twins, turned around, his gaze fierce. “We are not giving him your heart.”
“I don’t think we’re supposed to give it to him.” Bile rose from her stomach and she swallowed it ruthlessly down. “I think we’re supposed to shove it down his throat.” She wondered if it would still be beating, if there was something special about her heart that would keep it beating. Maybe it would blow up in his stomach. “Fate really is a bitch,” she muttered. She couldn’t help it. She lifted her gaze to meet Paxton’s. He hadn’t said a word.
His jaw was set hard, and his eyes had morphed to the green of a laser, piercing and sharp. “That isn’t going to happen,” he said, his determination all the more obvious in the quietness of his hoarse voice. “Tell me you get me, Hope. Tell me that right now.”
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Ulric was evil, and he would do more harm in the world than she could explain. It wasn’t just the enhanced females, and it wasn’t just his dedication to decimating the Realm. He was evil incarnate. He couldn’t be allowed to walk the earth with everybody she loved.
She had known her life would require sacrifice, but she had figured it would mean aligning herself with Drake, not actually dying. Not really. She had finally found love, and she had finally dedicated herself to Paxton. She’d had three wonderful hours with him, full of love and light, and a deeper understanding than most people would ever reach. It was probably more than most people ever found. She would have to take comfort in that.