Page 99 of Nightshades

Unleashing the roots and nightmare at the same time wasn’t a choice. It just happened at the idea of someone taking away my family from me.

My. Family.

I’ve had my family taken from me once, and I will die protecting the one I have made from scratch. A family fated to me.

“Ah, ah, ah, nightmare. I can’t let you do that.” A playful, arrogant tone becomes a wall, blocking the nightmare and roots from reaching the Hell’s Harvesters.

Out of sand, another creature appears. He doesn’t look like The Four Horsemen. Instead, he is tall, lean, but built, wearing a black-on-black suit.

He brushes sand off it.

“Think of him like the King of Dreams. Nightmare is his son,” Abaddon explains.

I cross my arms, not giving a shit about who this man in front of me is.

“Yeah, he is definitely part nightmare,” Dreamer says. “Not the good part either, but he’s family. Nightmare isn’t going to be happy.”

“Yeah, makes two of us.”

Dreamer smiles. “That isn’t what I meant. He will not be happy that he had a son that he didn’t know about.”

“Well, considering the circumstances, I’m assuming someone got his DNA because here I am. You’ll need to ask him how the scientists got it.”

“Yes, yes,” he says, thoughtfully, also wondering how. “I will. Don’t go into their minds.” He points to The Hell’s Harvesters. “You’ll be able to get inside their head, but you aren’t trained for that. You’d die being in a mind as strong as theirs.”

“We want to offer you a deal,” Abaddon says. “We want you to be part of Hell’s Harvesters. You can stay here, but when we call, you will come. You’ll be able to feed off the fear you need to survive without killing any more people.”

I don’t like that. Killing is part of how I feed the nightmare.

“Five people. Criminals only,” Lula steps up, her badge still on her hip. “Per year.”

“Ten,” I counter.

“Five,” Dreamer states. “That’s all you need since you are mated. So young too. Nightmare will be jealous. He is thousands of years old but has not met his fated mate.”

“I’ll send tissues. Is this done? I’d rather get back to my life.”

“Do we have a deal?” Dreamer steps forward, holding out his hand. Sand twirls in the air. “Shake on it. Our entities will have to bond. If you break the bond, there will be trouble, understand?”

Growling, I slap my hand in his. “Yes.”

Black smoke swirls around the sand, a small twister forming as electricity intensifies.

“Excellent.” Our creatures seep into us again, the contract officially binding. “Don’t call me grandpa. Makes me feel old.”

“You’re not my family. Lula is.”

“We’ll see,” Dreamer hums. “So much like him,” he mutters, taking a step near one of the Horsemen who is looking directly into my eyes.

“I’m Death. That’s Famine. Conquest. And War.” Death points to each. “It isn’t often we recruit, but your skills are valuable.” He tosses a black cut at me. “Welcome to the Hell’s Harvesters.”

I turn it over to see my name stitched across the left chest, reminding me of the days when I was part of Shallow Sinners.

“First trip we take, we will go to see your old crew. They spent a lot of time looking for you, but your scent trail ended,” Famine says.

“Scent? They are?—”

“Shifters. Yes. We’ll get you connected,” Death chimes in.