Zane showed his teeth. “Oh, if my baby girl is mature enough to zip through dimensions and take on psychopaths without so much as a heads-up to her father, then she can handle speaking to her dad, grandfather, and uncle at the same time. Let’s make it after dinner when she returns from shopping with Janie and Cara. And yes, I have ten guards on them right now.”
“As do I,” Talen growled.
Zane nodded. “Good.” His screen went black.
One by one, the members of the Seven disappeared from view.
Garrett took Sam’s beer and drank the entire thing down. Then he looked at Sam. “Well, I guess there’s a bright side here.”
Sam looked at the empty bottle. “What would that be?”
“Neither one of us is Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood walked wearily into her bedroom around midnight, her ears ringing and her temples aching. Oh, her family would never yell at her, but the tension between Zane, Talen, and Dage, also known as Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle, had made her skin itch. She shut the door and then gasped as she saw the male lounging on the floor by the window, his long legs extended. “Pax.”
His gaze raked her. “You okay?”
“How did you know?” She kicked off her tennis shoes and went to plop down next to him.
“Your dad called me earlier this morning and asked if I knew you’d met with some psycho named Ulric.” Pax put his arm around her shoulders and tugged her into his nicely muscled body. “Unfortunately, I did not know you’d been meeting with psychopaths in dreamworlds.”
She shut her eyes and let him hold her for a moment. They’d been best friends her entire life, and sometimes it shocked her how badly she needed his quiet strength. Especially at times like this. “Don’t be mad. I’ve had enough held-back-male outrage for the evening. I feel so terrible.”
He shifted and pressed a kiss to her forehead. A soft one, but his lips were firm. And warm. A surprising shiver wound through her body. “You should. Secrets like that aren’t good.”
She lifted her head, looking into those silvery blue eyes that became deeper every year. As did his voice. He sounded almost more demon than vampire these days. “I don’t feel bad because I kept a secret from them. I feel horrible that now they know everything, well almost, and there’s not a thing they can do about it. Don’t you see? Their feeling helpless is the worst thing ever.”
“Secrets are the worst thing ever.”
She rolled her eyes. Darn warriors. From ancient to only eighteen, they were all just overbearing jackasses sometimes. “Did you tell my dad that I took you into the dreamworld?”
“No, but only because he didn’t ask,” Paxton said. “I wouldn’t have lied to him.”
Was it odd that Paxton hadn’t told him? She looked out the window, where autumn rain fell softly. “I’m surprised they’re not in here right now asking what you’re doing in my room.”
“I must’ve missed the sensors and guards,” Pax said quietly, shrugging and nearly unsettling her. “They don’t know I’m here.” He reached behind his back and drew out a small box wrapped with newspaper. “Happy late birthday.”
She smiled and reached for the box, happiness bubbling through her. “Paxton.” Then she quickly unwrapped it to reveal a necklace with a stunning pink stone. “Pink quartz?” It was roundish with a few rough spots, held by a sparkling silver chain.
“Yeah.” He took the necklace. “For luck and protection. It’s all natural, not polished or shaped. There were ones with cool shapes, but I wanted natural for you, and this one is ancient. It’s smooth from the passage of time, and I found the chain at a small jewelry store during my uncle’s last trip to study butterflies. Well, butterflies and bluebirds.” He clasped it at her nape.
She touched the stone. “Thank you.” Oh, it was so pretty. She sighed. “I was hoping to be able to travel with you next time and see a little of the world, in addition to maybe getting my own apartment. That’s put on hold now. Obviously.”
“Obviously.” He leaned his head down to hers. “At least you’re taking college classes, right? I mean you graduated already from college, but are you taking graduate studies?”
“Yes, and I’m already bored. I’ve been studying the geometrodynamics of cylindrical systems to try to figure out these dreamworlds and how to navigate them, but humans don’t know as much as we do. The witches are mad at the Realm, so I can’t study with them at their universities, unfortunately.”
Paxton stiffened. Then, in a surprisingly smooth move, he lifted her to face him on his lap.
“Pax,” she protested, her hands going to his chest. His hard, cut, grown-up chest. A warmth flushed through her, catching her off guard.
He cocked his head. “I’ve never asked you for much.”
Unease swept over her, along with a pulsing need that she wasn’t sure how to handle. So, he was sexy. She’d always thought he was good looking. Now there was an edge to him that was all the more appealing. But she never wanted to lead him on or hurt him. The future was too unclear. “I know.”
“Then I want a promise. No matter what.” His eyes glowed a deeper blue with a silver rim around the irises now. “If you are forced into a dreamworld, any dreamworld, you call for me. Bring me in. We both know you can do that now, and I really don’t understand why you didn’t invite me along when Ulric called you.”
“I promise.” It was an easy one to make. “If Ulric ever gets me in again, I’ll reach out to you.” Years ago, she’d told Pax about Ulric, so he knew the basics. She chose to ignore all the posturing he and Drake had done the other night in the dreamworld. For all they knew, any of them, her future did not include being a mate to anybody. Even so, her gut told her she’d someday have to choose between them. She told her gut to shut up. “So you’re not mad at me any longer?”
“I was never mad at you.” He threaded his hand through her hair, watching the strands fall across his knuckles.
“Pax.” Her voice shook a little.
His gaze returned to hers. “One kiss? You have to live a little before you fight the ultimate showdown with a deranged millennia-old psychopath, right?”
She grinned, partially laughing. There was some truth to that statement, and man, she was curious. “One kiss, but it doesn’t change anything. We’re best friends for life, no matter what. You can’t be mad at me and turn away, even if I end up dating a dragon shifter from the seventeen hundreds. Promise.”
“I promise.” His dark gaze dropped to her lips. “If you end up with a dragon, I want a front-row seat. You don’t like to fly.”