He shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny before adding, “Oh, and there’s a Gatling gun we found in a scrap pile.It’s hand-crank and comes with ten thousand rounds of ammo if we can get it working.From what I’ve read, it breaks down constantly, but if we can keep it running, it’ll cause some serious damage.It also looks wicked and is a great psychological repellent.”
Marinah turned to Beck next.“Move every man, woman, and child inland to the citadel and surrounding buildings using the tunnels,” she commanded.“I’ll notify Landan at the main outpost.If he wants to fly his people here for safety, we’ll accommodate them.”
When we first took over the island, we’d built a network of tunnels to move people safely and unseen.Now, they’d become essential.
“If Landan brings all his people, we’ll be thin on supplies,” I pointed out.
Marinah turned her gaze on me, her eyes blazing, daring me to challenge her.“We will handle all their people if needed,” she said, leaving no room for argument.
She hadn’t wavered once since calling the meeting to order.Marinah wasn’t asking for advice or offering us options.This was Marinah the Nova, our alpha.
“We need a distraction,” she said, her gaze shifted to Labyrinth.“We must know where the Federation will attack first.They’ll stage off the Florida coast.If we locate them, we’ll attack from the air and buy ourselves some time.”
Her eyes lifted as if she’d already made her decision and turned to Nokita.“You have one week to get the large sub operational.One day for the small one.We need to confirm if their sub is in the vicinity, and the only way to do that is by seeing underwater.Make it happen.Cabel will handle the aircraft while you’re working on the subs.”
Cabel, who had been quietly waiting without speaking or drawing her attention, grunted in assent.
Marinah stood, her posture straight.“We don’t know how long we have before the Federation returns.You’ve been preparing for this moment since you arrived, and now it’s time to defend our home.We have firepower and we’re able to control hellhounds.The humans here have something to fight for, and Shadow Warriors are hungry for blood.This is our home, and no one is taking it from us.”
She paused, her eyes sweeping over the room.“I say we end this meeting with another round of meditation.I’ll walk us through it again.”
She closed her eyes, and we followed suit.
Five minutes later, the Warriors filed out of the room without a word.No one met my gaze while I stood by the door.If they had, we probably would’ve burst out laughing, and that would’ve put a very angry Nova Warrior in our path.It was a risk none of us were willing to take.Sometimes silence was the best strategy, especially when it came to Marinah.
I stretched my arms over my head and yawned.
“You’re feeling relaxed because of the meditation,” Marinah said, coming up behind me and placing a hand on my back.
“I think you’re right,” I replied, managing to keep a straight face.
“I’d like to check on our hellhounds and thought you could go with me,” she added.
Marinah hated visiting the captured hellhounds.I turned to her.“What brought this on?”I asked, genuinely surprised.
“I’m queen.How dare you question me,” Marinah said, her tone filled with something I couldn’t name.
“I don’t like the look in your eyes,” I replied, narrowing mine suspiciously.
She angled her hip and leaned against the edge of the table.“I don’t like looking at hellhounds, so I guess we’re even.”
Two captured hellhounds had once been kept in a locked facility inside the citadel.Now, with over two hundred of them, we’d had to find a way to keep them contained and ensure the safety of the humans on the island.
Since the toxin from a hellhound bite or scratch killed humans within a short time, hellhounds escaping was our greatest fear.Shadow Warriors injected themselves regularly with medication to combat the toxin, but we hadn’t been able to find a cure for humans.That meant taking no chances.
The solution came in the form of an old prison west of the citadel.We reinforced the concrete floors with steel to prevent the hellhounds from burrowing out, and the locked cells kept them securely contained.The old prison yard gave us a safe place to practice using the whistles to control them.
While Marinah was on Love Island, I’d placed Elright, one of our elite sniper shooters, in charge of the facility.The hellhounds had been under Knet’s supervision until his betrayal.The fury over what he’d done still gnawed at me.
Kill, my Beast growled inside me.
I wholeheartedly agreed.
At the hellhound facility, Marinah had Elright bring out a small group of the creatures.She pulled a special whistle from her pocket and blew into it.Instantly, the hellhounds in their specially constructed pen turned their attention to her, snarling and swiping at the barrier separating them from us.
She blew two short bursts into the whistle, and as if controlled by a single mind, the hellhounds moved as one unit to the left.
“Elright, bring out the reserve whistles,” Marinah commanded.
