Drake removed the now empty black jewelry box from his pocket and opened it. Somehow he’d managed to give Hope a ring in a dream world, and it had stayed with her.
It was a start. Taking her was next.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The Seven arrived at dawn. In heavily armored SUVs, they pulled up to the guest lodge at the far end of the Realm property. Garrett nudged Logan, who was next to him. “When did we get the badass vehicles?”
Logan shrugged. “Looks like overkill to me, but I guess if my mate were traveling across several states, I’d want her buckled up.” He’d ensured Mercy’s safety at demon headquarters for now, being just as cautious as the rest of them.
Garrett had left Dessie peacefully making a mess of his kitchen, with guards at every exit. While he wanted to let her sleep, he needed to be by her when she dreamed to keep her from meeting Ulric. Or to prevent Ulric from yanking her into his hell world. Garrett wasn’t positive how to do that, but he watched her sleep for any sort of disturbance, prepared to awaken her if she stirred.
Last night, her sleep had been restful and her dreams peaceful, from what he could tell.
He glanced at his phone, waiting for a text from Emma. Nothing. Impatience rode him hard, but he had no doubt Emma had spent another night working on Dessie’s case, so he refrained from texting her again.
The front doors of the lead SUV opened, allowing Ronan and Quade Kayrs to exit and scan the area.
“Your great-uncles are here,” Logan drawled.
“I think it’s great-great-great-uncles,” Garrett returned, his chest lightening. He’d missed these Seven brothers of his.
The doors of the second vehicle opened, letting out Adare O’Cearbhaill and Ivar Kjeidsen.
Garrett grinned. “Guess Benny Reese is the one in the trees with a scope on us.” It figured Benny would be the sniper. Unfortunately, Benny liked to shoot first and talk later.
Logan just sighed. “Do you ever feel seriously young around these guys?”
“We are. Comparatively.” The Seven were all hundreds of years old, except for Garrett and Logan. They moved forward in unison.
Garrett clapped Ivar on the back. “The area is secure. Call off Benny, and we’ll show you around. I promise your mates are safe.”
Logan moved for one of the rear doors. “Let them out of the cars, you guys. Give me a break.”
Ronan gave a high-pitched whistle.
A shotgun cracked, and a piece of the corner siding flew off the log exterior of the building.
“Damn it, Benny,” Garrett yelled. “Knock it off. You’re in Realm territory.” The shot would’ve brought guards running if headquarters didn’t already have a bead on Benny. It was a good thing Chalton was Ben’s nephew. “Get over here.”
“Some things never change,” Logan muttered, helping Faith and Grace Cooper out of the first SUV. They were sisters, mated to Ronan and Adare, respectively. Promise, Ivar’s mate, climbed out the other door, her face buried in a tablet as she solved the mysteries of the universe. She and Dessie would get along perfectly, and he already had a library with a whiteboard set up for her in the lodge. Haven, Quade’s mate, followed. She had paint on her hands and in her hair, obviously having interrupted her painting to drive to the Realm. She grinned at him.
The other doors opened, and there were hugs galore as Karma and her twin girls jumped out. She was mated to Benny. She turned to help their three boys out, aged one to three, and each was a spitting image of Benjamin Reese, their father.
Faith hugged Garrett and then stepped back, looking at the guest lodge. “I was told there would be medical facilities?” She was probably the best neurosurgeon in the entire world, which was another reason Garrett had called the Seven. If they decided to try to take the tumor from Dessie’s head, Faith would be the surgeon to do it.
He bustled them inside the lodge and got everyone situated before the Seven convened in the secluded conference room three stories down and surrounded by solid rock. The table was mahogany and the chairs large enough to accommodate everyone comfortably. Not one of them was less than three hundred pounds and six and a half feet tall. Since he’d called the meeting, he sat at the head of the table, while Logan sat directly across from him. “I want to bring the Realm in on everything, including the fact that Hope is the Lock.”
Logan nodded. There was one definite vote for him.
Ronan looked at his brother. “She’s our great-niece as well, but she’s the Lock. I didn’t spend an eternity in hell to fail now.”
“Agreed,” Quade said. “But blood is blood, and we’ll protect hers as well as the Keys. Right?”
Garrett cleared his throat. “I want the Realm brought in fully. Let’s vote.” To his surprise, all of his brothers voted aye, agreeing with him. He cleared his throat, hiding his emotion as he texted the information about Hope being the Lock to his family and then looked back up at the warriors around him. “Thank you. With that out of the way, I have a plan.”
Logan groaned.
Garrett ignored him. “We have the Keys and the Lock—all I need is their blood. That’s it. I take it, find Ulric, and kill him before he has a chance to break free of his world.”
