Page 9 of Surrendering Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“You remember me, how flattering. Time’s up, Princess, come now and no one else needs to get hurt.” He glances over my shoulder at Jed’s towering form.

“The genie’s already out the bottle, Lawrence. You no longer need me.”

“Need, no. Want, yes, and I always get what I want. It’s time for you to take your place at his side.” I frown. Whose side?

“You’ll never take her,” Jed grits out.

Lawrence chuckles as his lackeys prowl forward. Two of them scuttle up the walls of a grand mausoleum like weird humanoid spiders, causing an involuntary shiver to race down my back. I knew using the term Spidey sense was going to bite me in the ass. “And who’s going to stop me, lover boy? You?”

Jed’s back touches mine. “On my count, we switch and you take the Spiderman wannabes, I’ll take the two at the front and Lawrence,” Jed says. I open my mouth to inform his righteous ass that this is my fight and the boss man is mine, but Jed knows me too well. He grabs my shoulders, spinning me into the path of the creepy crawlies. Quick as lightning, I flick my whip towards the wall and capture the first creature around the neck. His bones crunch under the noose and his body slams into the stone floor. Black scales shimmer over his body, creating an armor meant to protect, but it’s too little too late.

The second creature launches itself from the wall and spins in the air, revealing sharp, giant hooked claws. I step to the side at the last second, allowing the creature to knock itself out against a cherub statue. I raise an eyebrow at the motionless body. “That was anticlimactic. I didn’t even get to use any of my well thought out witty puns.”

I spin to find Jed locked in a battle of magic with Lawrence. His lackeys lay unmoving on the ground. I tilt my head, following the stream of pure white power coming from Jed’s palm. Lawrence pushes back with a similar but orange colored magic. The tension on Lawrence’s face opposes the bored look on Jed’s.

Lawrence’s gaze hits mine, a triumphant grin splits his face. I duck and spin low, lashing out my whip along the floor to catch the hell hound creeping behind me on its front paws. Fire licks along its body in an attempt to get free. Blue flames erupt from my hand down the whip and encompass the hound’s body, dousing his own flames. An ear piercing howl erupts from his throat and he jerks to the right, hitting the wall. The blue flames consume him, and a patch of ash puffs into the air before settling onto the ground. “You’ll pay for that,” Lawrence grits out.

Standing, I saunter to where Lawrence has retreated towards the exit. “Aw, was he your pet puppy?”

He growls and his intelligent eyes glaze over with the obsidian, which displays his true form. Three more figures appear behind him, one hurtling blue balls of power through the air. Lawrence dodges the first one, leaving it to head straight towards me. I dart to the left as it blasts past me and smashes a fist-sized hole in the mausoleum. Next, a knife sails past me and lodges into the stone with a sharp smack.

“Hey, watch where you fling those things,” I shout at Zee.

Zee snorts. “You’re worried about my knives when Duncan almost gave you a haircut?”

“True, but I have the same power now. Hey, Duncan, you singe my hair, I singe yours; but not on your head.”

Zee, Duncan, and Jed laugh. “Children, focus,” Aaden admonishes.

Jed reinforces his white blast at Lawrence, whilst Duncan aims his blue balls at him (sorry, but it’s an accurate description), and I snap my whip of blue flames in his direction. Lawrence gives me a sinister grin showcasing his sharp teeth, winks at me and disappears. The three powers converge and a blast knocks us all on our asses. I blink up at the stars and mutter a few colorful curses, directed at the Prince of Violence. “He’s pissing me off,” I say, jumping to my feet and wiping the grit off my leather trousers.

“That went well,” Jed grins as he walks towards me.

My left foot steps back, and I raise my hands. “Jed, I need your promise you will not hurt, kidnap, or kill anyone here.”

He rolls his eyes. “Natia Waterford, I promise I’m not here to hurt, kidnap, kill anyone hereoranyone you love.”

“Why are you here?” Duncan asks, striding past Jed and coming to a stand on my left, Aaden and Zee follow, surrounding me.

“We need to talk,” Jed says, looking around. “But not here.”

I glance at Duncan; he nods. “Fine, we’ll take you to our lair.”

Jed grins and comes closer. Duncan holds up his hand. “Wait here, I can only take one at a time, and only I can take you.” The world spins and I’m plunged into a darkness which disorientates. My knees hit the stone ground and I grind my teeth as Duncan lets go of my arm, shrugs an apology and disappears.

Five tense minutes later, Jed is investigating the large stone cavern which has become our safe house. After grabbing various items from the fridge he constructs the ultimate sandwich. Drawn to the layers of food I leap to sit on the worktop next to him and raise a speculative eyebrow. “So…” Jed says, glancing at Duncan who’s stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and his legs braced apart. His long leather coat doesn’t help the next comment. “You’re Batman,” Jed concludes, pointing his butter knife. The tension breaks as we chuckle.

Duncan raises his arms in the air in frustration. “First, I’m Dumbledorf, now I’m Batman.”

If tumbleweed ever needed an entrance cue, this was it. Duncan stares at us like we’re the ones who have been hiding under a stone whilst HP fever stole the hearts of the theoretical magical world. I blink several times as Jed slides his creation towards me with a wink. “Oh thank the heavens,” I mutter, grabbing a quarter.

“Admit it, you missed me.”

“I missed your sandwiches.”

Jed chuckles as he swipes the plate, much to my distress, and takes it to the coffee table. He plants himself in the middle of the largest sofa and pats the cushion next to him, raising an eyebrow.When did he get so demanding?I roll my eyes, jump off the counter and follow the sandwich.

“I didn’t know,” I say to Jed as he stuffs a quarter sandwich in his mouth.

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