Rebel's Karma

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Well, it was worth a try. “I’ll inform Benjamin and the others about Terre’s location.” Karma hated for this interlude of happiness to end, but at least she’d had the best night of her entire life. That could never be taken away from her. “Were you able to use a human to travel there?”

  “No,” Linda sighed. “I’m burning my own energy and making myself even weaker. I can’t do this for much longer.”

  Karma rubbed a spot over her heart. “Was there absolutely no mention of the girls by Terre or Dayne?”

  Linda shook her head. “None. They’re not concerned with the girls, so our children could be at any of the strongholds. Her voice grew hushed, and panic sizzled in her eyes. “We have to hurry.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Benny sheathed an ankle pistol in his left boot while scrutinizing the area on the screen. “The Kurjans have gotten good at setting up camp quickly, haven’t they?” Learning from Karma and Linda that the enemy knew of the Seven’s access to satellites, especially which particular satellites, pissed him off.

  “We need our own satellite,” Garrett said grimly, tucking a knife at his waist.

  Logan circled several areas on a map. “If they’ve had time to plant mines, this is where I’d put them.” He studied the printout. “Here, too.” He made another circle.

  Mercy stared at the printout. “There’s a weakness to the east between those two areas of forest. If they haven’t planted mines there, they’ll have a couple of extra patrols stationed.” She leaned over and tapped an area to the north. “This is where I’d go in. It’s steep and hard to get to, so they won’t have it covered as well.”

  Benny angled his neck to study the map. “Agreed.” His adrenaline began flowing freely, and his body settled into battle mode. “We can get there in under an hour, and a full-day assault would be best.”

  Garrett rolled his shoulders, looking ready to do damage in his black cargo pants, black shirt, and combat boots. His eyes were a calm iron-infused gray. “Even though the Kurjans have developed the ability to go into the sun, we don’t know how long they can fight during the daylight. Let’s test them if we get the chance.”

  Benny eyed the storm outside. The rain had already started. “It might be sunny there, but I doubt it. We’re not that far away.” He hadn’t given much thought yet to the fact that the Kurjans could venture into the sun. Research was the business of scientists. His job was as a soldier, and fighting he knew. “Sam could be in bad shape.” There was even a possibility that he was dead, but it was doubtful. The Kurjans did not know that Sam was the keeper of the final ritual location, or they hadn’t up until now. “You think Sam withstood the torture?”

  “Of course,” Logan said, reaching for another jagged-edged knife. His jaw was set, and dark emotion swirled in his green eyes. “Sam would never tell them about being the keeper of the ritual.”

  Yeah. That fact would probably get Sam killed. Garrett looked over at Logan. “Are you sure you don’t want to let Zane know what’s happened before we go?”

  “I’m sure,” Logan said grimly. “The three of us can infiltrate a temporary Kurjan stronghold.”

  Well, that was true. Benny rolled his shoulders back, loosening up. “Agreed. If we call in Zane, the entire demon nation will descend on the Kurjans and start a war none of us is ready for. The shifters have withdrawn from the Realm, the witches are close, and even many vampire strongholds are pissed at the king for accepting the Seven.”

  “And none of them really know what we’re doing,” Garrett agreed. “We can handle this. Sam will probably need medical assistance. We need to get Faith Cooper back here as soon as possible.”

  “I’ll reach out,” Mercy said, her face pinched. “You guys concentrate on the Kurjans and the Cyst. Those guys are so creepy.” She double-checked the innocuous-looking skin on Logan’s forearm. “I hope this new technology works as expected.”

  Benny winced. “When does anything work as expected?” They’d be lucky if they didn’t blow themselves up.

  Garrett rubbed his neck. “Good point. The Cyst concern me. They’re gearing up fast, and they’re gonna be ready to fight.”

  The Cyst were excellent fighters. “I’ll fly,” Benjamin said, truly missing the days when he could teleport. When Quade and Ronan had returned from the bubble worlds where they’d stood guard over Ulric, something had shifted in the world, and demons and hybrids could no longer teleport. Neither could fairies, and sometimes Mercy looked like she’d lost a part of herself. “Let’s take the Bluehawk.” It was faster and smaller than the other helicopters.

  Garrett eyed him. “Fine, but let’s not hit any trees this time.”

  It wasn’t a decent flight if Benny didn’t buzz trees. “Fine.” He turned to stride out of the COMM room to let Mercy and Logan have a private goodbye. He stopped cold in the living area, where Karma waited, her hair piled on top of her head and her pretty green skirt looking out of place on this dismal day. It hit him then. He had somebody to say goodbye to, as well. “Hi.”

  She blushed a lovely pink. “Hi.” After she’d reported on what Linda had said, Karma had returned to Benny’s house to shower and prepare for the day. Her hair was still wet, and she had marks on her neck from his whiskers. “Please be careful.”

  “I will.” He reached out to her, and she instantly buried herself in his arms, her face against his chest.

  “Um, about what I said,” Karma started. “I haven’t had relations in a long time, and I may have been overcome.”

  Was that true? He didn’t want to take advantage of her, but he wanted her again already. Would it be so bad for her to love him? He wasn’t into love, but he’d protect her with everything he had. That meant something. He didn’t know what to do right now. She definitely deserved better than him. “We can talk about that later.”

  She softened against him, her voice muffled. “I hope Sam is all right.”

  “He will be.” The Kyllwood family was tough and had dealt with worse through the years. “I’ll do my best to find the location of your twins.” If possible, he’d bring a prisoner home with him so they’d have time to question thoroughly. “We’ll find them, Karma. I promise.”

  She leaned back, her face pale. “I know. They must be so scared. Please tell them I love them.”

  Benny’s throat heated and his lungs expanded. Fury tried to take him, and he banished the emotion. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them.”

  Karma released him and stepped back. “Benjamin? Please be careful.” Worry darkened her pretty eyes.

  “I will.” It felt good to have somebody worrying about him, but this wouldn’t do. What if they were mated and he didn’t make it back from a mission? What if the final ritual happened much sooner than even he realized? Did a year of happiness make up for leaving her alone for centuries? Two years? Three?

  She smacked him on the arm. “Worry about us later. Right now, just stay alive.”

  He rubbed his chest, right where she was making a place for herself. Then he kissed her goodbye.

  Just in case.

  * * * *

  Benny slid beneath the boughs of a sweeping pine after his eighteenth mile of running. They’d had to set the helicopter down in a secure location far away from the Kurjan stronghold. Garrett and Logan kept pace beside him, both quiet and more than prepared for battle. He had one moment of unease. If he got either the Realm King’s nephew or the demon king’s brother killed, war would most likely erupt. One the earth had not seen before.

  It was good he hadn’t mated Karma the night before. If anybody perished on this mission, it would have to be him.

  Logan hand-signaled them to stop. He wore specially made glasses with a light purple tint, ones that could detect mines in the ground as well as laser boundaries.

  Benny stopped and moved toward Logan. “What?”

  Logan handed ove
r the glasses. “Land mines set in a pattern I can’t read. They look like they were just planted anywhere.”

  Benny peered through the glasses, memorizing the locations of the faint purple blips on the screen. “There must be cameras near.”

  “You could say that.” A uniformed Cyst strolled out of the trees, his gun pointed at Benny’s head. It was General Jaydon—not a surprise. Within a second, more Cyst soldiers appeared, their white strips of hair gleaming in the meager sun. The storm hadn’t moved this far east yet, so maybe the sun would help. So far, it didn’t seem to be weakening the Cyst. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

  Were they? Obviously not. Benny pivoted in case he needed to kick more than one soldier at a time. “I didn’t see cameras or sensors on the way in.” He waited.

  General Jaydon smiled. “Let’s just say our technology is better than yours.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” Benny agreed. “Our sensors didn’t detect you.”

  “Good. We’ve learned to use the metal deposits in the rocks to mask our signatures,” Jaydon bragged. “You had no clue we were so close.”

  An unfortunately true statement. For centuries, the Kurjan technology had lagged far behind that of the Realm. That situation had changed in the last couple of decades. Benny lifted his chin in acknowledgment of the two soldiers Logan had claimed with a pointed look. He slightly tilted his head to the three on the left, while Garrett marked the two to the east.

  Jaydon flashed a set of yellowed canines that looked sharper than a Bengal tiger’s teeth. “I suppose we should have a sit-down now?”

  Benny winced. “We appreciate the offer. But no.” With that, he jumped up and kicked both Jaydon and a taller Cyst right beneath their jaws, snapping their heads back with loud crunches. Faster than they could recover, he was on Jaydon, taking the bastard to the ground.

  The general countered with a punch to the neck that had Benny seeing stars. They rolled over the wet pine needles, punching and kicking, each trying for leverage. A knife slid smoothly into Benny’s thigh, and he growled, ripping it out and punching the offending blade right into Jayden’s rib cage.

  The thing sliced through like butter.

  “Sharp,” Benny grunted, going for the eyes.

  “Of course.” Jaydon pulled the blade out, swiped at Benny’s face, and shoved him off. Then he backflipped to his feet, barely landing before rushing forward again.

  Benny levered himself up on one knee, swept around, and kicked the general in the groin with the blunt edge of his boot.

  Jaydon dropped to both knees, his eyes wide.

  Benny burst forward, reaching for the knife in his boot. He slashed down, and Jaydon blocked with both arms crossed together. They battled, each trying to cut the other.

  A cry of pain came from behind Benny. It sounded like a Cyst soldier, so he didn’t turn. There was a crashing sound from the trees, and several Kurjan soldiers came into view.

  They were seriously outnumbered. Benny increased his attempts to slice into Jaydon’s neck, while the general did the same, drawing out yet another blade so he had one in each hand. Both males backed up and jumped to their feet, circling each other.

  Garrett went down on Benny’s side and then rolled, coming up with fury in his eyes. He darted out of sight, and the sound of a body smashing into a tree echoed back. Pine cones and pine needles rained down, coating Benny’s jacket. He dodged the slash of a knife and then pivoted, catching Jaydon in the gut with a roundhouse kick.

  The general roared and kicked back, nailing Benny in the knee. The bone cracked, and Benny switched his balance to his other leg while directing immediate healing cells to the injury. He smiled. “This is more fun than I thought.”

  Logan tackled a Cyst to the ground between them, plunging his knife through the Cyst’s throat.

  Benny angled himself out of the way, keeping Jaydon within arm’s reach.

  Jaydon glanced at the prone soldier. “That’s enough.” Straightening his shoulders, he let out a whistle that had a couple of coyotes in the distance responding.

  Benny frowned. “What the—”

  Immediately, a series of darts hit him. The ones that hit his torso bounced off. The others dug deep with a heated burn that felt like live fire. He shook his head, almost in slow motion. “What have you done?” The forest swirled around him, and he dropped to his butt. They had drugged him? Seriously? “This is unheard of, even for Kurjans,” he slurred, his head feeling as if it was under water.

  Garrett landed by his side, facedown. Logan fell off the Cyst soldier he was trying to decapitate and instantly went into convulsions that looked painful.

  “Bring them.” Jaydon turned and strode through the trees, wiping blood off his neck as he moved.

  Rough hands hefted Benny up, and two Kurjans put their shoulders beneath his and dragged him between them. The world remained blurry and his body useless as they traveled through the woods and down a series of rough rock formations into a mountain. They removed his earbud immediately.

  The Kurjans threw him into what appeared to be a solidly built cell with bars on three sides and solid rock on the other. He landed on his face and painfully turned over to sit up. His body felt like it had gone through a woodchipper, and his nerves fired in pain. He leaned back and forth, relief washing through him as Garrett and Logan were tossed into nearby cells after their earbuds were also removed. They were both unconscious.

  He coughed and tried to clear his head.

  Sam Kyllwood, his face bloody and battered, stood across the narrow space in a cell facing Benny’s. He looked at the other two and then at Benny. “Tell me this was intentional,” he croaked, his voice demon-hoarse and rough.

  Benny grinned, and blood dripped into his eye. “Of course it was intentional.” Kind of. Well, not the getting drugged part. The Kurjans and their Cyst faction must have new drugs, because the Seven had been inoculated against all known sedatives. “We’re here to get you out.”

  “Fuck,” Sam said quietly.

  Benny barked out a laugh. The cell bars morphed and bent in a bizarre parody of a circus funhouse. Then the walls swirled around, clouds gathered in front of his eyes, and his gut ached.

  He passed out cold.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Karma stared at the satellite feed as the three males were taken. “Are you sure the Kurjans don’t know about this feed?” she asked. Again.

  Mercy shrugged. “I can’t be completely sure, but since I just hacked into it this morning, there’s a good chance they don’t know we’re watching them. This is one of the Coven Nine feeds, and those witches are almost the best at concealing their technology.” She grinned, but the happiness didn’t reach her worried eyes. “I’m better. Most Faes are, to be honest.”

  Karma rubbed her stomach, where a pit the size of a boulder had lodged. “Why aren’t you more upset?”

  Mercy grimaced. “Benny didn’t tell you the plan?”

  Hurt spiraled around Karma’s torso. “No.”

  “He was probably just trying to protect you,” Mercy said, the sympathy in her eyes making Karma even angrier. “Well, we wanted one of them to be taken hostage so we could get to Sam.”

  Benjamin hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her about the strategy, even though they’d engaged in coitus. Karma tried to hold on to her temper. “This attack backfired if only one of them was supposed to be taken hostage.”

  “I know,” Mercy said, watching the spot where the males had disappeared into the mountain. “The drug surprised me—it must be a new concoction.”

  Karma stood up, unable to sit any longer. “Mercy, think about this.” The Seven were overconfident, in her opinion. Of course, they needed to be strong and ready for battle, but they had underestimated the evil of the Cyst and the willingness of the Kurjans to go along with dishonorable plans. “The Kurjans and their Cys
t faction now have three members of the Seven, as well as Sam Kyllwood.”

  Mercy looked sideways and down the computer banks. “I’m aware of that.”

  Karma had lived with the Kurjans for several lifetimes, and she knew them better than did the Seven. She was also figuring out she had a decent head for strategy. “I know from listening to conversations between Dayne and Terre that it is very difficult to survive the ritual to become a member of the Seven.”

  Mercy slowly nodded. “Yes. Only ten percent of the warriors who have attempted the ritual survived. We finally figured out that certain family bloodlines have a better chance of survival.” She pushed several curls away from her eyes. “The Seven know how to fight.”

  “The Seven were just taken down by sedatives,” Karma said, her heart racing. Her temples began to pound. “Nearly half of the living members are now in custody, including the one soldier in the entire world who’s responsible for finding the magical place where Ulric’s final ritual will be held.”

  Mercy swiveled her chair to face Karma. “Excuse me?”

  Karma blushed. “I overheard you all discussing Sam, and don’t worry, the Kurjans don’t know his destiny. They don’t know who he is, as far as I can tell. Well, except that he’s the demon king’s brother.”

  Mercy looked back at the screen. “All right. This was a good plan. They know what they’re doing.” Her voice quavered.

  Karma took a deep breath to remain calm. “There is only one smart move for the Kurjans, and Dayne is a strategic genius.” Terre just liked to hurt people, while Jaydon was obsessed with the idea of taking Ulric’s place. “Dayne is in charge, so strategy will be employed for now.”

  Mercy’s nostrils flared. “The correct strategy would be to try to gain information from the Seven.”

  Karma’s stomach dropped. “Not for long. Dayne has to know we’ll call in the demon nation as well as the Realm. The smartest move on his part is to kill the members of the Seven and perhaps negotiate for Sam Kyllwood’s release, unless Sam has told them about his role in the ritual.”