She tilted her head to the side, studying him. “The ritual to become one of the Seven. When your torsos were fused. How did you become brothers?”

“Through blood and bone,” he said automatically.

“Exactly. It always comes down to that, right? To pain and sacrifice…to blood and bone.” With that, she took off her boxing gloves. “Thanks for spotting me. I’m staying with my grandparents, Talen and Cara, until my folks get home later tonight, and Talen gets cranky if I’m late for lunch. Gotta go.” She walked to the doorway, graceful and fragile. She partially turned, her eyes an impossible blue that didn’t occur in nature. “Good luck, Adare. Your path isn’t set, and you have more power than you know.”

* * * *

It was nice to have her folks home, although everyone seemed to be buzzing around in a wild commotion. Having Adare at headquarters definitely threw off the vibe, especially since there was so much mystery still surrounding the Seven.

It was interesting that nobody asked her about it. Why did her parents and grandparents try to act like she didn’t have a window into the future sometimes? Not that she could help much here.

She hustled through Cara’s kitchen and finished putting in the new amber earrings her parents had purchased in the Baltic. Why hadn’t Pax showed up to spar? Her mom had brought him chocolates, and she tapped her finger against the ribbon on top of the box.

“Cara?” she called out, waiting a moment. Then she sighed. “Grandmama?” Though immortal kids called their grandparents by their first names, because one day they’d look the same age, sometimes using the grandma name with Cara got instant results.

Nothing.

Everyone was out of the house. She bit her lip. They were on a high alert right now, which meant she couldn’t leave without the coordinated effort of a guard and a scouting of her destination. Which she usually had to have if she visited Pax, anyway.

But that was silly. She wanted to see Pax, and he only lived a short distance down the lake walk. It’d be fun to surprise him for once.

Yeah, she’d get in trouble. But there was so much going on, it’d be brief. Hope pushed open the rear sliding door that faced the lake. Her boots slipped on the icy deck before she found purchase. Oh, Pax was going to get it for not showing up to spar earlier. After she gave him his candy, of course. Pax’s mom had been a demon but had died during the last war. His dad was a vampire, so Pax lived at the Realm headquarters subdivision close to Talen and Cara, just a mile down the lake from the demon headquarters, where Hope usually lived with her parents. That didn’t keep Pax from visiting all the time, though. He didn’t stay at home much.