Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
ARABELLA
I’d instantly felt relief when Zain brought up his concern about something going wrong tonight.
I hadn’t wanted to comment on the same feeling, worried I was overthinking it, especially since nothing had happened so far…
But now that we were getting ready to go out there, I could feel my newfound power warning me of trouble coming our way.
I didn’t understand how it worked, but when it gave a warning, I was starting to realize it was best to listen to it.
I adjusted my dark jacket, the buckles tying around my front and down my waist so that it was form-fitting like my dark jeans and combat boots.
I had been thrilled to be back with my shoe closet and extremely tempted to wear heels, but I figured if I was trying to keep a low profile, a pair of red-bottom stiletto boots wouldn’t help.
“I’m proud of you,” Damian said from where he stood in the doorway of the bedroom, dressed in a fresh uniform. His tail trailed the ground in a distracting pattern I tried to ignore.
“Proud of what?” I asked, putting the last pin in my hair. The others were waiting for me to go outside, and I was eager to call War out, especially considering all the god terrors we had on our side.
“You chose to not wear heels.” He chuckled.
I huffed and walked towards him, placing my hands on his chest. “Never even thought about it.”
“Is that why you took ten minutes deciding on a pair?” His grin grew.
I rolled my eyes. “Ten minutes? Hardly!”
“Arabella.”
Damian sighed as Blackwell appeared in the doorway right behind him. Unlike Damian’s relaxed, easy smile that I actually believed was genuine, Blackwell was extremely tense, his eyes narrowed on me.
I tilted my head and offered him a sympathetic smile. “I know you’re worried, but I want to be part of this and defend our home together. Plus, we are still in the perimeters of the institute.”
Blackwell let out a grunt. “Fuck it, fine. Come here.”
“I’m going to go make sure everyone is good,” Damian rumbled, kissing my forehead and leaving us.
I walked into Blackwell’s arms, wrapping my legs around his hips as he lifted me under my butt.
Instead of trying to kiss me or give into his need, he pressed his forehead to my collar bone and inhaled.
“I feel extremely anxious over you going out there.”
“What would make you feel better, besides me staying here?”
“Wearing armor,” he murmured, “or putting you in a damn bubble.”
I grinned. “Like a suit of armor? Like a knight? That could be cool.”
“And heavy,” Zain pointed out as he walked into the bathroom.
I had been tempted to stay in bed with him because damn his arms were so warm and hard…
But I knew nothing would feel better than laying in his arms once we’d handled all of this.
“Bella’s frame is too small for one. She’s tiny and delicate. ”
If it had been anyone else, I probably would have scowled at him calling me delicate, but the way he said it was so sweet.
“Bubble it is,” Blackwell rumbled.
“Come on.” I wiggled down from Blackwell as Zain adjusted his jacket. As we walked into the hallway outside of my bedroom, Razar met my gaze and motioned for me to come to him. I walked right into his arm, letting out a happy sigh as he buried his nose against my throat and picked me up.
When I pulled back, he spoke in a firm tone, pressing our foreheads together. “If anything happens—if anything seems off—you go inside and lock yourself in the panic room.”
The one where most of the children and Class D nightmares would go if this got too bad… Though it was less of a room and more of an entire floor of the institute.
“Razar, you know I wouldn’t take unnecessary risks, especially when it comes to the institute and you.”
“Promise me,” he growled softly.
“I promise.”
I felt confident in that pledge because if I thought there was something wrong, I would make sure we all backed away. I wanted my mates safe, and this confrontation wasn’t more important than their safety.
“Precious, I have a vest for you,” Amun said. Razar let out a rumble but put me down. I slipped it on before looking up at Amun and going up on my toes, brushing my lips against his. I knew it was a spontaneous move, but I wanted each of them to know how much I cared…and so much more.
“What will the vest do?” Ashur asked. He didn’t seem nearly as nervous, and I had a feeling he planned to stay right by my side. He was the only one not wearing a uniform, but he was wearing a dark outfit that fit to his frame and showed off just how muscular he was.
“Protect her from bullets,” Amun explained.
Ashur was horrified. “The humans would shoot you?”
“I think that is very much part of their plan,” I said, knowing it wasn’t just me they wanted to hurt, and that made me furious.
“I’ll kill them.” Ashur’s words were serious and quiet.
I examined his face and realized that he would—he would kill all of them. Not because he wanted to, but because they were a threat to me.
I swallowed, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the two of them, and touched Ashur’s cheek. Going up on my toes, I kissed him lightly, not even caring that I was still in Amun’s grasp. The two of them surrounded me in an intoxicating mix of magic.
“I better be part of the killing,” Saint said in an almost lazy and indifferent fashion, walking out from being in…my room? How the hell had I not seen him there?
The man was almost always a mystery to me. Seriously, he was always doing the last thing I expected.
“Couldn’t imagine you not being part of it,” I teased.
“Have to get you a gift.” Saint winked and motioned for me. The others began to make their way down the hall as I walked up to Saint, tilting my head back.
“I need you to understand something,” Saint said as he smoothed a hand over my jaw, his expression serious.
“I know you don’t want the humans to die, but if they come onto institute grounds, I will kill them.
I am not risking your safety or our home.
I don’t care if I slaughter every single one of them—hell, I will slaughter all of them on this planet if necessary—but I will do it, Arabella.
And then I will handle War. I know you want a peaceful solution, but I’m not positive that’s possible with him. ”
I knew he was telling the truth. I nodded, not arguing with him because I knew he wouldn’t do something like that lightly, especially since Life herself would be present.
Despite his relaxed nature, I trusted Saint to make the right decision about something like that. I knew our priorities were the same.
I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Blackwell
A very large part of me wanted this plan to fail.
I didn’t want this conflict to come to a head.
Not tonight—not when Arabella was so directly involved.
I knew I was an overbearing bastard, and I understood her need to be part of this, but there was a sensation in my chest that told me something about all of this was off.
I suppose it was possible I was just feeling the same concern as Zain, but this felt directly related to Arabella.
Arabella, who was currently walking hand in hand with Damian and me, tucked between us.
Her thoughts were very clearly elsewhere, so much so that she hadn’t realized Cy wasn’t here with us.
I knew he would appear soon, and just in time because the individual he had gone to find would give me a small peace of mind while we were out there.
The air attacks had apparently backed off once the shields were up, so the sky was silent, but the entire area seemed lit up by the humans outside our gates.
“Mykia!”
Before we could turn the corner to the front, Cy appeared out of nowhere with Mykia on his shoulder.
Yeah, the hellfox. Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised by who Arabella chose to give her affection to—it was almost always, though unintentionally, the most dangerous being in the room.
I didn’t know if Mykia had a human form or if that was even her real name, but it was obvious she loved Arabella.
She barked happily, jumping from Cy’s shoulder into Arabella’s arms.
“I missed you so much,” Arabella cooed happily.
Cy spoke in a firm voice. “She’s going to guard you. I know you’ll be staying with Peace as well, but Mykia confirmed she won’t leave your side.”
“You can talk to her?” Arabella asked, looking envious. I smiled at that, and a small part of me hoped that as she took in more of our magic, she would be able to use some qualities of our magic further.
I nearly let out a rumble at the thought of her skin igniting with fire like my own.
My gaze moved down her body, scowling that I couldn’t see my brands on her hips, wanting to once again test how it made her body more relaxed, allowing me to slide inside of her in my terror form.
Allowing me to make sure I was buried enough so I marked every inch of her and left my cum inside of her—cum that I didn’t want coming out.
A growl did escape this time, but I had to stop.
I couldn’t allow my thoughts to go there.
“You good?” Cy asked, looking amused. Bastard.
“Yeah,” I grunted, looking down at Arabella, who was petting Mykia and staring at me with interest. “Come on, let’s get this shit done.”
Arabella nodded, her expression turning serious as we walked around the building.
Even I felt a sense of dread in my stomach—something was very much wrong.
Everyone was out here, waiting for us to arrive—even the other god terrors.
I looked at Peace, her face contorted in concern as she looked around, trying to find someone.
Cy broke off to join the rest of our team, but I went with Arabella to find out what was bothering Peace.
“What’s wrong?” Arabella asked.
“James said he would be out here,” Peace murmured. “I’m sure he’s just caught up.”
Yeah, the director was always on time, and more than that, if he said he was going to be somewhere, he was. He didn’t make casual commitments—especially to his mate.
The wind shifted, and I heard Saint call something out to the humans about wanting to talk to their leader. The humans argued for a moment, but when Saint began to shift, they scattered from the gate. Our team moved closer, Arabella intertwining her fingers with mine as she looked around uneasily.
“Something is still off,” Arabella warned.
“He knew we were going to do this,” Peace said softly. “He always knows stuff like th—”
Before she could finish her thought, power exploded outside of the barrier of the institute. All of our gazes were drawn to the gate, where a man was striding forward. I had no idea how the humans believed that this was a human general—not many of them were eight feet in height.
“Saint!” War boomed, smiling indulgently as if they were meeting for enjoyment.
“War.”
War’s smile faltered as he looked at the rest of the god terrors and our team, his gaze moving right over Arabella and even Peace, making me wonder if Mykia was doing something to hide them.
“I heard you wanted to talk to me, but I now see this isn’t a friendly meeting.” He sighed. “What is the meaning of this, Chaos? You now work for Saint?”
“I don’t work for anyone, including you,” Chaos bit out.
“I would suggest keeping to the topic.” Eve’s words were harsh. Order stood behind her silently, a hand to his mate’s back. I knew he most likely wanted to get her out of here, and I honestly didn’t blame him.
“You as well, Love?” War asked, ignoring Eve. I didn’t know the history between all of them, but there was clear animosity floating between the group.
“Fuck you.” Love’s voice was indifferent, but I could tell he didn’t feel that way.
“No, thank you.” War chuckled and looked over the group again. “What an interesting group. I did wonder who was chasing me across the country. I heard you attempted to break into my base—”
“We did. We broke into your base,” Ashur said, surprising me as everyone’s attention was drawn to him. I knew the bastard was powerful, but until he started to actively use his magic, allowing it to fill the space and counteract War’s power, I had forgotten just how powerful.
“Ashur,” War hissed, looking authentically pissed. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
My gaze darted to Damian, who offered me an arched brow. I knew the rest of us felt like we were being caught up in a family drama that we didn’t understand.
“Making sure you stop this shit,” Ashur bit out. “You are once again overstepping your job assigned by the fates. I am not going to let you destroy the humans.”
War narrowed his eyes, attempting to look amused and failing. “And please tell me why any of you care about humans.”
The humans around him didn’t react, making me know they were spelled and unable to hear them.
“Because it upsets the balance,” Eve growled. “The balance is what keeps all of us able to fucking feed.”
“Oh, I have a feeling this would keep me fed for some time.” War shrugged, looking back at Saint. “See, I don’t think any of you care about humans. I think you are stupidly trapped in a mate bond with a woman who does, though.”
I stiffened as his gaze moved right to Arabella and then Peace, a defensive growl leaving Mykia.
“I do care about humans surviving.” Arabella didn’t miss a beat, stepping forward and keeping her chin up. “Not only because it maintains balance, but because knowing you have been influencing them tells me there is a possibility for us to coexist if only you would get out of the way.”
War chuckled. “That’s a wonderful dream, sis meta, but as always, you forget that War is in human nature. You will never be able to stop it.”
“That’s not true,” Arabella argued.
War wasn’t done, though. “Just like how you will never be able to stop the undying loyalty that love brings out in others. Now, sis meta, let’s make a deal.”
“A deal?” Arabella asked, everyone gathering closer around her.
“You let us through these gates so we can have a proper slaughter,” War said, motioning with his hand. The sounds of a struggle reached us, and my stomach dropped.
“And if I don’t?”
“Then he dies.”
Peace let out a scream, covering her mouth. A prisoner was dropped on the ground in front of War, Arabella freezing as War took out a gun that was very similar to the one from the base and pointed it at the man.
The prisoner looked up.
Fuck.
Arabella’s father.