Page 39 of Shadow

She jumped up so quickly that her chair screeched back across the floor. I wasn’t sure where she thought she was going, but she took three hurried steps away from the table before her shoe caught on the edge of the carpet.

And sheface-planted.

Right in front of me.

Again.

I stood up, hands on my hips, watching as she rolled over. Blood dripped from her chin, and she looked dazed.

Shaking my head, I couldn’t help adding commentary. “You need more work than Boot might be able to provide.”

Her hand flew to her chin, swiping at the blood. “Actually, the Federation trained me to fall from an early age. It was my most honed skill,” she said, her voice carrying up from the floor.

The humor and quick wit were just like her father’s. I remembered it well.

“Any chance you could help me up? The training stopped atfalling,” she quipped.

I leaned down, grabbed her under the arms, and lifted her upright in one smooth motion before she could do more than let out a surprised squeak.

The sound pulled a huff of air from my chest, part exasperation, part amusement. There was nothing remotely warrior-like about her clumsiness, and yet, I couldn’t help but see potential.

Standing that close, her scent hit me full force. It was unlike anything I’d encountered before. A blend of blood trickling from her chin, the soap she used, and the unmistakable aroma of her femininity. Together, it created something entirely unique and stirred a response in me I wasn’t prepared for.

Beast stirred too, but for the first time that night, he didn’t want herdead.Instead, he flooded my system with oxytocin and dopamine, making his intentions abundantly clear.

He wanted mehorny,and he was doing a damn good job of it. I knew his game, though, and this wasn’t the time for it. Gritting my teeth, I shoved him back, keeping the internal struggle locked tightly inside.

She didn’t need to know there was a battle of lust raging within me and it wasn’t all Beast.

“You’ve studied hellhounds?” she asked, her voice shaky, barely above a whisper. “Why? How?” Her gaze remained fixed on my chest, and a drop of blood from her chin splattered onto the floor.

“We’ll get you cleaned up, and I’ll show you,” I said gently, catching a glimpse of something in her I hadn’t noticed before. There was a subtle allure about her. It was unexpected and somewhat disarming. Between her fiery spirit and endearing clumsiness, I felt a pull I wasn’t prepared for. It was unsettling, and I knew it wasn’t a good thing. While my mind wrestled with these thoughts, she was still grappling with the revelation that we had hellhounds. Her neck strained, the rapid pulse in her veins betraying her fear as her wide eyes finally met mine. The horror in her expression was profound.

When a hellhound died, it turned to dust. Capturing them alive had been our only option. They were flawless predators. Perfect killers. We were better. And studying them was the only way we had any hope of understanding, let alone defeating them.

“You’re telling me you actively have hellhounds in captivity? You’recrazy,” she whispered.

I held her gaze, letting the tension linger before responding with a broad smile. “Finally, something we can both agree on.”

Chapter Fifteen

Marinah

King said he had hellhounds, and as much as I wanted to doubt him, there was no reason to. The very idea sent a shiver through me. Hellhounds were relentless, killing with single-minded precision, and they were almost impossible to destroy. They would break off parts of their bodies without hesitation and slip through barriers like fences, gates, even prison cells, where they massacred those inside by the tens of thousands.

The Federation never succeeded in capturing one alive, let alone keeping it contained. Every attempt ended in bloodshed. Whenever humans tried, humans died.

Six months before the war’s end, though I should probably have called it the first war since the hounds were returning, one of them breached the underground compound where I worked. It killed twenty-three people. Half of them were heavily armed.

Three of my co-workers and I managed to squeeze into a reinforced steel closet and slam the door shut just as the hellhound was about to tear us apart. Inches separated us from certain death. It battered the door until our rescuers came. I’ve had nightmares about that moment ever since.

And now King said he could take me to see a hellhound.

Before the war, my life was normal. Busy. I went to school, hung out with friends, and dreamed about my future. Thinking about my friends tightened my chest. Hailey, Brittney, Corey, and Kaitlin didn’t make it.

I never saw what happened to them, but I knew they were gone. For years, I clung to hope. Maybe they’d made it to one of the safety zones, maybe I’d see them again. But they never came. Eventually, reality crushed that fragile hope into silence.

I estimated that fewer than a million humans survived after five years. I wished I was wrong, but the analysts I worked with agreed with me. Having my father as long as I did was a miracle. The people who survived lost everyone they loved.

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