Page 85 of Shadow

“No,” I moaned as the hopelessness settled in.

“King, look at her!”

I tore my attention from her arm. Marinah’s body began convulsing violently, but there was something unnatural about it. Her muscles rippled and bulged beneath her skin, as though something primal was breaking free.

Her head jerked back, and her eyes rolled upward, exposing only the whites. A guttural sound escaped her throat.

A sound thatdidn’t belong to a human.

“What’s happening?” I demanded desperately.

Axel stepped forward cautiously, his face pale. “I don’t know,” he admitted, his eyes locked on Marinah. “But this... it’s not the poison. It’s something else.”

Marinah’s body arched off the table, the straps straining to hold her down. Her skin glowed faintly, the light pulsing with each shudder. Beast stirred within me, uneasy, his growl reverberating in my chest.

“Marinah?” I whispered, afraid to breathe.

Her convulsions stopped as suddenly as they had started, leaving the room in eerie silence.

For a moment, I thought it was over, that she wasgone.

Then her eyes snapped open.

They were glowing, feral, with something entirely new.

“King,” she whispered, her voice layered with somethingnot her own.

She was transforming.

But into what, I had no idea.

“What’s happening?” I asked again, stunned, trying to catch my brain up with what I was seeing.

Axel’s eyes burned as he reached for the scalpel in my hand. “Give me that and keep talking to her. You need to keep her as calm as possible.”

Beast chose that moment to make his displeasure known, slamming against my ribs with enough force to leave me wincing. I gritted my teeth and shoved him back into place, a new terror mounting. I grasped Marinah’s uninjured hand, holding it tightly in mine.

“Marinah, baby, it’s going to be okay,” I murmured. The words felt like a lie, but I didn’t know what else to say.

“Don’t stop,” Axel urged. “Keep talking to her.”

A low, deep growl rumbled from Marinah’s chest.

For a terrifying moment, I thought she was becoming one of the hellhounds that had bitten her.

“Doc, what the hell is going on?” I demanded again.

Axel didn’t answer immediately, injecting her with another dose of the antidote.

I watched, helpless, as Marinah’s body began to shift and reshape itself.

Then Axel looked up, his face breaking into an incredulous smile. “She’s one of us, King. Marinah is a Shadow Warrior.”

Before I could fully process his words, she let out a piercing scream. Her body contorted, bursting apart with a surge of energy. In its place, a Warrior emerged.

“Loosen the straps!” Axel shouted.

My heart pounded as I recognized the creature before me.

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