Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
ARABELLA
“Are you okay?” I asked Amun, his frame appearing in front of me.
I stood frozen next to Saint in the middle of the training arena.
Amun’s gaze jumped to Saint and then back down to me, concern filling his face.
I literally had absolutely no idea how to handle what had just happened.
I mean, besides the absolute joy and excitement I felt…
which made it all too clear how much of a freakin’ crush I had on Cy. Yeah, a crush.
“I’m good.” His tongue darted out to lick the blood from his split lip, the red tinted with gold sparkles distracting me momentarily. Saint let out a disapproving noise as I looked up at the lethal man, his overall composure far more relaxed despite the scowl he aimed at Amun.
So were they ‘okay’ now? Had Saint done some weird ‘nightmare’ dominance thing? Or had he beat the hell out of him? One of these had clearly occurred, because he didn’t seem like he wanted to kill Amun nearly as much as before.
“Saint.” I gave him a knowing look as he attempted to offer me a supposedly innocent, relaxed smile. It didn’t work to make me forget about Amun’s injury, but it was pretty stunning anyway.
“It’s all good, flower. We handled it the way monsters do.” He winked at me as Amun sighed, shaking his head and saying something under his breath in Coptic. I noticed he had moved closer to me, and the warmth from his body had me relaxing between the two of them.
“Okay.” I sighed, patting Saint’s chest before refocusing on Amun. “Are you excited to see how everything goes tonight?”
His eyes darkened as he nodded. “I’m excited to be spending it with you, precious.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that, nearly forgetting the impending sense of paranoid concern I felt towards tonight, or you know… the thing where Cy had absolutely just kissed me.
“You should come with instead, get some first-hand experience,” Saint growled, his eyes narrowing while pulling me against him, clearly not liking the idea of us alone.
I looked up at him and went up on my toes, pressing a kiss to his jawline.
He flashed me a heated look and loosened his grip, giving me a chance to escape.
I walked towards the gate, hoping they would follow.
“Come on guys!” I called back to them, turning to find Amun scowling at Saint, who was offering him a somewhat amused, smug smile. Probably because his fingers were pressed against his jaw where I had kissed him. I couldn’t lie, that made me happy.
“Let’s go inside. You guys are going to be leaving in like an hour or so, so we need to make sure you’re ready. We can’t afford distractions right now.” That trickle of apprehension went down my spine once again.
The others were now outside of the gate, Damian and Zain talking quietly as Razar stared at me with an indecipherable expression, which was unusual, considering I knew him so well.
Blackwell was offering me a heated look, and I couldn’t lie, that boosted my confidence a bit.
I picked up my heels off the sand and walked through the gate, keeping my eyes ahead and not bothering to address the massive elephant… well, snake, in the room.
What did I even say to the others?
‘Yeah, you know, it was a bit weird that he decided to kiss me. Hot. But definitely not his usual thing… Not sure why he did that.’
I nearly rolled my eyes at my internal monologue. This was why I avoided relationships—not because I wasn’t willing, but because I was so clearly awkward.
Keeping my arms crossed underneath my chest after sliding on my heels, I walked along the side pathway to enter back into the institute.
Once again, we had nightmares getting out of our path, paling at the men behind me and making me almost smile.
Didn’t they realize what softies they were? Apparently not.
Then again, I really did feel like that behavior was reserved for me.
Overall, I liked to think that most nightmares here liked me, or at least respected me.
Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t really bother them all that much, or maybe it was because they understood that I legitimately wanted them here.
There was only one group of nightmares that I knew didn’t like me, and those were the ones that were currently in solitary.
I frowned, really hating that concept but knowing it was unavoidable since they were individuals that were extremely dangerous but refused to work with us, instead wanting to wreak havoc in the real world.
Everyone else though? I liked to think we were on good terms. Not that I ever had a chance to talk to them, because any time one of them attempted it, Razar or one of the others lost their shit.
“Bella.” Zain pulled me from zoning out. I stood in front of the elevator, staring at the foggy silver doors. When it rang open, I walked into the space and leaned against the back wall, moving my gaze down to the floor as anxiety began to invade my chest.
How was I going to handle this situation with Cy? I needed to talk to him. It didn’t help that Cy’s minty scent was filling the space from when he had no doubt taken the elevator up moments ago, making me want to wrap my arms around him. Did I go find him once I got to the dorm? Give him space?
Oddly enough, I didn’t have to figure that out, because as I made my way into the dorm, I found his door closed. Okay, then.
Muttering under my breath, I kicked off my heels and walked towards the kitchen, not knowing what to think and frankly deciding to probably put it off until after the mission. See? That was a solid plan.
I knew the guys had to get ready soon, but Razar still followed me into the kitchen as I opened the fridge and stared at the large stock of options.
I could feel him staring at me, waiting for me to say something.
Grabbing a small container of fresh fruit, I put it on the counter as Razar made a low, frustrated noise that had me looking up from my snack to his crimson gaze.
“What?” I asked curiously, popping a piece of watermelon in my mouth. Razar was examining my fruit bowl with a scowl, as if it personally offended him.
“I don’t feel like that has enough substance in it to count as a meal,” he pointed out, his critical eye making me smile.
I pressed a hand to his chest in a comforting movement. “I promise you I’ll eat a better dinner. You know it’s hard for me to eat the day you guys go on missions.”
Not to mention all the other shit on my mind.
“What shit?” Razar asked. I blinked and felt my chest tightening, realizing that I had just said that out loud. I shrugged and ate another piece of fruit so I wouldn’t have to talk. I turned towards the fridge to avoid his probing gaze, only to have him tug me back… but not with his hand.
I smiled in slight excitement as a familiar black icy tendril of magic wrapped around my waist and spun me back.
His skin seemed to shift, the hint of the exoskeleton that he sometimes donned coming alive in flashes before his eyes turned completely black.
My breathing went fast as I realized that we were essentially alone, everyone having wandered off to get ready, as I stood pinned between the counter and a fairly worked-up Razar.
I guess today had upset him a bit more than he had let on.
A thrill of adrenaline had my skin breaking out in shivers as my center tightened, his gaze running over my face as if searching for any level of fear.
I had no idea how to make it clear that was literally the opposite of how I felt.
I think he figured it out, though, because his gaze dipped to my lips as I felt more icy, vine-like tendrils wrapped around my skin.
My ankles, my waist, my arms were enveloped as I was pulled more squarely against him, my eyes widening at just how much I seemed to physically affect Razar.
Heat surged through me like a wildfire, loving being held hostage as he let out a low growl in the back of his throat, dipping his head down as he spread his hands out on either side of me on the counter.
“Tell me,” he demanded, his patience clearly having run out. It didn’t help that he was no doubt on edge because of the mission tonight.
I tilted my chin up. “What shit is on my mind? I think that’s fairly obvious, Razar. It hasn’t exactly been a normal day.”
A low rumble broke from his throat as he seemed to attempt to retain his form, his hands gripping the counter behind me as my tongue darted out, watching his muscles strain.
I inhaled sharply as he pressed further against me, his hardness causing my skin to break out in icy shivers, loving the feel of his magic against me.
“Because Cy kissed you?”
I pressed my lips together. “Amongst other things, but yes.”
“You are… upset he kissed you?” he asked, seemingly confused and angry at the notion.
“No.” I felt a small blush hit my cheeks.
“You wanted him to kiss you?”
“Well, yeah.” I caught my bottom lip between my teeth as his gaze heated, something seeming to occur to him as he tilted his head thoughtfully.
“Is he the only one you want to kiss you?” His voice was slightly cautious as I tried to keep up with the whiplash of him being worked-up to being more emotionally open and vulnerable.
I mulled over his question as I saw curiosity but also something else in his gaze that had me answering truthfully.
“No.”