Tension cascaded over Sam’s arms as he headed forward and sat in a sturdy leather chair across from Lily’s dainty one. “Listen. I know you’re both prophets like my niece, but I’m fine with her living her own life for a few centuries, as is Zane. If you want to talk to my brother about his daughter, going through me isn’t the way to do it.” He kept his voice respectful because Lily was a lady. Although she’d been known to throw her teacup at a patient’s head once in a while if he was being a moron.
“Don’t blame you,” Caleb muttered, his body big and broad, a gun and knife clearly visible in his leg sheaths. He stalked over and dropped into a chair that matched Sam’s. While there was another floral-decorated chair in the room, it would probably break if he tried to sit in it. “There should be a choice about whether somebody wants to be a fucking prophet.”
Lily rolled her eyes, put her cup on her saucer, and placed both on the delicate chair by her arm. “I would choose to be a prophet, Caleb.”
“I wouldn’t,” the warrior said mildly, watching his mate closely. “If I could get us both out of the deal, I would.”
Lily smiled, and warning showed clearly in her intelligent eyes. “Let’s keep our family squabbles to ourselves, shall we?”
One side of Caleb’s mouth twitched. “You’re cute when you’re being a smart-ass, mate.”
Sam cleared his throat. “If you two want me to leave…”
“No.” Lily set her small-boned hands in her lap. “There’s an…issue. Caleb and I discussed it, and we’ve come to you first.”
“Instead of Zane?” Sam asked, kicking back in the chair.
Lily swallowed. “No. Instead of Logan or Garrett.”
Sam stilled. Logan was his younger brother, and Garrett was Janie’s. “Excuse me?”
Caleb shook his head. “This is a bad idea.”
Lily’s mouth tightened. “It’s not our decision to make.” She pressed a hand against her forehead. “We only have part of the puzzle, but even so, I feel we need to do something. Don’t you understand?”
“No,” Caleb said.
Sam straightened. “Enough, please. What’s going on?” Heat flushed through his torso in an ominous warning.
Lily lowered her hand. “There’s no way to sugarcoat this, and I don’t have a full picture, but it appears that Hope is not only a prophet but the Lock as well as the Keeper.”
“The Lock and the Keeper,” Sam drawled. “That sounds a little weighty for a seven-pound baby, don’t you think?” He was already getting pissed, and there was no doubt Lily hadn’t given him the bad news yet. Or she hadn’t explained it, anyway. “What’s a Lock or a Keeper, and are you sure you haven’t been reading too many fantasy novels?”
Caleb shook his head. “You’ve heard of the Cyst?” At Sam’s raised eyebrows, he growled. “I’ve been having dreams, too.”
Sam slowly nodded. “I’ve heard of the Cyst but never met one.” Supposedly they were the spiritual leaders of the Kurjan nation, which had just gotten its butt kicked in a war with his people. “Are they reaching out for diplomacy?”
Caleb’s snort wasn’t humorous. “No. Long story short, centuries ago, a group of seven vampire-demon hybrids created a prison world outside of this dimension to hold Ulric, the Cyst leader. The asshole killed one hundred Enhanced females in a ritual that made him truly immortal. He can’t be killed from outside his body, so the Seven tossed his ass in a world completely separate from this one.”
Sam didn’t have time for this. “So Ulric is off this world. Who cares?” As a demon who could teleport across the globe, it was easy for Sam to understand that some folks could probably travel through dimensions to other places.
“Well, he’s probably going to make it back here someday,” Lily said gently. “The Kurjans won’t rest until he does. At that point, the only way to kill him will be by enacting another ritual, one that was made possible the day he killed the Enhanced females and became immortal.”
Caleb smiled for the first time that evening. “He can only die by ingesting a combination of the blood of the three Keys and the Lock, because one of the slaughtered Enhanced females, a witch, tainted her blood to cause this weakness before he killed her.”
“Nobody is taking Hope’s blood,” Sam growled.
Lily held up a hand. “That’s not our current issue. A prophet has always been the Keeper of the Circle, which is where the ritual will happen. It’s a dangerous job with a lot of power. Hope can’t be both the Lock and the Keeper. It’s too dangerous, and even she can’t handle that much energy, not to mention the ritual to cement the Keeper to the Place.”
“Another ritual?” Sam asked.
Caleb shifted his weight. “According to the ancient texts we’ve read as well as some psychic dreams Lily has had, the ritual is very similar to the one the Seven males went through years ago. It’s painful and there’s a ninety percent chance of death.”
Sam’s nerves fired. “I’m not letting her go through anything like that.”
“I know, which is why we came to you,” Lily said softly. “The Seven members include one of your ancestors, and one of Garrett’s. We believe that certain bloodlines survive the ritual better than others, so we’re asking you first and then Logan and Garrett.”
“I already attempted the ritual to become the Keeper, but it wouldn’t take. Wouldn’t even begin,” Caleb groused. “Apparently the Fates want me to remain a prophet, and they should’ve asked me first.”
Sam took a deep breath. “You’re telling me that I need to undergo a ritual that will probably kill me in order to protect my family.”
“Pretty much,” Lily said.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Sam asked.
“It has to.” Her eyes blazed a deep blue. “There’s no choice. We can’t let Hope undergo it at her age. She’d die.”
Sam rolled his neck to keep his temper from exploding wildly. Why wouldn’t Fate leave them alone? “I’ll do it.”
Caleb nodded. “Just think of the good news. If you survive the ritual and become the Keeper, you’ll be in perfect control of the entire situation.”
Yeah. That was the plan. “Let’s do this,” Sam said. There was no need to involve his family or let them know what he planned. Might as well start protecting them now. “I hope it works.”
Caleb stood. “Hope is all we have. Tell Zane we need you for backup on a diplomacy mission. The ritual has to take place between dimensions, and Lily knows of a place. If you die, I’ll tell him why. If you don’t, then there’s no need for him to learn anything about this.”