Page 13 of Loving Nightmares
“Because, as you well know, that’s what War wants,” Eve said. “Don’t suggest shit like that.”
“First things first.” I ran a hand through my hair. “We need to get everyone inside and then lock down the institute. Everyone is down in the bunkers, right?”
“Yes,” Blackwell confirmed.
“We need to close them.”
“Close them?” my father asked, his brows raising at the idea. It wasn’t that it was particularly hard to do, but weneverdid it. It was a last resort. In fact, I couldn’t recall a single time that we had, and the emotional wave of panic that it would no doubt cause would be…a lot, because of what it signified.
The danger and threat level the institute was under.
“I know what it means.” I exhaled. “But I think it will allow us to work without worrying about anyone infiltrating the walls and hurting everyone here. In fact, let’s station the sentinels outside.”
“Yeah, no one is getting through that,” Zain agreed.
“The sentinels?” Ashur asked.
I squeezed his hand. “I’ll show you.”
“I think it would allow the others to fight without distraction,” Razar said in a tone that said he hated to admit it. I had a feeling my night terror—hell, a lot of my mates—wanted me in there as well. Not that they would say it right now.
“Great.” I clapped my hands, pleased we had agreed on that. I had a feeling the following two parts of my plan were going to be a bit more difficult.
“This weapon they’re using,” Irina said, “what exactly do we know about it?”
Damian answered. “We have the schematics and know how it works, the type of bullets and poison they’re using. That doesn’t help when someone gets hit, but it may help us defend against it.”
“I actually have a solution to that, I think.” I nibbled my lip and looked at my dad. “Do you remember those shields we tested last year, the ones that didn’t go past beta testing because they were too ‘medieval’ or whatever?”
“I liked them,” Saint said.
“She did say medieval,” Amun mused, causing the god terror to scowl.
“Yes, they wouldn’t work for missions,” my dad drew out, “but…for a battlefield operation, it could work.”
“Do we have enough?” Razar asked.
“I think we had about one hundred made for testing, but we didn’t get to actually test more than a few before deciding it was a waste.”
I nearly pouted at that. I loved the shields, but I’d been forced to concur with my father’s decision—they were just too wieldy for normal missions, where speed and stealth were key. Even if they were so strong they could protect you from just about anything.
“It should be enough,” Cy murmured, his gaze darting down as he calculated how many we’d need.
“But you may find it hard to convince the other teamsthey need it,” Damian said. “Nightmares are stubborn as fuck.”
No shit.
“Then they don’t go out there,” I leveled. “We are not losing anyone to War. I don’t care if they’re pissed—they use the shields or they don’t fight.”
“Love the hardass mentality,” Eve chirped.
Hardass?That was a total compliment.
“She is a bit badass despite being so little,” Keres agreed. Which was funny since she really wasn’t much larger than myself—she was even more delicately built than me.
“I will put in the order to have them brought out,” my father said, pulling out his tablet. I felt a surge of magic spark through the air, making me realize he was using his nightmare magic openly—something he clearly had been hiding before. I blinked, wanting to ask him about it, but instead turned my attention to the last part of my plan.
“Alright.” I took a deep breath. “So we have everyone protected the best we can, which means the last thing we need to handle is War.”
