Soothing Nightmares (I.S.S. Book 1), page 3
“Are you cold?” my nightmare asked, looking over my sweater with a small frown.
I know. He was adorable and ridiculous. Honestly, I think it was just his natural protective urge to be like this. Overall, nightmares tended to be a bit more primal in the way they viewed things. Sometimes, though, they had a depth of perspective that far exceeded any other creature’s, including mine. They saw things in ways I never would have thought of or considered. That was why it infuriated me when humans tried to degrade them to beasts. The true vile beasts were humans.
Nearly two minutes later, we reached a securely locked door that led to a long familiar hallway. I flashed my badge as the security guard nodded, his eyes immediately moving away from me and onto Razar as he opened the doors for us. Razar gently ushered me through the door, his rough hand on the small of my back. I paused momentarily when his touch disappeared, turning to watch him say something to the guard. The man paled as he nodded sharply, and Razar turned from him, catching up to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
I always forgot to ask him what he said to the guards each morning, but whatever it was scared them enough that there was a new one nearly every day.
Honestly, it was pretty sexy. I flashed him a small smile as his eyes darkened with what I really felt like was heat, before leading me towards a door. I wondered if my other team members would be here already. Razar let out a low rumble, making me assume that at least some of them were. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the relationship and the mutual respect he had for the others, he probably would have killed them.
“Morning!” I used a sing-songy voice as my father looked up from his desk. Wearing his trademark lab coat, he offered me a small smile and adjusted his glasses before motioning us into the suite. I took a bite of the granola bar that I still had as the large door we walked through locked shut and the light above the door momentarily bathed the clinical room in green, signifying that the room was in fact safe and secure.
However, before my father could respond, my gaze fell on the two other figures in the room.
Christ.
I hadn’t had enough coffee to deal with them yet.
2
Arabella
Well… let me rephrase that. I could deal with them, but there was a chance I would end up bopping each of the over-controlling bastards on the head for being nut jobs.
My gaze moved towards the massive wall of glass windows to remind myself why I was here. I almost smiled, noticing a large form shifting in and out of the darkness of the shadows. My curiosity had me stepping forward in interest.
Honestly, if there was one thing that would probably end up killing me, it was my curiosity. At least I would die learning something though, right?
“Is that all you’re eating for breakfast?” A rough voice had me rolling my eyes.
Do you see what I mean? Sure, it was adorable when Razar did it, but I could literally hear the accusation in this man’s voice. As if I was committing some horrible sin for having a freakin’ granola bar for breakfast.
My father offered a small, barely-there chuckle as he began checking off his normal morning list in a manila folder, something I probably needed to look over as well. Sometimes I liked to walk in there and be surprised, but if this was a Class Alpha nightmare, it would probably be a good idea to know what I was dealing with.
Slowly moving my gaze towards the two princes scowling and brooding in the back of the control room, I looked to Damian, who had spoken to me. Yes, Damian, as in Lucifer’s son. Oh! Let’s not forget his best friend, Hades’ son. As you can imagine, humans were rather upset to find out that their arguments of which ‘Hell’ existed had been useless this entire time, because surprise!—there were plenty of sexy villains for them to hate and me to love.
“I didn’t realize that my eating schedule was your business,” I mused, knowing I had to push back with the two of them, because if I didn’t… well, let’s just say the ‘give an inch and they will take a mile’ analogy was perfect for them.
Razar chuckled softly at his teammate’s expense, making Damian narrow his eyes.
“Here.” My father offered me a fresh mug of coffee. I couldn’t help but smile, realizing that he had chosen to hand me a bright blue mug with glittery gold wording on it, despite his natural preference for dark colors. My father wasn’t good at showcasing emotions, but it was small actions like this that made me know how much our relationship meant to him. I took a sip of the warm drink, nearly moaning at how good it tasted.
“What are we dealing with?” I asked him, not waiting for Damian’s response but knowing that he would have one for sure.
“Brief her quickly, if you can!” my father called out as he walked towards an attached room that served as his office. I couldn’t help but smile, knowing the man couldn’t focus on communication if his life depended on it. Razar sat down in a large chair near the door, the plastic creaking under his large frame as I looked away from the window and focused on the other two.
Damian stepped fully out of the darkness as his eyes moved over me slowly. I really tried to not get turned on by the man, but it was a bit difficult considering how sexy he was. He totally did not deserve my attention, considering what an insane, overbearing nut job he was, but I couldn’t deny his effect on me.
Leaner than Razar but slightly taller, the man was dressed in a dark suit today, highlighting his large shoulders and what I knew to be a muscular build underneath. How did I know that? Well, in the past six years since he’d arrived at eighteen, I’d seen just about everything when it came to these men, him included. As in, I’d seen him naked. Not on purpose, but trust me, I had not been able to forget it. Probably never would. Still hoped to see him up close and personal one day, but there wasn’t much chance of that happening, considering our relationship dynamic. He drove me crazy. At least most of the time. Sometimes he was really sweet.
My eyes closed as I placed my forehead down on the metal table underneath me. I knew I had only a few things left to do, but I was drawing on an empty reserve right now. Letting out a small yawn, I pushed back out of my chair and walked towards the large leather chair in the back of the room. I could hear quiet conversation going on between Damian and my father in his office, something about an upcoming mission, so I figured one of them would wake me up.
I thought I’d only closed my eyes for a moment when I felt my head hit a soft pillow that I knew wasn’t my own, the sheets smelling like Damian. Blinking my eyes open, I felt a hand slip around my waist as surprise filtered through me. At first I considered that maybe I was used to being around Damian after the night before and that’s why I was inhaling his scent, but then I realized what I was feeling was real. He was really here.
“Go back to sleep,” Damian mumbled softly, his words sounding less like a demand and more like a small plea. Turning into him, I pressed my head against his chest and let my eyes close again, completely surrendering to sleep despite not usually being this physically close with the man. It just felt right.
When I had woken up the following morning, I hadn’t been all that surprised to find Damian gone. I had stumbled my way towards the dorm living room, where Razar was waiting for me. He’d been pretty worked up, but after seeing me and making sure I was well rested, we had gone to work like any other day.
I’d never brought it up to Damian despite wanting to. I wanted to hear that slight vulnerability in his voice and see the look in his eyes so that I knew he was feeling the same uncontrollable pull towards me that I felt towards him. Then again, it was completely possible that wasn’t what I would get at all. That I was hyping up this entire connection.
Damian walked towards me, running a hand through his hot pink hair as his gold eyes lingered over my frame once again, making my entire body break out into shivers. I tried to not focus on the massive onyx horns that came out of the top of his head or the barbed tail that flickered back and forth across the floor, because both aspects always had me thinking of stuff that wouldn’t do me any good, considering our current situation. You know, the one where I was attracted to all of my nightmares and not just one.
Had I had sex dreams of gripping his horns while he bounced me up and down on his impressively large cock, his tail wrapped around my waist? Yes. Yes, I had. Would I ever tell him? Absolutely not.
The man was a cocky, ridiculous bastard on his best day. Plus, he had this laissez faire, devil-may-care attitude that was actually pretty damn intoxicating to be around. And of course, he had to be hilarious, because life wasn’t unfair enough. He was always complaining about people getting him mixed up with the antichrist and that he was Lucifer’s legit son. It was pretty funny.
Although, despite having known him for six years, there was one question I’d never had answered—Why had he come here in the first place? I mean, he was a legitimate prince, yet he’d chosen to come here rather than stay with his father. He’d never admitted to it, but I was almost positive that his relationship with Lucifer was strained. I just wish I knew why.
“They extracted him from Cairo two nights ago,” he explained with a relaxed tone that had the hair on my arm sticking up with chills because of the hidden intensity underneath it. My butt hit the desk behind me as I attempted to subtly distance myself from him, knowing that getting too close to the man was exactly what he wanted. If his tail wrapped around me, I honestly wasn’t positive what I would do. There had been a few times when it had wrapped around me protectively, pulling me flush against him. Each and every time I’d forgotten the ‘danger’ at hand and had turned bright pink at how much his touch affected me. My eyes flicked down to where said tail danced across the floor as he continued forward.
“He was drawing life out of people,” he added softly.
“What type of nightmare is he?” I turned towards the window as I inhaled his warm cigar scent tinged with mint. I froze as he pressed his hands on either side of me and spoke in a voice that had me nearly melting.
You see how bad this attraction was? Nearly volatile!
“He comes from a lineage of pharaohs’ death magic, so he would be considered a Class A legend terror.”
My brows raised, knowing how rare that was. Similar to night terrors, legend terrors had been the inspiration for myths within the modern world. It was why both of my princes were included within that class as well. Although even I had to admit it seemed like our new guest was specifically very unique.
“Are you telling me he’s a mummy?” I turned sharply as realization hit me. Death magic users came in many different forms, but when they came from a line of Ancient Egyptian pharaohs, they usually took the form of mummies. It was why the Egyptians mummified themselves, wanting to live forever in immortality like the terrors that ruled their lands.
“Correct,” a deep voice confirmed, making my toes curl. Damian didn’t move from my space as he continued to look down at me, his intensity causing my ears to heat. I tried to focus on movement over his shoulder that I knew to be Blackwell.
Blackwell, the son of the Greek deity Hades, looked very much the part of an underworld god. His dangerous muscular frame was somehow even larger than the other two, making me feel almost overwhelmed by the size of these men compared to me. No, seriously, this man—sorry, nightmare—had to be easily 6’9”… not taller than that though, right? That would be absurd. I honestly couldn’t even estimate after some point because it was ridiculous.
Yea, I had a thing for tall, muscular guys. Sue me.
I couldn’t help but greedily look over his darkly suited frame that almost had a classic old-fashioned look to it, with pin stripes and a handkerchief folded perfectly in the pocket. His olive skin tone complemented his slicked-back, oil-colored hair and brought attention to the angry scar that interrupted his left brow. When his black eyes met mine, they flashed gold momentarily before his face went back to a neutral emotional state. One I knew was bullshit, because his eyes only turned gold when he was turned on or furious. The rest of the time, his eyes seared into you like voids that were inspecting every inch of your soul with disdain. Something that should have bothered me, but considering I knew what he was really thinking… it didn’t. In fact, Blackwell had made it absolutely no secret how he felt about me, and I could see the desire in his gaze as he neared me, his burnt wood and ash scent creating a smoky environment that was echoed by the black, oily magic that followed after him.
Honestly, out of all my nightmares, Blackwell and I had the most complicated dynamic.
As in, a few months ago when I had a little bit too much wine to drink, I’d crawled on top of him and kissed the ever-living heck out of him, making him almost lose his shit. Seriously. Apparently, I had way more of an effect on him than I realized, because he had to be restrained and kept away from me for five days following the incident. I got the impression there was only one reason he wanted to find me, and I had been one hundred percent there for it. Both Damian and Razar had been concerned, though, so I had been kept away until he’d calmed down.
Still, I felt like the man was one word away from attacking me. Where Damian had lazy sensuality, Blackwell had formality… until he lost it. I mean, not even just sexual, either. When he was angry, the form his magic took was absolutely terrifying. Well, that was at least how most described it—I found it sexy. Terrifyingly hot.
“Alright.” I nodded and looked behind me once again, taking another sip of my coffee, knowing I would probably need it. “Anything I need to worry about, or is his magic neutralized?”
“He’s safe enough.” My father’s appearance had Damian pushing away from me as I placed down my mug. I already missed the warmth of his frame, but even I had to admit I was speculative of how my father would react if he realized the situation at hand. You know, the one where it was impossible for me to choose who I wanted to actually be with, let alone work up the nerve to ask them if they were into me.
Yeah. That.
“I don’t like this.” Razar’s rumbling voice had me smiling just slightly. Every time I did this, he said those exact words. I think it was so that later he could say he’d never approved of it. I knew the other two felt the same, but they didn’t bother voicing it, knowing I would do it whether they were okay with it or not. That was just how I rolled.
Walking to the far left side of the room, opposite the entrance, I made my way down a small set of four stairs before pressing my hand flat against a cool screen. It lit up almost immediately, the door sliding open with a poof of air, allowing me to step into the containment hallway. As the door shut behind me with a solid seal, I grabbed the clip I always kept in here and tugged up my hair before kicking off my heels, just in case I needed to move out of the way fast.
Although, despite my curiosity, I wasn’t very nervous about this nightmare. I mean, I had no doubt he could kill me, but that wouldn’t be allowed to happen.
A bell rang, signaling my entrance as the door in front of me opened. I stepped out into the massive warehouse-sized room that was covered completely in shadows except for the lights that lined the wall where the others were watching. I made my way towards the center of the front, pressing a hand to the table light as I searched the mass of darkness in front of me. My head tilted with curiosity as a shiver rolled across my skin due to the air-conditioning as well as a small bout of excitement.
The smell of death trickled across my senses, something that shouldn’t have been appealing to me but for sure was. That smell was followed by the scent of parchment and oils as mist began to emit from the darkness, curiously coming forward to meet me. I restrained my grin, happy that we seemed to be already making progress. The mass in front of me seemed to shift, as if something large was adjusting itself. His magic hit me hard, like a sonic wave, as I blinked in surprise, realizing just how powerful this nightmare was.
Interesting.
“You can come out, you know,” I called into the darkness. “I promise I’m just here to talk.”
After a few seconds of prolonged silence, massive corpse-like fingers, ones that spanned a quarter of the width of the room on either side, moved forward from the shadows. They were wrapped in torn bandages, decaying skin and bone visible underneath, making a pang in my chest sound. It was obvious he was feeling defensive, and he almost appeared wounded… at least I had to assume that, because his magic wasn’t holding his bandages to him nearly as well as it should have been.
This room was spelled to expand or contract with the nightmare’s size, and since this man had the ability to take a mummified or humanoid form, it was clear he had gone with the first option. He had to have been massive, though, for his hands to take up so much space alone.
Instead of waiting, I walked towards his left hand, each finger easily the size of myself in both height and width. I looked up into the darkness, hoping to portray comfort instead of harm, before pressing my hand to a finger. A rumble broke out, shaking the room as I continued to smooth it in a soothing way.
“Please talk to me?” I asked softly, taking the chance of crawling up his finger to sit on top of his large hand. Almost immediately, the hand lifted, and I began to soar higher and higher into space until the scent of oils grew thicker. Assuming I was far closer to his face than before, I continued, “I promise you, I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to talk. I want to make sure you’re okay. Are you injured at all?”
After a prolonged moment, we were dropping.
I landed in the light as he placed me there delicately, my feet grazing the ground as his face fully came into view. My heart skipped a beat at the thrill of seeing him fully, because not only was he massive, but he had these huge, flesh-tearing teeth that were visible between the wrappings against his skin.
