Libby nodded.
Vero looked back and forth. “I like the idea of peace.” Then he stared at the pink sand. “This is so weird.”
“What about you, Drake?” Paxton asked softly. “You want peace?”
The Kurjan turned his full attention on Paxton, his gaze curious and his expression oddly calm. “Peace has different meanings to each of us, I think. The road to get there will vary, and you and I both know we won’t be on the same one. We can’t be.”
Hope frowned. “Of course you can be.”
Pax smiled, showing Drake his teeth. “No. He’s right. We understand each other.”
Hope’s brow furrowed. She just didn’t get it. That was okay.
Drake matched his smile. “Yes, hybrid. We definitely understand each other.”
So Drake knew Pax was a vampire-demon hybrid. Good. It wasn’t fair to beat the hell out of a guy if he didn’t know exactly who you were. This was perfect. Any doubts Pax had had about his uncle and his group wanting to destroy the Seven before they could screw up Hope’s life just disappeared. His uncle was a purist when it came to messing with the laws of the universe, as were his friends. They thought the Seven were too dangerous to be allowed to continue to the final ritual that might destroy the fabric of the entire universe. The showdown was coming soon, and Pax was determined to save Hope from the Seven, because she was what mattered. There was way too much at stake here. Even if she ended up hating him, he had to protect her.
Drake returned his attention to Hope. “Do the Seven have Ulric? Is he back in our world?”
Hope tilted her head. “I have no idea.”
So, the bastard was looking for information. Who’d created this situation? Drake or Hope? Paxton shoved away the uneasy feeling in his gut.
Vero coughed. “Why do you all hate Ulric so much? The Realm is wrong. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody. He’s our religious leader, and we want him back.”
“No,” Pax growled. Even if the kid believed his words, he was wrong. Ulric was evil, and Pax’s group would handle him without the Seven’s help. They were almost as bad as Ulric.
“Pax?” Hope asked, looking over her shoulder. Man, she had good instincts.
He softened just slightly, taking in her sparkling blue eyes. “There can’t be peace, Hope. Sorry.” Then he clapped his hands, loudly.
Jerking awake, he hit his head on the wall of her bedroom.
She sat up, her hair wild, her eyes angry. “There can, too, be peace.”
He stood, more determined than ever. It was time to report back to his uncle about Drake. “’Night, Hope. See you tomorrow.” Then he bounded out the window, once again avoiding the cameras.
Chapter Sixteen
Karma paced the guest bedroom of Benjamin’s lovely home by the river. The colors of the walls and bedding were calm and peaceful, so she doubted Mercy had decorated the room. Perhaps Haven had, but that still didn’t feel right. Karma hadn’t met the other two females yet, but they should be arriving soon. Would they like her?
Not that it mattered. She wasn’t going to stay long enough to get to know them, even if they did want to make friends.
She’d changed into a silky tank top and shorts set provided by Mercy. It was green and decadent, and since nobody could see her, she decided to be comfortable right now. Oh, she couldn’t look down at herself because Terre would see her form through the implant, but the material still felt delicious against her skin.
Benjamin had offered to mate her. Back in her youth, the goal of girls her age had been to secure as good of a husband as possible in order to provide for and protect their children. These days, women could live their own lives.
In any era, Benjamin would still be appealing. He was strong and kind, and he could kiss like the heroes she’d read about in bootlegged romance novels. Plus, she liked him.
Though something was off with him and had been since the morning when she’d let him touch her. Had that been a mistake? It certainly hadn’t felt like a mistake. Perhaps once she’d gone back to the Kurjans and rescued her girls, she could find him again. She’d probably have to kill Terre to escape.
Did she have that in her?
To protect her girls, she did. Any mother would protect her children, and she felt a burning determination deep in her breast. In her heart. For now, she needed sleep. The Kurjans were only going to give her a couple more days to collect information, and then they’d come for her.
She slipped into the bed, her body heavy. When they infiltrated the location, they’d try to harm Benjamin and his friends. It’d be a fight, and people would get hurt or worse.
How could she prevent that?
Linda popped up by the side of the bed.
Karma yelped and then sat up. “What are you doing here? Are the girls okay?”
Linda’s eyes were wide and too dark. She hovered, slightly see-through in the moonlight shining through the window. “They’re coming. I just saw it. You have to—”
Explosions ripped through the peaceful night outside. Karma caught her breath, and before she could jump out of bed, her door crashed open and Benjamin barreled through.
He had her out of the bed and in his arms in a heartbeat.
“Benjamin.” She grabbed the material of the T-shirt stretched tightly across his chest as he ran through the house and into the master bedroom, kicking it shut with one boot.
More explosions made the ground beneath them quake. A painting fell off the wall onto his sprawling bed, but he kept running into a well-appointed walk-in closet that was mostly empty of clothing. Then he set her on the dresser in the middle of the space, looked around wildly, and grabbed the lone tie from a peg. Without a word, he wrapped it around her face and covered her eyes before she could protest.
Then she was back in the air and against his chest. She had to grab on again to keep from falling. He moved a few feet and then must’ve reached the rear of the square-shaped closet. The sound of his hand slapping the wood filled her ears.
Oh, God. He knew about the implant. He had covered her eyes.
Something quietly slid to the side.
He lunged inside and ran down unseen steps; it felt as if he was taking them four at a time. Cool air brushed her, and she held on for dear life, acutely aware of her lack of clothing. She blinked behind the blindfold but couldn’t see anything. The door snicked shut behind them. She held on tighter as he jostled her. “Where—”
“Shhh,” he muttered, the sound curt.
She swallowed. “They’re here for me, Benjamin. Maybe if you let me go, there won’t be a fight.”
“I’m not letting you go.” The words were uttered as fervently as any vow she’d ever heard. “Don’t speak again, or I’ll gag you.”
She bit her lip. So he knew about the device in her ear as well. She had no doubt he’d do as he said, but she had to at least try. “I don’t want you or any of your friends to get hurt. Please just leave me and go.” They had to have several escape routes, and he could be long gone before the Kurjans found them. “I have to go back.”
“Not one more word, Karma. The only thing I have to gag you with right now is a sock, and it’s been on my foot all day. Don’t push me again, baby.” He was running full-bore while carrying her, yet he didn’t sound winded in the slightest.
The last thing she wanted in her mouth right now was his dirty sock. She’d tried to reason with him, and the Kurjans were surely listening to every word. “I can’t see. Can I take off the blindfold?” It was imperative they understood she was blindfolded.
“No.” He slowed down. “Sock it is.”
“No,” she yelped. “I promise. Not one more word.”
He paused as if thinking it over. “All right. Last chance.”
She pressed her lips firmly together to keep from making a sound. He moved her slightly and then stopped des
cending, so the ground must’ve leveled out. It became cooler and quieter, and the explosions in the distance sounded far above them. How far underground had he run? She didn’t dare ask.
He ran for a few more minutes, paused, and pushed open what sounded like a door. Then he moved forward again, turning several times and finally moving into what felt like a smaller place. He ripped off the blindfold.
She looked around a cell with three rock walls and one of bars. “Benjamin.”
“Sorry.” He set her on a cot and hurried back out the barred door, shutting and locking it firmly. “I’ll be back.”
Then he was gone.
* * * *
“Talk to me.” Benny ran into the control center inside the mountain. Screens were mounted on three walls, and the fourth held various weapons. The main weapons room was just beyond.
Logan looked up from a keyboard, still typing. “Attack from the river with secondary forces advancing from the east and south.”
So they’d taken the bait. “Excellent. The river mines worked.” Benny reached for several weapons to hide on his body. “I didn’t expect them for a few days.”
Logan looked over his shoulder, his eyes a startling and pissed-off green. “Neither did I.”
Benny paused. Oh. Logan would’ve preferred to get Mercy out of there and to Realm Headquarters first. “Understood.”
Mercy glanced up from another set of consoles. “We have movement in the air—looks like three attack helicopters.” Then she lowered her chin. “And I’m ready to fight. I wouldn’t have gone to the Realm.”
Garrett emerged from the weapons room fully armed. He growled low. “We weren’t expecting a fight yet. We have half of our force away. To say we’re outnumbered would be a gross understatement.”
Mercy looked at the big screen. “Incoming.”
Benny studied the air support through the night vision camera. “Is that a—”
The missile exploded with a loud roar. The entire mountain rocked back and forth, and Benny had to brace his feet to keep his balance. “Holy shit.”
Logan typed furiously, focusing the camera closer in. “What are they doing? We’re in human territory. They can’t just take out a mountain like this. There’s no way to hide that.”
“Agreed,” Benny muttered. The Kurjans had blown up the Seven’s mountain headquarters before, but those had been off the grid. This one wasn’t, and even the Kurjans knew better than to attack like this and alert the humans to their existence. The entire immortal world, allies and enemies alike, would retaliate against such a foolish move. “Apparently my offer to mate Karma didn’t go unheeded.” Anger morphed through him, tensing each one of his muscles. This was personal.
Mercy studied him from her position. “Yeah. They definitely jumped the gun on this. The only reason they’d do so would be personal and not strategic. Ideally, they’d want Karma to gather more information for a few days as they prepared for an assault. They haven’t had enough time to really study the area.”
Quade and Haven ran inside, both ducking falling shards of rock. “Why are they here already?” Quade asked, tucking Haven close. His eyes were dark with anger, and blood trickled from a cut on his temple.
Benny winced. “We might have underestimated the fact that Karma is now unmated and free to mate again. Or I could be wrong about that.” He should’ve asked her more questions, but it wasn’t as if she would’ve been able to answer with the Kurjans listening. He grabbed night vision goggles from the shelf. “I’ll go. We just need one prisoner to question.”
Garrett stood. “I’m with you to the north. Could use a good fight.”
Logan stood and reached for a gun. “Quade and I will take the east.” Before Mercy could stand, he shook his head. “You’re better logistically than the rest of us. I need you here with Haven and Karma in case we have to run fast. Keep an eye on the cameras.”
She rolled her eyes but claimed his seat, while Haven drew up the defense plan on the farthest screen. “Remember, there are live mines out there now.”
Benny allowed adrenaline to flood his system. Then he turned into the weapons room, secured an earbud, and ran up the back stairs while Quade and Logan went the other direction. He climbed easily and pushed open the rock portal to the forest with Garrett on his heels.
Smoke filled the air along with the crackle of fire. The makeshift lodge was toast. He moved through the trees silently, angling around the spot where the first ground force had been visible on the screen. Well, the second ground force. The first had been taken out in the river with the mines that had been activated the second he’d walked Karma by and admitted that it was a weak area. Yeah, he’d lied.
Sam dropped down from a hidden spot in the boughs of a fir tree, and Benny halted. “What did you see?”
“Full-out assault. We’re gonna have to take one of them prisoner and fast.” Sam gestured toward the most likely area to create their ambush. “If the copters stop blowing missiles and land to let the forces out, we have to retreat. There are too many of them.” Sam wore head-to-toe black and blended into the night perfectly. With his green eyes covered by night glasses, Benny wouldn’t know he was there if he hadn’t made it obvious.
A light shone down, and then figures rappelled out of two helicopters.
“Move,” Garrett muttered, ducking his head against the light. “They’ve hacked into our cameras and have eyes on us. Run.”
Benny turned and barreled through one of the many trails they’d set up around the compound, careful to zig and zag in the way they’d memorized. A soldier ran after him, and instantly a bomb went off. Heat flared against Benny’s back, and he circled a tree, coming back to the enemy. “Cut all cameras,” he ordered tersely.
“Affirmative. Cameras cut,” Mercy returned. “We’re taking more missiles on the mountain. If they continue the assault, we need to evacuate within five minutes. Avenues A and C are damaged, so I think B is our best shot. If they get to B, we’ll have to take D, and that’s the least secure.”
Benny growled and held his gun, waiting for sound. The lights from above swung around, and he ducked against a tree, out of sight.
“Clock is ticking,” Mercy said in his ear. “Return to base in five minutes whether or not the capture is successful.”
“It’ll be successful,” Benny growled, aware of Sam moving on his left and Garrett on his right. “I want a Cyst, not a Kurjan soldier. Period.” Their white hair would glow in the night. “Take off their hoods to double-check.”
“Affirmative,” Garrett said quietly.
They fanned out, and Benny caught sight of a three-soldier pack edging toward the mountain. He signaled and circled around to the rear, careful to stay out of the spotlights crisscrossing the forest.
A Cyst soldier leapt between two trees and took him down to the wet pine needles.
Chapter Seventeen
Karma held the rough bars and tried to peer down the hallway. She felt naked in the silky shorts and top. “Hello?” Had she heard footsteps? She chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe Benjamin hadn’t known about the device in her head. Perhaps he’d just blindfolded her because the underground headquarters were a secret. But then he’d put her in a cell.
Yes, he knew.
Footsteps came closer, and Haven stood on the other side of the bars. She pushed a cardigan and heavy socks with walruses decorating them through the bars. “It’s cold down here.”
“Thank you,” Karma said, instantly sliding her arms into the cardigan. It was longer than her shorts, and she buttoned it up, feeling almost better. The color was a pale yellow, and the material was heavy and warm. Then she ducked to pull on the socks, her heart warming along with her body. “I appreciate it.”
Haven leaned back against the opposite wall, watching her. The woman had pulled her sandy-blond hair up in a ponytail and wore dark jeans and a pretty green swe
ater that matched her left eye. Her other eye was a deep black. Fascinating. Did all Fae have dual-colored eyes? Haven and Mercy were the only ones Karma had ever seen, so the oddity might be limited to their family. “Do you need anything else?”
Karma slid her hands into the soft pockets and tried to meet the woman’s gaze. “Not unless you want to unlock the door.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Haven said, not moving. The woman had an alertness about her that was intriguing. Her face was angular and her nose pert. She was very pretty, even late at night without any makeup. “Benny shouldn’t be long, and I’m sure he’ll let you out.”
“What a liar.” A human male popped up next to Haven, his form wavering. His time to cross over was coming soon, whether he was ready or not. “She’s always been a liar, and she’s possessed by a demon.” His face was contorted and furious, and spittle flew from his too-thick lips. Was that a clergyman’s collar he wore? “Tell my daughter she’s going to hell.”
Karma watched him calmly. She’d learned a long time ago that the ghosts couldn’t hurt her or anybody else. Usually she’d ask if he wanted her to pass on a message, but he was obviously one of the bad ones, and whatever he had to say wasn’t necessary. Karma had no doubt Haven was not going to hell. So she concentrated on the female who had kindly brought her warm clothing. “What is happening?”
Haven studied the bars. “We’re under attack from the Kurjans and the Cysts. It was to be expected since we have you, but we really thought we had more time. Do you have any clue why they came at us so quickly?”
Karma shook her head. The plan was for her to gain as much intelligence from the Seven as she could, and she’d barely had any time. Did Terre know that she was having difficulty being a spy? Had he lost confidence?
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