Page 69 of Warrior

Ms.Beast exploded.

The sharp, burning pain was over in an instant.I’d never gone from human to beast this fast and hadn’t been aware I could.But Ms.Beast understood exactly what she was capable of.

My hands and feet morphed into claws, my six-foot frame stretched to over nine feet, and my human face reshaped into a snarling visage with razor-sharp teeth.Shredded clothes fell to the floor as my rage took over.

Daniels’ face contorted into pure terror, and his high-pitched scream sliced through the air like music to my ears.

I grabbed him by the throat with claws that could shear through steel, relishing the horror in his bulging eyes.

“No,” he croaked, his voice barely a whisper.His face turned purple as his scream choked off, replaced by a wet, gargling sound.

“Oh, yes,” I hissed through my fangs.

I snapped my teeth an inch from his face, the razor-sharp sound echoing through the small cell.

Ms.Beast,I murmured into her thoughts,it’s not nice to play with your food.

The tang of blood filled my mouth; human blood, rich and iron tinged.So different from the blood of hellhounds.

Ms.Beast dropped Daniels like a ragdoll, half his throat torn away.She spit out the stringy flesh and I was grateful she hadn’t eaten it.

Door.

We moved to the hallway.

It was empty.

This was clearly the prisoner holding area.My eyes swept the length of the corridor, counting eight cells.

I called out, my Warrior voice guttural but still recognizable.

“Landan.Mila.Skylar.”

A pause.

Then, from the cell directly across the hall, I heard Mila.

“Marinah?”she shouted.

I tried the cell door, and it was locked.I went back to the cell I’d been in.Daniels’ blood was splattered across the gray cement like a macabre Van Gogh painting.

No, we do not play in blood,I told Ms.Beast firmly as she sniffed the air and licked her lips, savoring the tang.

A sharp growl rumbled through my chest, echoing in the confined space.

Keys,I reminded her.

The keys were clutched in Daniels’s lifeless fist.I didn’t waste time getting my claws to cooperate.Shredding his dead hand actually felt good.I pried the keys free, and with one last look at the crimson pool surrounding him, I headed back into the hall.

Sorry, Ms.Beast, we don’t eat humans.

Her soft chuckle rippled through me, sending shivers to my toes.She was playing with me, and I didn’t have the time or patience to figure out where she wanted to take this.Extracting the keys from Daniels was easier than juggling them now.Trying to fit the small metal shapes into Mila’s lock with claws designed to tear through steel was nothing short of infuriating.

“Damn it,” I muttered, dropping the keys for the second time as Ms.Beast’s laughter echoed in my mind.

I sighed inwardly.You know what this means.

Her amusement faded, replaced by calm understanding.We were finally in sync.

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