Page 1 of Surrendering Hope (The Hope Legacy)

Chapter One

Natia

Here’s some advice: Let the Taurus win.

An earthquake shakes the ground, and my home groans in protest as a beast roars his fury on my lawn. My body trembles from shock and fear. This creature, whatever he is, will bring down my home like the big bad wolf, only the wards are keeping us safe right now. I swivel around the room, taking in the stark and paling faces of Aaden, Zee and Duncan.

“What did you do?” Zee asks, as I snatch the shirt from Duncan’s hand and cover my nudity. What did I do? Good question. Gave into Archan, offered him part of my soul, for him to rip it out and stamp all over it.

Aaden twitches the curtain. A frown settles on his face. “Is that Archan? He looks… different.”

I don’t want to look. Secrets have just turned our lives upside down. “He opened the Jar.”

My ears pop like we’re descending on a plane. The air stills in the room. “Pandora, you will present yourself before me now,” a huge voice booms in the room. The mugs on the stand rattle together. All three protectors narrow their eyes on me.

“Or else?” I whisper. There is always an or else.

“Or else I will slaughter everyone in that house, I will make it last for weeks and I will make you watch.”

“Quite the charmer you’ve picked,” Zee mutters.

My eyes squeeze closed. “It’s not him.”

“You’re delusional,” he mutters. There’s no time to explain. I trust the monster at my door will shred my friends apart for fun. What stands out there is pure evil. I take a step towards the door, Duncan grabs my arm and tugs me back.

“You will not sacrifice yourself for us,” he grits out.

“I’m scared,” I whisper to the floor.

He tugs me close as a loud boom rattles the windows.

Aaden drops the curtain and pales further. “We need somewhere no one will find us.”

“I have a place, get your go bags,” Duncan says, handing me off to Aaden. “Make sure she doesn’t do something stupid.” He strides towards the guest bedroom he’s taken up residence in. Zee frowns at me before following Duncan.

Aaden gets a tight grip on my hand and returns to curtain twitching, his mouth falling open. I rip the curtain open. Zac, Jed, Barney and Nathan are bombarding Archan with bolts of power. Jed’s is an awe inspiring pure white. Evil Archan roars and locks gazes with me. A maniacal grin tugs at his lips. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Pandora.” Nathan launches something silver from his palm, it slides over Archan and he collapses to the floor, an awful grin still plastered on his face.

I grab my bag from Zee’s outstretched hand. Aaden drops my hand just as Duncan grabs my elbow. “Hold on, Locks.”

The world fades and the dizzying blackness which accompanies Duncan’s teleporting surrounds me. We land in a large cave. I glance around and after a minute close my gaping mouth, fold my arms, lock eyes with Duncan and state the only logical conclusion. “You’re Batman.”

He huffs a laugh before snatching my emergency bag from my shoulder and striding towards one of several tunnels at the rear of the large living space. He snaps his fingers, causing flames to leap to life from gold, ornate metal candle holders which line the stone corridor. “Show off,” I mutter, as we take a left into an enormous bedroom with a Californian king bed outlined with white gauzy drapes.

“This is your bedroom, Locks.” Duncan points to an arched wooden door. “Bathroom. I’m next door to the right, Zee will be on the left, and Aaden across from you.” I fold my arms across my chest as he drops my bag on the bed. “You’re surrounding me,” I accuse.

He mimics my pose and leans against the wall, crossing his ankles. “You forget our role is to protect you, and we haven’t done a good job so far. But that changes as of now.” He punctuates this with a pointed finger at the floor before pushing off the wall. “I’m going to get the others. Stay in the cave. In fact, stay in the bedroom.” He pops out of existence. Oh, the joys of being able to teleport. Wait, I can do that now too.

Less than an hour ago my identity as Pandora, yesthatPandora, was revealed, much to the surprise of myself and everybody else. Apparently, being an ancient, mythical person comes with a healthy dose of amnesia.

Duncan appears with Zee in tow and disappears again as I plant my ass in the middle of the bed. Zee’s staring at me like he’s never seen me before. “What?” I snap.

He shakes his head and stalks out of the room, his rucksack shifting with his firm muscles on his back. Duncan reappears with Aaden and strides out to show Aaden and Zee their rooms. Lying on the bed, I stare at the candles flickering on the rustic chandelier. I’m Pandora, not Natia Waterford, badass secret government agent, defending the human race against supernaturals, with a weakness for an unknown being by the name of Archan Reinheart. What are the odds that on the night I let him in, the revelation that I’m mankind’s downfall sweeps the world from under my feet?

The guys march into the room one by one. Sitting up and climbing off the bed, I pat Duncan on the chest. “Why don’t you show us around and then we can debrief.” He grunts as he grabs my hand, Zee takes point behind me. Guess they’re being serious about their ‘protector’ roles.

Duncan leads us back to the enormous cavern, letting Aaden and Zee take in the massive living space. Comfortable, worn burgundy leather sofas surround a heavy wooden coffee table, whilst a large TV sits anchored on the stone wall. Massive shelves of DVDs and books line one wall. An L-shaped kitchen sits in one corner of the room, with an island delineating the area, whilst ten tall chairs surround an oval dining table. But the defining feature is the twelve foot opening obscured by a waterfall. Zee and Aaden stand frozen with their heads swiveling to take it all in. “So… you’re Batman,” Zee declares, grinning for the first time since my naked ass appeared unexpectedly in my house (I’ve developed a weird, unintentional habit of being seen naked).

Duncan shakes his head as I chuckle and a wicked grin appears on my face. “Can I call you Bruce?”

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