Page 27

Marinah

I struggled to hide my feelings from King. I’d just killed a woman for her dress. In order to do it, I’d brought Ms. Beast to the forefront, but I did it knowing the outcome. Who was I and did I want to be this person? I looked at my hands and saw the slightly trembling fingers. I needed to leave the guilt behind and bring it out when danger had past.

I straightened my shoulders and steadied my hands. I didn’t see how we would get out of this without killing again. I could only hope there was more cause than a dress.

I looked around the rotunda. The party turned my stomach. Starvation, death, and helplessness plagued the world while these people laughed, drank alcohol, and pretended they lived in a different era. As I strolled slowly around the room, several men smiled at me with inquisitive looks. I met their eyes and gave assessing smiles of my own while projecting confidence.

You belong. I silently repeated like a mantra.

It took twenty minutes for President Barnes to make his appearance with his wife on his arm. I’d forgotten about her. She was more than the first lady. She was a scientist like her husband, and her perfectly styled hair and regal posture made it seem as though the world belonged to her alone. Her sparkling jewelry mocked the hardships outside these walls. She lived in another reality entirely.

I had never liked her. I always thought she kept her distance from most of the government’s workings. But whenever I saw her, I felt like a lab rat under scrutiny. I hadn’t been able to place the feeling then, but I understood it now. She looked down her regal nose at everyone. I used to respect the Barneses. Now, I was disgusted by everything they represented. No, I didn’t like this woman.

A small ache went through me again over the dress I was wearing. The memory of snapping the woman’s neck made me cringe. I had to convince myself that it was necessary. This was life or death and we had a purpose. The Federation had attacked our home and I had no doubt they would have killed the women and children on the island like they had at the outposts.

We couldn’t turn back now. This plan was mine, and we were all getting out of here alive.

I moved carefully through the crowd, following President Barnes and his wife as they greeted guests. I kept people between us to avoid being seen by the president. The possibility that someone here might recognize me was real, but my short hair helped, as did the sheer improbability of my presence in this place.

Mrs. Barnes was dressed in a green sequined gown, her hair piled high with carefully placed wisps seeming to break free. She had a thin face with high cheekbones and elegant, long fingers with several diamond rings flashing on them as she walked. Earrings adorned her lobes, and an inch-wide diamond collar surrounded her throat. Did she even know there was a war going on?

“You’re new.” The man had approached me from behind. His dark hair was cut short though not in military fashion. He didn’t radiate power like an officer, but you could see in his eyes that he thought himself better than most people in the room. I had no doubt he was another politician. “Are you part of the entertainment?” he asked suggestively.

It took me a moment to understand. Then I realized some of the women here were brought in for entertainment of a sexual nature.

Kill , Ms. Beast said forcefully. I shoved her back without giving an internal response.

He leaned closer. “I like them tall,” he whispered and placed his hand possessively on my waist.

Ms. Beast roiled inside me, and it took everything I had not to grab my knife, turn, and slice his throat. Unfortunately, I would lose what little advantage I had.

“I’m a guest for a special gentleman,” I said, moving enough to disconnect from his touch.

He looked me up and down in appreciation. “Pity,” he said and immediately grew bored and moved on.

As a Shadow Warrior, even before becoming alpha, I was just as important as any man. The women on the island were treated the same way. If they decided to join our protection squads, they were equal to the men. We even had men who preferred to cook, clean, and take care of children while the parents worked. Everyone held a job, but they all had a choice as to what that work entailed.

I had no idea why I thought bringing in women for entertainment was something in the distant past. How wrong I was and how horrible to think nothing had changed after so much war and destruction. I had to clear my mind and work, but anger seethed beneath the surface of my skin.

I needed to be closer to Barnes, but by following them, I could draw attention to myself. I casually looked toward the main door like I was waiting for someone. I tapped the toe of my shoe against the shiny tile to the beat of the soft music. The game was wearing thin, and time was not on my side.

Mrs. Barnes eventually separated from her husband and headed toward the doors at the far end of the ballroom. I decided to follow. Beyond the first door, I found two more, marked as restrooms. She entered the one marked “Madam.”

Even the bathroom was nicer than anything I saw while working for the Federation. A bank of sinks rested against one wall. It all looked shiny and new. Mrs. Barnes was in one of the stalls and I slid into the one next to hers.

“Could you pass some tissue?” she asked, her voice slightly disgusted as she extended her hand beneath the divider. Apparently, the cleaning crew hadn’t bothered to stock toilet paper before the party, and someone would be in big trouble if her tone was any indication.

I pulled some from the roll and handed it over.

“I can recommend my manicurist,” she said casually after she grabbed it.

I glanced down at my broken, misshapen nails. It had never occurred to me to do anything about them. The idea that someone still had a manicurist during an apocalypse was fucking pathetic. This woman was emblematic of the sickness that had invaded our country, spreading hatred and destruction. I felt less for her than I had for the woman I’d killed earlier for a dress.

What I wanted was simple: for my child to grow up in a safe world.

The toilet flushed beside me. If I stayed in the stall, she would leave. If I walked out, there was a chance she’d recognize me. My next decision seemed to come from nowhere, but it settled like iron in my chest. Mrs. Barnes was now the target.

Sliding my knife from its sheath, I threw the stall door open.

Her startled expression lasted only a moment before it twisted into a scream. I cut it off with an arm around her throat, pressing the diamond collar into her skin while pressing the tip of the knife just below it. A small whimper escaped, but nothing more. I shoved her hip into the counter and turned her so she could see my eyes in the mirror.

“You have two choices,” I said in a cold, thick voice that spoke volumes. “Come with me quietly or die where you stand.”

I had no problem killing her, and I wouldn’t need to depend on Ms. Beast to do the job. There was no middle ground here. If she needed to die, I would kill her and stuff her in the garbage can below the counter. I actually liked the idea.

She gave a very subtle nod, her eyes round globes of hatred.

“You will walk out of here with your new best friend,” I continued when she remained quiet. “I don’t care if I die, but I promise you’ll go first. Head to the east hallway like we have a destination planned. If you deviate, I’ll slit your throat and turn into a ten-foot monster. That monster will kill your husband and anyone else who stands in my way.”

Her body trembled, but I didn’t let up. “If you haven’t noticed, there’s a war going on. You should have guards at these events, but you’re so confident in your safety that your husband forgot that simple detail. You both make me sick, and I would love nothing more than to kill you. Give me an excuse, please.” I drew out the last word.

I could barely lock my jaw in place when I thought about this entire event. As I’d circled the ballroom, I hadn’t seen a single armed guard.

Mrs. Barnes’ eyes narrowed into hard pinpoints as she realized exactly who I was.

“You’re a disgusting animal, and my husband will kill you,” she spat.

“Not before I kill you.” My tone was ice-cold, daring her to test me. I watched as her expression shifted, her mind clearly calculating her chances. She didn’t think I’d go through with it.

“I won’t just kill you,” I said, letting heat seep into my voice. “I’ll eat your organs and spit out the bones. You mean nothing to me. I am a monster, and I have no problem proving it.”

Her expression faltered, and fear flickered though she tried to hide it. For the first time since I put the knife at her throat, she believed me. She gave another nod.

We left the restroom and the next several minutes felt like an eternity. I kept the knife low, hidden between us as we walked. At one point, she hesitated, her body tensing as if she might call out to a group of people we passed. I gave her a jab with the tip of the blade. It was precise, and the knife was sharp enough that she inhaled harshly in response, her composure breaking for a second.

“Keep walking,” I whispered, barely moving my lips.

No one stopped us. A few people nodded in our direction, their obliviousness both shocking and infuriating. My smile stayed firmly in place, masking the tension rippling through me. I expected someone to call out at any moment, or for her husband to alert someone that his wife hadn’t returned from the restroom. I looked up and saw him whispering something in a younger woman’s ear. She wore a very tight dress with more skin showing than material and I understood why he wasn’t missing his wife.

We reached the hallway and I steered Mrs. Barnes with a firm grip on her arm and directed her quickly toward the storage room. She stumbled and I grabbed her higher, almost at the shoulder and half-dragged her along.

As soon as we were inside, I slammed the door shut and shoved her against the wall, my hand pressing into her throat again. The men emerged silently from the smaller room; their eyes locked on me.

“Meet Mrs. Barnes,” I said. “She’ll be coming with us.”

“You’ll never get me out of here,” she snapped with sudden defiance.

“Night, night,” I said, my tone dripping with mockery. I delivered a calculated punch to her jaw, watching as her body went limp and slumped to the floor. Her head hit with a resounding thud. Oops. I probably should have caught her.

There wasn’t time to change out of the dress. President Barnes would eventually send people looking for her. I kicked off the shoes as Labyrinth checked the hallway. King cradled Mrs. Barnes in his arms like she was a drunk partygoer who’d had one too many glasses of champagne.

I wiped the blood from her nose with my dress, glancing down to see if it was noticeable. I winked at King, smirking. “It hardly shows.” I turned my focus back to the mission ahead.

We posed as Mrs. Barnes’ guards, holding her upright with her feet barely touching the floor. It was our best chance to get out in one piece. Leaving was always going to be the deadliest part of the plan.

Our target exit was down the third hallway. We made it through one corridor before running into a group of partygoers.

“Mrs. Barnes,” one of them said, stopping abruptly.

He was dressed in a suit, and the women dressed for the party. I hit the woman, who fell down hard and didn’t move, while King broke the man’s neck. We kept moving. The exit was within sight when an ear-splitting alarm blared through the compound. Charging up the stairs, we burst into the camp above. Chaos quickly erupted, and soldiers ran in every direction, assuming the alarm meant an external attack. We ducked behind a line of cargo containers, taking a brief moment to choose the best escape route.

Labyrinth pointed to another group of crumbled buildings in the distance. If we stayed low and undetected, we might have a chance. I took the lead, with King behind me, followed by Alden, who held Mrs. Barnes, and Labyrinth covering the rear.

Twenty yards from our destination, bullets started firing in our direction. We sprinted toward the container. A bullet zipped so close to my head that it scorched my cheek. Now that they’d noticed us, we were sitting ducks, and they didn’t realize who we had with us as a hostage.

The cluster of crumbled buildings was thirty yards away. Vehicle lights flickered on behind us, and the gunfire intensified. We left cover and ran as we shifted form, tearing off our military uniforms that we no longer needed. I pushed past Ms. Beast entirely, going full Nova. She didn’t even grumble. The shift gave us the speed and stamina we needed to keep moving after we made it behind the crumpled building.

The heart of the ruined city was our only chance now. Our rendezvous point was a highway in the opposite direction from where we were running. The hope was that the Federation would lose our trail and assume we were headed for the airstrip outside the city.

We were planning to fly out right under their noses. Once they realized what we’d done and stuck those noses in the air to see us, I hoped they got nosebleeds and bled to death. Nova had no problem with that scenario.

“Marinah, stop!” King’s voice cut through my thoughts.

I turned in time to see Labyrinth stumble and fall.