“We moved the girl, cleared the conference room for her. Figured it was safer to keep her here with us,” he explained as we filed in. My father was already going towards the large set of screens in the control room, his movements panicked and far faster than normal.
“I need all of you out there now, Amun included. This is not a few fucking rogue humans.” My father never swore, causing Razar’s hand to tense on my back, realizing how bad this was. “Extra uniforms are in the containment room. I’ll open it up so you can leave through there.”
“How many?” I asked, alarmed.
“I don’t have a count yet, but easily over a hundred, possibly more on the way.”
What the actual fuck?
Breaking from Razar, I watched as my father opened up the screens, showing the large amount of massive military trucks and humans outside of our gates as the smoke cleared from an attempted explosion. My lips peeled back in a snarl, feeling a panicked threat hit my chest. I watched the guys enter into the containment room, and my heart began to squeeze, realizing that there was a very large and real danger here when it came to radicals. I had absolutely no idea what extent they would go to, but clearly violence was on their mind.
“I need you focused.” My father squeezed my shoulder. “Go in there if you need to, but I need them out there as soon as possible. I don’t trust any of the other teams to pull it off with the least amount of damage.”
He meant damage to nightmares, not to the humans attacking us.
I nodded, walking towards the door and kicking off my heels before stepping in through the unlocked first door and then in through the second. I watched as my father set into action the building’s hydraulics that removed the room’s ceiling and far wall. This space had the ability to transform as it was, so it sat on the outskirts of the institute. As it opened, the night air and sky flooded in.
My eyes darted towards the locker room as I eagerly waited for them to come out. I needed to see them, tell them that it wasn’t a fucking option but to make sure they didn’t get hurt.
I froze only momentarily when a large hand wrapped around my waist and turned me into them, my head falling back to look up into Damian’s completely black eyes that seemed to streak randomly with a neon electric pink.
“Don’t do anything dangerous or risky,” I warned, knowing it was pointless, probably, while looking over his nightmare form and finding it almost painful because of how gorgeous he was. Gorgeous and absolutely lethal. His skin was now the color and texture of dark onyx lava that was cracked throughout to reveal a hot pink magma that was reflected in the ends of his hair, which seemed to be moving, almost like live flames. His tail wrapped around my waist as he lifted me up against him, his height several feet taller than normal, making my entire body melt at the easy movement. I shivered as his nose brushed mine, his large horns making my fingers twitch as I considered touching them, and a rumble broke from his throat.
“Damian.” My hands came up to cup his jaw.
“Fuck it.”
His words only were confusing for a moment. He crushed me further against him and molded his mouth to mine. I whimpered against his lips, the taste of cigar smoke and mint on my tongue as a dangerous electric energy seemed to surge through me. I could feel everything crackle and come alive around me as a frenzied feeling hit my chest, making me want to wrap my legs around him. All too soon he was gone, setting me on the ground, and making his way towards the exit in the back of the room in a blink of an eye.
Holy hell. I swear, he better be careful, because I one hundred percent needed another kiss like that.
The sound of the door of the locker room opening had me turning as Cy strode out with Amun, both of them dressed in their uniforms and talking in a low, quiet tone. They probably hadn’t needed to change into their uniforms, but it did provide some level of protection when they weren’t in their nightmare forms.
“Don’t let them do anything stupid,” I instructed. “Specifically Saint.”
Cy flashed a smile, his refusal to confirm making me narrow my eyes in frustration. Not that it lasted very long, because he was so completely worked up and eager for a fight, a flash of danger in his gaze as he suddenly dipped his lips to mine in a firm kiss. I whimpered in surprise as his thumb brushed over the mark on my neck before he pulled back and winked at me, walking towards the back of the room. He slipped out into the night, leaving me with Amun, who was watching me with a not so small amount of heat.
“You look good in that uniform,” I commented somewhat absently before frowning. “You know you don’t have to—”
“Yes. Yes, I do,” he rumbled before stepping into me and cupping my jaw. “Now promise me you will stay in that fucking room until we get back.”
I examined the very real concern and almost fear in his eyes, then nodded. “I promise.”
I fought a small sigh of disappointment as he jogged towards the exit, making me wish he had shifted in front of me. What? It was sexy! Did it help my concern over this? Of course not, but it would have made me feel a little bit better, if we were being honest.
Shaking my head, I turned back towards the locker room, only to stumble back slightly, a small, surprised noise breaking from my throat.
“Zain.” My head fell back as a cloud of black and red, pulsing energy surrounded me. I placed a hand on the face that appeared, red lit eyes flashing with something dark and emotional, before he disappeared completely. I swallowed, already feeling the loss of his presence as I tried to just view this as a normal mission. Although, to be fair, I usually had far more time to mentally prepare for that.
“So much doubt in our abilities.” Saint’s amused tone was back as I felt him appear behind me. I turned into him, and my chest relaxed a small amount at the confidence he was brimming with.
They could handle this.
“Saint, I want you to get everyone from ISS back tonight, safe,” I demanded.
His lips pressed into a dark, wicked smile. “No matter what?”
I swallowed, knowing what I was giving him permission to do. “I don’t want to lose anyone.”
His eyes darkened to completely black before flashing silver. He nodded sharply. “I understand, flower.”
I’m sure he did. There was a possibility this wouldn’t turn violent, but if it did, I wanted Saint to make sure the people we had sworn to keep safe were in fact kept safe.
I watched him walk towards the back of the room as he tossed me a smile. It was distracting enough that I didn’t realize someone else had joined me until icy tendrils wrapped around my waist, and I found myself looking up into Razar’s dark eyes. Neither he nor Blackwell, who was standing next to him, were shifted, but both were in uniform.
“Stay safe,” Razar warned, brushing his lips across my forehead.
“Or else.” Blackwell flashed me a wicked smile before they left as well, leaving me feeling a sense of loss. I crossed my arms and stared at their exit for a long moment after they were already gone. When the wall began to go up and the ceiling closed, I inhaled sharply and turned to walk back into the control room.
Those bastards better make it back. I didn’t like how anxious this situation was making me. It was like everything about the mission last night and now this today reeked of something suspicious going on.