Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
CY
“They did something to our power,” Zain said.
‘Did something’ was an understatement—I couldn’t even feel my nightmare form under my skin. It didn’t feel permanently damaged or broken, just shackled. Much like us.
Because of my past, there were few things I hated more than being imprisoned.
Although that was a grossly simplistic explanation of how I felt, of how the memories flashing through my mind made my throat nearly close with panic.
Yet, despite how uncomfortable I was, there was nothing in this world that could incite a strong reaction in me like the idea of Arabella being in danger.
Something she was very much in right now.
It was also something I directly blamed Ashur for. I didn’t care how it happened or who had started it. Because of him, Arabella was now in a world of trouble, and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it.
Because the group that she was being hunted by? We’d been captured by them. Since arriving at ISS, I had been absolutely free, so losing that was not only infuriating but panic-inducing, especially since our magic had been completely nullified for the moment.
So how had the group of us been captured?
By the island’s sis metas and their nightmare mates.
Something that shouldn’t have been possible because we had far more power physically…
but we learned quickly that in a large group, sis metas truly did have the ability to momentarily negate even Saint’s magic.
Which is how we ended up in these warded cages.
That alone hadn’t been that bad—in fact, we’d been halfway to convincing them to let us go.
We’d told them that we were the only intruders, that no one else—as in Ashur and Arabella—had come with us.
Although considering the type of island it was, I knew they’d doubted us, wondering how we’d made our way here or even known about it.
We hadn’t quite navigated our way out of that bullshit yet when the explosion of power Ashur and Arabella created caused them to go searching for her.
I suppose we could have told them the truth about Arabella from the start, but I hadn’t trusted them with that knowledge when their reaction was to immediately lock us up. Now everything had gone to hell, and I was fucking livid.
I would say that I was seconds away from shifting, which would be disastrous considering the small cage we were in, but that wasn’t even possible. I felt absolutely no power under my skin, just silence. It was eerie.
“I’m going to kill him.” Razar’s voice was filled with malice, and I offered him a look but kept quiet. As much as I shared the sentiment, it was plain to see Ashur wasn’t going anywhere—especially if that power explosion had been because they mated.
The bastard clearly had zero control. He should have known it would draw attention. Then again, I didn’t really have a right to talk, did I?
“Not before I do,” Blackwell muttered.
Damian was silent next to him, both he and Amun studying the village we’d been imprisoned in the center of, no doubt trying to find a means to escape.
I didn’t think there were any unless we were released from this cage.
A cage that hadn’t been used for years judging by the metal’s discoloration from exposure to the elements.
“I hope she’s alright,” Zain added, and Saint offered an amused chuckle that had me grimacing.
“Arabella is more than fine; that’s not the issue. In fact, I have a feeling that once they clock in on her magic, they’ll be celebrating her arrival,” Saint pointed out. “If anyone is in trouble, it’s us.”
I understood his point, but I didn’t fully agree. What if they didn’t recognize what she was? What if Ashur’s magic overshadowed it? I didn’t know how any of that worked, and that wasn’t even counting the delicate state that Arabella could be in.
We should have never let her off that boat.
No. She had wanted this, and Arabella got whatever she wanted. We should have never trusted Ashur to stay with her on the beach.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Damian asked, lost in his own thoughts. “Seeing all these Class A nightmares with families? I know it’s possible, especially now with the sis meta thing, but I’m just not used to seeing it.”
He wasn’t wrong; it was beyond odd to see. At the same time, it settled a part of me that would have been far more happy and at peace—if we weren’t imprisoned. Once all of this was straightened out, I had no doubt that Arabella would love this place…at least in theory. Even if the people sucked.
It was beautiful. The lush tropical forest sheltered a large gathering of well- constructed houses, and around the center pavilion were public spaces like cafes, stores, and even a school.
Despite our imprisonment and the Class A nightmares keeping guard on us, everyone else was going about their lives as if we weren’t there.
Mothers talked to each other, children ran around, and fathers exchanged laughter about things their children were doing.
It was beautiful, I just would have preferred to see it from outside of this cage.
“I know we understood she could carry to term,” Amun said, “but seeing it, seeing all these families, is very different.”
It also made me feel far better about the idea of her being pregnant.
Don’t get me wrong, the idea of Arabella round with my child was perfection, but I don’t think many of us had thought about what pregnancy entailed, what could go wrong throughout it, and then the eventual labor.
All of that was terrifying when I considered how small Arabella was and how large nightmares could be…
“You put my mates where?!”
Instantly my chest relaxed, my gaze snapping to the path the retrieval group had run down.
Arabella stormed into the town center, furious.
That fury was music to my fucking ears because there was no fear, which shouldn’t have been surprising, but she also didn’t look hurt.
In fact, she was practically glowing. Ashur was right behind her, looking far more tense than she was as he tried to shield her from the sis metas on all sides and the nightmares behind them.
While the majority of sis metas who lived here were women, there were some men as well.
“In a cage,” one of the leaders explained. “We didn’t realize they were your mates—they didn’t even mention you were here.”
Arabella shook her head, mumbling, “Of course they didn’t.”
At my chuckle she looked over at me and smiled, then walked right past the massive nightmares guarding us. “Let them out, now,” she demanded sharply, turning away from all of us.
“We can’t just do that, we don’t even know why you’re here,” a male nightmare growled as a feral noise came from one of us in the cage. I honestly didn’t even know who at this point.
“We’re here to find you! To talk to you! Way to be welcoming,” Arabella sassed. “Seriously, let them out. I’m getting pissed.”
“We have to ask the chief,” one of the women said as four others departed towards a large house all the way the opposite of the pavilion.
“Whatever.” Arabella turned her back on them, addressing us with her hands on her hips. “How did they capture you?” she demanded in confusion. “Seriously, how.”
“The sis metas have the ability to momentarily negate our power, and their mates did the rest,” I explained. She visibly relaxed, not because she wasn’t still frustrated with us, but because I’d confirmed that the sis metas had magic that meant we stood a chance against War.
“Glad they didn’t try that on you,” she said to Ashur, who stood unapologetically behind her.
“Well, considering I’m going to kill him—”
Razar’s words cut off as Arabella scowled. “You will not. This is literally all my fault. I totally instigated it.”
“Oh, right. I’m sure it took a lot to convince him,” Damian drew out.
“I’m just impossible to resist.” Arabella batted her eyes, causing me to laugh again. Only my pixie could make me laugh while inside of a cage.
Suddenly, murmurs broke through my hyper-focus on Arabella and caused all of us to look towards the large house where an older woman had stepped out.
It was clear she was some type of leader, not only from the way she held herself but how others reacted to her.
She made her way towards us, her gaze trained on Arabella.
“Are you the person who’s going to let out my mates?” Arabella said. Everyone around her winced, but the chief didn’t take exception to it.
“I am.” She neared us and offered her hand. “I’m Chief Jalissa. You must be Arabella McCroy. My intel told me you would be coming our way.”
Arabella blinked before meeting her hand. “Your intel?”
Her lips pressed up in amusement. “I may be the chief of a remote island, but we weren’t always this way. I have connections everywhere. More specifically from a few nightmares that are part of the institute, who were raised here.”
“Spies,” Blackwell argued.
Jalissa laughed, unperturbed by his tone. “Call it what you want; our interests on most things align. What my intel didn’t tell me was that you are a sis meta. Although I had no idea how they wouldn’t recognize it—you are one of the most powerful I’ve met to date.”
“Oh?” Arabella arched a brow.
Jalissa looked over her shoulder, examining all of us in a quick clinical analysis. “Although I suppose that isn’t surprising with eight mates—one of which is a god terror, and another who is…”
“A creation terror,” Arabella noted in reference to Ashur.
“Interesting term,” Jalissa hummed, fixing Arabella with a look. “I can be assured they won’t wreak havoc?”
“Yes.” Arabella nearly smiled but managed to restrain herself. “We don’t want anyone hurt here. We just need to talk.”
“Yes we do.” Jalissa nodded and stepped back. “Alright, release them.”
The moment the cage door was open, I had Arabella in my arms. She let out a giggle of surprise before kissing me hard, and I let out a low growl against her mouth, the stress melting away as she ran her hands over my chest in a soothing pattern.
“Follow me,” Jalissa commanded.
“Don’t hurt Ashur,” Arabella warned, eyeing all of us. The man offered a smug smile to Razar, and I had no doubt that if it hadn’t been for Arabella’s warning, the two of them would have already been fighting. If I wasn’t holding Arabella, I’d be half tempted myself.
As we began walking towards the chief’s large home, Arabella finally started looking around the village, and her pace began to slow. As if noticing, Jalissa slowed down as well.
“You know we have over fifty families just like yours,” Jalissa said.
“We have some that have been here for centuries, their lines continuing as they travel out into the world and eventually come back with their mates. Others have moved here recently and are just getting used to being able to be themselves without fear of being attacked by nightmares that aren’t their chosen mates. ”
“Fifty?” Arabella said, looking around. “And does each sis meta have multiple mates, or—”
“Yes. Very rarely do you see one with only one or even two mates. Because of the nature of who we are,” she explained, looking sad, “we naturally choose those that we not only love and feel a connection to, but those who can protect us. Mind you, the average tends to be four or five mates, but we have some with ten, even upwards of fifteen.”
Damn. I blinked in surprise as Arabella let out a sound of amusement. “That’s a lot, although I have no right to talk.”
“Because of our extended lifespans, sometimes mates come later in life,” Jalissa said as she opened the door to her home, “but we can talk more about that later. I’m sure you have questions about your heritage and the specifics.”
When we stepped inside, I was immediately surprised by how modern it was—obviously they were importing a lot. There was even a television on in the other room.
More than that, though, the house was a bit chaotic.
“Grandma!” A young nightmare appeared, maybe six at most, and hugged her leg. “We didn’t finish our game.”
“Come on.” A woman who looked a lot like the chief appeared and picked the girl up. “Grandma has work to do—sorry, Mom.”
“I promise we will play again later,” Jalissa assured the girl before leading us forward.
On our way to Jalissa’s office at the back of the house, we ran into seven grandchildren, most of whom had a parent in tow.
There were also three of the chief’s mates who talked to her in passing, no one seeming to find it odd that we were here.
Or maybe they did but they didn’t care. I suppose if there were this many kids running around, especially nightmare children whose small explosions of power caused things to shake and fall off of higher surfaces, I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else either.
It was a lot to take in, and it wasn’t until we were in the office with the doors closed that I could focus on the space we were in.
The bright, sunny office was filled with comfortable furniture that Jalissa motioned for us to sit in, and right outside the window, working in the garden, was an older nightmare who I assumed was her mate judging by the smiles they gave one another.
“Alright, sorry about that,” she said good-naturedly. “Lots of family hanging around today since we have a large festival tonight. Please sit, I promise no one will come in here.”
I tugged Arabella on my lap, and she couldn’t help but cast me a small smile, looking excited by what was going on. Well, until the woman folded her hands and fixed her with a look. “Now, what’s made you travel all the way here?”
A small streak of caution went through Arabella’s gaze before she straightened herself up and spoke strongly. “We need your help defeating War.”