new war—it’s more of a random attack. I mean, the Seven know we’re at war, but many of the other groups don’t, and we’d like to keep it that way.” Her scent wrapped around him, awakening nerves and an awareness that caught him off guard.
“Why?” she whispered, leaning back so she could meet his gaze.
He held her securely. “The ritual we created to become the Seven violated several laws and twisted the heck out of physics. Many people would want us put down for breaking those laws.” It was a fact he’d always known, one that had made keeping the vow of silence pretty damn easy. “The longer we keep the Seven a secret, the longer the Keys are safe, too.”
She rubbed her nose. “This all seems so farfetched, although I’ve seen your back and know your torso is fused. But why Ulric? I mean, why does he want to kill all enhanced females? Are you even sure that’s his plan, if he ever makes it back here?”
“Yes.” He didn’t want to frighten her, but she had to understand the gravity of the situation. “Ulric killed a hundred enhanced females and used their blood to fuse his entire body. It was an abomination of the worst kind, which is why one of his early victims created the Keys before dying. A psychic witch who saw the end but couldn’t stop it.”
“But why kill all the remaining enhanced women?” she asked.
“So he can never be killed.” Adare shook his head. “Our theory is that all of the Keys have some enhanced blood in them. Even Mercy. If all three of you die at the same time, legend says the Keys will end. Legends are often wrong. But if all enhanced females die, then…”
“No more Keys for certain,” she murmured, rubbing her right temple. “Life was a lot easier when these kinds of stories happened just in books and not in reality.”
He grinned, smoothing her hair away from her tempting neck. “Where do you think fairytales come from?” Every fairytale he’d ever read had been rooted in history, even if the author got most of the facts wrong. Like vampire legends. In real life, vampires didn’t sparkle, they didn’t hide under the cover of darkness, and they didn’t take blood to survive. But still…they did exist. “We’ve talked long enough. Are you ready?”
She swallowed. “Yes. Just one more question. If the Cysts want to get rid of all enhanced females, why are they trying to kidnap them all across the globe?”
He should’ve shaved, but it was too late for that. “There are a couple of possible reasons that we’re exploring, and I’ll share those when I know more.” He didn’t want to discuss it.
“No.” Her teeth played with her bottom lip as she thought through the problem. “Do you think they have some sort of cure or protection for their own mates from whatever Ulric has in mind? That would make sense, right? They could gather as many enhanced females as they wanted.” She cleared her throat. “Um, can a human be mated without consent? I mean, completely?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” She turned pale. “I didn’t know that.”
“It’s against the Realm laws and the laws of all the other nations, except the Kurjans,” he said, needing her to understand the danger out there. “I think the Cysts have spent the last centuries trying to figure out how to save the females they wanted and destroy the rest of us. If our mates die, we might as well, too.” He brushed a knuckle down the side of her face, marveling at the delicate bone structure. How had she survived that coma?
She leaned into his touch. “So that’s why?’
“Yes.” He really was finished discussing this topic.
Her gaze narrowed. “There’s more you’re not saying.”
He exhaled. Was she trying to stall his bite? “Do you want to do this or not?”
She ignored him, a variety of expressions crossing her face. “Wait a minute. You said Ulric killed a hundred enhanced women and used their blood to create true immortality for himself.”
“Yes.” Man, she was like a dragon with a bucket of gold. Although, he did admire how quickly her mind worked. Every moment he spent with her made her more intriguing.
“Immortality would be lonely,” she whispered. “He’s going to make more immortal Cyst soldiers—by killing hundreds more enhanced women.”
Adare didn’t need to reply. It had been his theory for a while, and it made sense. “So you see why we need to take out the Kurjan base in Arizona.”