So they’d sent the top dogs to deal with him. Well, a guy could get an ego from that. “Do you mind?” Benny growled, turning back to study Karma. His voice softened. “Sweetheart? Do you often help heal people?”
Her chin dropped, and she gave up any pretense of not being shocked. She faltered, and then her shoulders went back. “Benjamin Reese, this is Terre, one of our Kurjan leaders, and Jaydon, commander of the Cyst soldiers.” The female sounded as if she were introducing guests at a formal gathering.
He grinned and waved a hand in the air. “Right. So, where were you born? Where did you grow up?” He had so many questions for her, and he’d spent three years wondering.
She shook her head, her jaw slack. “Mr. Reese? The soldiers are here to see you.”
He lifted one shoulder and hid a wince at the pain that went through his chest. The beating had been a good one. “I’m not interested in them. I’d rather hear about you.”
“How hard did you hit your head?” she whispered, taking one step toward him.
Good. He had a feeling she rarely approached anybody, and that was significant. Just what had she endured living with the Kurjans for centuries? They weren’t known to treat females very well, and she definitely had a faded mating mark on her neck. But he had a theory about that, which might explain why his mark had appeared on his hand when he’d first touched her. It was unheard of, but still, it was there. “When did your mate die?”
She blinked. Once and then again. “Two centuries ago.”
The triumph that filled him must’ve shown in his eyes, because she took a step back. Darn it. Though he could tell she hadn’t been treated well based on her behavior in the presence of the soldiers, at least she’d been spared any sort of sexual abuse. A mated female couldn’t be touched by another male, even if her mate was dead. He cleared his throat. “Is there anybody here you want me to kill before we go?” He’d gladly do it.
She just stared at him as if he’d frozen her in place.
He tried to smile to reassure her, and she turned even paler. “Has anybody harmed you, sweetheart? I’ll take care of them before we blow this place.” It was more than possible she’d been slapped around, and he’d gladly rip off the arms of anybody who’d hurt her.
“You’re crazy,” she whispered.
He nodded. “That has been said more than once, and often by my family.” Probably because he said what he thought all the time, but tomato, tomahto.
“Damn it.” The Kurjan soldier drew a firearm from his shoulder harness and pointed it at Benny.
Benny immediately put himself between the weapon and the female. “If you’d wanted my attention, you should’ve just said so.”
The soldier fired.
* * * *
Karma’s nerves were strung so tight she could barely breathe. It had been hours since she’d seen the prisoner, and she couldn’t get his smile out of her mind. Even after Terre had shot him in the neck, he’d smiled at her as she’d exited his cell. What was wrong with her? The male was their enemy as well as being a vampire-demon hybrid. They were notoriously deadly and evil. She was not up to the job with which she’d been tasked.
Not that she had a choice. She’d never had one.
She deftly served supper to the five males in the dining room of the temporary headquarters, careful not to brush Dayne’s arm as she did so. A tablet sat in his large hands, and he read through reports, ignoring everyone. He was the head of the Kurjan nation, and he was also Terre’s older brother. Terre sat at the other end of the table, watching her as he always did. The look in his eyes sent chills through her, but she kept her face placid, sliding a plate in front of Drake, Dayne’s son.
Drake didn’t look up from the game he was furiously playing on a small console. His hair had grown long, and with his odd green eyes, the child looked almost human. “Thank you, Karma,” he murmured, twisting his arm to press a button.
She paused. “You’re welcome.” The young teenager had always thanked her, almost automatically. It was silly to think his mother had had time to teach him manners before she’d died, but he had them nonetheless. Even now, at around sixteen years old, built strong and tall, he was absentmindedly polite.
Where had he come from?
She set the second plate in front of Drake’s cousin Vero, who was a year younger than Drake.
“Thank you, Karma,” Vero said, looking at her and smiling. His father had been killed, and his uncles had taken him in, although it appeared that Terre was acting as his guardian. Vero was a sweet lamb in a flock of lions.
She hustled to place a plate in front of Jaydon, the scary Cyst who had started taking his meals with the family. He was wiping off his bruised and cut knuckles, and he hadn’t bothered to clean away the blood that saturated one sleeve.
Her stomach lurched. Jaydon and Terre had injured their hands by torturing Benjamin, no doubt. Was the hybrid even still alive?
She took the last plate off the tray and quickly tried to place it in front of Terre. He grabbed her skirt before she could draw away and jerked her to a stop. His knuckles were bloody and damaged. She sucked in a breath and settled herself.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Fine.” She knew better than to draw away. Once she’d attempted to evade him, and he’d held on to the material so tightly, her skirt ripped. He couldn’t touch her skin or the mating allergy would attack them both, but he had found ways to torture her just by taking hold of her clothing.
He smiled, showing sharp canines. Oh, Terre was probably handsome to some, but she saw the darkness in his purple eyes. “What did you think of the prisoner?”
“I didn’t think anything about him.” She kept her eyes averted.
“I almost killed him this afternoon, but he’ll survive,” Terre bragged. “He does have a purpose, doesn’t he?”
She nodded, wanting to edge away.
He forced her closer, wrapping his fist in the fabric, his hand right above her mound but not touching. “Our day is coming, female. You know not to disappoint me, right?”
The steak knife was so close. How shocked he’d be if she grabbed it and stabbed him through the eye. He’d kill her, but it’d be worth it. Except for the girls she’d leave behind. If nothing else, she had to save them before she left this world. The idea of being mated to Terre was too much to bear, and she had had enough of living in hell. “I’m not strong enough to take the virus that will undo my mating,” she whispered.
He released her. “You don’t have a choice. Be strong enough, or I’ll break those girls of yours for amusement.” He turned to his steak, obviously finished with her for now.