Page 25

Marinah

I swore Axel to secrecy. He didn’t like it, but after a long pause, he finally agreed. The fainting, he explained, was caused by hormone fluctuations due to pregnancy. The hormones relaxed my blood vessels, limiting blood flow to my brain. It was a problem I couldn’t afford to dwell on right now. Axel handed me vitamins and ordered me to rest as much as possible. But rest wasn’t an option, not with the war still raging and the only way to truly protect my child being the elimination of President Barnes.

I left his office and spotted the female soldier I’d rescued. Her face was pale, and her eyes went wide with terror when she saw me. Warriors moved aside as I stomped barefoot across the floor, stopping at the foot of her bed. Her hands trembled, clutching the blanket. I wasn’t in Warrior form; it was just me now. For a moment, I stood there, unsure of what to say. The words wouldn’t come, and I almost turned to leave when her soft voice stopped me.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

I grunted in response and walked out. The Federation was full of red stripes, young, frightened soldiers following orders without truly understanding whether their side was right or wrong. They only did what they were barely trained to do.

On the second floor, I ran into Labyrinth. “Notify the guard. Meeting in one hour,” I ordered.

“Yes, Alpha,” he replied, immediately changing direction.

It hit me again. When I didn’t overthink, being the leader gave me no trouble. But when I let myself reflect, doubt crept in. Seven dead. In the grand scope of war, it was a low casualty count. But my heart couldn’t accept it. Seven lives were on me, and I had to find a way to live with it.

My hand instinctively went to my belly. I’d never been a mother, but strangely, I wasn’t terrified. The principles of war applied to raising a child too: you plan, do the best you can, and pray. Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders. It was time to grow up and hopefully for the last time.

∞∞∞

The meeting started with the short meditation I preferred. Instead of dismantling and reassembling Bertha, I used the time to turn inward, searching for clarity. Ms. Beast was restless, pacing in the recesses of my mind. I tried to focus on Nova, but all I saw was a shadow, an indistinct shape that filled me with unease. It bothered me that I couldn’t clearly detect Nova. Answers had to be in my grandmother’s journal, and I was running out of time to find them.

I turned my attention inward, seeking our child. Going inside myself wasn’t a physical act; it wasn’t like peeling back layers or parting organs to find something tangible. It was a mental fog, a space in my mind where Ms. Beast resided. When she made her presence known, it was usually a sensation deep in my gut first, followed by a third-dimensional awareness of her. She was there, always there, but untouchable. I didn’t know what I would do if I looked and she was gone. She was too much a part of me now.

As I focused, Ms. Beast raised her head and growled. Her massive form shifted slightly; her eyes fixed on something within the fog. Slowly, the shadow I’d thought was Nova began to take shape. Ms. Beast wrapped herself protectively around a small, moving bundle.

This wasn’t Nova. It had never been Nova. This was the child King and I had created. Ms. Beast had been guarding the baby all along. A wave of warmth and awe filled me, settling deep in my core. I opened my eyes, and the men in the room waited, their heads bowed in quiet reflection. Maybe.

“We need to send a team after President Barnes now, while the Federation won’t expect an attack,” I said, breaking the silence. Heads snapped up, and the men faced me.

“He’s our target,” I continued. “The tunnels they blew up were a decoy. They had another way out, an entire underground city, most likely. That’s where they’re operating from.”

“What do you know about the tunnels?” Beck leaned forward.

I nodded. “Years ago, there were rumors that the Federation built a haven for their key players in case things went south. Their army is mobile, but I don’t think their strategists are moving with them. They’re using low-key operatives to lead attacks, even against the outposts. Since Smythe died, someone else has been pulling the strings, and I doubt it’s Barnes. We need answers.”

My gaze shifted to King. He sat quietly. His lips curved into a small, reassuring grin, and something warm settled inside me. He would have my back no matter what. If my decision wasn’t the right one, he’d be the first to let me know. That’s what mates were for.

I pushed aside the lingering self-doubt. A mother doesn’t have the luxury of second-guessing herself. It was time to act.

“How many men?” Cabel asked.

“Four of us, Labyrinth, Alden, King, and me. That’s it,” I replied.

Beck’s fist slammed against the table, the loud impact drawing our attention. Ms. Beast rumbled in response, but I ignored her. King’s Beast energy spiked beside me, reacting to Beck’s outburst. I turned my alpha stare on Beck. He didn’t need to agree with my decision, but he would follow orders.

“You, Cabel, and Nokita are mated,” I said. “You’re staying on the island.” I tried not to grit my teeth. “If we don’t return, you’ll take over as Alpha, with Nokita and Cabel as your seconds. Too many people depend on us. We need a contingency plan, and this is it.”

I hadn’t discussed this part with King, but the warmth in his eyes told me he agreed.

Beck rose from his chair, his fury unmistakable even though he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I’ll be back shortly,” he ground out with restrained anger.

“Sit down,” I barked, my voice dipping into a deeper Nova tone that surprised even me. I hadn’t known I could summon it at will. “Save your sulking for later. We need you here.” It was an order.

Beck’s chest rose and fell as he exhaled sharply, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. After a moment, he looked at King and seemed to deflate. “I wouldn’t have let you go without me. Bring her back alive. The last thing I want is to rule. If you get yourself killed,” he turned to me then, “don’t expect me to start meetings with meditation.”

The tension in the room shifted as the sharp spike of K-5 eased. I turned to Nokita, waiting for his response. He dipped his head in acceptance. Cabel nodded. I looked at Labyrinth, and he grinned. Alden saluted.

Our plan was straightforward: get in, get out. Additional men would increase the risk of failure. I had to make hard choices, and this was our best option.

When they eventually discovered I was pregnant, my decisions would come under closer scrutiny. Too bad. Being queen came with at least one perk, and keeping the mated men alive was the one I chose to claim.

Over the next two hours, we looked at images of the Federation stronghold where I had worked and where they housed the government. Before I turned Shadow Warrior, King had a human man on the inside. He strategically took the photos with an old camera. Thankfully, darkroom equipment was alive and well on the island. King had also commanded several night flyovers for aerial photography. It had been extremely dangerous, but the combined photos painted a picture.

Those images showed no movement in any direction, beginning a week before they blew the tunnels. My division in analytics was unaware of any movement at all, though there were rumors. The way I saw it, key departments were moved out one by one. In analytics, they gave us lies to work with, and we would have been on the tail end of movement. We estimated roughly five thousand people were relocated. They could not have gone far. The number did not include the military.

As analysts, we worked on the basis that there were roughly ten thousand military personnel, two-thirds being red stripes. As red stripes died, more were brought in. I’d never dwelled too much on where they came from, and the word volunteer was always used. What would I have done back then if I knew they were forced to join or were killed?

No, I had to stop doubting the old Marinah. I was past it. The numbers we had before could not be relied on today. We had to think double the military personnel. And also add double well-trained soldiers to the tally. We had no choice but to deal with it.

The answer for why they blew the tunnels had been in front of us all along, but we had not taken the time to truly study the photos. Adding to that, the Federation troops had three small encampments within a mile of each other. After what I thought of as the stronghold blew, they seemed to hold little significance. Now I realized what I thought were small camps were actually camouflage. The real might of their military was below ground. The camps had never been big enough to concern us, though outposts had people keeping an eye on them.

The latest intelligence had many troops going in and out without the size of the camps changing. From the metro system, government bunkers, utility and pedestrian tunnels to the old D.C. trolley system that had been abandoned in 1962, the Federation had what amounted to a large major city below ground. What we were dealing with was daunting, but this was our best chance to examine their infrastructure.

We discussed each possible contingency for hours. I glanced at each of my guards, no longer willing to argue with King about who belonged to whom. These men would die for me, and I would die for them.

“We leave in six hours,” I said. “That will give us just enough time to shave our heads.” We were tired and hungry, but the countdown had begun