“You’re doing great, Maylin,” I tell her because isn’t that what you should do when you’re in an unreal situation with no analytical data on the outcome and have absolutely no idea what the heck you should be doing?
“The head’s out,” Axel shouts. Poor new baby ears.
Maylin groans loudly and the rest of the baby slides into Axel’s waiting hands. Within a few seconds, the baby lets out a loud cry that makes us all smile. Axel doesn’t announce that it’s a boy, which makes sense because they’ve only had Shadow Warrior males born over the last three hundred years.
“He’s beautiful,” I say once Axel has wrapped the baby and placed him on Maylin’s chest. She looks over the small bundle with love in her eyes and tears streaming down her face. “You shall be Boot,” she says softly, her tears falling on the baby’s blanket.
I wipe my eyes when I realize I’m crying too. Boot Junior will be a handful and the best brother Che could possibly have. About ten minutes later, Axel covers Maylin’s lower half and begins straightening his work area. I sneak out quickly and find King and Che standing outside the door.
“He’s gonna be big like me and strong too. We’ll kill hellhounds together and make their guts bleed—” Che is in the middle of telling King.
They both look at me when I step out of the room. “Your brother might take a small bit of time to grow to your size, Che. Would you like to meet him?”
Che runs past me into the room and I look at King. He steps forward and wraps me in his arms. It’s a good time to cry for Boot, who will never see his son. I’m so darn happy about the birth and sad at the same time. “He’s beautiful and she named him Boot. This is so unfair.”
King slides his fingers through my hair, comforting me while I cry.
Baby, Ms. Beast whispers.
I laugh, causing King to pull back and look down at me. “Ms. Beast likes babies.”
His eyes grow dark and I gulp. “I take it Mr. Beast likes babies too?”
King’s laugh is loud in the cavernous hallway. “All beasts like babies,” he replies, but that doesn’t comfort me. Since the war started, I never thought I would actually bring a child into this insane world.
A baby with King would be a good thing.
Baby.
Chapter Twelve
King
WE’VE HAD TOO many meetings over the past three days and it’s driving me crazy. Marinah has entirely too much information added to the stress of returning to the Federation, and she’s on edge. This is never good for a new Warrior.
“That’s it,” I say to the men sitting at the table. I take Marinah’s hand and kiss the backs of her fingers. “We’re done.”
“But we need more preparation for when they interrogate her,” Beck says to me as Marinah and I retreat.
I glance over my shoulder. “If worse comes to worse, her beast will eat them. Enough!” With that, we leave the room. Marinah’s soft laughter makes me smile.
“It must be nice to be king.”
I cock an eyebrow when I glance at her smiling face. “Says my queen.”
She swings my hand like a child. “That has a nice ring to it.”
“You’re a liar. If one of them called you queen, you would take their head off.”
She laughs again, the sound sending a buzz over my skin. She’s been sad when she isn’t with Maylin and the new baby and I know it’s because she’s leaving the island. Leaving me specifically. My beast has been full of doom and gloom the entire time we’ve prepped for her departure.
I know Marinah can handle herself, so it’s crazy of me to think she can’t. It doesn’t stop the worry, though. We turn the corner and come to the stairs that lead to the underground pool. “I can’t handle more lessons in hellhounds, could we go back to our room?” Marinah asks and gives a small tug on my hand to stop me.
“I was thinking a long, relaxing swim.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t have my suit.”
“No suit is a requirement for this swim.”
Her eyes go darker and her voice huskier. “I’m all about requirements.”
The water is a little on the cold side, which feels perfect after the warmth of the upper floor. Marinah tosses her clothes aside and dives in before I have my shoes off.
“Slowpoke,” she taunts and then laughs when I jump around because my darn shoe seems to be stuck.
“Ha ha,” I chide with a growl once the thing is off and I’ve made quick work of the second one. My clothes follow, and I dive in heading straight for my sassy mate.
She shrieks when I grab her legs and pull her under. She comes up spitting water and laughing. This is what we’ve had no time for. Just being with each other and learning likes and dislikes. We had six weeks at the ocean house and still that wasn’t enough because we weren’t truly mated then.
Water splashes in my face and the fight is on. We both know how it will end. Our bodies are too primed for each other. This is just pure fun that allows us to shake off thoughts of the Federation and separation.
I dive under and pull Marinah with me. She comes up sputtering again. “You don’t fight fair,” she challenges with a little whine in her voice.
I lift her out of the water, her hands going to my shoulders and her head is a foot above mine. “What if we don’t fight,” I say as I bring her down so her body rubs along mine.
“Your idea’s better,” she groans when I pay attention to her breasts.
“My ideas are always better,” I say before I lift my head and take her wet lips.
Playtime is over.
***
The plane is filled with the items Marinah will be giving the Federation in a show of good faith. The fresh produce will go to the leaders, which doesn’t make Marinah happy. We just need time to get in place while she handles the government and we handle her safety. We also have no idea how the Warriors I’m sending with her will be treated. They have their own supplies, including enough jerky for their required protein to last them three months. Marinah also has her own supply of jerky along with our special knockout drug and antidote against hellhound wounds. They’re hidden in a specially designed inner lining of a bag we had made for her. The drugs are similar to morphine ampoules used on the battlefield. Small and easy to hide if they don’t look too closely.
“Remember,” Beck tells her, “give as little information as possible. Don’t be overly friendly with our Warriors.” My beast growls at that. Beck ignores me. “The Warriors know their job and they will wait until you tell them differently or they hear from me or King.”
“Beck,” I say stretching out the syllables. “She knows her job. Back off.”
“I’m good, Beck,” she tells him in a slightly more sing-song voice after rolling her eyes at me. “It’s only the plane ride that has me worried. If we go down, I might survive the crash and get eaten by sharks or even the hellhounds in the water.” Beck grumbles and walks off, finally.
I pull her away for a minute of privacy before her plane leaves. I’ll be taking off in another hour. Actually, three additional planes carrying another three hundred of our men will be taking off too. We’re landing far from Washington and hoping not to be sighted until we’re ready to take action. What that action is will be determined by Marinah’s recommendation. Her assignment is to unravel the truth from the Federation’s lies.
“Are you going to kiss me or stand there looking fierce?” Marinah asks with a small tug on one of my braids.
“Fierce, huh?”
“Just kiss me.” She doesn’t wait for me, gives a hard tug on my hair this time, and pulls me in for a kiss. I don’t want to let her go.
No, whispers Beast inside me.
I agree.
Her lips are warm and inviting. She nips and sucks, twirling her tongue against mine, spreading her wild tangy flavor inside my mouth. Her hands slide under the straps at my back and her nails rake my skin.
“Don’t forget me,” she says with dreamy eyes that make me for
get to breathe.
“Never.”
“It’s time,” she adds.
“Never.”
We kiss again and it’s not until Labyrinth interrupts us that we pull apart. She’s the last to board the plane. My Warriors know they are to follow Labyrinth’s orders unless Marinah takes over. At that time, they will follow her. Some of the men were disgruntled about a human leading them, but with Beck, Labyrinth, Nokita, and Axel on board with the plan, their complaining died a quick death. If Marinah does take over, she will do so as a Warrior and my men will understand even though they may not like that they didn’t know what she is.
The longer we can keep it a secret, the better for Marinah and better for our plan to work. To help her learn to control her beast, Marinah and I woke up before the sun this morning, left the citadel, and ran for hours in beast form. Anger and stress still set her off. Once she’s on Federation soil, she needs to keep her beast hidden.
I don’t board the plane with her because she’ll be in close proximity with too many of my men and we don’t need this over before it even begins. It doesn’t help that she’s in the same stupid clothing she arrived in. Beast does not like those clothes and I am in full agreement.
After one last kiss, she boards the plane. I watch the jet taxi down the runway and take flight until it’s no longer a blip in the sky.
My mate is gone.
Chapter Thirteen
Marinah
THIS PLANE RIDE is nothing like the last one. I’m an entirely different person or rather, I’m now a Warrior and the fear I have is of a different nature, most of which stems from leaving King. He’s given me a location to meet him if nothing has happened after a month. Just the thought of a month away from him depresses me. On the flip side, Ms. Beast is throwing fits.
You will be good, I tell her when she begins grumbling inside me again.
She quiets and my sigh of relief is loud while I fasten my seat belt. I look down at my feet and the heels I hoped to never wear again. Funny that I have no trouble walking in the ridiculous shoes now. Once we land, I’ll need to remember to wobble and act like the terrified woman I once was.
I can do it.
Having one hundred Shadow Warriors packed into the plane is a little disconcerting for Ms. Beast. We’ve seen maybe fifty total since landing on the island. They are aware I’m King’s mate and it carries a lot of weight with the Shadow Warriors. They refuse to meet my gaze and they treat me like King is standing over my shoulder. Ms. Beast likes it. She’s ready to challenge any Warrior who gets out of hand. Lucky me.
Labyrinth stays close, taking the seat behind me and leaving me alone with my thoughts. I’m flying into enemy territory and I know it. The Federation is not who I thought they were and I must find out how deep the corruption goes. The people who worked with me can’t know the truth. We lived in our little box with blinders on. Our biggest fear was being called upon to wear a red stripe signifying we are on the front line when hellhounds attack.
To think the new government is using electronics and attracting hellhounds is serious enough. How deep does the conspiracy go? Have I missed the signs because of my fear? I’m from a generation who was not around during the Soviet threat or the Cuban Missile crisis. We took our freedom for granted. When devastation hit, we scrambled to live without our tech devices because even our math skills were taught and calculated on computers. Due to my analytics minor in college, I had a leg up on math and even then, I struggled to make the adjustment in the beginning. After my father’s death, I knew it was only a matter of time before I lost my job. It’s one of the reasons I began avoiding my colleagues. My days were numbered and it was far easier to work my hours and hide away with a book in my room. Though I shared my quarters with other women, they socialized and continued to live their lives and began ignoring me after a time. It’s how I wanted it and it would be so much easier to leave them when my number was called up to the ranks of human fodder.
I missed my father greatly, his memory so painful I cried myself to sleep most nights. Our long conversations and the dreams we shared of a new world of peace kept me sane in the beginning too. After his death, I became a shell of my former self without close friends or anyone to lean on. At times, this seemed easier than growing attached to someone and then losing them. On top of that, the Federation was very good at controlling us through fear. Their daily analytics requests were enough to do it. Our department talked to other departments and the news was always devastating at both ends. The Federation knew exactly what it was doing.
I settle in for the flight and decide to think about King instead of the dangerous world I’m entering. The three other planes are taking off from different locations and should be leaving soon. If the Federation is only monitoring the main airport, we’ll be in luck. If not, my acting skills will come into play big time. The Federation must think the Warriors are on their side.
Right now, I picture King arguing with Beck while Axel tries to keep them from coming to blows. And baby Boot. He’s amazing and has his father’s blue eyes. King explained the blue eye color is dominant in Shadow Warrior children and it’s rare for one, meaning me, to have dark eyes. I’m an anomaly from beginning to end but then again so is Labyrinth with one blue and one green eye.
When I see baby Boot next, he’ll be so big I won’t recognize him and the thought leaves me with a sad smile. And Che. He cried when I said goodbye this morning and ran off before I could give him a final hug. He lost so much with Boot’s death. Me leaving is hard on him too. A wave of depression rolls over me and Ms. Beast grumps, kicking me in the stomach. It reminds me of the conversation I had with King a few days after I began shifting.
“Our beast is part of us and separate at the same time. When they cause pain inside, they do it by sending a strong jolt of K-5 into the location they want to strike. It’s their rough way of communicating as the animal side of our consciousness and they don’t like being ignored. They see and hear the things we miss and sometimes, our stubborn human side isn’t listening.”
I understand now what he means. Controlling Ms. Beast at times is dicey. The only thing I’ve been lucky on so far is she hasn’t broken ribs with K-5 when she’s displeased. King said my relationship with Ms. Beast will improve with time and the best thing for me is to keep my stress levels down. That came to an abrupt halt with this crazy trip. Somehow, I need to be stronger and use Ms. Beast to my advantage. We have too much riding on the success of this mission.
I close my eyes and lean back in the seat thankful I don’t have a parachute to make me uncomfortable this time. The airplane is old but still in better condition than the one I flew to Cuba in. The seats are in their original location and the rest of the plane hasn’t been stripped down. We’re comfortable at least for the flight.
Unlike that first flight, I’m a new person now without fear stalking my every waking moment. Yes, I worry about losing King or my new friends—Che, his mother, and baby Boot. I can’t help those worries, but they no longer cause all-consuming fear. I’m stronger, faster, and deadlier that I ever imagined. Even in this form, I’m a danger to humans if I choose to be.
All my thoughts and frustrations make me tired and I doze off into a twilight sleep aware of my surroundings while half-asleep.
“We’re approaching Washington,” Labyrinth says some time later, bringing me back to full consciousness.
My heartbeat accelerates and I use my breathing techniques to slow it down. Funny that I used these same techniques as a human to prevent panic attacks and now I use them to keep a monster from exploding out of my skin. Staying calm is the result I’m looking for and within a few minutes, it works. I straighten my shoulders and mentally adjust myself. I’m the defense secretary of the New Federation and I will discover the corruption within my government and fix it if possible.
After we land, I’m the first to step off the plane. The same pimply-faced junior officer who handed me the overview of the Shadow Warriors before I le
ft for Cuba greets me.
“Ms. Church,” he says, though this time his words are without the nervous smile I remember. “Please come this way. President Barnes is waiting for you.” There is no warmth in his expression and unlike our first meeting, I don’t think he likes me very much.
Kill.
Yeah, that will solve nothing, I chide and she quiets.
“The Shadow Warriors?” I say with a nervous inflection that’s all acting. My way of thinking on this is that I’ve been with them for over two months and should have some affection for them. After all, I’ve negotiated their help and I’m a woman with mothering tendencies—
Baby.
Stop that.
I don’t want to appear as if I’m on the Shadow Warrior’s side and I need to find a balance. This is my first test and the Federation needs to believe I’m in the president’s corner.
The officer clears his throat. “They will follow us to the underground quarters. We have soldiers assigned to see to their needs.”
And monitor every move they make is what he’s not saying. “Thank you. Please take me to the president.” We agreed I wouldn’t show extreme concern for the Shadow Warriors. I want them to think I trust my government.
I follow the soldier to a single tank that will transport me from the airfield to the underground. The Shadow Warriors line up in rows behind us to run the distance. My palms itch to run beside them. I look at the soldier instead. “I’m sorry I don’t remember your name. I was so nervous when I left.”
“Officer Daniels,” he says gruffly without so much as a smile on his face.
It’s not lost on me that he hasn’t used my official title even though it was only part of the window dressing to get me to Cuba. Chances are good that my official position will be terminated. The thought sends my temperature rising. With a few slow, quiet breaths, I curb Ms. Beast in. We wait, we see, we calculate, we take action, I tell her forcefully.
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