Haven rubbed a slight bruise on her wrist. “Darn rock got me. Seriously, though. The Kurjans don’t know that you’ve taken the virus, so why would they need you back so badly? As far as they know, you can’t be mated again, and you haven’t had time to gather intel, so why the rushed timeline? I don’t get it.”
Out of all the people who might question her, Karma had not expected Haven. “I really don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m useless to them if I can’t be mated again.” Of course, the Kurjans knew she could be, and for some reason Terre really wanted her. But she couldn’t tell Haven that—just in case Haven didn’t know about the tracker. The woman was excellent at bluffing if she’d figured it out.
Haven wiped dust off her chin “Well, I guess that’s a mystery. Don’t worry, though. We won’t let the Kurjans get you again.”
“Right. That’s why I’m in a cell.” It was silly to keep playing this game, and Karma didn’t have the patience for it. “Do you have any idea what Benjamin is going to do with me?” He obviously knew she’d been spying on the Realm, and that was probably considered treason. Would she be put to death? Dread dropped into her stomach, and her knees weakened.
“I don’t know,” Haven said. “He just put you in here to keep you safe.”
That didn’t make sense, but right now, what did? Karma edged closer to the bars. “You’re mated to Quade, who was away from this world for so long.” She held her breath. Oh, there was no harm asking her question. “Quade is not modern, just like me. Has it been difficult for you?”
Haven tilted her head. “Difficult? No, not really. I mean, he steals the toothpaste way too much, and he’s a little bossy sometimes, but have you met an immortal who isn’t? I love him, he loves me, and we work it out.” She grinned. “Sometimes things get a little wild, but what fun is life without wild?”
Life was fantastic without wild. Karma would be just fine without wildness. Right? This might be her only chance to gain knowledge. “Is the Realm killing enhanced females as the Kurjans are?” The rumors were that the Realm liked to torture first. While she hadn’t seen any sign of that deplorable behavior, she had to ask.
Haven’s eyebrows rose. “Of course not. Did the Kurjans tell you that?”
Slowly, Karma nodded. After being at the Realm Headquarters and then with members of the Seven, she couldn’t help but see that the females were treated with as much respect as the males. Their lives were not at all as Terre had described to her throughout the years.
It was no surprise. She had to get her girls out of that world and into a better one. She’d taken the responsibility to love and protect them, and there was no choice now. If she could only tell Benjamin the truth without the Kurjans hearing or seeing it and thus putting the twins in danger.
Something roared high above, impacted, and blew the earth apart. Haven cried out and ducked. Karma grabbed the bars and hunched her shoulders, trying to stay on her feet.
The wall behind Haven split, and shards of rock rained down. The earth kept shifting and quaking. She ran to the bars and quickly used a keypad to open the lock before yanking the door open. “Come on. We have to get out of this tunnel.” Grabbing Karma’s hand, she turned and pulled her down the hard dirt passageway as rocks fell from the roof to land and shatter on the floor.
A rock sliced Karma’s forearm, and she flicked it off, running with Haven. Panic ballooned through her. They burst out of the tunnel into a round room with screens on three walls.
Mercy looked up from a computer console as rocks rained down around her. Blood dotted her chin, and her eyes were wide. “They hit us simultaneously from two sides. I’ve given the soldiers two minutes to make a capture and get back here. We have to prepare to evacuate. We’re going with Avenue B, Haven. Get your mind around it.”
Haven took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay. I’m there. It isn’t like I haven’t gone on the run before. What’s our destination?”
“Point Zero,” Mercy said, turning to type quickly on a keyboard. “Setting self-destruct now.”
Karma’s legs shook. “Self-destruct? Wait a minute.” Were they going to blow up the entire mountain? The Seven Headquarters? Just because of her? “Hold on. Wait until Benjamin returns.” Why she was counting on him to be the voice of reason was beyond her.
Mercy gasped, looking at the screen. “Oh, crap.”
Karma stared at the biggest screen. She could make out two helicopters turning around and heading toward the mountain. As one, they fired missiles directly at the mountain. The swishing sound was instantly followed by a burst of fire out of each.
“Brace!” Mercy yelled.
Haven wrapped an arm over Karma’s shoulders and tugged her down to the floor. The explosion was massive. The entire floor wobbled as if water lifted beneath it. Karma was thrown against the far wall, and more explosions cascaded through her head.
She rolled over, gasping.
Mercy approached her, ducking to avoid the falling rocks. “Haven, we can’t wait for Benny. Faith and Ronan are approaching through Tunnel B. We have to do this now.” She pulled a syringe out of her back pocket and used her teeth to rip off the plastic tip.
Fear made her weak, but Karma tried to scramble backward, away from Mercy. Haven grasped her by the shoulders and held tight. Before Karma could fight back, Mercy plunged the needle into her arm, and warmth spread out from it.
“What did you just—” Karma’s voice trailed off. The room swam around her, and she fell back against Haven, her head going numb.
Then unconsciousness drifted through her, starting with her toes. By the time the fuzzy darkness reached her head, her vision and hearing had both gone. “Benjamin?” she whispered as unconsciousness tried to take her. Sounds grew muffled, and her eyelids closed, but her body still felt the pain of a rock slicing across her ankle. “Ow.”
“We have to hurry.” A male voice—a new one.
Gentle but steel-hard arms lifted her into the air, and even though her eyes were closed, nausea rolled through her belly. The male holding her was careful but moved quickly, barely jostling her. How odd. Just a few days ago, her skin would have been crawling with the mating rash. Never in her life had she thought she’d be free of that marking.
Then softness. A gentle blanket and a comfortable bed. Well, this was all right. She smiled slightly, ready for a nap. Whatever they’d given her felt warm and smooth through her veins. Much better than the sedative the Kurjans had used when they’d put the implant in her head. That had burned to her toes. This was nice. She settled in. Maybe she’d dream about her girls.
A cry of pain centered her attention.
“Faith. Are you okay?” the male voice asked.
“Yes. Just a rock landing on my shoulder. We have to hurry. Can you spread a tarp over her somehow, Ronan?” The female sounded in control of the situation. How strange.
A low growl sounded close by. “We don’t have a tarp. There isn’t time for the surgery. Make her comfortable, and let’s get out of here.”
“We can’t just leave her,” the female said as the scent of bursting wildflowers brushed Karma’s senses. Kind of like her own scent but with spice.
In fact, the female in charge smelled like the meadows of Karma’s youth. Even though she should be scared, she couldn’t help but relax more. Then a firm bracket centered her head. A bright light pointed at her face and heated her skin as if she were sitting in the sun. “What—” she whispered weakly.
“She’s not out,” the male said.
A small pinch to her upper arm caught Karma by surprise. More warmth flowed through her blood, dragging her completely into the darkness.
Then she was out.
Chapter Eighteen
Benny clapped both hands against the Cyst’s ears as more figures emerged from the trees and engaged Garrett and Sam. The Cyst punched Benny in the throat, and he barely turned
in time to keep his trachea from being shattered. “Fucker.” Using his legs, he rolled them over and reached for the knife in his boot, slashing.
His earbud crackled. “Ben? Faith and Ronan just arrived through the east tunnel, and they say we can’t go out that way. It’s falling around them as they run. We’ll have to leave Karma here and return for her later. There isn’t enough time for the plan now.” Mercy’s voice was breathless, as if she was running.
“No,” Benny grunted, stabbing the Cyst in the neck. Dark red blood arced, landing across Benny’s neck and burning instantly. “We can’t let the Kurjans take her now that her mating mark has been neutralized.”
The Cyst yanked the knife free of his neck, and his eyes morphed to a furious purple. He flipped it around in his hand and lifted up with his hips, plunging the knife into Benny’s gut.
The blade bent in two and flew in different directions.
“Damn it,” Benny growled. “That was my favorite knife.” He punched down, breaking several of the Cyst’s teeth. “My torso is impenetrable, dumbass.” Most of the Seven’s initiation ritual was focused on fusing together each male’s torso to protect his heart.
The Cyst punched up, right into Benny’s groin. Pain ripped through him, and he gasped, his balls on fire.
A body careened out of the trees and manacled Benny around the waist, shoving him off the Cyst soldier. He flew headfirst into a tree, and his ears rang. He turned to punch out, nailing a Kurjan soldier beneath the jaw. “Mercy? I’m not messing with you. Do not leave Karma alone.” A Kurjan punched back, hitting Benny in the ear. His head rang.
“Sorry, Ben,” Mercy said, not really sounding sorry. “The mountain is exploding, and the surgery is impossible. There’s not enough time. We have to make a run for it. We found her once—we can do it again.” The sound of typing came over the COMM unit. “There are three more forces heading to your position. Logan and Quade are engaged on the other side of the mountain. You have two minutes—then we have to go.”
Benny kicked the Kurjan in the gut and flipped to his feet. “Mercy? Listen to me right now. I’ll buy Faith enough time to do the surgery. Just get to it.” He waited until the Kurjan rushed forward and then went with a series of hard punches to the face, neck, and gut that had the soldier backtracking while trying to avoid blows.
“You’re crazy. You’d have to lead them away from the mountain and then somehow get back in time,” Mercy said, cutting off communications.
“I’m on it. Get that device out of her head,” Benny barked.
The Cyst rose from the ground and approached, blood still pouring from his neck.
Benny hastily punched the Kurjan in the eye, temporarily knocking him out. Then he pivoted to kick the Cyst beneath the chin. The soldier’s head snapped back with a loud crack. He fell, his blood pooling on the wet pine needles. Benny grabbed him by the braid. “I have one,” he coughed, spitting up blood. Probably from the punch to the testicles.
Sam staggered out of the trees, bleeding profusely from his left eyebrow. “Two down. Not for long.”
Garrett flipped the remaining Kurjan over his shoulder and then stabbed him right through the neck, impaling the guy on a prone Cyst he’d apparently already taken out. “I’m good. Let’s go.” The youngest Kayrs soldier bled from his neck and ear, but his eyes glowed a furious metallic gray. His shirt was torn, and so was his bottom lip. “We need to move.” He ducked and grabbed the shoulder of the Cyst soldier Benny held by the braid. “Let’s drag him. He’s too heavy to lift.”
Benny handed him over and paused. “I’ll lead them away for just a couple of minutes. Go help with the surgery.”
Sam turned and led the way through the trees, scouting the area. Another missile hit the mountain with a loud whistle, and trees flew in every direction.
A sliver of bark sliced across Benny’s cheek and he winced but didn’t slow his pace as he ran conspicuously in the opposite direction with the Kurjans already pursuing him. The thought that Karma was undergoing head surgery under these conditions was crazy. He had to give Faith time—she’d been the best human neurosurgeon alive before mating one of the Seven.
He scaled a tree and then leaped from branch to branch, fighting the urge to let out a Tarzan-like yell. The Kurjans fired their weapons from below while the helicopters hovered just above the treetops.
This might’ve been a mistake.
Even so, he kept going from tree to tree and then finally dropped to the ground in the densest part of the forest.
A Cyst leaped at him, and Benny stabbed him in the eye, quickly pivoting and running back the way he’d come. This was all the time they could afford. Dodging and weaving, he took out two more Kurjans on the way back, and then opened the rock wall to run down the steps, which were dotted with blood.
Benny hit the weapons room and kept going into the main room, jumping over an unconscious Cyst soldier. “Is it done?” he asked as he turned toward the makeshift operating room.
Garrett was instantly in his face, both hands on Benny’s shoulders. “Listen. Faith is the best neurosurgeon alive, and that was before she became immortal. She saw the diagrams and pictures, and she said it’d be an easy surgery. Let her finish.”
“I don’t care.” Benny threw his earbud across the room, shoved Garrett, and ran down the east tunnel, turning left and skidding into Ronan Kayrs.
Ronan grabbed him by the arms and pushed him back a foot. “Stop. Faith is operating now, and if you go barging in there, she’s likely to slice something she shouldn’t.”
Benny squared himself and glared at the male who’d become his brother, through blood and vows, too many centuries ago to count. Ronan had black hair, a deadly body, and more painful experience in his aqua eyes than anyone should ever have. He’d lived lifetimes upon lifetimes by himself in a prison world far away, guarding Ulric and protecting the Realm. But right now, he was about to get his ass kicked. “Move.”
Ronan studied him and then moved aside. “She’s your female. If you want her brain damaged, that’s your choice.”
Smart aleck. Benny pushed open the door just as Faith, her brown hair up on top of her head and her body swathed in a white lab coat, snapped the lid shut on a brown metal box. Karma lay beneath a blanket, her head turned away. “Got it.” Faith grinned, looking toward the door.
Benny barreled forward, reaching Karma. “Is she okay?” Her skin was pale, and her sunshine-filled hair splayed out over the thick mattress.
“Of course.” Faith lifted Karma’s wrist and counted her pulse. “She’s just out from the sedative. I wouldn’t attempt this surgery in these conditions if I didn’t think I could do it, Benny. You know that. Great job getting me more time, though. You saved her.”
Another explosion billowed through the night, and a fist-sized chunk of rock dropped. Benny caught it before the projectile could hit Faith’s head.
“Thanks,” she said, edging toward the door. “We should get out of here—right?”
Benny gently moved Karma’s head so he could see her face. Her pink lips were slightly pursed, and she breathed evenly. “Where’s the incision?”
Faith ducked as dust wafted through the space. “No incision. I took the device out through her nose, which was how they got it in. I’m looking forward to studying it.”
“No. Is it in the box?” Benny released Karma and reached for the box.
Faith’s eyebrows rose as she handed it over. “Of course. It’s shielded and can’t be traced in the box.”
“That’s nice.” Benny walked to the corner and set the box down, letting the device tumble out. He made sure to keep the box between it and the rest of the room. The thing had connections in two places, where it had been attached to Karma’s eye and one ear canal.
Faith opened her mouth, and he shook his head, motioning for her to stay silent and go.
Then he hurried t
oward Karma and lifted her, running to the door.
Double explosions erupted from two directions, and the roof began to cave in. “Run!” he bellowed. He followed Faith and Ronan through the computer room, meeting up with Garrett and Mercy, who’d shut down all the computers.
Garrett finished activating a box beneath the main computer console. “We’re ready to blow. Logan and Quade called in and are already in Tunnel B, making sure we have a clear path.”
“Let’s go,” Benny said grimly as the mountain began to fall around them.
Mercy looked over his shoulder. “Where’s Sam?”
Benny jolted. “Sam was in here with you guys.”
Garrett’s eyes swirled with too many colors to count. “No. I thought he went back out to help you.”
Benny’s chest chilled. “No. Did he even make it in from outside?”
As Garrett turned to run to the weapons room, the entire wall seemed to morph before sharp boulders heavier than a dump truck began to fall. “Shit. Double shit.”
Ronan grabbed him by the shoulder. “Check his comm.”
Garrett yanked his earbud out of his pocket and shoved it in. “Sam? Come in.” Garrett’s face contorted with irritation, and he stared at the rock wall now separating them from the weapons room and stairwell. “Nothing. Come on, Sam. Talk to me.” He frowned and bent forward as if to hear better. His face cleared, and fury burned in his eyes.
Dread made a lump in Benny’s throat. “What?” he asked, sidestepping a falling piece of what looked like pure silver.
Garrett held up a hand. “Sam? Don’t say anything and try to keep the earbud in. We’re going to evacuate through Tunnel B, and then we’re coming for you. Grunt to let me know you understand.” The youngest Kayrs warrior’s jaw hardened, and death shone in his eyes. There was Talen’s son and the king’s nephew.
Benny caught his breath. No wonder they thought Garrett would lead someday.
Garrett looked up. “Let’s go.”
Haven grabbed his arm. “Are you saying the Kurjans have Sam?” Panic colored her words, and she looked beyond Garrett to the blocked tunnel.
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