Page 120 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

Duncan drums his fingers on the book’s edge.

I glare at him. “What do you know?”

“It’s a work in progress.”

I stand and hover over him. “Tell me.”

Duncan shakes his head. “Not now. Soon. I’m more than likely wrong. I hope so, anyway,” he mutters the last part.

I throw my hands in the air as Duncan sticks his head back in the book.

***

It’s amazing how quickly people find their own little spot in a room. After two days,Aaden’s butt has made a permanent dentin the sofa, Zee’s heels have made imprints on my dining chair, and Duncan’s shoes have worn a short path along the carpet from the dining table to the window. Between bouts of training with Duncan and Zee, I make sandwiches, order pizza, and judging by the sounds Duncan makes when I speak, add unhelpful comments about our lack of progress.

Zee’s exciting board has gained little insight since we stole from the Vatican. Duncan is going crazy with the conflicting messages the replica Jar is sending compared to the actual Jar and thinks he’s translating it wrong. On the third day, Duncan throws his glasses on the table and puts his head in his hands. “I’m struggling with the translation. We need Jed.”

I put my arm around him. “My gut says to trust him. Plus, you’re right—we do need him.” I look at Zee and Aaden. “Do we agree?”

They bob their heads.

I call Jed and put him on speaker phone. “Hey, Smoothie, how’d you like to join our book club?”

“Book club?” He sounds puzzled.

“Exclusive, members only. Snacks provided.”

He sighs. “Your house?”

“Yep.”

“What time?”

“Started ten minutes ago, you missed pledges.”

Two seconds later, he appears in the kitchen and begins rummaging in my fridge. I roll my eyes as he gets every ingredient he can find to make a sandwich.

“What? I need refreshments if I’m joining.”

“Same rules as last time—the promise still holds,” I remind him.

He exhales dramatically, in a move sure to put any self-respecting teen to shame. “Okay.”

Sandwich made, he joins us at the dining table and almost chokes when he sees the Jar. “How?”

I pat his hand and grin wolfishly. “We haven’t stolen from you. This is a replica we stole from the Vatican.”

He raises his eyebrows. “I’m not sure that’s any better,” he mumbles, picking up the Jar. “It’s an excellent replica… but the symbols are slightly different. Not much, but it’ll change the meaning.”

I bat my eyelids. “We know. But we still want to know what it says, so we need help to interpret it.”

“Is there something in particular I’m looking for? It helps if it’s in context,” he adds, slurping a smoothie—huh, ironic.

“So, we’ve figured out there are five protectors.” Jed nods. “You already knew that?” He shrugs and stuffs part of his sandwich in his mouth. “We’ve figured out from the cave symbols that they are protecting Pan, not the Jar.” The silver in his aura flares. Ah, finally—something he doesn’t know.

“Where does it say that?”

Duncan shoves the relevant photos at him. He spins them around and goes silent. I grab the photo with the bright pink asterisk on it—it coordinates with Zee’s board. I wonder if he was one of those kids with thousands of different highlighters and colored pens at school… I tap the photo. “We believe this warns of the last evil residing in the Jar and of mankind’s destruction should it be released.”

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