Page 127 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

I glance at the floor. “We stole it from the Vatican.”

Barney chokes on a laugh. “You’re kidding? So youdidsteal it.”

I flick my hand. “Technicalities.”

“It’s not the same,” Nathan mumbles, turning the Jar in his palm.

“I know, but we thought it prudent to decipher it anyway.”

“Hmm… it’s only certain symbols, but the meaning will change significantly. I don’t see the point of deciphering it if it’s not the same,” Nathan finishes, placing the Jar in Archan’s outstretched hand.

I twist my hands in my lap. “We need to go back to the beginning. On the island, there were symbols on the walls of the cave written in the same language as the Jar.” The room falls completely silent. I take a deep breath. “We found information from those symbols that Jed thinks is important. Then when he saw the Jar, he became more insistent we tell you. So here we are.”

All eyes swing to Jed. “The symbols in the cave talk about the five protectors,” he slants a look at Archan, “which we already knew, but Duncan and Zee identified the different roles: a protector, a warrior, an illuminator, a father, and a harmonizer. They haven’t said as much, but I believe they think they’re the protectors.”

I glare at Jed. “I didn’t say anything about making conclusions, and given you have the real Jar, we assumed you thinkyou’rethe protectors.”

Jed shrugs. “Anyway, the symbols in the cave and on the replica Jar indicate the protectors are for Pan, as opposed to the Jar itself.”

Zac groans. “I fucking hate double meanings.”

I laugh. “Pity we don’t have an ‘ancient’ to help decipher these symbols more thoroughly. Oh wait, we do.” I glare at Archan.

Jed sighs. “Hey, you two, let me finish before you start the fireworks. My big concern is the symbols on the wall and on the replica Jar both say Pan holds mankind’s salvation in their hands, that they’re awakened when mankind is in crisis and are here to restore the balance.”

Archan’s eyes are glued to me. I quirk an eyebrow. “What?”

He glances at the Jar in his hands. “Are you drawn to the Jars, Natia?”

I frown. “No, I’m driven to figure out what’s going on, and I’m trusting you’re on the right side of this.”

Zac comes to stand next to Archan, smirking at me. “Is that everything?” Zac asks. I feel a solid push at my shields. I glare at him while quickly reciting “Suspicious Minds.”

“Stay the fuck out of my head. I trust you, and you pay me back by trying to break my shields? Oh, and you still have shared nothing.”

Archan glares at Zac and asks me, “What do you want to know?”

Putting distance between us, I move to the window seat. “Apart from what you make of everything we’ve told you, I want to know why you want to kill Pan.”

Archan runs a hand through his loose hair. “To stop a prophecy. One where mankind is destroyed.”

I glance out the window; the scorch marks from my power are still smoking. “And you still believe that after everything Jed has told you?”

Archan glances at the Jar. “I need to see the symbols from the cave. This replica is different from the original. I take it you feel I shouldn’t kill Pan?”

“No, definitely not. Something tells me killing him would have terrible repercussions—did it not concern you that Khalkaroth wanted him dead also?”

Archan and his team do the tiny head tilt. “We believe he was trying to mislead us into doing his bidding. A final attempt to control the fate of the world before you banished him.”

I sigh, conceding the possibility. “Also, there’s the problem of what’s in that little Jar you have. The symbols on the wall and the replica Jar indicate it’s the ‘last evil.’”

Archan looks at Jed, who nods in agreement. Turning back to me, Archan explains, “There’s a prophecy hidden within the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Codex Sinaiticus, where Pan stops mankind from receiving the salvation held in the Jar. If we kill Pan, we can restore balance to the world by opening the Jar.”

“What do you believe is in it?”

“Hope.”

My jaw drops open as my mind connects the dots. “We’re talking about Pandora’s box?”

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