Chapter 1
Chapter One
ARABELLA
War was going to kill my father.
That wasn’t a metaphorical statement, either. No, the god terror War was holding my father hostage as I stood behind our warded line of defense.
Defense against those threatening our home.
The night was icily quiet as every nightmare present realized that the institute’s director, the man single-handedly responsible for their ability to lead a normal existence, was now in life-threatening danger.
Not only because a god terror had him, but because the humans now possessed a weapon that could harm nightmares—kill them. Could kill him. Visions of Damian’s injury had my stomach twisting in knots as I imagined just how quickly this situation could turn bad.
It didn’t matter that these humans were being influenced by War. The threat they posed was absolute, and I had never felt so much rage.
As I held my dad’s gaze, I found I couldn’t read his expression, let alone understand what he was thinking.
I suppose that shouldn’t have been terribly surprising, as James McCroy was known for his stoic behavior, but that had never stopped me before.
I’d always been able to tell where his mind was, and the fact that I couldn’t now unsettled me.
It should have helped that I now knew he was a neo terror, that he was far more durable than a human, but the humans’ new weaponry negated that. He could be hurt—badly.
How I had lived my entire life not recognizing my father was a nightmare was beyond me. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing. Then again, he was literally a new type of terror, so I hadn’t had any idea what to even look for.
My understanding was that the man controlled the entire institute, possibly even drew power from it, allowing him access to resources to defend himself and others living here.
He made the institute a sentient being…that he was now outside of.
Shit. Could he even draw upon its power from out here? This was just getting worse and worse.
I stepped forward, Mykia the hellfox letting out a defensive growl from my shoulder as I moved my gaze to War’s smug face.
The family resemblance to Irina—Peace—was evident in his vibrant red hair and golden skin that seemed to sparkle, but other than that, he was a world apart.
Irina, my father’s mate—a concept I was still getting used to—was delicate in build and not the eight foot military general that War appeared to be.
I could never consider him a leader, though.
“Arabella,” Razar said in warning, his voice a low rumble in my ear.
I gently squeezed his hand but made no other move to interact with him, keeping my gaze on the true threat.
He was worried I would continue forward, but I had no plans to do so.
Putting myself in War’s grasp would do nothing but cause more problems.
“So what do you say, Arabella? How about we have a true war, and I’ll let your pops here fight like a man rather than what I plan to do—which is snap his neck. After all, human necks are very snappable. Isn’t that right, Saint?”
Saint didn’t respond, he and the rest of my mates stilling at the realization that War didn’t know my father was a nightmare. Unsurprising, since not even Saint had realized it…
My mind moved a million miles an hour as I recognized just how powerful that meant my dad was and how it wasn’t only the institute helping him hide it.
If my father was surprised by War’s comment about him being a human, he didn’t portray it—something that left me somewhat in the dark on how to approach this.
Did he want me to negotiate? I usually didn’t like to, on principle.
“I don’t understand how this happened,” Irina said, her voice filled with a sense of pure panic that could only come from your mate being in trouble.
It wasn’t something I’d been familiar with before my men, and more so before Damian got hurt.
This particular moment had to be even worse for Irina.
After all, she had suffered most recently at the hands of Hate, who was under the control of War.
I had no doubt she understood what her kin were capable of.
A flicker of emotion passed my father’s face as War answered her, chuckling. “Good to see you survived Hate, sister—although considering your betrayal, maybe not so much. As for how this happened, he walked out here. He put himself in this situation. Attempting to be brave, I assume.”
No, that wasn’t what had happened here. That wasn’t what had happened at all.
My father was brilliant, and I had absolutely no doubt that if he’d wanted to come out here without being caught, he could have done so.
So why hadn’t he? Why couldn’t he have looped us into his plans?
A sudden wave of anger hit me as I looked around, trying to figure out what to do.
My men stood around me, their imposing heights and powerful magic signatures making me feel comforted.
But outside of that, the amount of individuals on both sides made me feel a level of concern I hadn’t experienced before while in the confines of the institute.
There were so many nightmares out here, and even more hiding inside.
If we took down the barriers, we risked their lives, and if we went out there, we risked the humans’.
If we hurt any of them, it would not only fall back on us, but it would affect the balance we strived to maintain.
“I can see the wheels turning, and as much as I love your strategic mind, you may as well give up now,” War said. “There is no way out of this—you do what I say or dear old dad gets it.”
His smug smile was the last straw. “Why are you doing this?” I snapped. It was such bullshit—this entire web he had spun, this chaos he had created—all of it was un-fucking necessary.
“Do I need a reason? I’m War. This is what I do, isn’t it?
” He spread one arm wide as if he were a showman inviting us to revel in his display…
but he was hiding something. I could see it in his eyes.
“I’ve hunted your kind for years and enjoyed it, so now I’m just expanding that same effort out to all humans. ”
“But why?” I asked, stepping closer to the gate. “Why would you upset the balance that you literally feed off of?” It was the part of this I didn’t understand. If he was pushing small-scale wars, I would get it, but to do all of this? To try and rid the world of humans? It didn’t make sense.
“Because, sis meta,” he purred, “I don’t need to feed off humans. Nightmares fight plenty enough for me. I’m simply getting rid of the smaller options.”
“You want there to only be nightmares so the wars are larger and you become more powerful.” Ashur’s voice filled the space as he approached, my men growing closer to me once again. “You want the humans gone so we’ll be forced to fight with one another.”
“Right you are.” War chuckled, but his posture was tense. “This war, plus the one I plan to wage internationally, will sustain me for centuries, so it’s really the ideal situation.”
“So you just…want more power?” I tilted my head, feeling almost sad for the god terror. “You want dominance so bad that you’re willing to disrupt our world?”
“You have no fucking right to judge,” he snarled, tightening his hand on my father. “Like I said, it really doesn’t fucking matter. Make your choice, Arabella.”
“Ara,” my dad finally said, his voice strong and steady. “Do not let down the institute’s wards.”
“Want to be a martyr that bad, old man? You may be the perfect person for this job, but I’ve heard our soother here is soft-hearted. I have many more nightmares I could put in harm’s way if it means accomplishing my goal.”
My father didn’t react, but his gaze told me that he was serious—that he wanted the wards to stay up, no matter what that meant for him.
He was determined to win, and furthermore, he didn’t plan on dying in the process.
His hand moved in a sharp, small movement War couldn’t see, and when I saw the number two, I realized what he wanted me to do.
I turned and looked at the god terrors around me and my men, drawing in a steadying breath as I walked up to Zain and Cy and spoke quietly.
“I don’t know what he has planned, but be ready to draw the wards back to the secondary line so they’re just surrounding the institute. I also need someone ready to give them that signal.”
“We can,” Amun said as Damian nodded, going with the other three as they quickly departed.
“I don’t want you out here.”
“I’ll back up,” I promised Ashur, his voice low and rough near my ear, though I had no plans on following through. At least not to the extent that he would want. If Ashur had it his way, I would be safely inside the institute. That wasn’t an option here.
“Trying to protect your mates?” War scoffed as I turned back around and moved closer to the bastard.
The rest of my mates spread out, all of them tense and ready for battle.
While I didn’t love the option, I also knew it may be our only chance to ensure this ended—that War would back down.
. I just hoped my dad knew what he was doing putting himself so directly in the line of fire.
“I’m not trying to be a martyr,” my father said, drawing War’s attention. “I have no plans on dying, Gunnar.”
I refused to recognize the terror as anything but War since he seemed so keen on spreading it, so hearing his name was a bit odd at first.
“How is that?” the god terror mused. “The only power you have, weak human, is the technology inside the institute. It’s nothing compared to a nightmare’s power.”
My dad flashed a massive, uncharacteristic grin. “That is where you’re wrong.”
I saw the confusion in War’s gaze before everything…detonated.
My eyes went wide as I leaned back, away from the explosion that nearly burst my eardrums, a sonic boom of power that had the wards shaking with electric blue light. Holy crap.
Then my dad showed War exactly what happened when you messed with our home.
All at once, wires and cords exploded from my father’s back, seemingly millions of them ripping off his shirt as they tore free of his body.
He looked like a cyborg, skin and metal mixing to create a form that looked a lot like Drive’s.
War stumbled back as a thick cable whipped across his chest, a surprising amount of pain blossoming on his face at the unexpected action.
That was minor compared to the wave of slaughter the wires wrought on the humans within a mile of my father.
Metallic silver cords wrapped around the humans’ necks, tightening to the point that they just…
popped their heads right off. Thick ropes of tungsten shot forward like spears, blood showering the ground as they skewered the humans in their path.
Hundreds of thin steel wires snaked up from the ground, pulling their victims down before puncturing their skin and spreading beneath it like parasitic vines until they burst out again, an electric current frying the corpse.
War backed away, his breathing rough as he stared at my father in pure, unadulterated shock. I didn’t blame him. I could feel the surprise of my mates as if it were a tangible object, and I was nearly shaking, affected by the energy present.
“Fuck.”
Blackwell’s one-word response to what was going on had me nearly laughing, though the strained noise that left me wasn’t even close to humorous.
Cy and Zain were waiting on my signal, and Damian and Amun were watching from afar, ready to relay that message, but Blackwell, Razar, Ashur, and Saint watched my father’s display with authentic enjoyment.
I didn’t blame them. I would have loved the display of pure power… if War hadn’t gotten angry.
“Attack!” he bellowed. New people flooded in and I knew instantly it was time. We had to help.
“Damian! Amun! Give the signal!” I called as the nightmares gathered around me tensed, all of them preparing for battle.
“Watch the guns,” I hissed, delivering one final, essential message. “They have bullets that can actually hurt you.”
The nightmares around me nodded, and I realized they had already been informed as I took in the extra armor they wore. It wouldn’t be enough, but hopefully it would help for now.
Cy gave a high-pitched whistle, and all of a sudden the wards were gone and nightmares were surging forward violently.
Behind me, the wards tightened around the institute like a membrane, and I began walking back, not leaving the battlefield but knowing I worked better as a leader than in hand-to-hand combat.
Saint stayed with me, but everyone else surged forward into battle, and when my god terror tensed next to me, I realized he wanted to fight.
“Go.” I pointed towards the others. “Seriously, they need you, Saint. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not leaving you.” His gaze was uncharacteristically serious, turning thoughtful as it moved down to the hellfox. “Unless…”
Mykia let out a bark, and I stumbled back as I was suddenly surrounded by a fiery shield…that she had constructed. Saint nodded sharply before winking at me from outside of the shield, looking relieved, making me realize…
I was in a literal bubble.
My mate had found a way to put me in a bubble on the fucking battlefield.