Mercy had shoulder length, curly brown hair, one blue and one green eye, and her smile was contagious. “Hi. This is my sister, Haven.” She manacled a blonde around the neck and yanked her so close their heads smacked. “We only found out we were sisters about five years ago. I’m a Fae. She’s part demon and part Fae, which makes her a little crazier than me.”
Haven shoved Mercy away and smiled. “I am nowhere near as crazy as Mercy. Trust me.” She had one black eye and one green and luxuriously thick blond hair. She patted the muscled male next to her. “This is my mate, Quade Kayrs. I think you already met briefly?”
Quade just nodded at her, his gaze seeking. Curious and intense.
All right. This wasn’t so bad. She’d been afraid she’d have to meet everyone at once, and as much as she wanted her girls to be safe, the less information she could send back to the Kurjans, the better. Six people for dinner wasn’t so many, and thus far, no ghosts had visited asking for favors.
Until the French doors opened and two more males stalked inside. One was Garrett, and he didn’t look any more peaceful after his run. The second looked shockingly like Logan, except his eyes were a darker green.
Logan motioned with a tilt of his head. “You’ve met Garrett. This is Sam, my older brother.”
“Hi,” Sam said, taking the seat next to his brother. Garrett sat over on the other side of Quade, immediately reaching for the platter of steaks in the middle of the table.
“Hi,” Karma said quietly. She had been ordered to ask questions, but she didn’t want to betray these people who’d been nice to her so far. She also didn’t want to betray Benjamin. But if she didn’t do her job, the twins would be harmed. “Are you a member of the Seven, Sam?” She already knew that he was not.
“Nope. I’m just visiting my brother.” He poured wine from a bottle and passed the glass on to Quade.
It was good that he’d lied. The Kurjan nation already knew he had a role to play in the upcoming ritual, but they didn’t know what that was. At least, that’s what Terre had told her while training her for this obscenity. She smiled. “It’s nice to visit family. I’ve missed mine for so long.”
Sam smiled, looking even more like his brother. “It definitely is nice to see everyone.”
Benny took the salad bowl, dumped piles on their salad plates, and passed them along. “Please tell me that Logan cooked, not Mercy.”
Mercy threw a roll at Benny, which he easily snatched out of the air and placed next to his salad. “I made the salad, Logan grilled the steaks, and Haven baked the potato dish and dessert. Start being nice, or you don’t get any huckleberry pie.” She rolled her eyes. “Ignore his manners, or lack thereof, Karma. If he doesn’t learn them soon, he’s going to find another snake in his bed.”
Benny gave a mock shudder. “That’s just cruel of you, Mercy. Logan, control your woman.”
Logan snorted and reached for the wine. “You deserved that garden snake in the bed, and you know it. Besides, I’d rather have her evil genius directed toward you than me.” He leaned over and kissed Mercy on the cheek. “Isn’t that right, baby?”
“Yep.” Her smile at Benny was a little evil.
Karma had never seen such interactions. There were some Kurjan mates who seemed to feel love, but even they didn’t have this much, well, fun. For the very briefest of moments, she let herself dream. What would it be like to belong here? With Benjamin? She’d heard of females enjoying the act of love, and by the way her body reacted to his nearness, she might find simple pleasure with him. It was too much to hope for, but still, heat slid into her face.
Quade chewed on a roll and then cleared his throat. “Have the Kurjans created a plan to set Ulric free?”
Karma sipped on the red wine. It was full-bodied and warming. “I have no idea. You must understand that I’m not privy to the soldiers’ plans.” It was unthinkable, actually.
Mercy poured herself more wine. “That makes sense, since you’re not a soldier. Don’t worry. Do you know how many women they’ve managed to kidnap over the last few years? We’ve stopped several attempts, but I know we haven’t rescued them all.”
Karma tried to remember anything that would help, but she’d been kept in the dark. “I really don’t. Sometimes I hear about shipments, but that’s all. Before you ask, I have no idea where kidnapped females are being taken or held.” That was also the truth. Terre had made sure she had no information just in case the Seven tortured her.
Benny slid an arm over the back of her chair, and his protective warmth surrounded her. “It’s okay, Karma. Do you know why they’re trying to kidnap enhanced human females?”
“I am not privy to the plans of the soldiers, but I do understand that some are to become mates.” Karma cleared her throat. “I don’t really know what’s to become of the rest.”
“There’s one plausible explanation that we haven’t talked about.” Garrett looked up, his gaze tortured. “What if somebody wants to replicate the ceremony Ulric performed so long ago? They might attempt to create another impenetrable Cyst general.” He looked at Karma. “Who’s in charge of finding enhanced women, and who’s in charge of the Cysts right now?”
Numbly, Karma tried to think through the issue. Such cruelty wasn’t possible, was it? “General Jaydon is in command of the Cyst soldiers, and he’s also the one in charge of finding enhanced females.”
Benjamin cocked his head and studied her. “What else? I can tell there’s more.”
Karma squirmed on her chair but gave him the truth. “Jaydon is quite proud that he’s one of Ulric’s direct descendants and shares the same genetics.”
The dark swear word Benny said made her jump. She set down her fork. So much for dinner.
Chapter Twelve
Benny paced a track on the back deck of his quaint cabin, trying to let the sound of rushing water soothe him. Nope. Not even close. The woman slept quietly in the one bedroom, having gone to bed hours before. She was so close to him right now that his body felt electrified.
At dinner, when she’d all but curled into his side, his body had started a slow burn that was just getting hotter. He wanted her with a ferocity he could never appease, and that was a pisser. Oh, she was a home-and-hearth kind of lady—no way was she into carnal pleasure and a sweet goodbye. All he had to give right now was sex, and she deserved more.
His phone buzzed, and he yanked it from his pocket to check the screen before answering. “Logan? What the hell? It’s past midnight.”
“I need to see you. Main computer room. Now.” Logan disengaged the call.
Benny lowered his head and stared at the now-blank screen. Was Logan fucking kidding? The kid didn’t give him orders, whether or not he thought he was all grown-up with a crazy-assed fairy mate to protect. Benny had centuries on him. “Somebody’s going to get a butt kicking tonight,” he muttered, setting the cabin alarms and then jogging down the one street of the subdivision toward the lodge. Mercy had better not get in his way. He’d never hurt a female, but Logan was in for some pain. Right now.
He reached the lodge and shoved open the door before tapping the right area of the wooden wall to the left. It slid open and revealed stairs leading down. “You’d better be down here and ready,” he threatened, taking the steps four at a time. He landed at the bottom and turned to find Logan, Garrett, and Mercy at the computer console.
Mercy was pale and wouldn’t meet his gaze.
He stopped. Dread dropped into his gut. “What?”
Logan typed into the keyboard, gesturing toward the widest screen on the wall. “I was alerted at dinner that there was a computer glitch, but I ignored it because we’ve been having problems that occur right after helicopters land near the bunker. I just took a moment to look, and boy, we have a new problem.”
An alert came up, and then a holographic view of the entrance to the lodge. It showed the time, hours
ago, when Benny had escorted Karma in to dinner. The screen started to blink, a red warning crossed, and then a buzzer rang.
Logan typed more, and the screen narrowed to Karma’s face and then went deeper, showing something red and glowing inside her head.
Benny whistled. “What is that?”
Logan typed and the device circled out of her head and across the screen. “As far as I can tell, it’s a visual and audio device that transmits everything Karma sees and hears. It’s connected to her right eye and ear canal. It’s also a homing device, just so you know.”
Benny shook his head. Well, this was why they had secondary precautions, wasn’t it? And third. “No. The queen scanned her from head to toe. The Realm’s technology is the best in the world. The universe, actually.” His gut clenched, and his hands heated. This couldn’t be true. The sweet and innocent girl from centuries ago couldn’t be spying on them. Bile burned his stomach lining.
Logan shrugged. “The Realm is good, but the Kurjans have been catching up technologically for the last fifty years.”
Mercy leaned closer to the screen. “It’s possible the device was dormant and then somehow activated a specific time after she was rescued. Maybe they figured she’d be scanned upon arrival.”
“Or,” Garrett said thoughtfully, “maybe somehow they have it programmed to activate after a scanning. That’s what I’d do.” He grinned. “This is why we’re paranoid, man. It’s a good thing.”
Yeah, Benny had thought the precautions were stupid, but he’d been outvoted. Thank God. He was going to puke. “I’ve been so gentle with her—she seems so breakable.”
“Maybe she had no choice,” Mercy interjected.
Benny just stared at her. “Even if she didn’t have a choice, she’s good at lying. I honestly had no idea she was holding anything back. She even asked questions at dinner.”
Garrett winced. “We have to go back through everything we’ve said to her and note everything she’s seen since you rescued her. All of that information is in the hands of the Kurjans right now.”
“Including our location,” Benny said grimly. “It’s a good thing we came here first.” This was on him. He’d been obsessed with finding her since the marking had appeared on his hand, and now he’d put his entire family in danger. “It figures fate would mess with me like this.” Only he would carry the mating mark for the enemy. Yeah, that fit. “It appears sweet Karma and I need to have a talk.”
“Wait,” Mercy said. “They’ll come for her, right?”
Logan crossed his arms. “Yeah, but as long as it seems she can still get information from us, they’ll wait. We’re safe for the time being.” He scratched his neck. “In fact…”
Benny crossed his arms. “We can feed them any information we want.” The chains of decency that had been holding him back snapped clean away. “Oh, yeah. It’s time for payback.”
Mercy swallowed loudly, her eyes dark. “I really don’t like the tone of your voice.”
“Karma’s going to like it even less,” he admitted, feeling like a dumbass. Anger crashed through him, and he turned, punching a hole in the wall. Pain ripped through his knuckles and felt good. Real. “I was nice to her. Acted like a perfect gentleman. I even fucking stopped fucking swearing,” he bellowed. “Could I be any more of a moron?” He would’ve beaten the shit out of anybody else if they’d done something so stupid. At least he’d gone with Garrett’s plan and brought her here.
Garrett watched him impassively with an empty bottle of Jack next to him. As usual these days. “Listen. This might not be her fault, and you know it. Just ease up. Let’s figure out how to use what we’ve learned to our advantage.”
Logan lifted the phone to his ear. “Let’s call in Quade and Sam. They’re the best strategists I’ve ever seen.”
Benny extended his fingers, gratified to find that one had broken. “All right. Let’s do this.”
* * * *
Morning brought nicer weather. Karma dressed in a light lilac skirt that reached just above her ankles. Maybe she’d slowly make her skirts shorter until she felt more comfortable revealing her legs. Brown boots and a white sweater completed the outfit. After she’d braided her hair and pinched her cheeks, she strode out to find Benjamin on the deck with a table already set for breakfast. She hurried outside. “I should be making breakfast,” she offered shyly.
His smile held so much charm it was hard to breathe. While not classically handsome, he was tough and strong. Masculine. Yes, that was it. Benjamin Reese was all male. “Come sit down.”
She did so, carefully spreading the napkin across her lap. Though this escape from the Kurjans was temporary, she felt free. She smiled and focused directly on his intelligent eyes, noting there was more green than usual in those depths. “This is kind of you, Benjamin.” Oh, how she wished she knew how to flirt. Then her gaze caught on the windy river just beyond the grass yard behind him. “Your home is beautiful.”
His smile deepened. “You’re beautiful.”
The compliment struck deep, warming her until her fingers tingled. She didn’t know what to say. “Thank you.” For so long, she’d been just like a piece of furniture that nobody really noticed. She reminded herself that was good. Less notice meant less getting hit. Even so, the feeling of being appreciated as a woman was pleasurable. She reached for the coffee to pour two cups. “What are we doing today?”
He dished out scrambled eggs and toast. “I thought I’d show you around. The area is pretty in the autumn, so we can explore outside. Then I can show you the headquarters and our computer room. It’s pretty impressive.” He sounded proud.
Oh no. She couldn’t let the Kurjans see the Seven’s military setup. Benjamin must be trying to impress her. He wasn’t thinking clearly. “I would have thought the computer room was private.” Perhaps she could help him.
“Yeah, but you’re one of us now. I mean, with this and all.” He held up his hand, palm out. The marking—an R with jagged barbs around it—looked even darker than the last time she’d seen it. His marking.
Panic heated her throat. The Kurjans would have just seen the mating mark. There was no way to hide that from Terre now. What would he do? “I don’t understand.”
“Well now.” Benjamin tossed his napkin on the table and plucked her right out of her chair while hardly stirring from his.
She yelped and stiffened, landing on his hard thighs with a whoosh of surprise. “Benjamin,” she whispered.
He smiled and settled her on his lap. “I’m thinking we should explore this marking and the whole situation. Oh, I know I said I couldn’t mate, but you’ve been so sweet, you’re hard to ignore.”
Sweet? Ignore? She perched as stiffly as she could. She had never, in her very long life, sat on a male’s lap. His thighs were hard. Very. The arms around her were steel ropes. The scent of him, masculine and citrusy, cascaded over her along with heat generated by his dangerous body. “This is inappropriate,” she whispered, warmth flashing into her face.
“Who cares?” He leaned in, his nose barely touching hers.
Her nipples hardened against her plain bra. Her lungs just up and quit working like outdated kitchen appliances. And her sex softened and pulsed. “I care.” Did she? Her body was on fire, and she liked it. Really liked it. What were these feelings? Oh, she’d had sex centuries ago. She’d been attracted to males before. But this was…intense. Direct and needy.
His nostrils flared. “Oh, baby. I can scent your arousal. Free and wild…like a summer storm.”
She reeled. They were out of her realm of experience, and she wanted more. Curiosity and something deeper, something that ached inside her, had her placing her palm against his heart. The sheer rock wall of his chest excited her. “Benny,” she whispered.
“There you go.” He tugged the band off her braid and tangled his hand in her hair, releasing the rows to let her curl
s free.
She protested, trying to stop him. “Wait. My hair.” Having it bound was necessary in the Kurjan nation, and it also gave her a sense of protection.
“It’s beautiful.” His voice thickened as the mass tumbled around her shoulders. “God. So soft. Captured sunshine.”
She blinked, moved by his tone. Her breath panted out. Her gaze dropped to his firm mouth.
His lips curved into a smile. “I knew we were on the same page.” Gently and deliberately, he tangled his fingers at her nape, twisting her hair until he controlled her head.
Her eyes widened.
He tugged back, elongating her neck. Then he licked from her clavicle up to her jaw, pausing over her mouth. Tingles cascaded from his tongue, shivering through her.
She held her breath, her entire body jolting with shock.
Then he kissed her. A gentle glide of his mouth against hers. Not enough. She moaned, struggling to get closer. To take his mouth.
He held her in place with one hand. Then he smiled against her, his lips firm and the taste of fresh coffee wafting her way. “Patience, baby. You need to learn some.” The dominating tone did something unexpected inside her, spinning her out of control and making her pant with need.
She swallowed, holding still. She had no choice. But she could speak. “Either kiss me or let me go.” Her voice was breathy and didn’t sound like her. At all.
Surprise flared in his eyes and then was quickly banked. “Ask nicely.”
The words took a moment to penetrate. Ask nicely? She wanted him. Right now. But he had put her on his lap, and he had started this. Every inch of her wanted to ask nicely. She might be as useful as discarded furniture, and she might not have one ounce of control in this world, but a very long time ago her mother had told her she was stubborn. It turned out her mama had been right. “No,” she whispered. “Kiss me or let me go.”
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