Page 43 of Loving Nightmares
At my chuckle she looked over at me and smiled, then walked right past the massive nightmares guarding us. “Let them out, now,” she demanded sharply, turning away from all of us.
“We can’t just do that, we don’t even know why you’re here,” a male nightmare growled as a feral noise came from one of us in the cage. I honestly didn’t even know who at this point.
“We’re here to find you! To talk to you! Way to be welcoming,” Arabella sassed. “Seriously, let them out. I’m getting pissed.”
“We have to ask the chief,” one of the women said as four others departed towards a large house all the way the opposite of the pavilion.
“Whatever.” Arabella turned her back on them, addressing us with her hands on her hips. “How did they capture you?” she demanded in confusion. “Seriously,how.”
“Thesis metashave the ability to momentarily negate our power, and their mates did the rest,” I explained. She visibly relaxed, not because she wasn’t still frustrated with us, but because I’d confirmed that thesis metashad magic that meant we stood a chance against War.
“Glad they didn’t try that on you,” she said to Ashur, who stood unapologetically behind her.
“Well, considering I’m going to kill him—”
Razar’s words cut off as Arabella scowled. “You will not. This is literally all my fault. I totally instigated it.”
“Oh, right. I’m sure it took a lot to convince him,” Damian drew out.
“I’m just impossible to resist.” Arabella batted her eyes, causing me to laugh again. Only my pixie could make me laugh while inside of a cage.
Suddenly, murmurs broke through my hyper-focus on Arabella and caused all of us to look towards the large house where an older woman had stepped out. It was clear she was some type of leader, not only from the way she held herself but how others reacted to her. She made her way towards us, her gaze trained on Arabella.
“Are you the person who’s going to let out my mates?” Arabella said. Everyone around her winced, but the chief didn’t take exception to it.
“I am.” She neared us and offered her hand. “I’m Chief Jalissa. You must be Arabella McCroy. My intel told me you would be coming our way.”
Arabella blinked before meeting her hand. “Your intel?”
Her lips pressed up in amusement. “I may be the chief of a remote island, but we weren’t always this way. I have connections everywhere. More specifically from a few nightmares that are part of the institute, who were raised here.”
“Spies,” Blackwell argued.
Jalissa laughed, unperturbed by his tone. “Call it what you want; our interests on most things align. What my intel didn’t tell me was that you are asis meta. Although I had no idea how they wouldn’t recognize it—you are one of the most powerful I’ve met to date.”
“Oh?” Arabella arched a brow.
Jalissa looked over her shoulder, examining all of us in a quick clinical analysis. “Although I suppose that isn’t surprising with eight mates—one of which is a god terror, and another who is…”
“A creation terror,” Arabella noted in reference to Ashur.
“Interesting term,” Jalissa hummed, fixing Arabella with a look. “I can be assured they won’t wreak havoc?”
“Yes.” Arabella nearly smiled but managed to restrain herself. “We don’t want anyone hurt here. We just need to talk.”
“Yes we do.” Jalissa nodded and stepped back. “Alright, release them.”
The moment the cage door was open, I had Arabella in my arms. She let out a giggle of surprise before kissing me hard, and I let out a low growl against her mouth, the stress melting away as she ran her hands over my chest in a soothing pattern.
“Follow me,” Jalissa commanded.
“Don’t hurt Ashur,” Arabella warned, eyeing all of us. The man offered a smug smile to Razar, and I had no doubt that if ithadn’t been for Arabella’s warning, the two of them would have already been fighting. If I wasn’t holding Arabella, I’d be half tempted myself.
As we began walking towards the chief’s large home, Arabella finally started looking around the village, and her pace began to slow. As if noticing, Jalissa slowed down as well.
“You know we have over fifty families just like yours,” Jalissa said. “We have some that have been here for centuries, their lines continuing as they travel out into the world and eventually come back with their mates. Others have moved here recently and are just getting used to being able to be themselves without fear of being attacked by nightmares that aren’t their chosen mates.”
“Fifty?” Arabella said, looking around. “And does eachsis metahave multiple mates, or—”
