Page 18 of Loving Nightmares
Even with the stress I was under, that made me smile. This was a new side of my dad, but I sort of loved it, and as I watched Irina carry over a cup of tea to him—Peace obviously not planning on participating in the war—I loved the affection the two of them shared in a simple look.
That made me think of something. “Irina… How does your magic work?”
“I can manipulate emotions and create a false sense of peace and serenity,” she explained. When she met my gaze, she looked sad. “Something that would have solved all of this, if War’s magic hadn’t been the cause—with anyone else it would’ve worked, but War’s magic negates mine. It works like that with most of the sibling pairs since we’re opposites.”
Fascinating.
“It’s why the institute is calmer than before,” Irina added. “I hope that’s okay—I’ve been trying to keep everyone in the shelter calm because I knew their panic wouldn’t help anything.”
She was completely right, and I stored that piece of information away for future use. I had a feeling that the ability to calm down chaotic emotions would come in handy.
“More than okay,” I promised, turning to look at my men. “Is everyone good to go?”
“I would prefer you didn’t go,” Razar repeated, and I smiled, feeling reminiscent of how he said that almost every morning before work. Squeezing his hand, I stood up and tugged my hair back, noticing that Blackwell and Damian seemed to be in better spirits. I was going to hazard a guess and say that had to do with the impending violence, considering Saint was part of their conversation. Zain appeared behind me, kissing my shoulder gently and whispering that he loved me, making me want to throw myself into his arms and ask him to stay in here with me. I knew that if I asked, he would—any of them would.
It was beyond tempting. It was also why I understood how hard it was for them to see me in danger, despite them being literal nightmares—I felt that same sense of concern and dread each and every time they went on a mission, let alone onto a battlefield.
“Do you need a shield, precious?” Amun asked as Cy looked over me, checking to see if I could fit any more equipment anywhere. I had already been given a bulletproof vest, which I would admit was much heavier than I would prefer.
“I am her shield,” Ashur said in a way that made me smile, a slight grumpiness to his tone at Amun’s perceived slight regarding his ability to protect me. I knew my mummy wasn’t saying it like that, but it still was pretty cute.
“What he said.” I flashed a smile and then looked at my dad. “We’re going to head up the back.”
I didn’t waste time, walking towards the door and placing my palm against the lock. It opened, and the release of air as I walked through the hallway and into the containment room was familiar. A groan signaled the opening of the containment walls, and Ashur was immediately behind me, his magic coating my skin as the dawn sky revealed a growing threat.
I swallowed as the early morning light painted shadows of drone planes in the sky, and above them, a jet soared by.Where the hell did they get a—You know what, not the time. I didn’t doubt anything when it came to War anymore. Outside of the wards, which broke at the containment wall, were hundreds of humans, and I inhaled sharply at the sight of the bastard in question in the distance.
This time there would be no talking—only fighting.
I looked at all of the terrors standing ready to fight for their home and could see their determination. They were laser-focused, ready to beat War. We were ready; I knew we were. So when the walls opened completely and someone sent out a sharp whistle—they didn’t hesitate.
A wave of nightmares surged forward as absolute chaos broke out.
War thought he wanted a full battle, but what he didn’t realize was that it would provide me with the perfect cover to do what I needed to. More so, it would allow me to do it correctly, without the pressure of him trying to attack me. Because mark my words, once he realized what I was trying to do, he would do exactly that.
I was more durable now, but an attack from a god terror would still kill me.
Probably.
Then again, Saint wouldn’t allow that.
Sounds of battle filled the air, enraged screams meeting the growls and snarls of shifted nightmares, gunfire and the loud buzzing of drones echoing over them. It would have been overwhelming, but my gaze was riveted by the glory of so many nightmares shifted at once in the light of dawn. Fear got the best of many humans, who turned to run, while others tried to meet the nightmares head-on. The humans paled in comparison to the beautiful and violent array of nightmares present, and whilethe scent of blood tinged the air, it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.
No, instead I was faced with the reality that for our home to be safe, this had to happen. As I walked through the containment room towards the ward, my mates surged ahead and right into battle. A slight tinge of nervousness pulled at my chest, remembering how Damian had been injured. But the medieval-style shields were being used to great effect, something War realized also, judging by his calculating gaze.
I wasn’t surprised by that, though.
“Ready, my moon?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
When we stepped outside, the wards going back up behind us as soon as we were through, everything was amplified tenfold. I inhaled sharply, carnage bathing my senses as the humans continued to surge forward, War’s power amped up their deadly force, the humans wanting—no, needing—to kill the nightmares I cared about.
Ashur moved me to the left, trying to edge us towards the center of it all. People ran right past us as if we didn’t exist, making me wonder what type of ward he was using. Even when War looked right at us, I felt like he didn’t truly see us.
“Are we invisible right now?”
“It’s more a redirection of attention,” he said, his voice a low growl. His form trembled, making me think it was a struggle for him to not shift. I didn’t think it would take much for that to happen at this point.
