Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
ARABELLA
Jalissa was laughing. Genuinely laughing.
I stared at her, both pissed off and confused. Out of all the reactions I expected, laughter was not the one I’d predicted. Inhaling sharply, I narrowed my eyes, trying to temper my reaction, which was hard considering the mood I was in.
I’d already been upset when I walked into the village, especially once I was told my mates were locked up.
The idea alone had sent me into a state of intense protectiveness, and then there was the fact that they’d interrupted an important moment between Ashur and me.
Our recent mating had left my body buzzing, and instead of laying together and being all cute, I was sitting across from a woman that was laughing at my very important declaration.
To think, up until this point I’d liked Jalissa—hell, I’d liked almost everything about this place, with the exception of my mates being imprisoned—but now I was rethinking that.
A different type of laughter could be heard faintly through the double doors of her office, and I softened slightly.
I hadn’t known what to expect from this village, but from the small amount I had seen, it was extremely community- and family-centered.
I mean, her house was bursting at the seams with little nightmares and extended family. I loved that.
In fact, I had a feeling why she was laughing at me. This woman had everything, and I was asking her to put all of it in danger. I felt a bit stupid right now, even if doing this really was necessary.
“I’m sorry.” She sat back, folding her hands, ignoring the sounds of frustration a few of my mates made. “I shouldn’t be laughing, I know you’re serious.”
“Then why are you?” Razar growled. The nightmare in the garden behind Julissa stilled, shooting Razar a dark look. I gently squeezed Razar’s hands, not wanting to cause any issues with Julissa’s mates, who would be rightfully protective over her.
“I should have expected something like this, especially with everything going on at the institute. I heard about the attacks,” she said, her tone sobering. “I just hadn’t put it together that you thought we were the solution. Let me ask you something—is it the nightmares or the sis metas you want?”
“I know the sis metas as a group have the power to break War’s hold on the humans,” I said carefully. “I don’t know how much you know about what he’s been doing, but he’s been influencing humans to attack nightmares for quite some time. He has also mass produced a weapon that can harm nightmares.”
Her eyes darkened. “This I haven’t heard. Still, why would we help? What you’re asking would put us back centuries. We’re here in the first place because we ran from War when he began killing us and our families.”
“And now you have the chance to stop him.” I stood up and paced slightly in front of her. “I understand I’m asking a lot, but if War is removed from the equation, things can finally settle so that there won’t always be chaos between humans and nightmares.”
“A very idealistic hope,” Jalissa replied.
“Plus,” I continued, partly ignoring her, “you mentioned that some sis metas and nightmares leave here, right? If this isn’t handled, it could result in them being harmed, and frankly, it’s only a matter of time until War finds you.
Then you’ll have to protect your home from a direct attack rather than going to the problem. ”
“You make a good point.” Jalissa frowned. “And how do you know our power would work on such a mass scale? I mean it would, but what led you to consider that?”
“I was able to break a god terror’s hold over a group twice now.” I turned to her and held her gaze. “An entire battlefield was released from War’s control before he fled.”
She blinked in surprise. “That’s impressive, Arabella.”
“But it’s not enough to immobilize him.” I motioned towards Saint. “He will be able to kill him if we can do that.”
“Because he’s a god terror.”
“Because I’m Death. I’m the only one that can kill him,” Saint explained.
“I see,” she breathed out. “And why is this so important to you? Why not move here? We’ve evaded War for this long; I bet we could continue to do so. Your family would be safe here.”
“We live at the institute,” I replied. “That is our home, and I am not going to leave it now—and I am not going to leave so many nightmares defenseless, nor the humans. Sure, some may dislike nightmares, but once he’s gone I can guarantee things will be different.”
I couldn’t guarantee that, but it was a gut feeling. After all, it had been decades since the fall. I don’t know why we didn’t realize sooner how odd it was that the hatred was still there and so damn strong. Why it had started intensifying rather than declining.
“What you’re asking is big and would require a discussion,” Jalissa said, finally starting to give in a little.
“Even if I did agree to this, it’s not my decision.
I’m not a dictator. I can tell the others what you’ve told me, but each sis meta and their mates have to decide for themselves what is right for them, if they’re willing to leave their children and families for this.
It’s possible you will have many who agree to go, but that isn’t something I can control. ”
“But you will talk with them about it?” I asked, feeling a surge of hope.
“I’ve been alive for centuries,” she said, looking down at her empty desk.
“War is a continuous concern, and it would be a relief to be rid of him. So yes, I will talk to them. Tonight after the festival, I’ll hold a meeting.
I ask that you give us the night to discuss it, though.
This isn’t something that can be rushed. ”
“I understand.” I offered her a small smile. “Thank you, Jalissa. Really.”
“Of course.” Her gaze was heavy, but then she snapped herself out of it, clapping her hands and standing. “Now, let me show you where you will be staying, and please feel free to join in the festivities tonight. Maybe you’ll get a chance to ask some of the questions we haven’t discussed yet.”
As my mates stood, all of them holding their thoughts for now, I arched a brow. “What is the festival for, exactly?”
“It’s a full moon!” She flashed a smile. “We don’t need many reasons to celebrate here.”
After being here for the past few hours I wasn’t sure they did anything but celebrate in this village.
They existed in a pure state of happiness.
I loved it, but it didn’t help the guilt that plagued me, knowing what I was asking of these people.
Not that they realized it yet. That conversation was happening later tonight, long after the party.
And it was a party.
After being shown to a beautiful guest villa with an ocean view, we had rested up for the afternoon, only broken up by the fight Ashur and a few of the others got into.
Luckily, this time it wasn’t a physical one—at least it didn’t escalate to that.
I had a feeling our hosts wouldn’t have taken kindly to us damaging their villa.
Outside of that, though, I’d taken an amazing nap and had woken up to a meal that had been delivered from the village, accompanied by a note that told us when the celebration began.
Once full, we went down to the center pavilion, and I’d been taken aback by how it had been transformed in a few hours.
Fairy lights made of magic floated along every roofline and through the branches of each tree, filling the darkening skies with a starry glow, and a massive bonfire sat where the cage had been.
All along the sides of the pavilion were chairs and tables, along with food and alcohol vendors.
In front of the chief’s house, though, was a stage where music was being played—not normal music, but music created by three nightmares that seemed to produce both vocals and instrumental sounds from their throats and lips alone.
It almost reminded me of the siren mythos I had heard before.
As if the incident earlier had never happened, we were swept into the party. My mates had surrounded me protectively as each took a turn to dance with me on the pavilion before I finally collapsed, my feet starting to hurt just a little bit. I now sat on Blackwell’s lap, watching on happily.
When we had visited Frostford, I had thought it was an oddity—something that wasn’t possible—but now?
Well, now I was wondering what changes we could make at the institute to make it a bit more community- and family-focused.
I knew it would never be like this completely, but there were a lot of families there, mostly Class D, so maybe we could make it happen.
Heck, maybe it would even result in more people coming to the institute.
“I’m going to grab a drink!” I announced, ignoring Blackwell’s grumble as I stood and walked all of three feet to the booth run by a woman who looked slightly younger than myself. Her eyes instantly lit up, their bright neon green color reminding me a bit of Amun’s.
“Hey, what can I get you?”
I stared at her for a minute, realizing that she was a sis meta as well, before snapping myself out of it. I still wasn’t used to being around others like me. “Just some water, with lemon if you have any.”
“Cool.” She poured me a glass before adding a lemon garnish, not questioning my non-alcoholic choice, and looked up at me with curiosity. “You’re from the outside world, right? That’s what everyone is saying.”
“I am.” I nodded. “From the US.”
“Wow,” she breathed out. “I haven’t left yet—my mom is too nervous with everything going on, but I can’t wait till I get a chance.”
“Do you usually go out in groups, or with your family?”
“Usually groups with some of the older members of the community, but a lot of it is about finding your mates, so we have to be extra careful.”
“You don’t find your mates here?” That was interesting but made a lot of sense.
“Oh no.” She frowned, shaking her head. “I mean, sure, some people may, but I’ve known most of these people since I was born. It would be weird.”
“Well, you should go,” I agreed. “It’s not that bad—well, it won’t be soon.”
“How so?” she asked, confused.
“Long story.” I tried to change the topic, not knowing if Jalissa wanted me to share anything before she had the chance to. “By the way, I’m Arabella.”
“Maeve.” She met my hand.
After a bit more conversation, mostly asking about the village, I went back to the table with my mates, hoping more than ever that Jalissa’s conversation with her people went well.
I had a feeling that there were a lot of young sis metas and nightmares whose families were worried about them leaving the island because of War, and until he was gone, that would never change.
They would be permanently stuck or face having to put themselves in direct harm.
Direct harm. The phrase reminded me of the contact we’d made with my dad.
It had been relatively short, but enough to assure us that the institute wasn’t facing another attack.
It was long enough, though, to hear the concern in his voice as he explained that tensions between the human forces and the nightmare communities they surrounded were escalating to the point that people were calling it a ‘war’ despite no fights having broken out.
I had no idea how nightmares were controlling themselves from killing the humans surrounding their home, but I was extremely thankful for it.
If they waited just a bit longer, hopefully we’d be on the way with reinforcements and a plan that was going to be successful. Hopefully.
No. I had to believe it was going to be successful—I did believe it.
Moving my thoughts away from heavier topics, I tried to continue to enjoy the party and even went back out onto the dance floor a few times until my limbs began to feel heavy with exhaustion from the day.
The moment I showed the first sign of discomfort, Razar made the call for us to go back to the villa.
I even let him pick me up as Saint went on and on about something to Amun and Ashur—probably regarding death, but I wasn’t listening fully. Instead, the happy, relaxed buzz of all my men had me feeling sleepy and satisfied.
No matter what came tomorrow, we’d enjoyed ourselves tonight and got the chance to meet some incredibly nice and welcoming people.
I just hoped they didn’t hate us when they found out why we were here.