Her eyes teared from the smoke, but she ran after him, careful to avoid the downed soldiers. Sam ran in front of Garrett and around the smoldering building, while Logan followed behind her, pausing to kick a stirring monk in the face.
The monk went back down, his head thunking on the ground.
She tripped on debris, and Logan was there, lifting her smoothly and running even faster. She shut her eyes against the dizziness and just held on, trying to make sense of what had happened.
Six monks had attacked them, and five were bleeding to death on the ground right now. The final one was over Garrett’s shoulder, unconscious, with his long arms dangling in the air.
They reached the helicopter, and Garrett hefted the monk into the back. “Tie him up.” He leaped into the pilot’s seat and started the propellers.
Logan opened the copilot door and placed her on the seat, shutting it and jumping in the rear with Sam. They quickly tied up the monk with ropes from the far back, binding him completely. His eyelids blinked, and he jerked awake. Logan planted a hard fist against his temple, and he slumped unconscious again.
Then they were lifting into the air.
Her neck hurt, and she rubbed it. Some of the monk’s blood must’ve gotten on her. She blinked away tears and coughed again, her throat raw from the smoke.
Garrett handed her a headset and then banked a hard left away from the smoke filling the air.
She put it on her head and wiped off her face.
He settled a headset on himself and then pushed several buttons on the dash. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She coughed wildly into her arm again, her lungs protesting. “I’m okay. The monks. Those are the Kurjans?”
“Yes.”
She wiped soot off her nose, her head reeling. “Their hair was all black and was cut short on the island. Their eyes were brown.” They had to have been wearing contacts. “I didn’t spend much time with them.” Wetness tickled her cheek, and she wiped it away. It was blood. She was bleeding? “Yet I did, didn’t I?”
Garrett’s jaw hardened, but his hand remained steady on the wheel.
She looked over her shoulder at the unconscious monk between the Kyllwood brothers. “What did they do to me?” The blankness in her brain was terrifying.
“I’m going to find out,” Garrett promised, lifting up on the wheel. “I promise.”
She eyed the Kyllwoods. Both were bleeding from various parts of their bodies, and Logan’s nose looked broken. The air popped around them. She wished she could heal herself like that. Her forehead hurt and was still bleeding. Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, she lifted the material to press it against her wound as she turned to stare at the clouds.
Garrett leaned forward and turned his head. “How bad is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you need blood?”
Fatigue swamped her, and bile rose up her throat. “No.” The idea made her feel worse than she already did. “Thank you, though.”
He turned again. “I don’t suppose you recognized any of the Kurjans who attacked us?”
She shook her head and instantly regretted it as pain flashed through her brain. “No. Sorry.”
Logan leaned forward. “I took two of the new knives off these guys. You?”
“I got one and a new gun,” Garrett said grimly. “They’re not very proficient with the knives yet.” He cut her a look before twisting a dial in front of him. “Not nearly as good as you are, Destiny.”
That did not make her feel any better. Ice washed through her. “How could they train me without my remembering any of it?” Oh, she remembered learning to fight during physical education, but it was nothing like what Garrett had described to her when she’d attacked him. She’d been trying her best to meditate and force memories to the surface, but nothing came. Not even a glimpse of being trained to kill. A burning sense of betrayal countered the chill inside her. “I don’t understand how somebody could do that.”
Garrett reached for her hand. “I’ll find out. We’ll undo what they did.”
What if they couldn’t? What if the tumor couldn’t be destroyed? “I remember being exhausted some days. So tired that I could barely concentrate, and I thought I’d slept all night.” Now she wondered. What if she hadn’t been sleeping? “They must’ve drugged me.” What had happened to her during those nighttime hours? She wanted to turn around and punch the monk.
Garrett straightened and then tapped something on his ear. “Kayrs.”
