“Right. But that doesn’t change you or your vulnerabilities,” Mercy said quietly. “You’ve sacrificed yourself for your mother, you’ve killed for your brothers, and you’ve been prepared to die for your niece since the day she was born seven years ago. That’s why you’re willing to risk your life to become one of the Seven protectors on Earth.”
His chest settled. His blood slowed. The storm gathering force around him was nothing compared to the one that wanted to get free inside him. “What do you know about my niece?” The girl was a prophet, chosen by Fate, and that wasn’t the half of it. Not even close.
Mercy broke free of his gaze, looking beyond him to the sea. “Don’t you get it? Everything is about Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood. The first step was taking Sam. The next?” She shook her head. “It’s inevitable.”
Logan growled. Hurting this half size female was something he’d never get over. But with her last statement, everything changed. He’d do what he had to in order to get answers. “Get out of the hot spring, Mercy. Now.”
Chapter 9
The slight rain splashed down from the trees, washing over Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood’s new, bright pink bike. It was a normal spring in Idaho. Lots and lots of rain. She and Libby had spent hours putting unicorn stickers all over the bars, and Paxton had woven pretty ribbons through the spokes. It was perfect.
Paxton frowned, looking over the downed tree across the trail, his silvery-blue eyes nearly glowing. A series of branches made a cool ramp almost to the top of the bark. “This is a bad idea.” At seven years old, the vampire-demon was shorter than most other males, but his hands and feet were so big he tripped a lot. “Let’s go play music. I have a new song on the guitar.”
She shook her head. “No more piano for today. I don’t love making music like you do.” It was time to play outside. Plus, Pax was getting so good on the guitar that it was hard to keep up, even though he only practiced when his daddy wasn’t around. For some reason, his dad didn’t like music much.
Pax looked around, his shoulders slumped. He rubbed his round belly. “It’s getting dark, and we should go inside.”
Hope wiped rain off her forehead. Libby was already on the other side of the jump, having successfully sped over it on her bike, her blond pigtails springing up. “Libby did it,” Hope said, her arms tingling and her heart battering against her ribs.
Pax shook his shaggy dark hair, spraying water. “Libby is a feline shifter. They jump things for a living.”
“Not at seven years old,” Hope retorted. If Libby could do it, she could, too. “I’m a vampire, Pax.” The only living female vampire ever. Vampires were just as tough as shifters. She swallowed. She was half-human, too. Kind of. In male vampires, the human part seemed to just go away. But in her…not so much. She’d just gotten over a bad cold. Finally. “I can do this.”
“If you get hurt, I’d just die.” Pax wiped rain off his round face. His cheeks were so full, it was kind of fun to squeeze them, but only once in a while.
She loved her best friends. “If I get hurt, I’ll tell your dad you weren’t here,” she promised. Pax’s daddy was a vampire who never smiled. Ever. His mama had been a really nice demon, but she’d died in the last war. So Pax tried to stay with Hope a lot—which was really cool.
Pax kicked a pebble. “I don’t care about my dad knowing. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
She straddled the bike. “Just ‘cause I’m different from other vampires, I won’t stop doing stuff.” Though she didn’t understand how she got colds or injuries, she couldn’t let the fear of her being part human stop her. Someday she was going to hafta be a prophet, and she already knew it wouldn’t mean just talking to people. Her path was different, and she had to be strong enough to run down it. This might be a first step. “No fear, Pax.”
Pax looked scared.
Sometimes when she was with him, her stomach hurt. Like she should be doing something, but she didn’t know what. Like she wasn’t being a good friend, but she tried really hard anyway. Sometimes she could see the future or just know stuff that was gonna happen. But never with Libby, Pax, or her friend Drake. She couldn’t see anything with them—or herself. “Trust me.”
“I do.” He looked away and then back. “But I think you’re just doing dumb stuff so you won’t go to sleep. I know you’ve been having bad dreams again.” Pax often slept over.
Her shoulders felt heavy. “They’re only bad because I don’t understand them.” Something was happening with her uncles Logan and Sam. Just when she’d got Uncle Garrett figured out, there were more problems. “I called Logan this morning and he didn’t answer.” That wasn’t good, but she couldn’t tell her daddy. Not yet, anyway. There was nothin’ to tell.
Pax checked her back tire. “Please don’t do this.”
“I’m off!” She settled her weight on the seat and caught her balance. Letting out a yip of excitement, she started pedaling as fast as she could.
The rain dripped harder, and she blinked to clear her eyes.
Libby waited on the other side, out of the way.
Hope got closer to the jump. Her front tire wobbled in the mud and she corrected, sliding a little. The mud caught the back tire.
She yelped and hit the jump too far to the side. Screaming, she flew into the air, turning sideways.
Pax bellowed her name from behind her, sounding way older than normal. Libby shrieked and started running toward her.
Then everything happened in slow motion.
She jerked to the side, holding her handles as hard as she could. Her shoulder hit a tree branch. Something cracked. Her head knocked against a tree, and she heard the echo between her ears. Then she was falling, and the entire world went dark.
She didn’t feel herself hitting the ground.
