Page 44 of Loving Nightmares
“Yes. Very rarely do you see one with only one or even two mates. Because of the nature of who we are,” she explained, looking sad, “we naturally choose those that we not only love and feel a connection to, but those who can protect us. Mind you, the average tends to be four or five mates, but we have some with ten, even upwards of fifteen.”
Damn. I blinked in surprise as Arabella let out a sound of amusement. “That’s a lot, although I have no right to talk.”
“Because of our extended lifespans, sometimes mates come later in life,” Jalissa said as she opened the door to her home, “but we can talk more about that later. I’m sure you have questions about your heritage and the specifics.”
When we stepped inside, I was immediately surprised by how modern it was—obviously they were importing a lot. There was even a television on in the other room.
More than that, though, the house was a bit chaotic.
“Grandma!” A young nightmare appeared, maybe six at most, and hugged her leg. “We didn’t finish our game.”
“Come on.” A woman who looked a lot like the chief appeared and picked the girl up. “Grandma has work to do—sorry, Mom.”
“I promise we will play again later,” Jalissa assured the girl before leading us forward.
On our way to Jalissa’s office at the back of the house, we ran into seven grandchildren, most of which had a parent in tow. There were also three of the chief’s mates who talked to her in passing, no one seeming to find it odd that we were here. Or maybe they did but they didn’t care. I suppose if there were this many kids running around, especially nightmare children whose small explosions of power caused things to shake and fall off of higher surfaces, I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else either.
It was a lot to take in, and it wasn’t until we were in the office with the doors closed that I could focus on the space we were in. The bright, sunny office was filled with comfortable furniture that Jalissa motioned for us to sit in, and right outside the window, working in the garden, was an older nightmare who I assumed was her mate judging by the smiles they gave one another.
“Alright, sorry about that,” she said good-naturedly. “Lots of family hanging around today since we have a large festival tonight. Please sit, I promise no one will come in here.”
I tugged Arabella on my lap, and she couldn’t help but cast me a small smile, looking excited by what was going on. Well, until the woman folded her hands and fixed her with a look. “Now, what’s made you travel all the way here?”
A small streak of caution went through Arabella’s gaze before she straightened herself up and spoke strongly. “We need your help defeating War.”
17
ARABELLA
Jalissa was laughing.Genuinely laughing.
I stared at her, both pissed off and confused. Out of all the reactions I expected, laughter was not the one I’d predicted. Inhaling sharply, I narrowed my eyes, trying to temper my reaction, which was hard considering the mood I was in.
I’d already been upset when I walked into the village, especially once I was told my mates were locked up. The idea alone had sent me into a state of intense protectiveness, and then there was the fact that they’d interrupted an important moment between Ashur and me. Our recent mating had left my body buzzing, and instead of laying together and being all cute, I was sitting across from a woman that was laughing at my very important declaration.
To think, up until this point I’d liked Jalissa—hell, I’d liked almost everything about this place, with the exception of my mates being imprisoned—but now I was rethinking that.
A different type of laughter could be heard faintly through the double doors of her office, and I softened slightly. I hadn’t known what to expect from this village, but from the small amount I had seen, it was extremely community- and family-centered. I mean, her house was bursting at the seams with little nightmares and extended family. I loved that.
In fact, I had a feeling why she was laughing at me. This woman had everything, and I was asking her to put all of it in danger. I felt a bit stupid right now, even if doing this really was necessary.
“I’m sorry.” She sat back, folding her hands, ignoring the sounds of frustration a few of my mates made. “I shouldn’t be laughing, I know you’re serious.”
“Then why are you?” Razar growled. The nightmare in the garden behind Julissa stilled, shooting Razar a dark look. I gently squeezed Razar’s hands, not wanting to cause any issues with Julissa’s mates, who would be rightfully protective over her.
“I should have expected something like this, especially with everything going on at the institute. I heard about the attacks,” she said, her tone sobering. “I just hadn’t put it together that you thought we were the solution. Let me ask you something—is it the nightmares or thesis metasyou want?”
“I know thesis metasas a group have the power to break War’s hold on the humans,” I said carefully. “I don’t know how much you know about what he’s been doing, but he’s been influencing humans to attack nightmares for quite some time. He has also mass produced a weapon that can harm nightmares.”
Her eyes darkened. “This I haven’t heard. Still, why would we help? What you’re asking would put us back centuries. We’re here in the first place because we ran from War when he began killing us and our families.”
“And now you have the chance to stop him.” I stood up and paced slightly in front of her. “I understand I’m asking a lot, but if War is removed from the equation, things can finally settle so that there won’t always be chaos between humans and nightmares.”
“A very idealistic hope,” Jalissa replied.
“Plus,” I continued, partly ignoring her, “you mentioned that somesis metasand nightmares leave here, right? If this isn’t handled, it could result in them being harmed, and frankly, it’s only a matter of time until War finds you. Then you’ll have to protect your home from a direct attack rather than going to the problem.”
“You make a good point.” Jalissa frowned. “And how do you know our power would work on such a mass scale? I mean it would, but what led you to consider that?”
