Warrior’s Hope

Chapter One

by

Rebecca Zanetti

 

The Christmas tree lit the entire main room of the lodge with sparkling green and red lights, adding to the sense of whimsy created by the magical songs humming through the entertainment system.

Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood entered from the kitchen area, holding two heavy mugs and offering one to the woman looking at the tree. “Here you go. This will warm you up,” she said, handing over the hot buttered rum.

“Thank you.” Lisa Maloney accepted the mug. She still wore the ripped jeans and dirty green sweater she’d had on when she was rescued, but the soldiers who’d saved her had been called to another possible kidnapping, so Hope had instantly volunteered to help ease the woman into her new reality. She’d been through an ordeal, and spending some time in the cheerful lodge with a warm beverage should help.

“I don’t even know how to thank your people.” Lisa took a sip of the drink. Instantly, color washed across her face. “Oh, this is good.”

Hope sampled the concoction. “It’s my uncle Garrett’s recipe. There’s a lot of rum in it, but you’re not driving anywhere tonight, so that’s okay.”

Lisa turned to face Hope. “I’m sorry to be quiet. It’s just finding out about immortals has been a shock to my system. Here I thought I was so experienced and knowledgeable about the world.” The twenty-four-year-old teacher from Des Moines shivered. “Those creepy monsters had me. They were kidnapping me, and your people came out of nowhere to stop them.”

Hope couldn’t imagine the terror. “Yeah, the Kurjans have been kidnapping enhanced females all across the globe, and we’re trying to stop them whenever we can.” She watched the human closely. Her eyes were clear but her legs fidgety. She wouldn’t be able to sit and relax quite yet. Standing was fine.

Lisa’s hair was a bright red and her eyes a startling green. There was no doubt she had some Irish heritage, but according to Hope’s dossier, her family had lived in the States for a couple of centuries.

“I can’t believe that vampires actually exist.” Lisa’s eyes were still wide.

Hope kept her tone soothing and factual. “I have demon and vampire lineage as well as some witch and shifter, I think.”

“Wow,” Lisa said. “To think you live among us and I had no idea. How many vampires are there?”

“I’m not at liberty to divulge that, but I can say that I’m the only female with vampire blood in her ever born.”

Lisa blinked. “One of the soldiers mentioned that when he asked me to stay here while they went back out to the helicopter. Talk about pressure on you, huh?”

Hope had never known another reality. “I don’t feel pressure.”

“I’m sure you must,” Lisa said. “You’re the only one of your kind. Is it a genetic thing?”

Hope savored the delicious cocktail. “Yes. Vampires usually only give birth to males.”

“What’s an enhanced female?” Lisa looked back at the tree.

Ah. Hope had wondered when the questions would come. Lisa had accepted the reality faster than most. “Somebody with extra abilities. We don’t know if you’re cousins to the witches or are your own species like vampires or demons.” Hope’s gaze caught on the many handmade ornaments hung on the massively tall tree. “This is adorable.”

Lisa pulled at a pine cone that had been dipped in silver. “My brother made that last week.”

Hope admired the ornament. “He turned two not too long ago, and the kid’s really gifted.”

Lisa gingerly set it back in place. “Two? You have a two-year-old brother? How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-four. Same age as you,” Hope said. “It’s common for immortal siblings to be born many years apart.”

Lisa leaned closer to study a crystal globe ornament. “I don’t know if I can go back to teaching high school history and just pretend I don’t know all of this.”

“You have some time to figure it out. We need to keep you off the Kurjan radar for now.” At this very moment, experts in the computer center were working on an exit plan for the woman’s current life that would appease anybody who knew her—just in case she needed to hide for a while.

Lisa shuddered. “Kurjans. That’s how I pictured vampires. Pale skin, black hair, creepy purple eyes. I mean those dudes were terrifying.”

Hope agreed completely. “A lot of them are, I admit. It used to be that they couldn’t go out in the sun, but they’ve figured out a way to protect themselves, and now they can survive daylight for several hours at a time.”

“How did they find me?” Lisa asked.

It was a fair question. “Enhanced females set off vibrations, and Kurjan technology has advanced to the point that they can detect them. I can’t tell you what they wanted with you because I don’t know. We’re trying to figure that out.”

Lisa grasped a hand-whittled guitar ornament. “This is cute. Who did this?”

Fond memories swept through Hope. “My friend Paxton.” Her best friend, actually.

“He wanted to be a rock star when we were young.”

Lisa peeked under her lashes. “Sounds like he means a lot to you.”

“He does,” Hope said, her chest aching. “I miss him.”

“Is he one of the soldiers out there fighting for kidnapped women?”

“Oh no.” Hope couldn’t imagine Pax with a gun. “Paxton is a scientist. His uncle studies the migration patterns of insects and is very fond of butterflies. He took Pax under his wing when we were teenagers, and now Paxton gets to travel all over the world, which is good for him.”

Lisa nudged her with a shoulder. “But not so good for you?”

Hope looked at the tiny guitar. “I miss him,” she admitted. “My life feels more settled when he’s here, but my team just became mission ready yesterday, so we’re out on our own soon. There are a lot of enhanced females who need to be rescued, and that’s my primary objective.” She felt his absence daily. It had been nearly a year since they were in the same place at the same time, but they spoke often via teleconferencing or by texting nearly every week. His anecdotes about following his uncle around chasing butterflies were often hilarious. Sometimes Hope wished she could be with him, but she had a job to do, and she was good at it.

Lisa reached for another ornament. This one was a framed picture of Hope, Paxton, and their best friend, Libby, when they’d been in elementary school. “Is this him?” Lisa tapped on his smiling face.

“Yeah,” Hope said.

Lisa winked. “I bet he turned out cute.”

“He really did.” Heat filtered up from Hope’s neck to her cheeks.

“So he’s the one, huh?” Lisa cocked her head.

The question was like a dash of cold water. “My path lies another way.” She absently rubbed the marking on her neck that declared her one of the three prophets of her people.

Lisa followed her motion. “That’s a heck of a tattoo you’ve got there.”

“Thank you.” The marking wound from her shoulders up both sides of her neck to beneath her ears. The intricate blue design seemed to dance on her skin. She’d worn the brand since before she was born, and she felt the weight of it often.

“Tell me about this Paxton,” Lisa said.

“That’s about all there is,” Hope murmured. “He’s a scientist, he’s a free spirit, and he’s just a great guy. He’s sweet.”

Lisa rehung the ornament. “He sounds wonderful, and if he turned out as cute as he looks here, I’d say you’re missing out if you don’t go for it.”

Time to change the subject. “What about you?”

Lisa rescued a Santa ornament from tipping over. “My boyfriend and I broke up a year ago. I was thinking about maybe trying a dating app, but I don’t know. Now that I know I’m being hunted by super scary, creepy, vampire-esque monsters, I may just lie low for a while.”

Hope smoothed out the tree skirt with one foot. “That’s not a bad idea. We’ll keep you safe, whatever you decide. We can give you a new ID, or you can stay here in Realm territory until we figure things out. I promise we’re not going to abandon you now that we’ve rescued you.”

“I appreciate that,” Lisa said.

An owl hooted loudly from outside the heavy doors leading to the deck and down to the lake, and Hope moved to open the door. “Hey, Wingman,” she called out.

Lisa popped up at her side. “You have an owl for a wingman?”

“It’s his name.” Hope chuckled. “He somehow adopted me a while back. He’s just a friend, or a pet, or maybe neither.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “Are you like a witch? You know from those old fairy tales where they have a familiar?”

Hope mulled the question over. “I don’t think so. He just appeared one day and hangs around a lot. He does show up at odd times, though.” While she did have some witch heritage, she wasn’t able to form plasma out of thin air, so her main identity as an immortal probably wasn’t as a witch. Unfortunately, she hadn’t discovered any talents, so she couldn’t figure out what kind of immortal she should identify with. It was quite frustrating.

The bird was beautiful, with thick white feathers and a dark marking around his beak. He was also a good size but flew gracefully when he wanted.

“He disappears fairly often,” Hope said. “Because he is a predator.” Like most people in her world, actually.

Her phone buzzed, and she looked down and instantly pressed a button, nerves flaring to life in her abdomen. “Paxton, hi.”

His face came into view on screen. Silvery-blue eyes, thick black hair, rugged features with a nice shadow covering his jaw. He looked like a tough-guy wildlife biologist on safari.

Next to her, Lisa sucked in air. “Whoa,” she whispered. “Seriously hot.”

Hope smiled. “I was just talking to Wingman.”

“That bird’s weird,” Paxton said. Behind him was a beautiful sunlit beach with aqua-colored water that looked too inviting to resist. She wished she could vacation with him and get out of the snow.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Saint Thomas,” he said, leaning back a little bit. “We’re in the Caribbean studying the migration patterns of the Gulf fritillary. We’re trying to figure out how the little beauty initially arrived here.”

Hope assumed he was talking about a butterfly. “Fun.”

“Yeah, they’re part of the ‘brush-footed’ or Nymphalidae butterfly family, referring to the short hairs on the front of its legs.” His eyes shone as he warmed to the subject. “They like passionflowers, so they’re also known as the passion butterfly.”

Hope gave Lisa a look. “That’s fascinating, Pax.” He combined adorable geekiness and rugged sexiness in a way that warmed her heart as well as other parts of her anatomy.

He grinned. “Sorry. I got carried away. But I’m calling you for a reason. Guess what?”

“What?” Hope held her breath.

“We’re coming home for Christmas.”

Elation whipped through her. “Oh, I’m so glad.” She had found him the perfect cutting-edge microscope set and had wanted to give it to him in person. She had also bought brand-new editions of Realm Sudoku, which for some reason he seemed to love, although he never sat still long enough to play.

“When will you be home?”

“I think the day before Christmas, but I’ll let you know for sure.” He looked over his shoulder. “Oh, my uncle is calling me. I have to go. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. I’ll see you soon.” She clicked off.

“You look way too happy for him to be just a friend.” Lisa returned her attention to her mug of rum.

Hope let herself bask in the moment for two seconds and then shoved the dream away. “The male has grown up nicely.”

“I would say so,” Lisa burst out. “Did you see that chest? He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Did you notice? Because I sure as heck noticed. That was one heck of a chest.”

Hope chuckled. “Yes, Paxton ended up very muscled and good-looking somehow, even though he chases butterflies around the globe.” She was grateful that he wasn’t part of her world of strategy and war. After his upbringing, he deserved peace.

“But we’re friends, and we’ll always be just friends.” She knew fate had other plans for her. But the words rang hollow just the same.

Lisa fanned herself. “If you say so, although I think you’re crazy, girlfriend.”

Hope thought about explaining just as her cousin Collin strode into the room. “We’re on go,” he said, securing his duffel bag over his shoulder. “Two women, definitely enhanced. Our first solo mission. The team is heading to the helicopter to take us to the coast. We’ll catch a plane there.”

Hope put her cup on the table near the tree, her heart beating faster. “Where are we going?”

“Paris.” Collin glanced at his watch. “We’re wheels up in twenty minutes.”

Hope thought through mission parameters. “I have a go bag and will meet you at the hangar.”

“You’ve got it,” Collin said. “Liam is acquiring weapons, and I’ll assist him. See you there.” He strode out of the room.

Lisa blew out air. “Wow. What is it with these immortal males? I mean, dangerously sexy.”

Hope blinked. “I guess.” He was her cousin, so she’d never really looked at him that way. “Lisa, you’re safe here, and you can stay as long as you want.”

“Thank you.” Lisa leaned in for an impulsive hug. “You’re going out there to save two more women like me?”

“That’s the plan.” Hope slid her phone into the back pocket of her cargo pants as anticipation trilled through her veins. Finally, she and her team would have a chance to work on their own and make a difference.

She would not fail those women. No matter what.

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