Chapter 12 #2
“Just a heads up,” Damian stated easily, “Eros will try to find a way, most likely by not giving us information, to make us stay past dinner. It’s what people like him try to do to establish control.”
“I will beat the answers out of him,” Blackwell murmured. I turned to him with wide eyes, causing Damian to chuckle.
“What?” he asked with a smile. “I have like zero patience for his shit, especially since he keeps looking at you like he wants to—”
“Don’t,” Damian warned.
“Come on,” I encouraged, ushering everyone out of the RV after setting the security system.
Outside there were three men waiting for us patiently, ignoring the looks my nightmares were giving them, their outfits completely black and their sunglasses blocking any possible emotion they could have portrayed. I didn’t like that at all.
I handed the keys to Blackwell as we followed after them, wondering how we were all going to fit into the elevators, but as we neared, we took a left and one of the men opened a door to a private bank with a singular elevator.
I exchanged a look with Cy, who was suddenly behind me, pressing his hand against my back gently. I knew it was a protective gesture, and it had me wanting to turn into him.
“Flower?” Saint said softly, a devilish light in his eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I am going to do my very best to not kill everyone. Just wanted you to know that.”
I pursed my lips. “Proud of you, Saint. That is some big restraint right there.”
“Don’t be too proud. He said he would try,” Blackwell grumbled, “not that he would.”
“He better not, at least until you’re out of the room.” Razar narrowed his eyes at Saint, who offered him a taunting smile. One that had Razar’s chest rumbling dangerously. Damnit. I swear, Saint was going to kill us all.
Honestly, I was starting to realize that with none of them being able to have personal space, the need for dominance was extremely clear, and it was a bit surreal to realize that this was their level of restraint after several fights had already broken out.
“No.” Zain put a hand on Razar’s chest as he tried to step closer to Saint. “He’s trying to start a fight.”
It wasn’t that they didn’t like one another, Saint and Razar, it’s just that they were a different breed at the end of the day. They loved fighting, and I could practically see how amused Razar was at Zain’s attempt at peacekeeping.
“Plus, Amun would probably somehow end up in it,” Damian pointed out, looking far too amused as Cy chuckled.
I looked towards Amun, who was leaning against the elevator wall, his pretty face still bruised. “You probably need to ice your face,” I said, jumping as Damian’s tail suddenly wrapped around my ankle.
“Don’t pay attention to him.” Damian nipped my ear as we stepped into the oversized elevator, which had appeared while I’d been lost in my concern over Amun. “I am going to be selfish with you.”
“Because I marked her and you’re a jealous bastard,” Amun mused.
“You marked her?” Saint narrowed his eyes.
The elevator doors opened again, and I shook my head at the bantering, trying to not find it somewhat hilarious.
I would give Love this, it was clear the man had taste.
It was also clear he couldn’t stick to a certain taste, because this was the polar opposite of the grand marble palace below.
No, this place was cold, modern, and filled with vibrant art that almost hurt to look at.
The minute we stepped fully in, the guards disappeared, leaving us to stand awkwardly in what I assumed was the foyer.
“Should we make ourselves at home?” I nodded towards the couches. They didn’t look very comfortable, but it was better than standing there awkwardly.
Razar led the way, and when we all sat down, it seemed to activate some unknown signal, because almost immediately a woman walked out from a door to our left. I instantly felt my eyes widen for several reasons… One, she was gorgeous. Two, I was almost positive she was a robot.
Not because of how inhumanly perfect and beautiful she was, either. No, it was because the way she moved was flawless and easy, almost floating above the ground, while offering us a pearly white smile.
“Hello,” she greeted with just the right tone of voice, “My name is Test Subject 003. Master Eros is currently occupied but will be with you shortly. Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”
“No,” Saint growled, standing from the couch. “Tell him he needs to be here in the next minute or that nightclub upstairs is going to have a major body count issue.”
The woman’s eyes went wide. She seemed to not know what to do, as she offered another response. “Master Eros is currently occupied—”
I winced as a hand suddenly went through the back of her skull and out her face, plastic and wires going everywhere, as the assailant pulled their hand back with a sigh.
“Ugh. She is always on and on about the same thing. So annoying.”
My mouth opened in shock, because I knew what I was currently faced with was a nightmare…but it wasn’t like any I had ever come across. The woman’s body fell to the floor as he stepped over her and offered all of us a curious look.
I had to admit, the tall, lean man was interesting to look at. His build was made of cut muscle that I could see because he had no shirt on. Actually he had no clothes on other than the black silky pajama pants that hung low on his hips.
His white hair was messy and tied back in a man bun with…wire? Were those wires? And his pale skin was open in places, almost like a window into his insides, but instead of organic tissue there were wires and larger pieces of technology.
Okay, I was going to go with neo terror on this one.
“Where the fuck is Love?” Saint demanded, the nightmare focusing on him before back on me.
I didn’t mind his focus on me, but I knew the boys would.
Usually I had more sympathy for nightmares, especially those brought into the institute, but the few I had met out here, including Love and this guy, just left me with a… weird feeling.
They didn’t make me feel the normal warmth that usually filled my chest. Instead, warning bells rang in my head, loud and obnoxious.
“Does it matter? I am far more entertaining.”
“Neither of you are entertaining, although you may be more annoying,” Damian conceded, making me almost laugh, though I somehow managed to keep a straight face.
The neo terror’s eyes narrowed as he walked towards the large coffee table and climbed on top, sitting cross-legged and staring at all of us with interest. When his eyes landed back on me, his smile grew further, making Razar let out a threatening noise.
“Stop looking at her,” Saint demanded sharply.
“But she’s a human,” the man said lazily, looking over at me.
“A beautiful one at that, but just a human. Don’t tell me the group of you are wasting your time fucking a human…
or have you not fucked her? Is that why she is still alive?
Then again, I can smell each of you all over her, including Death, so that is clearly up for debate. ”
The room was silent for a moment before Cy was across the space and had the man pinned to the coffee table by the throat, a sound that was completely not human coming from him.
I kept as calm as I could while walking over to the coffee table, running my hand along Cy’s back as I offered my nightmare a kiss on the cheek before focusing on the neo terror.
“What they do, what I do—hell, what anyone does besides yourself—is literally none of your business,” I pointed out. “I have no idea who you think you are, but I would highly suggest you leave because you are one wrong sentence away from being—”
I groaned as wires wrapped around me, having come out of nowhere, pulling me up into the two-story ceiling and almost completely eclipsing my body.
I felt annoyance flare as the man broke away from Cy and walked up through the air like he was on stairs to reach me, before laying down next to me, floating on his stomach.
“What was I one wrong sentence away from doing?” he asked curiously while staring down at the others.
“Guys, I’m fine,” I called out because I had no doubt that one of them was about to shift.
“Five seconds, Arabella.” Razar warned.
“I would really suggest you let me down.”
“You don’t seem afraid.”
“Because I’m not.”
“Five,” Razar’s voice rang out.
“Why not?”
“You’re not scary.”
“Four.”
“I find that offensive.” He scowled before offering me a smile. “I like you. What is your name again?”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“Arabella.”
The man’s eyes lit up with mirth. “Until next time, Arabella.”
I let out a surprised sound as I began falling from the ceiling, the wires gone along with the man, as I landed myself right into Razar’s waiting arms.
“Ah, I see you finally managed to make it over here!” Love called out, his voice echoing through the penthouse. When he arrived in the room, he was buttoning up his pants—which was something I had not needed to see—before offering us a perplexed look. Probably at the annoyed expression on my face.
“Who the hell do you have living with you?” Saint demanded. “You know what, I don’t care. Tell them to stay away though.”
“Was it Drive? He’s always doing annoying shit.” Love sighed and then threw himself into a chair. “If he wasn’t so good in bed, I would probably kick his ass out.”
Well…that was at least a reason.
“We are here for literally two pieces of information. I do not want to know about your sex life,” Blackwell growled.
“Ah, yes.” He frowned, scratching his jaw. “What was that info again?”
“The last time you saw Hate and if you are willing to help us handle Chaos.”
“What do I get in exchange? Surely exerting so much mental energy to such an endeavor is deserving of something,” he purred happily.
“What do you want?” I asked as Saint shook his head, wrapping an arm around me as I stood between Razar and him.
Love looked at all of us and smiled. “I want to read each of your energy and feed from it.”