“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.