Elright did as she said.I wasn’t sure what Marinah was planning but held my thoughts.After Elright returned with the whistles, Marinah turned to the Shadow Warriors standing at attention.“Hand over the whistles you’re carrying,” she ordered.
The five men, who worked daily as hellhound controllers, didn’t hesitate.They quickly handed their whistles to her.My focus stayed on Marinah and her strange request, not the Warriors.She handed Elright the whistles she’d collected and instructed him to distribute the reserve ones he’d brought.
Walking toward the pen, Marinah leapt over the fencing with ease, clearing the barbed wire.She landed squarely in the middle of the hellhounds.With a sharp blast of her whistle, she directed the snarling creatures to move as she wanted.
We’d all practiced this before, so I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to prove.Still, I kept quiet.
Marinah jumped from the pen and turned to the five Warriors assembled before her.“I want each of you to do what I just did.One at a time,” she said.
“Why?”Campbell, a notoriously churlish Warrior, asked, his tone laced with defiance, which surprised me.We didn’t question our alpha.
The other Warriors shot sideways glances at him, their expressions a mix of shock and disbelief.My beast surged to the forefront of my mind, ready to act, but Marinah beat me to it.Dressed in her Warrior gear, designed for quick shifts, she didn’t even bother transforming.Instead, she strode up to Campbell like she didn’t have a care in the world.
With one swift motion, she grabbed him by the throat and hurled him over the pen’s fencing and into the cage.He hit the ground hard, landing on his side.
The look of wild terror in his eyes was almost pitiful as he scrambled to his feet.The hellhounds turned toward him, their snarls growing louder.Campbell screamed, dropping the whistle Elright had handed him, and leaped from the pen.
I had no idea what Marinah was doing, but she didn’t hesitate.Her human form melted away as Nova erupted from within her.
The transformation was explosive.Massive teeth that rivaled our beast’s gleamed as her claws extended, sharp enough to tear through steel like tissue paper.Her wild, glowing eyes locked onto Campbell, who didn’t even have time to scream.
Nova lunged.
The men instinctively gave her space.Marinah grabbed Campbell’s legs, yanked them out from under him, and spun him around her body like a rag doll.Then she slammed him into the ground with a force that made the ground tremble.He screamed, and his Beast broke free in a desperate attempt to save himself.
As I watched, the pieces clicked into place.Something was wrong with the whistles Elright had handed out, and Marinah had known they were defective.Campbell had known too.He was in league with Knet.
Campbell’s Beast was no match for Marinah.She toyed with him, taunting him with her power.She lunged for his shoulder and wrenched it out of its socket like it was nothing.Methodically, she moved to his other shoulder and dislocated it as well.Then came the humerus bones in both arms, snapping them like dry twigs.
His legs were next.The grotesque sounds that came from his throat were horrific, but Marinah wasn’t finished.She moved on to the smaller bones, breaking them one by one with precise, deliberate force.
“Should we stop her?”Elright asked, hesitantly.
I glanced at him, keeping one eye on Marinah.“If you want your arms and legs broken, go for it,” I replied, chewing on a piece of straw and thoroughly enjoying the bloodbath in front of me.Marinah was giving me some excellent ideas for when I finally got my hands on Knet.
Elright shrugged, his expression dark.“Traitors deserve what they get.”He’d figured it out too.
Marinah’s control over her Nova form was always tenuous, so it surprised me she didn’t finish Campbell off quickly.There had to be a reason.Once she was satisfied that Campbell was incapable of crawling away, she turned her massive head toward me and spoke, her voice a guttural roar.
“Question himth before I eath him,” she snarled, her teeth bared and dripping with blood.
Oh, honey, that’s impressive, I thought, hiding my admiration behind a neutral expression.Slowly, I walked toward my mate, using my foot to flip Campbell onto his back.
“You have something to say?”I asked, my voice laced with menace.
“Fuck you,” he spat, blood and broken fangs spewing from his mouth as he writhed on the ground.
I dropped to my haunches, grabbed his braids to still him, and leaned in close, letting the heat of my breath wash over his face.My fingers circled his throat with a very human hand, squeezing just enough to make him squirm.
“The only deal I’ll make is a quick death,” I promised.“Marinah won’t be as kind.She’ll tear you limb from limb while you’re still alive.And when you can no longer scream, she’ll slowly pull out your intestines and eat them.The decision is yours, and you’ve got two seconds to make it.”
Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if Marinah would eat his intestines, but at this point, I wouldn’t put anything past her.I was still amazed she had controlled her Nova form so well.
The Warrior’s wide eyes darted to Marinah and back to me.His tongue flicked out, licking his bloody lips.“They’re attacking in forty-eight hours,” he spat, his voice thick with pain and fear.“And there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”His gaze shifted back to Marinah, and his lips curled in a sneer.“No woman will ever lead me.”
I rose to my feet, placing my boot squarely on his face.With a sharp, deliberate strike, I dislocated his jaw.More fangs flew free, accompanied by a mouthful of blood.His eyes snapped to mine, wide with panic, but I didn’t stop.My foot came down again, harder this time, crushing his face beneath it.
I’d promised him a quick death.I never said it would be painless.
