Chapter 6 Arabella
Chapter Six
ARABELLA
I wasn’t positive what I’d expected from a nightmare that was the embodiment of Peace, especially since she seemed to adopt and own items from the humans featuring the peace symbol.
I think I had expected someone peaceful with a relaxed attitude?
Someone who dealt with everything in a serene, measured manner.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t this—it wasn’t Irina.
The woman was an absolute wildfire of personality. The broken woman of yesterday was gone, and I had a feeling that god terrors recovered extremely quickly because the moment I walked into the library-turned-hospital, she practically flung up in bed.
“Arabella!” she exclaimed, a big smile filling her face as a glowing light expanded off of her, only intensifying with her excitement.
The woman was objectively gorgeous. Even with the still-healing bruises and marks on her skin, she was like a vibrant fire. Her red hair was long, way longer than I realized, falling to the floor, and her golden skin was nearly sparkling.
“I am so glad you are finally here! I didn’t want to demand your attention or anything—not really my style—but I have totally been waiting for you. My name is Irina, or Peace—whatever you prefer.”
I smiled as I walked towards the makeshift bed, her eyes moving to my borrowed shirt. She clapped her hands in glee. “You can totally keep that, by the way. I have a million of them. You would think it would be cheesy, all these weird little things humans make for us, but I secretly love it.”
“You seem like you’re feeling better.” I offered my hand and she squeezed it gently, looking excited just to be sitting next to me.
I had a feeling she was like this with most people, and I had to wonder how she kept up this level of energy.
I considered myself a pretty upbeat person, but I couldn’t compete on that level. No way.
“Oh, totally.” She agreed enthusiastically. “I wouldn’t let Hate keep me down for long. He’s always been an ass, but if anything he made me realize I have been hiding from the world for too long.”
“So you will help us?” I asked. I didn’t pretend to understand the way god terrors thought or understood things, especially considering how often they could transition between physical and more ethereal forms, but I had a feeling that helping us was the conclusion she had come to—or at least I hoped so.
“Yes,” she confirmed without hesitation and peeked behind me towards the door curiously. “Which, by the way—us? Am I crazy, or do you have a harem? If so, that is totally cool. Eve has several mates. I haven’t found mine yet, but that’s what I get for being a total romantic.”
I couldn’t help but smile around Irina. Her upbeat attitude was infectious. “Yes, I have several mates.”
I couldn’t express how good that felt to say.
Her eyes went wide. “Even the scary one?”
I blinked, trying to figure out who she was talking about. Probably not Saint because she was as powerful as he was… So maybe Ashur?
“Who?” I arched a brow, beyond curious.
“The one”—she whispered, but her hushed tone was somehow as loud as her normal voice—“I can’t say what he is, doesn’t really have a name, but I think his normal name is Ashur?”
Bingo.
“You think he’s scary?”
“Oh, totally,” she said as her expression turned serious. “Creationists are terrifying, if you think about it. They can create anything but can’t control it once it’s made. That’s insane power.”
Ashur had explained what he could do, but hearing it like that… Damn. She was right—that was actually beyond insane.
“I don’t know what Ashur and I are,” I admitted, playing with my necklace. “I hope he stays around, though. I like him here.”
I didn’t know if the others were listening to our conversation—most likely they were—but I wasn’t ashamed to admit that.
Irina nodded in understanding. “Well, as a sis meta you have probably chosen him, so that’s sort of cool.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her attempt at being positive about a situation she didn’t really understand. More so, the easy way she talked about ‘choosing’ a mate. I could totally see her being a romantic—I had to wonder who the nightmare was that she would eventually end up with.
“Yes, about being a sis meta… Hate knew what I was,” I hedged, wanting more insight on the situation at hand.
“He’s hunted sis metas from the start,” she said solemnly, her gaze turning distant. “Also inspired campaigns for others to do the same, although War should be far more directly blamed for that.”
Wonderful. With my luck and my history with god terrors, I had a feeling my efforts to get along with them wasn’t going to result in an overwhelming victory.
“Did Hate say anything to you about what was going on?” I asked hesitantly. I worried even bringing it up would drag forward emotions she didn’t want to experience, especially the trauma she’d undergone.
“I thought he was coming to pay me a visit.” Her voice was soft and serene, not looking tormented in the least. “I think that was my optimistic side getting the better of me—I even let him into the forest. But then he started talking about a plan that War, Chaos, and he had in mind to make it so the humans could no longer bother us.”
I tilted my head in confusion, really hoping the others were eavesdropping because I had a feeling we were in for a total twist. “What do you mean?”
“I think…” Irina hesitated, looking sad. “…And I rejected it right away, so I didn’t get details, but I think they want to start a war large enough that nightmares are forced to kill off humans completely.”
Shit.
“That sounds about right.” Saint’s voice had me looking over at the door, the others filing in behind him. I looked back at Irina, unable to fully process what she was saying. Forced to kill off humans completely? What the actual hell?
“I told him I wouldn’t help under any circumstances, and he told me he wanted me out of the way and then tried to kill me… You walked in about day two or three.”
Thank the fates we’d made it in time.
“We have to go after him,” I announced. I looked at Peace in thought, wanting to ensure Hate didn’t go after her again. “Would you mind going to the institute? They could use as much help as possible.”
We weren’t even going to discuss how funny it was that I was being protective over god terrors.
“The institute?” She tilted her head. “Oh, I think I have heard of that.”
“You think that’s the right move?” Razar asked softly, appearing next to me.
“More help, and then we can send them with a message to my dad,” I explained. He examined my face and nodded in understanding.
“We should call Love. Explain what happened and see if he would be willing to go with her as well,” Saint said on a soft sigh, so quietly it was as if he’d hoped no one would hear.
I thought I had disliked Love—like, a lot—but it was nothing compared to Hate.
“Love?” Peace perked up. “How’s Eros been doing? Now that’s one crazy dude.”
I nearly snorted when hearing ‘dude’ come out of her mouth.
“Let’s do it,” I agreed as Saint pulled out the red orb and smashed it on the ground. I watched the red smoke expand into the room, and before long there was a grunt as Love stumbled into existence.
“What the actual fuck?” The smoke cleared to reveal the extremely attractive man dressed in only a pair of boxers, looking like he’d just woken up.
“Hey, Love,” I offered with a cheery smile.
His gaze snapped towards mine and narrowed. “I said I would help, but give a man some fucking warning! Fucking hell.”
Someone had clearly woken up on the wrong side of the…portal?
“Love!” Peace exclaimed with a big grin.
His head snapped over as a warm, affectionate look filled with surprise entered his gaze. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite little god terror.”
I watched as he leaned down and gave her a hug and kiss on the forehead, their love clear.
They treated each other like favorite siblings—Love clearly had more affection for Peace than he did for his actual sibling, Hate.
He then turned his attention to the rest of us. “Now, what the hell am I doing here?”
“Short or long version?” I asked, crossing my arms and leaning into Razar.
“Short.”
So I explained. I explained our trip here, leaving out the murder scene at the restaurant, and getting to the part about finding Peace and the state she was in.
Love looked fucking furious, breaking into a language that was clearly meant to keep his cursing of his brother private—one I didn’t even know—but Peace seemed to understand.
Even Saint understood, nodding in agreement.
When they were done, I continued, leaving out what I’d done in the forest but mentioning how Hate had run and why I wanted them to go to the institute to help.
“I think we should go,” Peace agreed. “If they really do want to extinguish the humans, we are totally screwed.”
Most nightmares would be, but for god terrors it’d be doubly worse. Not only did they feed from the humans, but the source of their power was directly connected to human concepts and emotions.
“Fuck. Fine,” Love grunted, and that was when I realized Ashur had slipped back into the room. I was so in tune to my other men, I could tell where they all stood without even looking behind me, so maybe that was why I felt the shift so noticeably when he joined us.
Love paled when he saw him, stilling and glancing at me before turning back to Ashur.
“Eros, good to see you,” Ashur offered dismissively. I don’t think he meant to be rude, but the difference between how he communicated with me and him was startling.
Love looked back at me, then down at my necklace, and shook his head. “Pink-haired human, you sure know how to pick them. How you’re not dead yet is a curious case.”
“I’m a sis meta.”
“Ah, that makes far too much sense,” Love hummed, taking inventory of my men as he looked around the room. “Even so, just be careful—”