Page 86 of Shadow

MyMarinah was a Shadow Warrior.

She was powerful and breathtakingly beautiful.

I loosened the straps.

Dangerous,Beast said from deep inside me.

He knew.

He hadknownshe was something more. He hadknownshe was dangerous.

And now, his reaction to her made sense.

There hadn’t been a female Shadow Warrior born since our people had left the home planet. It defied everything we knew, yet here she was.

Amiracle.

Her body slumped, and she went completely still. The room fell into silence, save for the sound of her labored breathing.

“How is this possible?” I asked, my grip on her arm tightening.

Axel’s voice was thoughtful as he hooked up fluids and began wrapping her injured arm. “Remember the women who left in the early years after we arrived here? It’s in our history. She must be a descendant of one of them. It’s the only explanation.”

“She can beat the poison, then?”

Axel’s expression turned grim. “I don’t know. As you’re well aware, I’ve never treated a female Shadow Warrior before.”

He checked her vitals and grabbed an IV needle, sticking it into a vein. “I’ll keep her sedated overnight,” he continued. “New Warriors are volatile. We can’t risk her waking up and killing one of us.”

I glanced down at Marinah, her transformed body still radiating strength even in unconsciousness.

She was unlike anything I had ever seen.

She was an amazing miracle.

And she wasmine.

Axel busied himself around the room. Marinah didn’t move over the next ten minutes.

“I’m going to step outside and check on a few things,” Axel said before leaving the room.

The silence ticked by, but I hardly noticed. My eyes remained fixed on Marinah, studying every detail.

She was taller, her shoulders broader, and her hands and feet were tipped with sharp claws. Her form radiated power, yet she retained a grace that made her the most extraordinary Warrior I had ever seen, and I couldn’t stop looking at her.

Axel came in and out of the room during the night, and eventually, exhaustion took over. I fell asleep on a chair I pulled over, my head resting on the corner of the bed.

“King?” Marinah’s voice woke me, a cry of fear that had me bolting upright.

Her voice was rough, muffled by the shape of her new elongated jaws. Speech would take practice, but she managed to get the words out.

“What’s wrong with me?” she growled.

“Marinah,” I said gently, moving closer. “You were bitten by a hellhound. We gave you the antidote, and you’ll be okay in a few hours.”

I didn’t tell her how close it had been, how narrowly she had avoided death. But the fact that she was awake now, speaking, meant the danger had passed.

Before I had fallen asleep, Axel had brought news:Boot didn’t survive.

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