Page 23 of Princess

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Seven hours later, just after sundown, the new children arrived.

I stood waiting with several women who had volunteered to help care for them.One woman, Maria, clutched her husband’s hand.She had given birth to a stillborn child just months before, and now, she had hope in her eyes.

The first to step off the plane was a teenage boy, maybe fifteen, his defiant sneer a challenge to the world.Two Shadow Warriors followed him, their expressions unreadable.

Garrett came next, his usual calm presence reassuring.An island woman came after him, then the rest of the children began to descend, stepping cautiously into an entirely new world.Most looked between five and twelve years old, their faces worn with the kind of wariness that came from survival.I counted four older than seven or eight, including the first boy.

My biggest question was how they had managed to survive before the outposts took them in.

Finally, Missy emerged with the other two women we sent.Each cradled a toddler, their tiny arms curled around the women’s necks.Vehicles stood ready to transport them to the citadel.Missy, smiling, made her way to me with her own waddle.

“This is Fred,” she said, shifting the small boy in her arms who rested almost on top of her round belly.“He’s a handful, but also a sweetie.The four oldest children have been looking after all of them.They’re worried about being separated.”

“We’ll work something out.”I met her gaze after peering at the child who appeared to be about ten months old.“Thank you for going in my stead.”

Missy’s grin widened.“Us fat bellies need to stick together.”

I let out a small laugh, my hand instinctively resting on my stomach.“Want to trade?”

“Not on your life.”

Our laughter faded, and I shifted gears.“Did Ruth mention her plan to train the children for self-protection?”

Missy exhaled, shaking her head with something close to amusement.“She did.I’m unsure what’s changed in that child.I haven’t had to reprimand her once since she got back from staying with Maylin.”She paused, lips quirking.“I think Maylin beat her.If so, it worked, and I will adopt that strategy immediately.”

Missy was in a good mood, which meant things had gone better than expected.

“Let’s grab one of the cars and get these kids settled.”

A piercing scream ripped through the night from twenty feet away.

Chapter Ten

Marinah

Hellhounds advanced from the road we’d driven in on.I stopped counting at ten.I hadn’t seen this many together, other than the Federation’s attack, for over a year.

The teenage boy who had stepped off the plane first reacted instantly, pulling a knife from his waist.The other three teens, two girls and another boy, rushed forward with him, weapons in hand.

The hellhounds’ sharp claws and teeth gleamed in the dim light.Their forms were deceptive.The true horror emerged when you saw them strung up.King’s men had captured two alive, and their elongated limbs stretched grotesquely, arms unfurling from too-broad shoulders with legs that extended downward in an unnatural way for canines.They were actually dead humans.

Their appearance wasn’t the worst part, though.This group seemed different.It was like someone controlled them.They weren’t behaving as erratically as what happened when the whistles were used to control them.These movements were almost orchestrated, and I’ll admit it freaked me out.I had often wondered if a tiny bit of their humanity remained behind.If so, I hadn’t seen it, yet.Actually, I didn’t want to see it.So much easier to think their brains were mush and there was nothing left inside.

We weren’t sure if older human corpses that turned into hellhounds were natural selection via the modified formaldehyde or if they all turned, and the newer corpses formed a different breed.Either way, they were our human dead, twisted into something monstrous.If you didn’t know what they were, the signs were easy to miss.Until King told me what I was looking at, I didn’t see the truth.

They were also hard to kill, and the only way to do it was to remove the head.They turned to ash shortly after death, as if the horror they embodied refused to leave a trace.It made studying their corpses impossible.

The humans, including the children, were in serious danger.I shifted to Ms.Beast mid-stride, my body flowing into Warrior form effortlessly with a strong burst of K-5, the hormones and chemicals that gave us the ability to shift.The nightmare I had this morning flashed through my mind, and I had to shake it away.I ran and leapt over the teens, clearing their heads by a foot.King stayed close beside me, his powerful muscles sending him even higher.My Warrior form incorporated the baby, and my stomach didn’t stick out more than a few inches.

“Guard the children!”I commanded the Shadow Warriors who were moving toward the action.I glanced back at the teens.“Their bite won’t harm us, but it will kill you.Stay back!”

A low, guttural snarl rolled through the darkness.Gleaming eyes locked onto me and King.

The stench of cloying rot thickened the air.My senses sharpened, and K-5 pounded through my veins.Growls vibrated deep inside my chest.Ms.Beast wanted blood.

Beside me, King’s Warrior form was a thing of sheer power.His massive frame bristled with raw energy, his fur rippling like liquid fire under the tarmac lights.

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