Chapter 8 #2
“If they were…” my dad drew out slowly, “it’s because they consider themselves better than the other nightmares.
I suppose if you’re judging by their abilities there is an argument for that, but we try to keep the playing field even when discussing them, because if anyone knew how powerful they truly were, it could be a problem. ”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they are not technically Class A.” He sighed. “They are Class 0.”
“I have never even heard of that before.”
My father nodded and then went to the leather bag he’d brought with him, handing it to me as he explained quietly, “I have been holding off on giving these to you because they weren’t needed yet, but if you are going after god terrors and into the world…then I think it’s time.”
“Okay…” I looked into the case and saw files and folders. Before I could ask him what exactly they were, a knock sounded on the door, and I instantly felt Zain’s energy mix with Damian’s as my dad called out for them to enter.
He grumbled something and surprised the ever-living heck out of me when he motioned for me to stand up and gave me a hug. I relished in it and hugged him back, sighing happily before he pulled away and narrowed his eyes at the boys before leaving silently.
Well, that was interesting.
“Why is he pissed?” Zain looked confused, and it was honestly a pretty adorable expression.
“Probably because we are into his daughter,” Damian pointed out.
Zain looked at me and then back at him. “He is just becoming aware of this now? I don’t believe that. We have been following Arabella around like obsessed fools for fucking years—” He immediately cut off his words and looked over at me, his cheeks turning pink slightly as he offered me a smile.
“What was that?” I teased.
“Nothing.” He shrugged casually. “Just wondering how he didn’t realize we liked you.”
“Really hate the word like,” Damian grumbled.
“Come on guys.” I grabbed my bag, which was immediately snatched away from me as Zain spun me around and looped me onto his back as I clung to him, glad I’d changed into a hoodie and leggings.
Despite the extensive exercise my body had gone through tonight, I felt great.
Better than great. I almost felt more exhilarated than before, and my marks—except for my official marks and brands—were completely gone.
I had no idea how it worked, the entire concept of feeding back their energy and gaining my own, but it seemed to come with a lot of perks.
“Are you excited to go on a mission with us, Bella?” Zain teased as Damian let out a frustrated sound.
“Very. You guys excited to have me?”
“Always,” Damian admitted as Zain turned his head to flash me a smile and a wink.
I just hoped the others felt similar.
Just little old me, traveling in an RV with my hot nightmares. No big deal. Totally casual and not the best freakin’ experience of my entire life.
I was bouncing in my seat as I started up the RV, the dark garage around us flooding with light as I felt a hand press down on my thigh to calm me.
I scowled up at Amun, who sat in the passenger seat, offering me an amused look that looked far too good on him.
Saint, who stood between us, made an annoyed sound that had me looking up.
He narrowed his gaze on Amun’s hand, the violence lurking under his skin almost painfully obvious.
Sometimes I seriously thought Saint and Amun were on the way to being friends, and other times I was almost positive Saint wanted to add Amun into the garden of bodies at the institute.
“Are we good to go?” I looked back at the rest of the RV, finding almost everyone’s eyes on me. I had been trained on how to drive the monstrous vehicle, but this would be my first time taking it off institute grounds, and I couldn’t lie… I was super excited.
The only downside to any of this was that Mykia hadn’t come with us on our little excursion.
I mean, it made sense considering she was super helpful to the cause, plus most likely dangerous to be around in small spaces since she was combustible…
but I was still bummed about it. The hellfox was definitely growing on me.
I knew, though, that we needed to take this trip on our own, and I had a feeling that it was going to come with its own share of difficulties.
Normally, one would have assumed that traveling in a vehicle like this would have been unsafe, but that was because they didn’t realize that it not only had a military grade metal exterior, bulletproof glass, and all terrain wheels…but it also had its own weapons and shielding system.
That was all hidden nicely, though, so it appeared just like a standard black RV with dark windows that contained enough room for our entire team and then some. Considering how large the men were, that was rather impressive.
“Are you sure you want to start driving?” Razar asked, closing a cabinet in the kitchen area. “I’m pretty sure one of us could manage it.”
“I want to start out,” I confirmed, adjusting my mirror before motioning towards the dash, which was as high-tech as they came, with a touch screen that connected to every system in the entire vehicle. “Plus, this thing essentially drives itself.”
Something that was pretty damn nifty since we weren’t one hundred percent sure where we were going.
“So, where to go first? We need to find the other god terrors, right?” I asked curiously.
“I think we may have an answer to that,” Blackwell called out, and a packet of papers from the file folder my father had given me came flying forward to rest in Saint’s hand.
I looked up at him expectantly as he flipped it open, a groan of annoyance breaking from his throat as he examined the contents.
He looked down at me and offered a charming smile. “You positive you want to do this? I really feel like it would be more enjoyable just to kill all the humans surrounding the institute.”
“Won’t solve the problem,” I pointed out.
He exhaled and then leaned forward, his fingers flying across the screen as he pulled up our first stop that would take us from northern Michigan to…Chicago? Really?
“What’s in Chicago?”
Saint sighed. “Love.”
“Love is in Chicago,” I murmured and then shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”
Sitting up further in the seat, I jolted as a hand suddenly came across me. A click sounded as Razar snapped my seatbelt, and I offered him a small, goofy smile at how cute he was being. His eyes filled with warmth before he seemed to turn a bit broody again, disappearing into the back of the RV.
“Saint, you have to sit,” I pointed out.
Saint narrowed his eyes at Amun. “Up.”
“No.”
“Guys, come on,” I drew out. “Saint, Amun hasn’t seen the modern world a lot. Let him sit up front to start.”
Saint muttered a string of what I assumed to be curse words in different languages, before throwing himself dramatically back against one of the benches. I leaned over to turn on one of my favorite playlists before putting the massive car into drive.
The car moved silently as I took the ramp up and out of the garage, the defensive system searching the grounds ahead of us for any possible humans.
Luckily, the garage was far enough away from the institute that we didn’t have to worry about anyone finding the entrance, which was buried in the middle of a forest preserve and covered by a thick layer of moss that parted and shifted whenever the door opened.
The night sky kept the space around us dark as the rhythmic beat of ‘Paint It Black’ played through the radio system.
I usually felt exhilarated when I was around my men, but right now it was different.
The entire energy of the RV was charged despite the fact that everyone was trying to get some rest.
I knew none of them were actually sleeping, though.
No, they were far too on edge about me being on this mission to be asleep, and honestly, I didn’t blame them.
They were extremely overprotective, so of course the idea of me leaving the institute for the first time since I arrived was scaring the ever living crap out of them.
The forested road we were driving down was quiet, and my lights were dim to not draw too much attention as I followed the directions that the RV’s navigation system displayed on the main screen.
Amun was looking at everything around us, and it had me wondering just how long he’d been up before our teams took action.
I felt bad that he wouldn’t get an opportunity to experience all the modern amenities of the world because we were so focused on beating these humans. This RV was well equipped, but it for sure wasn’t the same size as the normal dorms we lived in.
I think I’d come to the official conclusion that I wanted to move into the dorms with them, at least partly…
Or maybe we could get a house outside of the main building.
I mean, if we were really doing this, I wasn’t positive how long we could hide our rather physical activities from others.
I may have been confident, but I would turn brighter than my hair if we were ever caught in that type of situation.
“What are you thinking about, precious?” Amun asked softly, curiosity filling his voice.
“Moving out of the institute building and into one of the houses on the grounds instead,” I answered sincerely. “They are usually reserved for families of Class D nightmares—it’s pretty rare to have families with more powerful terrors, but I think it may be a good idea…”
“You want to move in together?” Amun perked up, his eyes flashing with a neon intensity. “It would be much better. I could watch over you all of the time.”
Well, that was flattering.
“I mean, I don’t want to rush anything…” I exhaled, watching to make the turn slowly, carefully off of the forest road and onto a main highway.
“Rush it. Literally rush everything. I’m fine with that!” Zain called out, making my smile grow. Well, if that didn’t boost my confidence, I’m not positive what would.