War.
I turn and scan Marinah from head to toe. Nothing is left of the frightened woman I met a year before. She meets my eyes. Confidence and determination fill hers. We are heading into an enemy camp dressed as their soldiers. If we can’t get the president, we’ll take a lesser official if we think they have answers. Our escape is the dysfunctional part of the mission. Whoever we’re kidnapping won’t stay quiet during our escape. We’ll use the hostage or hostages as a shield. Marinah came up with the uniform idea and I didn’t have a better one. It’s still dicey.
At a steady jog, we head to the closest military camp of the three we located on the aerial map. Labyrinth and Alden carry a large insulated box with extra equipment and clothing. We stash it a mile from the camp. If we don’t need it, we’ll pick it up when we finish our mission and head to the rendezvous point.
We enter the soldier-filled camp. I’m wearing an officer’s uniform. Alden, Marinah, and Labyrinth, in that order, march behind me in red stripe uniforms. With our size it would be hard not to draw attention. The key is acting like we belong and that’s exactly what we do. Our destination is a brick building to the east. It’s maybe twenty by twenty. Small groups of soldiers enter and leave at regular intervals. They aren’t carrying food or gear. It only makes sense if the building connects to their tunnel system.
A large group of soldiers drills on the west side of camp, their young faces eager to impress even though death is imminent. I don’t know why Marinah saved the red stripe who attacked us. She sometimes hesitates when she kills and it’s dangerous. It’s her human side which was warped for too many years.
I open the heavy steel door at the entrance to the small building. A soldier almost runs into me. He’s a foot shorter, in his twenties, and focused elsewhere. “Pardon me, sir.” He salutes. I give him the expected response, and he continues on.
The room is dark with small lights at knee level that light a path to the stairs and then descend. Marinah, Labyrinth, and Alden follow me silently. There are people coming up the stairway. “Are you hitting the party tonight?” a soldier asks his companion.
A party. I forgot how the Federation operates. Invade a country, throw a party. I inhale slowly to hold the K-5 back. After two flights of stairs, we find ourselves in a long narrow tunnel that goes in two directions. We turn right and pass closed doors on either side and continue until we come to a central area. It’s a busy cafeteria with soldiers milling around. They sit in groups, talking and laughing. They’re safe in their confined world and pay no attention to us.
We cross to double side doors leading to who knows where and step through to another long hallway. It’s empty.
“We need somewhere secure,” Marinah whispers.
“We could go back and check out the rooms down the first hallway.”
“No, we move forward. They’re having a party tonight. Let’s crash it.”
Alden and Labyrinth smile.
A short time later, the hallway ends, and we enter a huge rotunda. The floors are glossy marble and the Federation’s emblem takes up one wall. This is the government section of their underground. Less soldiers and more suits.
Suits. “Wearing them in the current world is ridiculous,” I grumble under my breath. Idiots. The women are dressed in short skirts, and I can’t help thinking of Marinah. She told me she wore military fatigues. Things have changed.
“We’ll place the band here,” a man says twenty feet from us. He holds a clipboard not a gun. Beast grumbles at the stupidity.
I cross the room like I own it and head to an exit door. This leads to another hallway. It has the same formation of rooms on either side. I start checking doors until I find one unlocked. I open it, check inside, and we enter.
Folded tables and chairs rest against two walls. It’s a storage room.
“They’re having a party,” Marinah hisses.
“With a band,” Labyrinth adds.
We all smile. It’s not that we don’t celebrate on the island, we do. Or at least the humans do. Shadow Warriors guard. It’s our job to keep everyone safe.
“It’ll be quite the party,” Alden says. “Maybe President Barnes will attend.”
A heavy, “Humph,” leaves Marinah’s throat. “He’ll be there. He wouldn’t dream of missing a chance to pomp and circumstance.”
“Are those verbs?” Alden asks her with a grin.
“They are now.” She heads to the back of the room where another door is located, and I follow. This room is about six by six with a sink and cabinets lining one wall. “We’ll wait in here until the party starts. If they come in for tables, we’re good.” She looks at Alden who is closest to the door of the smaller room. “Kill them if they enter here and ask questions later.” She turns. “Labyrinth find another way to the tunnel we came in at. We may not be able to go through the converted ballroom when we leave.”
Labyrinth returns within twenty minutes with an alternate escape route. The hallways make a square that circles the government’s main room, now the ballroom. If we head the opposite direction from where we entered, we’ll find stairs that lead above ground. Each hallway has a separate exit to another military camp. Labyrinth doesn’t know where the fourth set of stairs leads. We won’t worry about it this trip.
An hour after we get comfortable, people enter. The shuffling of tables and chairs commences and we stay on high alert, while Alden guards the door. This group escapes death by staying on their side of the wall.
“If we go in as Warriors, terror will be on our side,” I say softly to Marinah after the crew leaves the outside room. Marinah and I had this conversation before leaving the island, and I’m trying one last time.
“We don’t know if they’ll shoot. They had no problem killing their red stripes. We need to at least try getting President Barnes out of camp without alerting anyone.”
The outside door opens again, and we go quiet. Someone makes noise moving a few chairs. A woman swears softly. Marinah walks closer to Alden and leans into the door. Carefully, she turns the handle and opens it an inch.
She gives no warning when she bursts into the outer room. The woman lets out a short scream, quickly cut off. I make it to the door in time to see Marinah break her neck. Marinah grabs her and lowers her to floor.
She looks up at me. I see something in her expression I haven’t seen before. It says she understands war. People die to keep the majority alive. It’s them or us and no time for second thoughts. I cock my head, asking silently what she’s doing. “I need a dress for the party,” she says sadly. I look down at the woman. She is, in fact, wearing a black gown. “Black won’t show as much blood,” Marinah adds.
I have no problem with my mate killing the woman. Marinah is different, though. This will haunt her.
We strip the dress off her and stash her body in the small room. It’s also where Marinah changes clothes. She walks out wearing the dress and heels. I try not to smile when her feet struggle to keep her upright and one wobbly ankle gives slightly.
“If I break a leg, leave me behind,” she declares.
One, she’s beautiful in the dress. Two, Marinah’s taller than the woman she took the gown from. It has a slit at the side that’s indecent when she walks which she’s trying to do. She slides the material to the side, and I see her knife strapped to the opposite leg. I glance at Alden and Labyrinth. The look on their faces makes Beast growl. Labyrinth winks and turns away. Alden turns his head, but I don’t miss his grin. They know I’m in full control of the mating rage, and they’re jerking my chain.
“What do you think?” Marinah asks and slowly turns. She lifts her leg and awkwardly sticks it out, ruining the vampish look. I wouldn’t dare smile.
“I prefer your boots,” I say instead. I actually prefer her in Warrior form or naked when she’s human but that’s me.
She sticks her tongue out. “Party pooper.” She prefers her boots too. I’m surprised she doesn’t give the things names. I’m still waiting for her sw
ord’s name. If she told me she named her big toe Adam, I’d roll with it. My mate enjoys ownership and when she names something, it’s hers forever.
We wait another two hours. Marinah slips out of the heels because they hurt her feet. I fight another grin when she complains. The band begins playing an hour into our wait. We’re staying here until the party is in full swing.
“It’s party time, boys,” Marinah finally says. We’ll stick out like sore thumbs in our daily Federation uniforms so we’re staying behind. Marinah’s job is to locate President Barnes. She leaves with determination written in her eyes and the slight wobble of an ankle.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Marinah
The room turns my stomach. Starvation, death, and helplessness fill the world while these people hold parties, laugh, drink alcohol, and pretend they live in a different time. Several men smile at me inquisitively as I slowly stroll around the room. I give them assessing smiles, meeting their eyes.
“You belong,” I repeat internally.
It’s twenty minutes before President Barnes enters—his wife on his arm. I’d forgotten about her. She’s a scientist as well as first lady. Her hair is perfectly manicured, her head held regally as if the world belongs to her. Diamonds drip from her throat and her wrists. She lives in a different world. I never liked her and for the most part, she stayed far away from the government’s workings. For some reason whenever I saw her, I felt like a lab rat. I can now put my finger on my feelings. I respected them back then. I’m disgusted now and detest everything the Barneses stand for. No, I don’t like the woman.
A small ache goes through me at the thought of the dress I’m wearing. I purposely cut Ms. Beast loose to kill the woman. I cringed inside but it was the only way. I won’t allow my mate or the men to die. This entire plan was my idea, and we are all getting out together.
I slowly follow the President Barnes and his wife around the room as they greet guests, keeping people between us so the president doesn’t see me. I’m aware there’s possibly someone in attendance that will recognize me. My short hair helps, along with the fact this is the last place someone would expect to find me.
Mrs. Barnes breaks from her husband and walks toward the doors at the far side of the impromptu ballroom. I decide to follow. After I enter the first door, there are two others. One marked female, one male. I go after Mrs. Barnes. She’s in a stall when I enter. I slide into the one next to hers.
“Could you pass tissue,” she says and places her hand beneath the stall. How inconsiderate of the cleaning crew not to fill the toilet paper before a party.
I pull some out and hand it over.
“I can recommend my manicurist,” she says after grabbing it from me.
I look at my misshaped broken nails. To think someone has a manicurist during an apocalypse is unnerving. This woman is part of the sickness that invaded our country and spread so much hatred. I have fewer feelings for this woman than the one I just killed for a dress.
What I want is for my child to grow up in a safe world.
The toilet flushes beside me. If I stay in here, she leaves. If I walk out, she’ll possibly recognize me. I’m unsure where my next decision springs from. Mrs. Barnes is now the target. I slide the knife from its sheath, hoping no one walks in, and throw open the door.
Her startled expression evaporates quickly, and her mouth forms a scream. My arm around her throat, the tip of the knife pressing into her skin cuts it off. Only a small whimper escapes.
“You have two choices. Come with me quietly or die.” I will kill her and won’t depend on Ms. Beast. There is no middle ground in this scenario. It’s me and my men or her. “You will walk out of here with your new best friend. I don’t care if I die but I promise, you will die first. Head to the east hallway like we have a destination planned. If you deviate, I slit your throat and turn into a ten-foot monster. That monster will go after your husband and anyone standing in my way. If you don’t know it, there’s a war going on. You should have guards at these events, but you’re so confident in your safety, your husband forgot that simple detail.” I had to lock my jaw in place so it didn’t hit the floor when I circled the ballroom. I didn’t spot a single armed guard.
Mrs. Barnes’ eyes are hard pinpoints; she knows who I am. “You’re a disgusting animal, and my husband will kill you,” she spits.
“Not before I kill you,” I promise, almost hoping she’ll challenge me. I watch her expression as she calculates her chances. She doesn’t think I’ll kill her. “I won’t just kill you,” I say with heat. “I will eat your organs and spit out the bones. You mean nothing to me.”
Her expression changes, and for the first time I see fear even though it’s hidden behind contempt. She believes me. The next three minutes are the longest of my life. I keep the knife at my side, hidden between my gown and Mrs. Barnes. At one point, she almost breaks and alerts a group of people we pass. I give her a small poke with the tip of the knife. It’s very sharp, and she inhales abruptly.
“Keep walking,” I whisper, barely moving my lips.
No one stops us. A few people nod in our direction. My smile is cemented in place. We’re on a mission and it shows in my eyes. I grab her arm securely and steer her quickly to the storage room once we enter the hallway. I close the door and slam her back into the wall, my hand at her throat. The men come out of the smaller room.
“Meet Mrs. Barnes, boys. She’ll be coming with us.”
“You’ll never get me out of here,” she snaps.
“Night, night,” I tell her. A very calculated fist hits her jaw, and she slumps to the floor. Oops, I should have caught her.
I don’t have time to change out of the dress. President Barnes will send people looking for his wife shortly. I kick off the shoes while Labyrinth checks the hallway. King cradles Mrs. Barnes in his arms like she’s passed out from drinking too much. I wipe the blood from her nose with the dress and wink at King after showing him the blood barely shows.
We are Mrs. Barnes’ guards, and it’s the best we can do to get out in one piece. We knew leaving the camp would be the deadliest part of the plan.
Our desired exit is the third hallway. We make it down one hall and run into a group of party goers.
“Mrs. Barnes,” one of them says and stops abruptly.
The blood we left behind on the walls couldn’t be helped. We make it to our exit just as an ear-splitting alarm goes off. We charge up the stairs and burst into the camp. Soldiers run in all directions, thinking they’re under attack from someone outside the camp. We run behind cargo containers and take a minute to choose the best route out.
Labyrinth points to a line of parked vehicles in the distance. If we run beside them, staying low, we might have a chance. I take the lead, King behind me, followed by Alden and Labyrinth taking tail.
Bullets start firing in our direction after we make it past the cargo container, and we start running. Bullets pass my head; one so close heat marks a path on my cheek. We burst from coverage and run for crumbled buildings in the distance. Vehicle lights shine behind us, and gunfire continues. We shift form while we run so we can get farther away. I go Nova and bypass Ms. Beast. She doesn’t so much as grumble.
We head toward the center of the ruined city. Our rendezvous is an old airfield in the opposite direction we came from. The Federation will hopefully lose us and head to the airstrip outside the city.
We’re flying out right under their noses, and once they see us and stick those noses in the air, I hope they get nosebleeds.
“Marinah, stop,” King commands behind me. I turn in time to see Labyrinth fall.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
King
Marinah picks up Labyrinth and tosses him over her shoulder like he weighs forty pounds and not three hundred and forty. The black dress is in tatters, only covering parts of her massive form. Mrs. Barnes opens groggy eyes, and I set her on her feet. I give her one minute to find her balance. “Move,” I order when her ti
me’s up. She cries and sniffs and squeals, and sniffs some more while she tries to run. Her bravado is gone. The pointed heels of her shoes become a problem. With a growl, I pick her up and flip her over my shoulder the same way Marinah holds Labyrinth. Her shriek is music to my ears, but we don’t need the noise so I slam my hand down on the backs of her exposed thighs. She shrieks once before she decides silence is best.
We run without stopping and make it to the rendezvous point in thirty minutes. Mrs. Barnes crumples to the ground when I try to place her on her feet. She can rest here and wallow in her bad fortune. Alden doesn’t take his eyes from the president’s wife.
“Don’t eat her,” I say before walking off.
Marinah, who stayed in Nova form, glances up at me from her crouched position next to Labyrinth. Blood soaks Marinah’s top half from where Labyrinth rested against her while we ran. It’s too much blood.
Her jaws open. “Shathow breathing.”
He’s been shot more than once. His entire chest is a twisted mass of meat. He shouldn’t be alive. I kneel beside my friend. His pain-filled eyes open. “My queen,” he whispers, his gaze on Marinah.
“Reth,” she says softly. I don’t even think she knows she’s in Nova form.
“I’ll rest when I’m dead.” He tries to smile but coughs up blood.
Marinah looks at me. Her eyes are the same, though larger than her human ones. They’re filled with grief. I rest my hand on Labyrinth’s arm. “Be at peace my friend.”
“No,” yells Marinah. Labyrinth’s gaze locks on hers, and his massive jaws open. “If you have a boy, name him after me.”
The light in his eyes fade.
Marinah gathers him in her arms and lets out the worst sound I’ve ever heard. If Federation soldiers are nearby, they’ll head this way.
Queen (A Genetically Modified Novel Book 4) Page 13