Page 27 of Loving Nightmares
I wouldn’t argue.
“We know how to break the bonds,” I breathed out, “but a battlefield is different from an entire nation. I can’t do this on my own.”
“You aren’t on your own,” Cy said immediately.
“But we don’t have the same ability as you—” Damian admitted.
“—and you aren’t pushing yourself that far,” Blackwell finished.
“I know,” I whispered. I looked out the observation window, feeling a compelling urge to protectallof the humans and nightmares that were under threat from War. Realization hit me. “I need moresis metas.”
“That may be a problem since we only know of one other, and she’s a child,” Saint pointed out.
I nodded and then froze, remembering what I had seen before passing out. “Actually… Remember how I felt a connection to othersis metas, past and present, the first time I used my magic? I think the same thing happened this time, but it was odd. I think I saw a large group of them. It was faint, and I couldn’t tell where they were exactly, but I swear they were there… And then they flickered out of existence. Almost like they were—”
“Shielding themselves,” Ashur said, finishing for me. “In a large group, that could be possible. From what I remember,sis metashave a lot of defenses against nightmares, including the ability to hide themselves. It’s sort of a built-in protection.”
They actually made a ton of sense.
“But War said he hunted all of them down, right?” Zain asked.
“He did hunt many of them,” Saint agreed. “Although, there was a time, and I wasn’t on Earth or corporeal for most of it, so Ashur or Amun probably have a better grasp on this, even though I hate to admit it—”
“But there was a time,” Ashur said forcefully, interrupting Saint’s rambling, “when there were entire populations of them. It was how nightmares grew so fast and so powerfully, because Class A nightmares were able to mate.”
“If they had Class A mates, wouldn’t they have put up more of an obstacle when it came to War?” I asked, though even as I said it I knew I wasn’t entirely right.
Saint chuckled. “No—despite giving these guys a fair fight, I could kill all of them.”
“Saint!” I admonished. He just shrugged.
“Not me,” Ashur mused.
“How about we don’t talk about killing one another,” I said in a huff—again.
“I’m going to try to use my magic again,” I said, ignoring the glaring contest between Ashur and Saint. “Just enough to focus on my connection to thesis metasand see if I can find out where they are. If we can find them and they’re willing to help, we may be able to beat War once and for all.”
“I don’t want you to pass out again,” Cy said, his eyes pleading.
Walking over to him, I wrapped my arms around his torso. “I promise it won’t hurt me at all,” I said softly.
I just hoped I was able to keep that promise.
11
ARABELLA
I’d never beenone for meditation or yoga. In fact, if I was caught working out, it was usually in an effort to watch my mates train, so this wasn’t something I was practiced in. Pretty much the exact opposite. I was always very busy, and my thoughts, if not entertained by something going on, were focused on the men who were currently banished to the other room. Because let’s face it, there was no way I would be able to focus with them nearby.
The familiar conference room was peaceful and quiet, the lights turned down to create a relaxing atmosphere. Closing my eyes as I leaned back in my chair, I tried to calm my mind and body. My ears picked up on the low, rumbled conversation of my mates in the other room, which I had to actively work to block out. Just another thing, it seemed, that had increased along with my other senses. I swear, with each mate pairing I made, the more intense the world grew.
After several minutes, I reached a state of concentration where I was only listening to my inhales and exhales, my body now completely relaxed into the chair. So much so that the exhaustion of the past twenty-four hours began to catch up tome, and instead of meditating, my eyes tightened as a small yawn escaped.
Shifting forward to the conference room table, I rested my head on my crossed arms, trying to get more comfortable. I wasn’t entirely surprised when I fell into a lulled state of sleep…
Unlike the times before,my exploratory travel wasn’t caused by a blast of power, so instead of being pushed into the dream-like state at the speed of a bullet, overlooking a universe of lights, I ‘woke up’ in that state. I turned, floating easily as lights began to beam up from far below me, covering the land like a map. Instinctively I knew that many of these lights were traces of power from previoussis metas, so while I enjoyed looking at those, they weren’t really what I was looking for.
I turned my attention forward and willed myself to travel faster, towards a darker section of the land. There was an undercurrent of energy that was calling me towards it, and as I neared, I saw a ripple of energy that had me slowing.
