Page 119 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

Duncan shakes his head.

“I’m a universal donor.” I stand and begin hunting for what I need. Duncan opens kitchen cupboards, banging them shut in frustration.

“Natia.” He turns to me with a large first aid kit. We both stare, stunned, at the comprehensive medical kit. Duncan grabs the transfusion tubes and needles.

“Is it weird that the Pope has transfusion gear in his first aid kit?” I ask, sitting next to an increasingly pale Zee. I pull my black, long-sleeve top off and hold my arm out. Duncan swabs the crook of my arm with an ice-cold antiseptic wipe, making me shiver. I turn away as the needle pricks my skin, and he begins the transfusion.

He sets his watch timer for five minutes. “We don’t know how fast you’re donating, so we need to keep it to the minimum he needs.” He places a chocolate bar in front of me and sets about making a cup of sugary coffee. “Eat.”

My stomach turns at the thought. I’ve still not fully recovered my appetite, and the encounter with Lawrence has ruined it completely. I pick at the chocolate, making myself swallow one square at a time. The coffee is far too sweet, but I gulp it down. The last thing we need is for me to pass out. Duncan’s watch beeps.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

I look at Zee—his color is improving. “I’m okay. Keep going.”

Duncan takes Zee’s pulse from his wrist. “A few more minutes.”

I bite my lip. “He’s going to be okay?”

Duncan nods. “He’ll be fine.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Natia

Taurus—the most stubborn sign of the zodiac. Congrats.

Several tense hours later, the Vatican opens to the public, and the wards lift. Duncan finds Aaden at the airport and teleports us back. Sitting around my living room, we fill Aaden in on everything that happened.

“Wait, so we get rid of Khalkaroth, and Lawrence turns up?” Aaden clarifies.

“At least they’re taking turns,” I snort.

Duncan glances up from the book he’s reading. “Lawrence is a whole other league. He teleported into a heavily warded building and overpowered me and Zee in seconds. We need a plan.”

I look at Zee. “I’m so sorry I—”

Zee grabs my face, his spring green eyes boring into mine. “Don’t you dare blame yourself, and don’t even think about sacrificing yourself. I’m alive. In fact, I feel good.” The rapidly healing, pale pink scar on his neck shines in the sunlight streaming in through the window.

“Lawrence was there when Jack attacked you,” Duncan states softly, staring at me with a compassion I don’t deserve and definitely can’t handle.

Fighting the sob that gets stuck in my chest, I clutch at my heart, as if it’s gotten stuck, too. “I thought I’d imagined it. But he was influencing Jack to assault me. It wasn’t his fault… Duncan, I killed an innocent man.”

“It doesn’t exonerate him,” Duncan snaps.

“No, but it doesn’t exonerate me either.”

“You did what you had to.”

“I murdered someone. I’m not sure the self-defense excuse flies in heaven.”

“You think you’re going to hell for that?”

I shrug my shoulders in defeat and change the direction of the conversation. “What about Lawrence declaring I wasn’t one of the five?”

Duncan frowns, refusing to tear his eyes away from me. “This conversation isn’t finished, Locks. But as for what he said, consider that he could be playing you.”

“You have no idea what I’ve got to do with this?”

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