Page 37 of Loving Nightmares
“The hell it does,” Razar growled, the words slipping past his lips like he hadn’t meant to say them.
“It does,” I insisted patiently. “There’s too much at stake—”
“And you shouldn’t be one of those things,” Damian said, his jaw clenched so tight I was worried he’d shatter it.
“I am more than protected with each one of you on your own, let alone with all of you.” I looked directly at Ashur and all the way across to Amun, the entire group staring at me with concern now. “You know that. All of you know that.”
“Doesn’t mean we want to take that risk, precious,” Amun said softly.
“The idea of you being in danger is enough to drive me crazy under normal circumstances,” Blackwell admitted, “but while pregnant…”
“And what about what I want?” I asked, knowing that this conversation needed to be had now. I didn’t love that it was so serious, but it was better that we have it now so that when we found out I was pregnant, whenever that time may be, it would be a celebration.
“What you want is all that matters,” Ashur agreed.
“He’s right,” Cy admitted.
“I’ll be more careful than ever to keep out of danger, because if there is a chance…of course I would want to be more careful.” I let my voice soften to show them that the concept didn’t bother me. “But I also don’t want to sit around until we know. Let’s find thesis metasand go beat War. Let’s finish this. If I’m pregnant, I do not want my child to be born into a world with someone like War in the picture, okay?”
That seemed to seal the deal as my words registered with all of them, earning expressions of determination and nods of agreement from each. Reframing the situation like that, saying it out loud, seemed to shift the mood of the group. Now it would no longer be about delaying the war, in their minds, but insteadfinishing it—which would happen faster with our plan to involve thesis metas.
“Well, the first part is about to happen, flower,” Saint said, breaking the intense conversation as he nodded towards the coast. “We’re here.”
Right on cue, the yacht came to a stop a few hundred yards from the shoreline, and everything turned into a flurry of activity, the subtle rocking causing me to shift on my toes. The captain instructed us to take smaller boats to shore, adding that he would wait for us. I only heard this distantly because I was captured by Razar and Blackwell, both of whom were practically glued to me. I didn’t mind, but I was surprised they weren’t saying anything—clearly my words had gotten through to them.
When we went to the lower deck and boarded a smaller boat, I sat next to Ashur, who slid an arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to my temple. I shivered as I realized that the power under his skin was being repressed—extremely so. I stared up at him, and when he looked down at me, I swallowed, feeling the intensity radiating off of him.
“We brought most of our bags,” Damian said, nodding towards the center where they were piled, “but there are some supplies and clothing left on the boat, so hopefully he will keep his word on staying.”
“As long as we don’t disappear for days, I imagine he will,” I murmured, thinking about the Oceanic Forest and the timeline there.
“He did say something odd, though,” Zain said. “He said that he didn’t know how far away our island was, that this is where his coordinates took him to. He seemed concerned about us sailing, even though the island is right there.”
“He’s human,” Razar pointed out. “Maybe he can’t see it.”
As he said it, a subtle wall of magic waved over us, and my eyes shut as I sucked in a hard breath. I groaned, feeling dizzyand leaning into Ashur, his chest producing a primal sound that sent a surge of heat through me.
“My moon.” His voice was deep and rough. “Open your eyes.”
They snapped open, and I was absolutely captured by his gaze, seeing something electric shift behind it that caused the hair on my arms to stand straight up. He tried to shutter it, and I found myself nearly pouting, not wanting him to—
“Arabella, you have to look away,” Amun suggested softly from next to me.
I blinked and pulled away from Ashur’s gaze, a dissatisfied noise coming from the back of his throat. I stayed cuddled up against him, only then noticing that the others were both staring at me in concern as well as watching the approaching island.
An island that was absolutely beautiful.
“Wow,” I breathed out, looking upon the tropical paradise. We were close enough to shore that I could see the white sand beaches. Close enough that I could smell the flowers that bloomed all along the jungle’s edge and hear the breeze roll through the palm trees. I craved to touch all of it, and I felt like I had been transported to the Garden of Eden or something equally as pristine.
“Warded. Makes sense why he couldn’t see it,” Cy murmured.
“We probably look like we disappeared into thin air.” Damian chuckled. “Poor guy.”
I stood as we drew nearer, Ashur grabbing my hips to stabilize me, but the moment our boat began to slow, I was out of it despite the calls of my mates. Letting out a pleased noise, I slipped off my flip-flops as I waded through the knee high warm water. The buzz under my skin intensified as I finally reached the hot sand, and when I knelt down and inhaled, burying my hands in the sand, I feltit.
The power. The magic. The island may have been silent, but they were here. Somewhere on this island were thesis metas.
“We need to decide how we’re going to scope this out,” I said on instinct.
