Page 116 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“How can you not know about Harry Potter—you’re a certified wizard who watches every supernatural series, both new and old!” Zee scoffs.

He rolls his eyes. “Harry Potter is a kid thing, isn’t it?” Oh, poor Duncan… He’s missed out on an epic part of literature history because he thinks he’s too old. “And I’m a warlock, not a wizard.”

“What’s the difference?” Zee asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Caliber.”

Zee snorts. “Oh, so it’s magical snobbery?”

Duncan sighs, runs a hand through his hair, and changes the subject. “I guess we have time to go over our findings so far.”

“Did you get any further yesterday?” I ask.

Zee nods. “The symbols from the cave indicate that the five protectors are protecting the owner, which is Pan, rather than the Jar.”

“Wow, that changes things.”

Duncan takes over. “Indeed. They have different roles: a protector, a warrior, an illuminator, a father, and a harmonizer. There are two possibilities. Archan and his men, or it could be us.”

“Gut feeling?” I ask.

“Us,” they say in unison.

I sit at the small table. “Why us?”

Zee answers, “Mainly because of you. The demon warned the warrior to stay away. You’ve come into your powers as if something was dormant and has awoken, ready to protect.”

I think back to the message left on Mary Conway’s wrist. “It wasn’t really a warning.” I stare at the Jar. “The symbols said, ‘Death will follow the female warrior.’ It’s more of a message than a warning. What if we misinterpreted it?”

“Nothing new there,” Zee mutters.

“What if it means that death will follow if I fail?”

Duncan leans on his elbows, looking tired. “Like a book, you can’t read a paragraph in the middle and expect to understand the story or the context. Without having it all, it’s a best guess situation.”

“So, if I’m the warrior… who are you?” I ask.

“We think Zee is the protector, I’m the harmonizer, Aaden is the illuminator, and Charlie is the father,” Duncan lists.

“We need to find Pan,” I point out, drumming my fingers on the table. I can’t shake the feeling something doesn’t fit.

Zee drops into the chair next to me as I turn the Jar around in my hands, as if doing so will compel it to reveal its secrets. “Back at the diner, Archan said the Jar would help locate Pan, so what’s the hold up? Or has Pan already been found?” Zee proposes.

“Didn’t you find it odd that Archan and his men found it ‘difficult’ to apprehend Khalkaroth in the warehouse?” Duncan asks.

I frown, thinking of his instruction to capture, not kill. “He was waiting for Pan,” I conclude.

“Makes more sense than them struggling with one demon,” Zee says.

I turn the Jar upside down to find the star-shaped indentation, identical to the original. The one my star most likely fits into… Something stops me from telling Duncan and Zee. Keeping back something this important feels strange, but for some reason, I just can’t bring myself to say anything.

Duncan spots me examining the bottom and steps behind me for a better look. “Looks like something should fit into the mark, like a key. I wonder if that’s how it’s opened. Not that it should ever be opened, if the symbols from the cave are to be believed.”

“What do you mean?” I probe.

“They describe an evil like no other—the last evil to be unleashed,” Duncan mentions absently, as if he isn’t discussing the end of the world in nondescript, scary terms.

“The Renevate demon said something about ‘the last evil…’” I remember.

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