Page 21 of Surrendering Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“You have power now?”

He nods. “A little.”

A few weeks ago, my greatest claim to fame was reading auras. Now I can control all the elements and teleport.What does this mean for Zee?“Why now?” I ask.

Zee shrugs as Duncan wipes a hand down his face. “Maybe because he’s your protector? Who knows? I’m drowning in unknowns and to be honest, out of Greek mythology, gods, and the devil, this is the least shocking thing.”

My elbow slides on the table and I rest my head on my fist. “Can you do anything else?”

Zee taps his temple. “Sing something.”

I recite Little Mix’s “Power”. Zee groans with a hand against his head. “You dance like a nymph, Natia, but you can’t sing for shit.”

I stop my rendition and blink. “It sounds like the original in my head.”

Duncan chuckles. “It’s more like you’re singing along with the radio.”

A blush rushes to my cheeks before I grin. Jed smirks. “What are you thinking?”

I shrug. “Payback. I will make sure I pick the most difficult, high pitched songs when I want to piss you all off,” I swing my gaze to Zee, “and now you’re included, congratulations.”

“This is why I didn’t tell her,” Duncan mutters, as I hit the crescendo and everyone winces.

* * *

The proverbial clock ticks, making me itch with the need for action. Ant hasn’t called with an updated plan from his end, the witch Duncan is depending on for a spell is taking all of the forty-eight hours he declared she would need for a response, and Zac is ghosting my calls.

Duncan strides into the living area from his bedroom. “Hold your wrist out, Natia.”

“Why?” I ask, shoving my arm towards him. He snaps a delicate silver antique looking bracelet around it. I shuffle it around. “My birthday isn’t for months.”

He grins. “It will hide who you are to anyone searching for you. Meaning you’re free to leave the cave.”

“Excellent. Now I need a distraction. Waiting makes me antsy.”

“How about some group training?” Zee asks, his eyes dancing with mischief.

“What kind?”

“Dress casual, in clothes you don’t mind getting ruined.”

That has my attention. Aaden sighs and pushes his dark hair behind his ears. “I’m supposed to have a date with Emi.”

I jump up and clap. “You called her? What did she say? When are you meeting her? Where are you taking her?”

Aaden runs a hand over his head, his steel-grey eyes locked on the phone in his hand. “Yes, I called her, she said she would meet me in about an hour, and I have no idea. I need to cancel, the potential end of the world trumps dates.”

“No, it’s a reason to date. If we stopped our private lives every time somebody was in danger, we wouldn’t have a private life at all.”

“Says the woman who didn’t date for four years,” Duncan mutters.

“And when she does, she picks an unknown being who ends up possessed with something named ‘the last evil’,” Zee adds.

I throw my hands in the air. “It’s not like you can help who you fall for. Just because I’m with someone whose origins have yet to be determined, doesn’t mean Aaden can’t date our friendly neighborhoodhumancoroner, who also knows what we do, so it’s not like he has to hide that side of himself.”

Zee’s grin gets wider. “Bring her along.”

All eyes snap to Zee, I narrow mine. “What are you planning?”

---