Page 1 of Loving Nightmares
1
ARABELLA
War was goingto kill my father.
That wasn’t a metaphorical statement, either. No, the god terror War was holding my father hostage as I stood behind our warded line of defense.
Defense against those threatening our home.
The night was icily quiet as every nightmare present realized that the institute’s director, the man single-handedly responsible for their ability to lead a normal existence, was now in life-threatening danger.
Not only because a god terror had him, but because the humans now possessed a weapon that could harm nightmares—kill them. Could killhim. Visions of Damian’s injury had my stomach twisting in knots as I imagined just how bad this situation could turn and how fast.
It didn’t matter that these humans were being influenced by War. The threat they posed was absolute, and I had never felt so much rage.
As I held my dad’s gaze, I found I couldn’t read his expression, let alone understand what he was thinking. I suppose that shouldn’t have been terribly surprising, as JamesMcCroy was known for his stoic behavior, but that had never stopped me before. I’d always been able to tell where his mind was, and the fact that I couldn’t now unsettled me.
It should have helped that I now knew he was a neo terror, that he was far more durable than a human, but the humans’ new weaponry negated that. He could be hurt—badly.
How I had lived my entire life not recognizing my father was a nightmare was beyond me. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing. Then again, he was literally a new type of terror, so I hadn’t had any idea what to even look for.
My understanding was that the man controlled the entire institute, possibly even drew power from it, allowing him access to resources to defend himself and others living here. He made the institute a sentient being…that he was now outside of.Shit. Could he even draw upon its power from out here? This was just getting worse and worse.
I stepped forward, Mykia the hellfox letting out a defensive growl from my shoulder as I moved my gaze to War’s smug face. The family resemblance to Irina—Peace—was evident in his vibrant red hair and golden skin that seemed to sparkle, but other than that, he was a world apart. Irina, my father’s mate—a concept I was still getting used to—was delicate in build and not the eight foot military general that War appeared to be.
I could never consider him a leader, though.
“Arabella,” Razar said in warning, his voice a low rumble in my ear. I gently squeezed his hand but made no other move to interact with him, keeping my gaze on the true threat. He was worried I would continue forward, but I had no plans to do so. Putting myself in War’s grasp would do nothing but cause more problems.
“So what do you say, Arabella? How about we have a true war, and I’ll let your pops here fight like a man rather than whatI plan to do—which is snap his neck. After all, human necks are very snappable. Isn’t that right, Saint?”
Saint didn’t respond, he and the rest of my mates stilling at the realization that War didn’t know my father was a nightmare. Unsurprising, since not even Saint had realized it…
My mind moved a million miles an hour as I recognized just how powerful that meant my dad was and how it wasn’t only the institute hiding that truth. If my father was surprised by War’s comment about him being a human, he didn’t portray it—something that left me somewhat in the dark on how to approach this. Did he want me to negotiate? I usually didn’t like to, on principle.
“I don’t understand how this happened,” Irina said, her voice filled with a sense of pure panic that could only come from your mate being in trouble. It wasn’t something I would have been familiar with before my men, and more so before Damian getting hurt. This particular moment had to be even worse for Irina. After all, she had suffered most recently at the hands of Hate, who was under the control of War. I had no doubt she understood what her kin were capable of.
A flicker of emotion passed my father’s face as War answered her, chuckling. “Good to see you survived Hate, sister—although considering your betrayal, maybe not so much. As for how this happened, he walked out here. He put himself in this situation. Attempting to be brave, I assume.”
No, that wasn’t what had happened here. That wasn’t what had happened at all. My father was brilliant, and I had absolutely no doubt that if he’d wanted to come out here without being caught, he could have done so. A sudden wave of misplaced anger hit me as I looked around, trying to figure out what to do.
My men stood around me, their imposing heights and powerful signatures making me feel comforted. But outside ofthat, the amount of individuals on both sides made me feel a level of concern I hadn’t experienced before while in the confines of the institute. There were so many nightmares out here, and even more hiding inside. If we took down the barriers, we risked their lives, and if we went out there, we risked the humans’. If we hurt any of them, it would not only fall back on us, but it would affect the balance we had tried to maintain.
“I can see the wheels turning, and as much as I love your strategic mind, you may as well give up now,” War said. “There is no way out of this—you do what I say or dear old dad gets it.”
His smug smile was the last straw. “Why are you doing this?” I snapped. It was such bullshit—this entire web he had spun, this chaos he had created—all of it was un-fucking necessary.
“Do I need a reason? I’m War. This is what I do, isn’t it?” He spread one arm wide as if he were a showman inviting us to revel in his display, but he was hiding something. I could see it in his eyes. “I’ve hunted your kind for years and enjoyed it, so now I’m just expanding that same effort out to all humans.”
“But why?” I asked, stepping closer to the gate. “Why would you upset the balance that you literally feed off of?” It was the part of this I didn’t understand. If he was pushing small-scale wars, I would get it, but to do all of this? To try and rid the world of humans? It didn’t make sense.
“Because,sis meta,” he purred, “I don’t need to feed off humans. Nightmares fight plenty enough for me. I’m simply getting rid of the smaller options.”
“You want there to only be nightmares so the wars are larger and you become more powerful.” Ashur’s voice filled the space as he approached, my men growing closer to me once again. “You want the humans gone so we’ll be forced to fight with one another.”
“Right you are.” War chuckled, but his posture was tense. “This war, plus the one I plan to wage internationally, will sustain me for centuries, so it’s really the ideal situation.”
“So you just…want more power?” I tilted my head, feeling almost sad for the god terror. “You want dominance so bad that you’re willing to disrupt everything?”
