“Hmm,” I muttered, my doubt clear.
She rolled her eyes.“There are two parts to this plan.We need to fight the Federation on our terms.Here, on the island, we have the advantage.When the Federation attacks, we’ll decimate them.”
“What does fighting on the island have to do with capturing President Barnes?”I asked, “He won’t lead the troops, he’ll have someone else do it.The man is a coward.”
“We’re missing something big in the scientific world,” Marinah said.“Actually, many somethings.The hellhounds were either a government experiment gone wrong, a complete accident, or one hundred percent intentional.We need to find the missing link and put the pieces together, or we’ll never know exactly what we’re up against.”
I tossed out my own bombshell.“We may have a bigger problem.Knet.”
Marinah didn’t miss a beat.“He’s our traitor,” she said flatly.
Beck first, now Marinah.“And you said nothing?”I asked, my words steaming with frustration.
“Anger kept me from thinking clearly,” she admitted.“Knet wasn’t exactly my biggest fan.The Federation is planning to attack us, and Knet cleared out.That means the attack is imminent.I’ve wasted too much time getting my shit together.”
I placed my hand on her arm, running my palm over the soft skin there.“The time wasn’t wasted.”This was who she was.The mate of legends and she was all mine.
“Once the Warriors begin meditating, you’ll see what a difference it makes,” she said, shocking me.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to process, then reopened them.I couldn’t have heard her right.“Did you just say something about the Warriors meditating?Did you mean metalsmithing?”
She slapped my arm.“I also know where the Federation is hiding,” she added.
“This came to you while metalsmithing?”
This time, she pinched me.“Where?”I finally asked, cutting to the chase.
“They went underground,” she said, watching my reaction.
I stared at her, unsure of what she meant.
“Farther underground,” she clarified at my silence.“Once my mind was clear, I remembered a story my friends used to talk about all the time.It was rumored that the Federation had a shelter big enough to hold thousands of people.If it existed, my friends knew they wouldn’t be part of the chosen.While my father was alive, I might have had a chance of getting in.On slow days, my friends and I would speculate about whether the shelter was true or not.Something Landan said back then popped into my head while I was meditating.‘It’s probably under our feet.’That was his theory.”
“When I asked him why he thought that,” she continued, “he said, ‘They talk about stockpiling supplies.We collect the products here, but where do they go?I never see trucks taking things away.If they were smart, they’d build something in plain sight.’We teased him about it until we moved on to another conspiracy theory.”
Her words hung in the air, the pieces slowly falling into place as I comprehended the depth of what she was saying.
“Let me get this straight,” I said, barely managing to keep the growl out of my voice.“You just now remembered this conversation?”
She twirled one of her braids and smiled, completely unbothered.“It was years ago.Conspiracy theories were just a way to pass the time.At one point, we even speculated that hellhounds were actually aliens, like the Shadow Warriors.”
There was too much knowledge locked away in her mind, too many pieces I couldn’t see yet.I struggled with her use of meditation to clarify her thoughts but I wouldn’t fight her on it.“Is kidnapping President Barnes happening before the attack on the island or after?”I asked, my tone harder than intended because the thought of him always pissed me off.
Chapter Twelve
Marinah
After a large breakfast, some much-needed cuddle time with Callie, and a refreshing shower, I called a meeting with my guard.
Beck, Labyrinth, Nokita, and Cabel entered the meeting room cautiously, their eyes scanning the atmosphere as if trying to gauge my mood.Alden, the newest addition to my guard, followed their lead.He’d previously been assigned to Beck because of his issues with authority.I had solved that problem, and now he was a vital part of the team.
Axel arrived next, walking straight to me without hesitating.He wrapped his hands around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug, ignoring my grumbling.He didn’t let go until he was good and ready.
Stepping back, Axel gave me a once-over, his gaze moving from my toes to my face.A low growl rumbled from King’s throat, but Axel didn’t even glance in his direction.“You look good,” he said.“Rested.”
Axel had apparently decided it was his personal mission to keep me healthy.As a Shadow Warrior, I healed fast.As Nova, my healing time was even faster, leaving Axel with little to do physically.So, a few weeks before I went apeshit, he shifted his focus to my mental health.Considering the chaos in my head could drive anyone insane, I hadn’t held out much hope that he’d “fix” me.Now that I was meditating, I didn’t feel like I needed his psychoanalysis.
“I called you here so we could talk about it,” I said, giving him a smile.
