“You have never made contact with a female Shadow Warrior,” she said with a slight shrug, her voice distinct yet soft.“It is expected you would not understand.”
Her words startled me.“You’re a Shadow Warrior?”
I felt the energy of the male Warriors on the island as if there was an invisible tether linking them to me.Since my Nova had manifested, that connection had grown stronger.But I didn’t know this woman.What she’d done was different.Her energy was like a wave of calm firing through my veins, shooting to every nerve ending I had.It aligned with an internal part of me I hadn’t known existed.
She nodded, her red hair bobbing with the motion.“I am merely Shadow and do not alter form.”
Her eyes were on mine again, soft orbs that seemed to be assessing me.The energy wrapped around me in a soothing wave of power.It was incredible.And I hated every second because I didn’t know how to control or stop it.
“What is happening?”I asked through gritted teeth, trying to mentally shake off the buzz running along my skin, desperate to keep it from invading everything I was.
Her mouth softened, and a delicate smile formed on her lips, making her even more beautiful if that were possible.Then her voice came, slipping into my mind like a gentle melody, its sing-song rhythm hypnotic.
“Women of our species are uniquely gifted,” she said.“We hid much of our capabilities from the males.The energy you feel comes from that which makes us special and also separates us from their violent ways.It’s our Shadow essence.The male Warriors do not experience the blending of energy that feeds our feminine power.This is sacred knowledge and is not shared with them.”
Slowly, I adjusted to the strange hold this woman had on me, steadying myself by pulling tightly on my own power.What surprised me most was that Ms.Beast seemed to accept what was happening.When I internally checked on her, she was rolling around like a dog that had found a dead carcass to play in.
The mental image almost made me laugh.Animals of prey instinctively rolled in the scent of plant eaters to mask their own odor to enhance their hunter abilities.Why Ms.Beast was doing this, I had no clue.
What struck me most, though, was the fact that there was a part of being a Shadow Warrior that the “big boys” didn’t know about.It almost amused me.Anytime something strange happened in my Beast form, the men would side-eye me like I was losing my mind when I asked about it.There was a learning curve to being a Shadow Warrior, and I’d been behind it since the day I was born.
“Why not share?”I asked, focusing on how the vibrations of her voice shifted as she spoke or turned her gaze.
She glanced at the table in the corner, and the energy vanished.Direct eye contact must have been what enabled her to focus the energy.
“May we sit?”she asked tentatively.
The hesitance in her voice lit a spark of ire inside me, and it had nothing to do with Ms.Beast.It reminded me too much of who I used to be: Poor Marinah, the girl who stayed alive only because her father’s position protected her.
I stomped over to the nearest chair, pulled it out, turned it around, and straddled it.The woman’s eyebrows rose.I remained silent, waiting for her to take a seat.She’d asked for this, hadn’t she?
After a few seconds, she glided over to a chair, pulled it out, and sat daintily.Her delicate movements ruffled my already perplexed feathers.She had my height and used it gracefully.That was something I had never managed before my Shadow Warrior showed itself.
Still, Ms.Beast didn’t react, which was disheartening.I’d been working overtime on maintaining absolute control over her.When I needed the heavy guns, like now, she played adorable puppy without a damned care.
My Nova form was different, and I hadn’t gained an inch with her.It was always an if/when scenario.Nova wouldn’t come out on command, and when she decided to grace me with her presence, Ms.Beast vanished completely.I fought tooth and nail to keep Nova in line.When Nova left, Ms.Beast roared back to the forefront, and for the next hour, controlling her was utterly exhausting.So far, I’d managed not to hurt anyone during the transformations.Well, except Beck, and I did feel bad about his shredded forearm.Or at least I tried to.
“Your Beast is strong,” the woman whispered.Was that reverence in her voice?I couldn’t be sure.But what I was absolutely sure of was that I didn’t trust her.I had none of the Shadow essence she spoke of.And on top of that, I wasn’t about to let her know just how strong I actually was.
Our eyes met again, and a wave of energy floated through me.I refused to acknowledge how good it felt.Instead, I focused on the small trick I’d discovered and basked in it while masking my reaction.I did this with King.Not allowing my emotions to show while enjoying the energy had been a hard learning curve.
“Why don’t male Warriors have this knowledge?”I asked abruptly, eager to prove I was still in control.
Sadly, I didn’t think I was controlling anyone, including Ms.Beast.She was still wiggling around like an idiot, grinding the energy into her fur and acting beyond ridiculous.Thank God I was the only one who knew what she was doing.King had once told me our Beast was an internal part of us, much like our internal thoughts.I didn’t think he lied to me, but Ms.Beast was more than intermingled consciousness.She was her own being.I was beginning to understand that it could be different for a female Warrior.
The woman’s gaze had dropped to the table at my abrupt question.I realized I’d been dealing with too many men lately.With them, only short, uncomplicated sentences seemed to work, preferably with a grunt or two thrown in for good measure.I’d come to prefer it that way too.
When the human women on the island sought me out, it was a different story.They wanted me to solve every domestic problem imaginable, and they talked entirely too much.I had to change how I handled them because barking out commands either brought them to tears or, worse, made them angry.And let me tell you, you don’t want to eat food made by an angry cook.King and I had learned that the hard way.
But this woman was different.Now that I’d had a few minutes to assess her energy, I could feel the Shadow Warrior essence within her.It was different from the males, softer somehow, which made sense, but it was also more powerful in its overall capacity.That intrigued me.
She watched me closely, her slight smile suggesting she could read my thoughts.It drove me crazy, and I almost growled.
“Male Shadow Warriors prefer death and destruction,” she said in a quiet voice that sank into my bones.“As females, we balance our need to protect with the need to nurture.”
Her palm flattened against the table, and she leaned back in her chair slightly.“Male Shadow Warriors destroyed our home planet through war and terror, dragging female Warriors with them.We warned them for centuries, but they wouldn’t listen.If it breathed and wouldn’t surrender, it needed to die.To prove themselves, they killed by the thousands.They destroyed small villages and large towns, wiping out everyone as spoils of war, including the children.A hundred years before our planet became unlivable, they smeared babies’ blood on their bodies to celebrate their victories.”
There was no anger in her words.This history had happened long before she was born.But the thought of men committing such atrocities, killing an entire planet, should be upsetting.It was to me.It also held an eerie similarity to what the Federation was doing now.A shiver ran up my spine.Was Earth on a similar path?King and I thought it was.We were fighting against it with everything we had.
