Page 47 of Loving Nightmares
“I assume your men have already let you know our decision,” she said after a long exhale. “The family leaders and many of our warriors stayed up for a few hours following the festival discussing it, and this morning the news has spread. The consensus is that we will help you—assuming you have a plan.”
“I do.” I did have a plan, but I was going to use our trip back to the states while on the jet to really solidify it.
“Good.” She looked down on the village again. “I don’t know how many will go with you or how many nightmares will go with them, but their children will stay here, so please make sure they return.”
“I want that more than anything,” I said, hoping she could hear the sincerity in my voice. “I have no doubt that with this manysis metas, we will be able to handle War.”
“Oh, I agree.” Jalissa’s lips pressed up slightly. “I’ll be cheering you on from here, especially since my daughter and her mates are going with you.”
No freakin’ pressure.
“Did you tell them everything?” I asked, wondering if I’d need to conduct additional briefings for those who chose to come with us.
“They know everything I know. What I don’t know, which is fairly important, is how are you getting back to the states?”
“We had a boat waiting for us—”
“That’s long gone,” she mused. “I would love to say differently, but realistically, it’s probably gone. Though I could be wrong.”
That would suck, but Damian had ensured we hadn’t left anything essential on there, just some clothes because it was extra to carry and pack.
“Well then, I’ll call my dad and arrange for transportation,” I said, offering the easiest solution.
“Now that is a good idea.” She smiled, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “We have an air strip here. It’s not a large one, but it’s large enough to land a personal jet on—or several. If we give your father the direct coordinates, if you trust him enough to do that, then he will be able to get through the wards and land them.”
“I think we can manage that, and yes, I trust him completely,” I assured her and turned to find my mateswaycloser than ‘private conversation’ should have allowed. It was also clear that they’d heard the plan because Razar nodded, and a few of them went back to the villa, presumably to contact my father.
“Efficient,” Jalissa murmured.
“We’re the top team at ISS,” I said proudly.
“With you leading them, that doesn’t surprise me.” Jalissa squeezed my arm. “Now come with me. I want to introduce you to a few of the women and men who will be helping you lead this expedition—they are the same people I trust every day to help run this place.”
***
‘A few’ was a bit of an understatement, because after meeting nearly twenty individuals, including Jalissa’s own daughter, my social battery was hitting damn near zero. There were only so many names, expressions, and power signatures I could process before my brain began to short circuit.
I was just glad we’d managed to get a count for my dad to send aircraft here. I was also glad that he was able to use resources from the mainland and get them deployed within hours instead of days. I was already feeling eager to get on theroad, and not just because I didn’t want to meet anothersis metaor nightmare.
Don’t get me wrong! They were wonderful, very friendly and determined, but there was only so much that my brain could catalog between appearances, family connections, magical signatures, and classifications before it became overwhelmed with information. I literally didn’t think I could add anything else to my mental rolodex right now. Jalissa continued to chat away with a group as I leaned back into my Blackwell and Damian sandwich, my eyes skyward as I waited to see the first sign of our jets.
Three jets were coming, each able to carry at least twenty people, plus the jet we’d taken to South Africa originally. That one would be the first to arrive, the one that I would be able to sit and consider our next move. The deciding factor would be War’s location—where had he gone to lick his wounds?
Wherever it was, that was where we were going. I wanted to tackle this head-on, so we wouldn’t wait for him to come to us. I would’ve asked my mates if they had any more intel, but nightmares had amazing hearing, and I wanted to wait until we were in private to fully discuss it.
After only a few more minutes, the muted roar of engines had me searching the sky again, watching as the familiar jet descended onto the airstrip buried in the middle of the jungle. The group that was going had all said their goodbyes to their families and were buzzing behind us, and I had to force myself to not read into their magic too much. It was a natural inclination, but thesis metasalso naturally blocked their mates, so it was like hitting into brick wall after brick wall, and not on purpose.
“Ready to go?” Razar asked, grabbing our bags from the ground.
“Ready to handle War,” I agreed. Ready for this to be over, to finally extinguish the threat that had only grown exponentially since that first attack.
As the jet landed, gracefully and silently, I turned to find Jalissa watching me with a small smile. “Thank you, Jalissa. Thank you for being my voice to your community.”
“Thank you for handling a danger that has plagued our kind for far too long. You’re right—we do need to take a stand, and now is the time.”
Nodding sharply, I turned towards the large group and spoke up. “The institute has three more jets arriving. Split into even groups, and please feel free to spend the time relaxing and resting during the journey. We have a lot to do when we land, and I know all of you want to get back to your families as soon as possible. You will be briefed en route regarding the full plan and our landing location.”Once we figured that out.
My gaze met Maeve’s, the determined set of her chin nearly making me smile. I had absolutely no idea how she’d convinced her family to come with us, but I would take all the help I could get. If everything went according to plan, they wouldn’t experience any true harm or danger—hell, they may not even see violence. It was all up to me to create a strategy for that to happen, though.
