The air changed, and she stiffened as the guard made his way down the tunnel, his white hair glowing as he came closer. He was a Cyst: one of the elite soldiers and spiritual leaders of the Kurjan nation. A single line of white hair bisected his pale scalp, leading down to a long braid. His eyes were a deep purple tinged with red, and he spared her not a glance as he unlocked the cell and then stepped back.

She took a deep breath and entered, wincing as the coppery smell of blood assaulted her nostrils. Then she dropped to her knees and reached inside the pack for the materials that would clot the bleeding wound. How badly injured the hybrid must’ve been after the skirmish to still be bleeding.

The second she touched his head, his eyes opened.

He was fully alert in a second, his deep eyes an unreal, metallic color. “Karma,” he murmured.

She drew back. He remembered her name? Nobody remembered her name.

“Do you need blood?” she whispered, leaning closer, even as the guard locked the cell door and disappeared down the hallway, leaving her with the enemy. Right now she was useless to the Kurjans, so if the prisoner killed her, they’d find a plan B.

“No.” Benjamin sat up, looked around, and put his back to the cement brick wall. He took up all the available space in the cell with his impressive size.

She shook her head, her lips trembling. “You must be badly injured or you would not have been captured. You need blood.”

“I let them take me. I’ve been searching for you for years.”

God. The Kurjans had been correct. He really had been looking for her. “The baby? Rose?” Karma held her breath. When Benjamin’s people had attacked the Kurjan holding, she’d gone with her instincts of the moment and forced him to take a toddler who had been kidnapped by the Kurjans—and she’d paid for that decision. “Is Rose well?”

Benjamin nodded. “Rose is fine. She’s at Realm headquarters with a nice family.”

Relief and fear were an odd combination in Karma’s blood. “Realm Headquarters?” The Realm was the enemy of the Kurjans. Its people were evil, or so she’d been taught. She’d always wondered, because lies were everywhere. She held out medical supplies, although the wound beneath his jaw was already closing as he sent healing cells where they were necessary.

“I don’t need those,” he murmured, studying her with an intensity that shot tremors through her abdomen.