Page 12

The Island (Cuba)

King

I’d been training all day, pushing my body to its limits in the hope that exhaustion might finally quiet my mind. If my muscles screamed loud enough, maybe I’d stop dreaming of Marinah long enough to sleep tonight. But if she wasn’t back tomorrow, I’d swim to Love Island if I had to and retrieve her. I wouldn’t let her shut me out any longer.

Stretching to ease the ache in my limbs, I headed to our room, where food would be delivered shortly. It wasn’t just sleep that eluded me. I had no appetite and that was never good for Shadow Warriors. Marinah’s scent lingered in the hallways, filling the space and haunting me.

Mate , Beast murmured in my mind, his voice more insistent today. His presence had thrummed with agitation since the moment she’d left, but this felt different.

I stepped into our room and froze. Marinah was there, curled up in our bed, her braids splayed out on the pillow, tanned cheeks showing a healthy glow of pink. The steady rise and fall of her chest told me she was real. I moved closer and noticed a small lump beneath the covers. Callie’s head popped out, her soft meow breaking the silence before she nestled back down. Marinah didn’t stir and I simply stood there for several moments and breathed in her scent as Beast settled into a contented ball.

I finally stripped off my clothes and slid into bed beside her, Callie sandwiched between us. For the first time in days, I closed my eyes and drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep. If food arrived, we didn’t notice.

I woke to Marinah’s warm hand resting on my chest. A soft grunt escaped her lips as I rolled us over, shifting her on top of me.

“Where’s the devil cat?” I whispered, my voice rough with sleep.

She ignored the question, her hand gliding down my chest until it found what it sought. “I’ve missed you,” she murmured, her voice low and filled with longing.

Her eyes, alight with mischief and desire, drew me in. Her energy filled the room, blending seamlessly with mine. Our Beasts fell silent, their instincts syncing with our heartbeats. With another roll, I pinned her beneath me, staring into the eyes that had haunted my dreams. The pain she’d carried was gone, replaced by a sense of peace that radiated through her and into me.

I spread her legs, and slowly slid into her warmth, bringing us together as mates. Her eyes didn’t leave mine as we renewed our bond. Our bodies moved in perfect rhythm, the bed rocking beneath us, sweat glistening on our skin as our need consumed us.

Mate , our Beasts whispered in unison this time, their Shadow spirit harmonizing as we gave in to the primal pull of each other.

Marinah arched her neck, and I gently bit the soft skin at the base of her throat. Her nails raked my back as a moan escaped her lips and her body grinded harder against mine. In that moment, the world faded, leaving only the two of us locked in the relentless dance of passion and bliss.

It was over too quickly, but tonight was for us, and I would take her again. More correctly, she would take me. It would never be enough.

∞∞∞

“What does this change?” I asked curiously, trying to wrap my head around what she’d told me. With the war against the Federation, we’d had little time to dig into Marinah’s past. Endura and the journals had been entirely unexpected.

Marinah grinned, her confidence glowing. “It changes everything. I’ve tried to lead like you. I’ve done everything you say. I put up with Beck and follow nearly everything he insists I do. It hasn’t worked. It’s time I lead my own way. I refuse to keep beating myself up because I’m not you.” She took my hand, threading her fingers through mine. “Please tell me you understand.”

I wanted to throw her on the bed and spend the next few weeks there because I did understand. This was the Marinah I’d been waiting for. Every now and then, I caught glimpses of the leader she was destined to be, but then she’d start questioning herself again. No other woman could ever take her place as my mate, and I’d kill any man foolish enough to try to fill my shoes. But this was the Marinah that I fell in love with and my Beast mated with.

The queen was back, and even her voice sounded regal.

“Do not dress us in pink,” I said with a grin I couldn’t hold back.

She pinched my side, a teasing smile playing on her lips. “If your queen decides on a color of the day, you’ll follow her direction, or your head will leave your shoulders.”

I grabbed her hand, pulled her closer, and inhaled her scent. “You lead. We follow,” I pledged.

I let her go, and she settled back into her chair. “I have a plan,” she announced.

I gave her my full attention. “If it involves killing Federation soldiers, I’m on board.”

She winked. “You won’t like it.”

“Of course I won’t. It isn’t my plan,” I grumbled.

“We need to capture the scientist.”

I caught the specific wording. “The scientist?”

“President Barnes,” she said in case I wasn’t following.

“I don’t like this plan,” I said flatly.

Marinah sat up straight again and fixed her gaze on me. “This war won’t be won with blood alone. We need answers, and the only way to get them is by going after the man who has them.”

“Hmm,” I muttered, my doubt clear.

She rolled her eyes. “There are two parts to this plan. We need to fight the Federation on our terms. Here, on the island, we have the advantage. When the Federation attacks, we’ll decimate them.”

“What does fighting on the island have to do with capturing President Barnes?” I asked, “He won’t lead the troops, he’ll have someone else do it. The man is a coward.”

“We’re missing something big in the scientific world,” Marinah said. “Actually, many somethings. The hellhounds were either a government experiment gone wrong, a complete accident, or one hundred percent intentional. We need to find the missing link and put the pieces together, or we’ll never know exactly what we’re up against.”

I tossed out my own bombshell. “We may have a bigger problem. Knet.”

Marinah didn’t miss a beat. “He’s our traitor,” she said flatly.

Beck first, now Marinah. “And you said nothing?” I asked, my words steaming with frustration.

“Anger kept me from thinking clearly,” she admitted. “Knet wasn’t exactly my biggest fan. The Federation is planning to attack us, and Knet cleared out. That means the attack is imminent. I’ve wasted too much time getting my shit together.”

I placed my hand on her arm, running my palm over the soft skin there. “The time wasn’t wasted.” This was who she was. The mate of legends and she was all mine.

“Once the Warriors begin meditating, you’ll see what a difference it makes,” she said, shocking me.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to process, then reopened them. I couldn’t have heard her right. “Did you just say something about the Warriors meditating? Did you mean metalsmithing?”

She slapped my arm. “I also know where the Federation is hiding,” she added.

“This came to you while metalsmithing?”

This time, she pinched me. “Where?” I finally asked, cutting to the chase.

“They went underground,” she said, watching my reaction.

I stared at her, unsure of what she meant.

“Farther underground,” she clarified at my silence. “Once my mind was clear, I remembered a story my friends used to talk about all the time. It was rumored that the Federation had a shelter big enough to hold thousands of people. If it existed, my friends knew they wouldn’t be part of the chosen. While my father was alive, I might have had a chance of getting in. On slow days, my friends and I would speculate about whether the shelter was true or not. Something Landan said back then popped into my head while I was meditating. ‘It’s probably under our feet.’ That was his theory.”

“When I asked him why he thought that,” she continued, “he said, ‘They talk about stockpiling supplies. We collect the products here, but where do they go? I never see trucks taking things away. If they were smart, they’d build something in plain sight.’ We teased him about it until we moved on to another conspiracy theory.”

Her words hung in the air, the pieces slowly falling into place as I comprehended the depth of what she was saying.

“Let me get this straight,” I said, barely managing to keep the growl out of my voice. “You just now remembered this conversation?”

She twirled one of her braids and smiled, completely unbothered. “It was years ago. Conspiracy theories were just a way to pass the time. At one point, we even speculated that hellhounds were actually aliens, like the Shadow Warriors.”

There was too much knowledge locked away in her mind, too many pieces I couldn’t see yet. I struggled with her use of meditation to clarify her thoughts but I wouldn’t fight her on it. “Is kidnapping President Barnes happening before the attack on the island or after?” I asked, my tone harder than intended because the thought of him always pissed me off.