“Well.” She looked at Garrett and Logan. “I guess you two were sent to deliver the bad news, huh?”
It wasn’t funny. She should not feel amusement, and her lips should not be twitching. She tried to keep a straight face when all she wanted to do was chuckle. There was something about incredibly stubborn and dangerous males that was just cute when they got all riled up with each other, especially if they were family.
“We don’t need any additional energy in the strategic meeting,” Garrett said slowly. “We’ve got the Seven, we’ve got the three Keys, and now we have the Lock. We’ve been busy creating bombs armed with their blood in the hope that we can kill Ulric with them. Now we need to plan the attack, and don’t worry, just the soldiers are going. Hope deserves to be part of the planning, and we need her brain, anyway.”
“You are not taking my daughter into that group without me there,” Zane growled, threat in every syllable of his words.
A shiver danced down Hope’s spine, and she lost the smile and all of the amusement.
Dage’s chin lowered in a way that would have anybody backing away. Anybody except for his nephews. “I’m the King of the Realm. Anything that happens in this entire world is my business. Especially”—he flicked his gaze toward Hope—“when it involves my niece.”
Talen just started walking toward the door. “Done talking.”
Garrett threw his hands up, while Logan cracked a smile. “Told you we wouldn’t talk him out of it,” he said.
“Shut up,” Garrett said, following his father.
Zane gestured Hope in front of him. “Let’s go. Let’s see what they’re up to.”
Hope was more curious than anything else. Though she remained in contact with the members of the Seven, she didn’t think they had any additional knowledge beyond what she had compiled. In other words, nobody knew how to kill Ulric.
She walked down one flight of stairs to the largest conference room. All members of the Seven were now inside, as well as Dage, Zane, Talen, and Hope. At the far end of the table sat the three Keys: Mercy, a half fairy mated to Hope’s uncle Logan Kyllwood; Grace, an enhanced female mated to the ancient Adare O’Cearbhaill; and Dessie, an enhanced female and Ulric’s possible Intended, who was mated to Uncle Garrett.
The three females couldn’t be more dissimilar in looks and temperament, and yet they all had the birthmark with the mystical key. Logan sat next to Mercy in an unmistakably protective stance.
“Howdy, Lock,” Mercy said, kicking back in her chair, her mismatched green and black eyes twinkling.
“Hi, Aunt Mercy,” Hope returned, grinning. The stunning woman wasn’t old enough to be Hope’s aunt.
Dessie smiled. “We’re finally going to figure all of this out.”
“I hope so,” Hope said.
Grace, her brown hair atop her head, remained quiet as usual. Her soul was a soft and quiet one, and she used photography to depict scenarios that nobody else saw. Her gaze landed on her mate, who gave her a barely perceptible nod. Her answering smile was sweet.
Garrett folded an arm around Dessie. “We have all the blood bombs we could ever need. Does anybody know how we can use them to kill Ulric? I don’t like the idea of just magically shoving them down his gullet. What happens then?”
Benjamin Reese, one of the oldest hybrids in the room, and possibly one of the craziest, shook his head. “It’s our only option. Down the throat.”
Ivar Kjeidsen, an ancient hybrid, tapped his long fingers on the table. “My mate has been working on different equations, hoping to form another prison world, but it just doesn’t seem possible.” His mate was a brilliant physicist who was more at home with a whiteboard than nature. He looked at Seven members Quade and Ronan Kayrs. “You’re all related, so shouldn’t you be on the same page?”
Quade shrugged. “We created the prison worlds in defiance of the laws of physics, and our young nephew, the king, doesn’t like it.”
Benny snorted. “Well, we did fuck up the universe, so I don’t blame him.” He gestured with his chin at Garrett Kayrs and Logan Kyllwood. “I know the two kings aren’t happy about Garrett and Logan being part of the Seven, but they have good heads on their shoulders, and you can trust them. The blood bombs will take care of Ulric. We will finally kill that bastard.”
“Just how exactly are we going to do that?” Hope asked.
“That’s the problem now, isn’t it?” Dage drawled. “Even if we captured him, do you honestly think just pouring blood down his throat will do it?”
That was too easy. Hope looked at the piles of ancient texts scattered across the table. “No.” She didn’t know how, she didn’t know why, but she knew that wasn’t the answer. “I don’t think that’s how we kill Ulric.”
“Then how?” Dage asked her softly.
She thought for several long moments. “I really don’t know.” Her gaze caught on a scaly black book whose pages had yellowed with age. “I haven’t seen this one.” She’d pored over every old book she could find for years.
Mercy nodded. “We found that in Glacier National Park about a month ago. I was in the process of copying it for you when we were attacked. Smell it.”
Benny rolled his eyes. “Don’t smell it. The thing has been underground forever.”
Hope leaned forward and took a deep whiff. “Spiced oranges? Weird.” The cover was the skin of an animal.
“I think it’s dragon skin,” Mercy whispered.
The open page showed three Keys, painstakingly drawn, a river of fire, and a Lock. It was the Lock’s shape that caught her eye. Different symbols and several archaic languages made up the text. “The Lock is in the shape of a heart,” she mused, flipping the pages quickly. “Where’s the rest of the book?” It appeared as if it had been torn in half.
Dessie threw her hands up. “I wanted to stay in the park and find it, but Mr. Bossy Pants said it was too dangerous and that we were going home.” She smacked Garrett in the chest.
He easily caught her hand and held it against his heart, his metallic-gray eyes amused. “Don’t think I won’t spank you, witnesses or not.”
“Get a room,” Logan drawled.
The picture, a thousand years old, almost glowed on the worn parchment.
Excitement rushed through Hope’s blood, and she reached for her phone to shoot off a quick text to Collin. “So far, Collin has located all of our resources. If anybody can find the second half of this, it’s him.” The team would be ready to go. “We’re close.” She sat studying the one clear page.
“What?” her father asked.
She looked up. “I don’t think the heart shape of the Lock is an accident.” Did this mean they had to shove her entire heart down Ulric’s throat? What could be more of a sacrifice than giving up her heart? Most immortals could regrow a heart, but if she were truly human as they suspected, then she’d die. “We have to find the rest of this book.” There had to be another way.