“We need a way out,” King yells over the blare.
“Up ahead,” I call out. “There’s a door we should be able to get through.”
King reaches the door first. He slams his entire body into it, but it doesn’t budge. He hits it again and again. Nothing. I run to another door about a hundred yards farther back. Blocked.
“There’s an escape hatch in our lab,” Landan yells.
There is. It was put in after a hellhound broke in years ago. It’s used as an emergency escape exit by all the workers in that area. I’m startled when the blare of the emergency horn suddenly stops and we’re left in silence.
“Time’s up,” Landan whispers. “We have sixty seconds before the tunnels blow.” It was our protocol and all the workers know what the silence after the horn means.
The door behind us grinds, metal gives, and cement crumbles. The metal finally slides open, flooding the tunnel in light. Beck with his cocky grin sticks his head inside. “She’s gonna blow,” he says with a laugh. “And you thought you could have all this fun without me.”
There’s no time for reacquainting ourselves or celebrating his unexpected breathing status. King shoves me outside and I growl as I stumble forward. He, of course, doesn’t come out. I need to remember to punch him in the eye later.
As soon as Landan and Mila are through, I grab their hands and we run. We’re about halfway to the outer wall when the first explosion knocks us off our feet. I stand and grab Mila. Landan gains his feet and runs with us. More explosions go off. The Federation is blowing the entire tunnel system.
We don’t go over the wall, we go through the huge hole I assume Beck and his men made. There are hundreds of Warriors outside the wall. I step back and search the inside perimeter for King. Bloody and about the scariest I’ve ever seen him, he carries Harris’s body to the wall and places him on the ground. Skylar, who was hidden by King, sits down beside her husband and lays her head on his chest.
Beck runs up to King and slams his clawed hand into his back. “Miss me?” he asks. Strangely, this isn’t the same Beck I knew before. This one appears undeniably happy. Maybe it’s the adrenaline.
King takes a moment and pulls his friend in for a quick man-hug. “Explain later. Have you seen Nokita?”
“Federation soldiers had his Warriors pinned down. I had to rescue him, of course.” He gives King an exaggerated eye roll and another grin. “I left him to finish off the easy part so I could rescue your sorry ass.”
I move closer and King takes my hand. “We need to get back to the planes,” he says. “The Federation will be scrambling right now, but that won’t last.”
“We’re leaving?”
King’s eyes go dark and I know he’s furious. “They lured the hellhounds into the tunnels to kill as many of us as possible and blew the tunnels to seal the deal. What hounds are left will dig their way out. We need to return home and regroup.”
I’m still filled with adrenaline and seeing red. I need to kill General Smyth and the president. I want their blood spilling over my hands and dripping through my fingers. Dizziness makes the world around me spin.
“Marinah?” King whispers and grips my fingers tighter.
I pull up my free arm, exposing the hellhound scratch. Nope, King will not be happy. “I could use one of those shots,” I say and wobble.
King curses and catches me before I fall. The sting of the needle is over quickly. Removing the dead flesh not quickly enough. I’m not back to normal, but I feel much better once the rotting flesh around the scratch is removed.
“Can you run?” King asks as he sheathes the knife he used on me.
“No one can stop me,” I say with a wince when I gain my feet.
“It was only a small scratch, baby.”
He’ll pay for that. “Remind me to give you a black eye when we get out of here.”
He only laughs.
I approach Landan and Mila. “We have a one-way ticket to Cuba with your names on it.”
“Do we have a choice?” Landan asks. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like that. Yes we’ll take the ticket.” He looks down at Mila. “We were planning an extended vacation on the beach anyway.”
She laughs and Landan hugs her. She’s far too young for him, but love is ageless if that’s what’s going on. I walk over to Skylar, hating that I have to interrupt her final minutes with Harris. “We’re leaving shortly. We want you to come with us. It’s unsafe for you here.” She looks down at her husband and I know she doesn’t plan to leave him. “We’ll take Harris to the island and bury him there.”
She runs her hands over her grief-stricken face and wipes her eyes. When she looks up at me, she nods. The Warrior who carried Harris earlier is standing by. He picks up his body and allows Skylar to take his hand. Mila comes up beside her and wraps an arm around her waist, Landan beside her.
It’s an hour before the Warriors who need tending are safe and able to walk. Twenty-two were killed and they are being carried like Harris. With Labyrinth’s and Beck’s Warriors, we’re nearly three hundred strong. Nokita has another hundred with him. I can only pray we run into the president and his soldiers. I’m ready for more death.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
King
IT’S HOURS BEFORE we find Nokita. The human soldiers ran before the tunnels blew and Nokita tracked them for miles.
“We killed about one hundred Federation soldiers.” He wipes dirt and blood from his face. “They planned this from the beginning.”
Anger shoves K-5 through my system. We’re in Warrior form and the spike in K-5 is unwelcome. Seeing Marinah in my peripheral vision doesn’t help. She’s surrounded by Warriors. Beast wants them dead simply because of how close they are to her. The human side of me understands she’s an anomaly and my Warriors are only curious. Marinah glances at me and realizes what’s happening immediately. She walks over and places her hand on my arm, digging her nails in to help me push back against Beast.
It’s a few minutes before I can talk. “We’ll backtrack to the rendezvous point and then split up and go to where the planes are hidden,” I tell Beck. We parachuted down and the pilots landed at prearranged airstrips to hide until we needed them.
Beck takes two steps away from Marinah and doesn’t look at her. “I won’t be going with you,” he says.
“Explain.”
His mouth forms a smile that keeps growing and growing until all I can see is his six-inch razor-sharp fangs. “I left my mate behind and I need to return for her and her hellspawn.”
I shake my head because it’s the last thing I expected him to say. “That’s not an explanation.”
“My mate shot me. Her daughter,” he holds his hand a few inches below his waist, “about this high,” he keeps smiling, “planned on finishing what her mother started. I’m going after them and bringing them to the island.”
“How long?” I ask him. I need Beck, but I won’t stand between him and his mate.
“She doesn’t know she’s my mate yet, so it could take a week or two.”
“She doesn’t know?” I ask incredulously.
“It’s not her I’m worried about, it’s the hellspawn. That child is scary.”
It hasn’t been a day for laughter, but I can’t help it. I slam him against his back, returning his earlier favor, and keep laughing. Beck flashes pissed off eyes. “You’re saddling yourself with a mate and a child.”
“Hellspawn,” he corrects me.
“Hellspawn,” I mimic. “And you don’t find that funny.”
“Wait until you meet the brat. Too bad she’s not a Warrior, that child could easily rule the world.”
“You have two weeks and you had better be on that plane.”
Beck leaves us and heads west with fifty of his men.
Nokita takes his Warriors and half of Labyrinth’s too. We can comfortably fit one hundred and fifty men per plane and the fourth will be available for Beck’s return. With humans along for the journey, it takes us unti
l the next day to reach the first plane after the others head out in different directions.
Marinah and I make sure the Warriors with us, along with her friends, are accounted for before we take off. She follows me to the back of the plane and with one look, my men clear out for safer seats. I hand her clothes to change into and turn around with my arms crossed to be sure there are no prying eyes. Not that my men would risk setting off the mating rage. Beast insists and I’ve fought with him enough for the time being.
“I’m decent,” she says after shifting and pulling on the clothes.
I give a final glare to the men who can’t see it, shift, and pull her into my arms. “I hope I never hear the word ‘decent’ come out of your mouth again.” My lips find hers. I gently push her into the seat wishing we had a private room so I don’t have to end the kiss.
“I don’t want to leave,” she tells me softly when she comes up for air.
“Don’t worry,” I say while trying to control my fury. “We’re coming back and taking out the Federation.”
Her smile could light up the darkest room.
We settle in with Marinah mostly sleeping while she keeps her head on my lap for most of the flight. My brain goes into overdrive trying to figure out the Federation’s game and coming up with no explanation other than hatred. It’s early evening by the time we land in Cuba. Marinah leaves with her friends to get them settled in the citadel. We’ll remain here until after the funeral which I can handle because tonight I’ll sleep with Marinah in my arms.
She enters our room a few minutes before dinner arrives. After a deep kiss, I send her into the bathroom for a shower. She gives me pouty lips when I refuse to join her. “You’re taking a shower, eating, and sleeping tonight. We’ll take a long shower together in the morning.”
“Who made you king?” she snarks. I grab a towel from the rack and flick it at her, catching her arm. “Owe, you turd.”
“Shower, food, sleep.”
She gives me a wicked grin. “Anything for your majesty.”
She’s out of the shower ten minutes later and we eat. Even with her eyelids drooping to the point she can barely see, she rubs my leg with a very stubborn toe under the table and won’t take no for an answer.
“You’re no fun,” she says on a yawn.
With half her food uneaten, her head lolls forward and she falls asleep. I smile, carry her to bed, and climb in with her, my food forgotten. I pull her firmly against my body, her scent finally relaxing me. With her hair tickling my nose, I fall asleep, filling my lungs with Marinah.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marinah
I WAKE UP in King’s arms. He’s sleeping with a satisfied grin on his face, though I’m anything but satisfied. Groggily, I stumble to the shower and climb into cold water to help me wake up. The bathroom door opens and King peeks into my morning sanctuary.
“Need your back washed?” he offers.
My eyes flash and desire rolls through me. “If that’s all you’re coming in for, don’t bother.”
He gives one of his killer grins, making me clench my thighs. His blue eyes go dark. King’s idea of a back wash includes my legs, feet, arms, stomach, and thighs. Thighs quickly become my favorite. When he’s tired of playing, he pushes me into the wall and lifts me until my legs circle his waist. After a kiss that sizzles my insides even in the cool water, he slides home. The feel of him overwhelms me and everything we’ve been through settles in the background as we reconfirm who we are to each other.
“I love you,” he groans.
“Yes,” I groan back. “Love me.”
His eyes smile into mine before he takes my mouth in a punishing kiss and picks up momentum. I fall off the precipice minutes later and hold on until he shouts his release.
“I love you,” I whisper against his chest.
Ms. Beast rumbles and I can feel the vibrations beneath King’s skin that signify his beast is as sated as she is.
***
Funerals are my least favorite thing. We bury two Shadow Warriors each night in a sad procession that makes their loss hit hard. Harris is buried on the last night. He’s given full Warrior honors.
I look around at the people I now call family. The Warriors are slowly getting over their slack jawed behavior and treating me as King’s mate and a Warrior in my own right. I’m one of them now.
King had a brief talk with Landan this morning and he’s staying as far from me as he can. He looks up and meets my gaze before remembering to look quickly away. At least King didn’t knock his head off when he relayed the message. Mila and I comfort Skylar when King gives the eulogy for Harris. King wasn’t happy about Harris’s betrayal, but he understands and he’s the one who insisted Harris receive a Warrior’s burial.
“Harris was a hero, a true Warrior,” King begins. “His name will be written in our history books. His memory will remain a part of us and we will tell our children stories of a great Warrior.” Shouts go up from the men. “Skylar, his wife, is now one of us.” He looks at Landan and then his gaze moves to Mila. “You are now one of our people too. You are safe here and this is now your home. Welcome.”
They nod, Mila wiping away tears.
King takes a torch and places it in the kindling beneath Harris’s body. Skylar releases us and steps forward and lifts her own torch. When she comes back to us, her heart-wrenching sobs fill the night. We stand with her for an hour watching the pyre consume his body.
“Skylar, someone will stay with him all night,” I tell her. “You need to sleep.”
“No,” she cries holding on to Mila for dear life when I try to draw her away.
Axel steps up behind us and injects a needle into her arm. “She needs rest,” he tells me when Skylar slumps over and I catch her. Axel takes her from me. “Go be with your mate.”
I look at Mila. “I’ll stay with her,” she tells me.
King pulls me into his side when I approach. With his arm over my shoulder, we return to the citadel.
***
The following morning we meet with King’s council, minus Beck. The men talk and bicker for hours. King finally gets upset and storms from the room, at one point his Warrior form is barely contained. I sit quietly and listen to the men list the reasons to take the entire Federation off the face of the earth.
When King comes back in, he kisses me on the cheek, takes his seat, and resumes the discussion. They don’t look at me or even as far as I can tell wonder why I’m being so quiet. King finally glances my way and winks. I don’t understand until he turns to his men. “I think Marinah has something to say.”
Magnanimous of him. The men quiet and very slowly I place my palms flat on the table and spread my fingers. “There are good men in the Federation’s army and we are not killing them. We need to find out where the President’s gone and track him down. There’s a larger plan at work here. The U.S. still has people living in the wild facing hellhounds and other threats.”
“They aren’t our people,” Nokita says stupidly.
I turn and stare at him, letting my eyes go dark. He glances down and mumbles an apology. “No,” I say to the room. “They may not be. They’re my people and I’m going with or without you.”
King takes my hand beneath the table and looks at his men. “Anyone want to argue?”
No one says a word. King lifts my hand and kisses the backs of my fingers. “I think you’re getting the entire queen thing down pat.”
I glance at him and smile.
“I believe I am.”
***
Dear Reader,
What a ride and I thank you for coming along with me. Yes, there is more to come for Marinah and King! I also plan a few novellas for side characters, but King and Marinah will star in the main books.
What’s in store for Marinah and King? On the antagonistic side we have hellhounds who are evolving, more exploration of the catastrophic use of GMOs, President Barnes, and General Smyth to antagonize along with a bunch of questions tha
t need answers. On the curiosity side, humans survived and we need their stories, understanding how they’ve managed to fight back against the Federation and Hellhounds and stay alive. Don’t worry, I have it all taking shape inside my brain and I can’t wait to begin putting my ideas on paper. Look for the pre-order for BEAST soon!
As I promised, I’d like to tell you the story behind Marinah’s character. Years ago, I wrote a small novella titled Crimson Warrior and visited the world of hellhounds. I wanted so badly to write more in that world but I limited things too much and was unsuccessful. Really, Shadow & Warrior came from wanting to build another world with hellhounds. The first three chapters of Shadow sat with my agent looking for a home for over a year. It’s funny because as soon as I gave it to him, I wanted it back to self-publish. I got my wish. Thankfully Shadow received a few great comments from publishers that gave me hope. Unfortunately Shadow wasn’t exactly what they were looking for and they took a pass. This allowed me to take a side character (Marinah) and give her this new world. You see, Marinah was the daughter of one of my very special readers and street team members, Dinah. I read the news about Marinah’s death on Facebook and it hit me hard. She was 19 and died so senselessly leaving her family devastated. I finally met Dinah in person this past year and we discussed me writing a book with Marinah as the hero and giving her a life after the devastation of earth and the death of her family. Marinah and King were born. From videos, Facebook posts, funny remembrances, and so much more I pieced together this amazing young woman who had so much to live for. Dinah sent me Marinah’s cheer shirt which sat next to my writing chair and I actually wore on the last day of writing each book (it’s now a tradition). Marinah changed this story so many times and I finally stopped arguing with her and just let it go where she wanted it. There were plenty of tears especially when talking to Dinah about scenes. But, there was laughter and joy too. I wanted you to get to know Marinah from her mother’s point of view and asked her to write a note to my readers.
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