“Wearing suits in the current world is ridiculous,” I growled under my breath.Idiots.It was also ridiculous that women here were dressed in skirts including short ones like what Marinah wore when they sent her to the island.They were each young and pretty.My thoughts shifted to Marinah.She had told me once that she’d worn military fatigues.Her so-called analytics job had been a complete sham.
“We’ll place the band here,” a man said, standing about twenty feet away.He held a clipboard, not a gun.Beast grumbled in my chest at the stupidity.
I crossed the room like I owned it and headed toward an exit door, which led to another hallway with rooms on either side.I started checking doors until I found one unlocked.I opened it, glanced inside, and we entered.
Folded tables and chairs were stacked against two walls.It was a storage room.
“They’re having a party,” Marinah hissed.
“With a band,” Labyrinth added.
We all smiled.It wasn’t that we didn’t celebrate on the island.The harvest festival had become a yearly tradition.The humans partied while the Shadow Warriors stood guard.It was our job to keep them safe.
“Hopefully, it will be a large party and President Barnes attends,” Alden said.
A heavy “Humph” escaped Marinah’s throat.“He’ll be here.There’s no way he would dream of missing a chance for pomp and circumstance.”
“Are those verbs?”Alden asked her with a grin.
“They are now,” Marinah replied, heading to the back of the room where another door was located.We followed her.The smaller room was about six by six, with a sink and cabinets lining one wall.“We’ll wait in here until the party starts.If they come in for tables, they might not open this door, and we’re good,” she said, then looked at Alden, who stood closest to the door.“Kill them if they do enter and ask questions later.”
My mate was definitely wound tight and on the bloodthirsty side right now.
She turned to Labyrinth.“Find another way back to the tunnel we came in through.We may not be able to go through the converted ballroom when we leave.”
Marinah gave me the look after he left.For her, the hard part was waiting for the action.I didn’t care for it either, but I’d done it more times than she had.We sat silently; in case someone entered the first room.I clasped her hand, and she gripped mine back.
Labyrinth returned within twenty minutes.
“The hallways form a square around the government’s main room, now set up as a ballroom,” he explained.“If we go in the opposite direction from where we entered, there are stairs leading to an area above ground.Each hallway has a separate exit to a different military camp.I’m unsure where the fourth set of stairs leads.”
We wouldn’t worry about it on this trip.
We sat quietly again.An hour later, someone entered the outer room.It was more than one person by the sound of it.We stood and went on high alert, with Alden at the door.They shuffled tables and chairs and avoided death by staying on their side of the wall.
“If we go in as Warriors, terror will be on our side,” I said softly to Marinah once the crew had left the outer room.It was a conversation we had back on the island, but I was trying one last time.
“We don’t know if they’ll shoot,” she whispered.“They had no problem killing their red stripes.We need to at least try to get President Barnes out of camp without alerting anyone.”
The outside door opened again, and we went quiet.Someone moved a few chairs, muttering a soft curse.Marinah stepped closer to Alden and leaned into the door, turning the handle carefully before cracking it open an inch.
Without warning, she burst into the outer room.A short scream echoed, cut off almost instantly.I was at the door fast enough to see Marinah break the woman’s neck.She caught the body, lowered it silently to the floor, and dragged it into the smaller room.
She looked up at me, and for the first time, I saw something in her expression that I hadn’t seen before.It said she understood war now, really understood it.People died so we could live.It was them or us, and there was no time for second-guessing.
I cocked my head, silently asking what she was doing.
“I need a dress for the party,” Marinah said softly.No sadness showed over the life she’d taken, just determination.I glanced down at the woman.She was, in fact, wearing a black gown.
“Black won’t show as much blood,” Marinah added.
Marinah wasn’t the same woman she had been by a long shot, and she was thinking purely as our leader.
We stripped the dress off the body and turned our backs while she changed clothes.
“I’m decent,” she finally said.
I tried not to smile as I watched her struggle to stay upright in the heels.She wobbled slightly, but she caught herself before falling.
