Page 77 of Warrior

Blood slicked my claws, and its tang filled my mouth as hellhounds disintegrated into ash beneath our onslaught.Two came at me at once.I slashed one down and caught the other with a raking strike across its stomach.It twisted out of reach before I could land the killing blow.The hellhound turned for another attack, but this time I was ready.A quick, decisive strike ended it.

Around me, the sounds of tearing flesh and gurgling death filled the enclosed space.More hellhounds poured into the hall; their numbers seemed overwhelming.They snarled and fought each other to get to the front, creating a momentary bottleneck that worked to our advantage.

It took everything we had to hold the line.

Kill,Ms.Beast purred darkly.Kill.

The hum in my ears was relentless, blending with the ragged breathing of the Warriors around me.Thick, sticky blood coated us all, filling the air with the warped scent of hellhound death.

“Marinah!”King’s voice rang out.I shoved past the blood-splattered Warriors, skidding to a stop beside him.Instinct took over as we immediately started checking each other for injuries.My gaze swept over his body.I turned just enough to ensure he didn’t notice the scratch on my side that was now a slow, steady burn.

When I glanced up, I caught sight of the men nearest us, staring with wide, slack-jawed expressions, like the other Warrior had a few minutes before.Their bloodied mouths gaped like gruesome caricatures of disbelief.

King slid an arm around my waist, pulling me close to his side.“She’s a Warrior.Get over it,” he growled.His tone left no room for argument.“We’ve got bigger problems.The Federation isn’t planning to let us out of here alive.”

The incessant hum was suddenly drowned out by the blaring wail of an emergency horn.

It was a sharp, agonizing sound that stabbed through my skull.I clamped my hands over my ears, gritting my teeth to keep from screaming.Around me, the Warriors flinched and growled, their own enhanced senses overwhelmed.

Thirty excruciating seconds crawled by before my hearing adjusted, and dread settled like ice in my chest.

I knew exactly what that horn meant.

“They’re blowing the tunnels!”Landan’s voice cut through the hallway, echoing my worst nightmare.

“We need a way out!”King bellowed over the deafening sound.

“Up ahead!”I shouted, pointing.“There’s a door we can try.”

King sprinted toward it, slamming his massive body against the metal with a thunderous crash.It didn’t budge.He tried again.Nothing.His shoulders heaved with frustration.

I bolted toward another door, twenty yards away.Blocked.

“There’s an escape hatch in the lab!”Landan yelled.

He was right.The hatch had been installed after a hellhound breached the tunnels years ago.It was meant as an emergency exit for workers, a last resort escape.

Before I could respond, the blaring horn cut off abruptly, leaving a chilling silence in its wake.My heart hammered as the full weight of what that silence meant sank in.

Landan’s shout carried like a death knell.“Time’s up.We’ve got sixty seconds before the tunnels blow.”

Protocol.Every worker in the tunnels knew what the silence after the horn signified.Sixty seconds to survive.

“Move!”King roared.“Get to the lab!”

The sound of grinding metal and crumbling cement filled the tunnel behind us.Light flooded in as the heavy door slid open.Beck, with his signature scowl, stuck his head inside.

“She’s gonna blow,” he said like this was just another day in paradise.“You thought you’d have all this fun without me,” he bellowed.

There was no time to process his unexpected reappearance or celebrate the fact that he was alive.King shoved me toward the opening, and I stumbled forward, growling in protest.Typical.He didn’t follow.I made a mental note to punch him in the eye later.

As soon as Landan and Mila scrambled through, we sprinted toward safety.We were halfway to the outer wall when the first explosion rocked the earth beneath us, throwing us to the ground.I hauled Mila up as Landan gained his feet, and we continued running.More explosions followed, the thunderous booms shaking everything around us.Dust and debris rained down.The Federation wasn’t just collapsing sections of the tunnels.They were taking out the entire network.

We didn’t go over the wall.Instead, we slipped through a massive hole that I assumed Beck and his men had created.Beyond it, hundreds of Warriors stood ready, their huge bodies outlined by smoke.I glanced back, scanning the perimeter for King.

And there he was, bloody, battered, and every bit the terrifying force I’d come to love.He carried Harris’s body to the wall and gently laid him on the ground.Skylar raced from behind him and dropped to her knees beside her husband.Tears streamed down her face as she rested her head on his chest.

Beck walked up to King and slammed a clawed hand against his back.“Miss me?”he asked, his tone lighter than I’d ever heard it.There was something different about him.Something undeniably happy.Maybe it was the adrenaline.

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