Page 28

King

Marinah hoisted Labyrinth over her shoulder as if he weighed forty pounds instead of close to five hundred. The black dress hung in tatters, barely covering her massive Nova form.

Mrs. Barnes groaned and opened her groggy eyes as I set her on her feet, giving her a moment to steady herself. She stumbled forward, crying, sniffling, and squealing as she tried to run away. All traces of presidential bravado were gone. I met her once when we fought for the Federation. Her superiority complex had stayed in my memory. With an exasperated growl, I grabbed her, flipping her over my shoulder in the same way Marinah carried Labyrinth. Her shriek was music to my ears, but the noise was a liability. I slapped the back of her exposed thighs hard enough to make her shriek again. She quickly decided silence was the better option.

We made it to the buildings, weaved through them, and found a path leading through trees. We took off without stopping. Thirty minutes later, we went in the opposite direction at full speed. Labyrinth wasn’t moving, but it was my hope that he didn’t want to make things harder for Marinah. The woman I carried struggled and received another slap, this one harder.

It took an hour to reach the rendezvous point. Mrs. Barnes crumpled to the ground the moment I set her down. I didn’t bother helping her up. She could rest there and wallow in her misery.

Alden’s gaze stayed locked on the president’s wife. “Don’t eat her,” I said sharply before turning away.

Marinah, still in Nova form, crouched beside Labyrinth. Her top half was soaked in blood where Labyrinth had rested against her during the run. It was too much blood, far too much.

Her jaws parted, and she spoke through them, her voice rough. “Shathow breathing.”

Labyrinth had been shot multiple times, his chest a mangled mass of torn flesh. He shouldn’t even have been alive. I knelt beside him, and his pain-filled eyes fluttered open, locking onto Marinah.

“My queen,” he whispered, his voice weak.

“Reth,” she murmured softly, as if she didn’t even realize she was still in Nova form.

“I’ll rest when I’m dead,” he said, forcing a smile before blood bubbled from his lips. He coughed more blood.

Marinah glanced at me; her grief visible even in her larger, animalistic eyes. I placed my hand gently on Labyrinth’s arm, the weight of loss already settling over me.

“Be at peace, my friend,” I said quietly.

“No,” Marinah demanded. Labyrinth’s gaze remained on hers, and his massive jaws opened. “If you have a boy, name him after me.”

The light in his eyes faded.

Marinah made a low sound that sent chills across my skin. She gathered him in her arms and made the sound again. Even in her grief, she knew she couldn’t alert Federation soldiers.

In the distance, I heard the plane’s engines and exhaled in relief.

I had to get Marinah back to the island.