In the distance, I hear the plane’s engines and exhale in relief.
I need to get my mate back to the island.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Marinah
Ms. Beast paces inside me. Her feet stomp angrily across Nova’s intestines. Protect, she whispers. I’m in the back of the plane holding tightly to Labyrinth. Somehow, he’s meshed with the baby inside Nova’s brain. I understand, I think. I must get Labyrinth to Axel so Axel can fix him.
For a brief moment, I try shifting to human. It hurts and I stop. Keeping Labyrinth safe is more important. Hours go by. My mate checks on me often. I don’t talk. We land on the island airfield. A vehicle waits for us. I lift Labyrinth carefully, cradling him in my arms and carry him to the Jeep. I continue holding him in my lap during the drive to the citadel.
My thoughts are stilted. Nova is in control. I thought she had one purpose and I was wrong.
Protect, Ms. Beast whispers.
I carry Labyrinth inside and take him straight to the infirmary. Axel looks up from a young man he’s treating. I roll Labyrinth onto one of the beds. His body doesn’t land right. He’s stiff. Axel walks over to me. “Fixth,” I say between fangs.
Axel looks over my shoulder and I turn. My mate is there.
“Fixth,” I demand loudly. All eyes in the room stare.
“Marinah,” Axel says softly. “I can’t fix him.”
My hand comes out; I pull my claws back at the last moment and hit Axel in the chest with my palm. He flies several feet away. My mate’s hand lands on my shoulder when I take a step toward Axel.
“He’s gone, Marinah,” my mate declares softly.
“No. Fixth,” I yell.
“Give her something,” my mate says when the doctor tries to stand.
“I can’t,” he declares.
“I’ll send you across the room and you won’t get up so fast,” my mate yells at him.
I look at my friend on the bed. My head spins and I stumble. I think my mate catches me on the way down, but I can’t be sure.
∞∞∞
A nightmare wakes me.
I’m in our room and my thoughts go to King. I roll over and see him sitting beside the bed in a chair he’s pulled close. His blue eyes are dark with anger, and they suggest terrible things. I lift my hands. Human fingers. No claws. I glance back at King.
“You said nothing.” His tone is accusatory.
“Axel told you.”
King explodes to his feet and walks across the room. My eyes follow. He stares at the wall, and I wonder if he’ll place his boot in the plaster. I should feel bad. I actually try to squeeze out a small bit of guilt without success.
“I’m Alpha. Pregnancy doesn’t change that,” I say in a voice that I wish sounded stronger. His entire body snaps around, but he doesn’t come closer. This isn’t good.
“Your Nova wouldn’t let anyone near Labyrinth, not even me. You wouldn’t shift back. What the hell, Marinah?”
Oops, someone dropped a bad word. I place my hand on my stomach and King’s eyes follow the movement. “Nova was in protective mode. I think Ms. Beast was controlling her.”
“You think!” He takes one step in my direction, his eyes locked on my stomach, but he stops. “We went on a dangerous mission. You risked your life and the future of the Shadow Warriors.”
That was the wrong thing to say. I’m not an engineered baby factory. “You and Beck have done nothing but pound into me that I’m in charge. Well,” I spit. “It finally sank in. I will make the best decision possible for my people. Get used to it. Axel telling you I was pregnant was not how I wanted this going down.” I was mad now.
“How exactly did you want this to go down?” he rebukes. I’ve never seen him so angry. His fists clench, and red snakes up his neck. He might have an aneurysm if I’m not careful.
“We had a limited window to get Barnes. You know it as well as I do. We had to go in when they least expected it.”
King takes another step toward me and stops, turns on his heel, and marches from the room. Sadness fills me. I hate fighting with King. I made my decision knowing he would be furious. I knew the dangers, and if I thought King would be reasonable, we would have discussed it and he would see mine was the only way. I took that away from him.
My thoughts go to Labyrinth. “If you have a boy, name him after me,” he said before he died. He had no idea how his words touched me even through the Nova fog.
I rise from the bed in need of something I rarely crave. It’s also time to take Ruth and Che out of confinement and give their mothers a break.
Missy answers the door. Her red-rimmed and swollen eyes greet me sadly. She wraps her arms around me and pulls me into the room. Ruth peeks her head out her bedroom door, then jerks back and slams it. No one is happy with me today.
“I need to speak with you,” I tell Missy.
“Hopefully, you’re taking me off restriction because I can’t stand it any longer.” She wipes her eyes and tries to smile. She told me once she doesn’t use restriction as punishment for Ruth because the child makes everyone around her miserable. I wasn’t thinking when I sent the children to their quarters.
“The confinement’s been that bad?”
“Worse.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Missy’s mouth drops open.
“King hates me.” I burst into tears.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Island (Cuba)
King
I head to the training field and beat up on all comers for the next two hours. My men look at me in fear by the time I’m through. I’m going to be a father and I should be ecstatic. All I feel is fear, and it’s not something I’m accustomed to. Strangling my mate might help.
A baby.
We could have lost our child before I knew about him or her.
My thoughts return to strangulation.
My men practically fall to the ground when I head back to my room to shower. Thankfully, Marinah found another place to be. I need time before I deal with her. I shower, dress in fresh clothes, and I leave the room.
Labyrinth’s body is in his quarters. His funeral will be tonight along with the Shadow Warriors lost in the Federation’s attack. Beck, Nokita, Cabel, and Alden stand outside Labyrinth’s door, their faces somber.
“Marinah is with him,” rebukes Beck. He’s angry he didn’t go with us and it’s not his death. Marinah made the right decision on who she took on our mission, and I won’t fault her for that.
I place my hand on the doorknob. I’m not ready to face her. I turn the handle and enter.
The bed takes up one wall. Marinah is on her knees on the floor, her body leaning over Labyrinth’s legs. Her shoulders shake. She’s crying. I gently place my hand on her back, and she comes off the floor and flies into my arms, her sobs no longer held in check. I let her cry.
“I know the exact moment he died, but Nova wouldn’t accept it.” She sobs.
I continue rubbing her back. “Each time, they take a part of us with them,” I tell her. “I’m sorry you feel that connection, but it’s also what makes you alpha.”
She lifts her head and our eyes meet. “I’m sorry. You had a right to know about the baby.”
I pull her back against my chest and take a deep breath. I love her. She will always push my buttons. “The men would like time with their friend,” I soothe. “We need to question Mrs. Barnes.”
She sniffs and her body goes from soft mush in my arms to a controlled alpha when she pulls away. She looks at Labyrinth, places her hand on the side of his face, and bends over and kisses his temple.
If I could tell her it would get easier, I would. I won’t lie to her. It’s these times I didn’t want the title of alpha. Marinah wipes her eyes and leaves the room. I take a last look at Labyrinth. His body is clean of blood and grime and he appears to be sleeping. I lift my hand to his shoulder. He’s been with me from the beginning of the war and he stayed by my side when my uncle died and
I grieved. He was quiet with a strange sense of humor. He was respected. He was my friend.
“I already miss you,” I say into the quiet room before turning and following my mate.
Mrs. Barnes is held in one of four cells on the third floor. We turned the area into our small prison when we first arrived. It’s had little use. Each room has bars for doors, a sink, toilet, and bed. The mattress is four-inch foam covered with vinyl. No blankets or any other amenity. The look in Mrs. Barnes’ eyes tell she’s not happy.
Her lips are pressed together, and there’s nothing left of the elegantly clad woman we took from the Federation. Her gown is ripped and stained. She’s sitting on the bed, and she turns her back when we enter. I didn’t miss the large bruise marking her face curtesy of Marinah. I bite back a smile.
Marinah clomps over, lifts the woman by the back of her gown, and tosses her against the wall the bed rests against. Mrs. Barnes cries out and her hand goes to the back of her head where it hit the wall.
My mate leans across the bed and gets in her face. “We could play games, but I’m not in the mood. I’ll ask you a question and you’ll answer. Your life means nothing to me. Your pain means nothing. First question. Did your husband genetically make the hellhounds?”
“Screw you,” Mrs. Barnes shrieks and tries to roll from the bed.
Marinah goes after her. What happens next lets me know how close to the edge my mate is. The snap of Mrs. Barnes’ leg fills the room followed by her long pain-filled scream. When Marinah broke the soldier’s wrists, it was in Beast form. Marinah’s human form is the beast now. Mrs. Barnes whimpers and curls into an awkward ball with the broken leg resting at an off angle when Marinah releases her.
“Did your husband engineer the hellhounds?” she repeats.
“No.” Marinah takes a step toward her, and she cries out. “No, I’m telling the truth.” Her eyes change. It’s odd to watch. Even through her pain you can see the calculation. “I designed the hellhounds. My husband isn’t smart enough. I designed them and I control them. You have no idea what’s coming. Your kind will be wiped from Earth. Everyone you kill will come back to haunt you.” She starts laughing hysterically. “Kill all the red stripes you want. They will be your downfall.”
Marinah turns and walks from the room. I secure the cell door before trailing her. Marinah is running and I pick up speed. She marches into the infirmary and goes to the young soldier she saved. The woman’s eyes grow huge when Marinah stomps closer. “What did the Federation do to you?” she demands.
The woman looks at me, then glances back at Marinah. Her lips tremble. “They injected us,” she finally says. “When we die, we become the monsters.”
Chapter Thirty
Marinah
“Labyrinth wanted a family. He wanted peace,” I say to the crowd that night. “The only way we’ll ever have peace is if we make it.”
Eight Shadow Warriors rest on tall funeral pyres along the shore. I sent directives that every adult man and woman on the island would attend the funerals. My speech for Labyrinth is last. I tell the islanders and Warriors what the Federation has done by turning their soldiers into hellhounds.
The soldier, Ava, told me the horrors they’ve lived with for years. She was captured as a child and placed into military service. The injections began when she was sixteen. The Federation was unsure how much poison to inject them with, and many of her friends died. She says if you refuse the injections or refuse to fight, they kill you immediately, place you in a cage, and allow the red stripes to see what happens when the change takes place. She said death was their only real fear because they didn’t want to become one of the monsters.
I immediately sent word that every Federation soldier we kill must be beheaded. I’m still reeling from all she shared. They’ve been experimenting on humans for years. We thought they attacked the outposts to gather young men and women to fight for them. In a way they did. When I said the soldiers were fodder, I meant it. After fodder, their use increases, and they turn into controlled killing machines.
I look at the people surrounding me. Translators are repeating my speech in Spanish for those who haven’t learned English. Most of the island is bilingual, but I needed them to fully understand what we were facing in the easiest way possible.
Ruth stands next to Missy. Che is not with his parents, and I’m glad they didn’t bring him. He’s been involved in too much death. I talk about Labyrinth the man and Labyrinth the Warrior. I somehow manage not to cry.
“If you have a boy, name him after me,” he said before he died. I silently make the promise that Labyrinth will be the middle name regardless of gender. My children will grow up knowing who this great Warrior is.
King leans in close after I’ve lit Labyrinth’s pyre. “I will stay if you need sleep.” He’s offering because of the baby. I shake my head and thread my fingers through his. This is our job, and Labyrinth deserves our respect. I stand by my mate until Labyrinth is gone.
Our room seems so far away but I make it and toss my leather straps aside after unbuckling them. Before I shuck my pants, King walks up behind me and covers my stomach with his hands.
“I love you,” he whispers. I turn and he gathers me close. I can’t stop the tears. “I promise you,” he whispers. “Our child will know peace.”
We have Mrs. Barnes as our bargaining chip if her husband decides he wants her back. We have hundreds of Warriors to fight with us and thousands of humans. We have friends at the outposts. We have my Nova.
Mrs. Barnes is wrong. The Federation has no idea what’s coming.
Curls or no curls? That is the question!
One of these is coming this Fall
Dear Readers,
The two covers above are waiting for me to decide boy or girl. I have a name for both and no matter the sex, the middle name will be Labyrinth.
Killing off great characters is never easy. I actually planned a romance for Labyrinth, poor Shadow Warrior. If you’re a reader of all my writing, look for a one blue eye and one green eyed character. The name won’t be the same but it will be Labyrinth. I really liked him.
This series takes me through a gamut of emotions while writing. I planned to work on a different series because the timing for post-apocalyptic books isn’t the best right now. I even messaged Dinah and told her the next Marinah book would be delayed. Her reply, “Good luck with that.”
First, I wrote a short mystery. The entire time, Marinah bugged me with ideas for Queen. I wanted to write a HTH book and still Marinah wouldn’t leave me alone. I gave in gracefully (not, the brat) and started writing about her and King. When I let Dinah know the book was almost finished, she said, “I knew she wouldn’t leave you alone.” We laughed but neither of us will deny these are her stories and I’m just the typing fingers. I asked Dinah to keep Marinah with her so I can finish the next HTH novel. Dinah said she’ll try but she makes no promises. What do you do with a pain in the butt spirit who wants you to tell more stories? We don’t know either.
I’ve done quite a bit of research on Cuba but I’ve also taken liberties with the island. All mistakes are either intentional or mine. I’ve never had any desire to travel to Cuba but now I would love too. Someday it could happen and I’ll hold onto the idea.
Books are written alone but the work around the edges gets the story into your hands. Thank you to my husband who puts up with long writing hours, keeps me fed and watered while also running interference with the dogs. My editing team is incredible. A special thank you to Kim and Laura for all your hard work. Queen is a better story because of you. I can’t forget my amazing cover designer Fantasia Frog Designs. I’m always proud to display her amazing work.
Last but never least, please leave a review for Queen where you purchased. And yes, I know I ask a lot, but good or bad, reviews are my lifeblood.
Thank you for allowing Marinah to live on.
Holly
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The links are to book I of each series if you would like to take a look at the Amazon Page
Series by Holly S Roberts
Genetically Modified – Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy (clean)
Hotter Than Hell – Steamy Romantic Suspense (very spicy)
Completion Sports Series – Sports Romance (spicy)
Club El Diablo – Kinky (erotic romance)
Series by D’Elen McClain
Fang Chronicles – Vampires & Shifters (spicy)
Dragon Chronicles – Dragon Shifters (very spicy)
Series by Suzie Ivy
Lacy Jolett Mysteries – Police Procedural (clean)
Queen (A Genetically Modified Novel Book 4) Page 14