I JUMP HALF out of my pants when I turn from the door and see Boot standing in my room partially hidden in the shadows. “What are you doing here?”
From his expression it’s something bad. “My son is missing. He talks about killing hellhounds all the time. His plastic knife is missing along with his bicycle.”
Fear seizes me. I care about Che and refuse to allow anything to happen to him. But hellhounds are the creatures of my nightmares, and the terror I feel at even the thought of being near them almost takes me to my knees. “He would go out alone to find them?”
“That’s what he’s done, we know it.” The worry in Boot’s eyes is clear. If Che runs into a hellhound, he’s dead.
“You need to tell King.”
“If I can’t find Che I will, but I was hoping you would help me look.”
He’s out of his mind. “You’re out of your mind,” I say out loud. “I can barely protect myself and even that’s debatable.” I deepen my breathing so I don’t hyperventilate.
“He’s on a bike. How far can he get? Please, I need your help. Maylin is beside herself, but she can’t stop vomiting. She wants to kill me right now.”
“Why can’t you go to King?” I ask because if I’m going to help him, he needs to tell me the truth. Another slow steady breath.
“Maylin and Che have been staying in my room here at the citadel, which is against King’s orders. Another Warrior will be honor bound to inform King or I wouldn’t be here.”
Oh, that’s just great. More secrets and I’m a last resort. “My guards will be here shortly.” I turn and whip back the bedspread and place the pillows under it so it looks like I’m sleeping. I refuse to concentrate on what we’re planning, or I’ll never go through with it. The guards haven’t entered the room at night, that I know of, so this is probably overkill, but it feels safer.
I quickly grab some workout clothes from a drawer and run into the bathroom to change. Boot’s stressed expression follows me. I’m out in under a minute and we leave the room as quickly as possible. Boot leads me in a different direction than I expected. “This corridor goes to the personal quarters and it’s still early enough that there’s less chance we’ll run into someone.” He lifts a bar off a heavy metal door at the end of one of the hallways and we step outside. “This is where his bike was.” He shows me an alcove that has a large toy truck sitting in the dirt next to an empty spot that must have been where the bike rested. “We’ll take my motorcycle and see if we can head him off before he leaves the city.”
“Are you sure there are no hellhounds in the city?” I ask carefully, fighting back my very real terror. It took two weeks of daily training to exhaust me to the point I could sleep comfortably under the same roof as the two hellhounds King captured.
“They come out of the ground and then head for the other side of the island. We still don’t know why. We’ve only seen a few in the city and none recently.”
I jump on the motorcycle and wrap my arms around his waist, which is nothing like how it is with King. When Boot takes off, I almost fall because I’m not holding tight enough. When my fingers sink into his waist he flinches and I can’t help wondering what the whole thing about Shadow Warriors being near me means. I have little time to concentrate on these thoughts as we race through the streets and I keep my eyes peeled for Che. I look down alleys to the right and Boot checks to the left. After thirty minutes, he pulls over and shuts down the bike. “I thought we would find him. He must be outside the city.”
“Then let’s go. We need to get to him before a hellhound.” I can’t believe I’m saying this.
“We’ll go back and I’ll face King. He won’t kill me.” His face shows the lie.
“We need to find Che and we don’t have time to waste,” I say with more determination than I feel. We may actually run into hellhounds. I can’t think about it or I’ll jump off the bike no matter how far it is to get back to King.
Boot starts the bike again and we take off. Twenty minutes later, I hear a strange sound. I move my head in close to Boot’s. “Stop the bike, I heard something,” I shout over the engine. He pulls over and shuts it down.
Maybe I was hearing things and maybe the sound came from the bike which pretty much drowns out everything. We’re almost ready to take off again when the sound I heard earlier reappears. It’s a short scream.
“Che,” Boot shouts and jumps off the bike. He leaves me behind to figure out how to bring the darn kickstand down, which I do, but it wastes valuable time. When the motorcycle stays up on its own, I start running in the direction of the scream.
I turn the corner and almost hit Boot’s back. The heat coming off his body can be felt through my clothes and I’m pretty sure I know what that means.
“Daddy,” Che says through tears.
I glance around Boot and see what nightmares are made of. Che has climbed onto a large garbage can, grabbed a ladder from a building next to him, and pulled himself just out of reach of an undetermined number of the unholy monsters. I’m thankful they aren’t climbing after him. Can they climb? I’m unsure however, I know they’re capable of jumping and Che was smart to scramble high enough. Unfortunately, there are too many to fight off, and I know we’re going to die.
Boot’s beast bursts from his body with a snarl. His shirt rips and his shoes all but shred as the claws on his feet tear through them. He doesn’t say anything, just runs full on at the hellhounds. Crap.
Che goes quiet as his father rips into the creatures. Boot’s completely outnumbered and there’s no way he can make it out of this alive. I need to get to Che. I glance up at the ladder and see another about ten feet away. If I run and jump, I should be able to make it. With Che in danger, I don’t think about stumbling or falling, my only concern is a five-year-old child.
Without thought, I start running. A hellhound sees me and moves in my direction, but I grab the rail of the ladder and pull myself up before he catches me. “Che, climb,” I yell. He’s scared, but he turns and starts climbing upward. I do the same. Even with his small arms and legs, he gets to the roof first.
“My dad,” he cries.
“Your father can handle the hellhounds.” It’s such a lie. “We need to get out of here so he knows you’re safe.” I point to the other side of the roof. “Let’s see if there’s another way down.”
He runs to the other side, where we find another ladder. I go down first with Che right behind me. When we’re on solid ground, I give up on heading back to the motorcycle. I can’t drive the thing anyway and the hellhounds will see us when they make it past Boot. Just when I think we may have a chance; Che and I hear Boot shout and Che takes off running toward his father.
“No,” I yell and charge after him. He practically slides around the corner and I can’t see him but I hear his scream. When I get to him, Che is frozen. A pile of hellhounds is on Boot ripping him to pieces. I grab Che’s arm and pull him back. He fights me, so I reach around his waist and lift him. I make it about three feet when a hellhound attacks me. “Run, Che,” I say letting him go. I turn and use my foot to kick the hound back, but even I know it’s too late. I have a bite on my arm and it burns worse than anything I’ve ever felt.
This is similar to how my mother died. She saved me at the cost of her own life and finally I understand why she made the sacrifice. Che may not be my child, but he means something to me, and he deserves to live.
“Che,” I yell again. “You need to run and go get help.” It’s all I can think to say to get him out of here.
A deafening growl of rage comes from Boot. He explodes from the pack like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Hellhounds fly in all directions and Boot starts running toward us. He immediately sees my arm and even though he’s bleeding and badly injured, the look on his face fills with despair.
“Take my son and run. I’ll hold them off. Just get him back to the compound.” He turns and decapitates a hellhound with one swipe of his claws, but three more take his place and there are more behind them.
“Dad?” Che yells.
“I love you, son. Take care of your mother.”
I run for Che and this time I take no chances. I lift him into my arms and run. Boot’s roar sounds behind us as Che cries into my shoulder.
He’s heavy and I’m growing weaker by the minute. I don’t stop, though. I need to get him back before the poison sets in and I can’t move.
So many things enter my mind as I run: I never made love to King, I failed my country, I’m saving a little boy and this is the defining moment in my life. I always wondered why I lived when so many died. Now I have the answer; I’m here to save a little boy whom I love. Within minutes, the pain is almost unbearable and still, I run. We stumble a few times, but I stay upright. I’m just grateful Che is a small child and I’m able to carry him at all. I have Boot to thank for my new abilities. No, I tell myself. I won’t think of Boot’s sacrifice.
The streets are dark and only the stars and moon light my way. I think I’m going in the right direction, but I can’t be sure. It’s the sound of voices that finally stops me.
“They’re over here,” someone yells.
I go to my knees and Che scrambles out of my arms. “Marinah?” King calls.
“Get Che. There are hellhounds behind us and Boot is fighting them. You need to help Boot.” I curl into a ball, hoping the pain will be over soon. We don’t remember the pain of being born and the pain of dying should be that way too. I did it, saved Che, and the relief washes over me along with the pain. Me, the woman without a backbone who shouldn’t have survived this long. I only regret what King and I never shared. At least I met him and know there was someone left in this world who could possibly love me.
“You’ve been bit,” King snarls when he realizes what’s happened.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have your permission, your majesty,” I grit out through the pain. It’s all I can say before the searing heat envelopes me. I hear King shouting orders while he lifts me into his arms.
“Che?” I whisper through the pain and dark cloud filling my brain.
“One of my men has him. The others are going back for Boot.”
“He wanted his son to live,” I say sleepily. So sleepy. Even with the pain I could fall asleep in King’s arms and die happy. King runs like I weigh nothing. We weren’t actually that far from the citadel and I see its lights right before I pass out. “I think I could have loved you,” I say against King’s shoulder.
“Shut up, Marinah, or so help me.”
I hear the fear in his voice. We both know I’m already dead.