Page 20

Nightmare

I n Nightmare’s opinion, a subdued and respectful Chaos was barely tolerable as it was.

A gleeful, smug Chaos was something else entirely.

Still, Nightmare inclined his head. “You did very well, Bracchus.”

Better than Nightmare could have hoped, really. He’d been expecting the need to take a trip to New York himself to find the Book, and had been dreading leaving Matteo on his own. Nightmare’s human was too fragile by half, and it would have meant waiting until Dominico’s demise to secure the bond.

But Chaos had solved that little problem.

How he’d known Nightmare wished to bond with his summoner was a mystery but not precisely a surprise.

Nightmare had learned over their centuries together in the Void that Chaos was wily by nature—he always knew more than he should, for all that he acted like he lived without thought.

Chaos preened at Nightmare’s scant praise, glancing to his mate as if to make sure he’d heard every word. “Aren’t you glad you didn’t paralyze me?” he asked Nightmare with a sideways look. “You’d be so embarrassed.”

Nightmare would have been nothing of the kind, but he supposed it was better that he’d been merciful. Chaos’s threat to Matteo hadn’t been genuine, anyway. If it had, Nightmare would have already torn one of his little feathered wings off.

Chaos had only wanted to see how Nightmare would react. Too curious for his own good, as per usual.

Chaos tugged Cooper to his side. “Nightmare, this is my puppy,” he announced, puffed up with blatant pride as he presented his human.

“Cooper,” his mate corrected gently, eyeing Nightmare nervously. “His, um, mate.”

Nightmare inclined his head. “I’m aware.”

Chaos beamed. “I warned him you could be a bit aggressive. I told him not to worry.” He rubbed his cheek against Cooper’s.

“But you did worry, didn’t you, puppy? Isn’t he perfect?

” he asked Nightmare. “Have you seen his eyes? And his lovely fingers? Actually no, don’t look at those.

Those are mine. But you can look at his eyes.

Don’t poke them out though. You couldn’t anyway—he’s wearing glasses. ”

All Nightmare saw was a human, one like any other. He had tawny hair and mismatched eyes—one green, one brown—covered by spectacles. But his scent mingled contentedly with Chaos’s. It appeared Chaos had indeed found a proper mate, one who didn’t seem to mind his incessant chatter.

Chaos turned to Matteo, although he wisely didn’t step any closer. “Just a little hug, maybe?” he asked hopefully.

Matteo flushed, shuffling his feet and ducking his head, although his hood wasn’t pulled up to hide his face properly. “Yeah, of course. I didn’t mean to—”

Nightmare laid a hand on Matteo’s shoulder, letting his shadows trail off to stroke Matteo’s reddened cheek in reassurance. It wouldn’t do for Matteo to feel ashamed of his protective temper. Nightmare had enjoyed it immensely.

“I don’t hug, Bracchus. You know this.”

It wasn’t in Nightmare’s nature to enjoy the touch of other creatures. None except his sweet summoner.

And how he enjoyed that touch.

With his extended lifespan, the passage of time was of no concern to Nightmare, but that morning he would have given anything to stop its progress, to freeze that moment of Matteo writhing against him, his sweet cock hard and weeping against Nightmare’s leg as he tried desperately to find his release.

And though Nightmare never would have thought he’d enjoy having a human appendage in his mouth without the intent to bite it off, Matteo’s cock had fit perfectly, the salty, slightly bitter taste of his copious precum a lovely contrast to the rich, lemony sweetness of his lust in the air.

And when Nightmare had found his own release on Matteo’s beautiful back, rubbing his spend into that tender, tortured skin…

It had been satisfying in a way he’d never imagined.

Nightmare had been full of the delicious knowledge that, had they been in the demon realm, every creature near and far would have been able to scent with a single sniff that Matteo belonged to Nightmare.

The thought had caused Nightmare’s cock to fill again almost immediately, and he hadn’t been able to resist parting Matteo’s cheeks and gazing at his hole, as tender and pink as the rest of him.

It had been novel, that animal lust. The bizarre need to press his body to another’s, to stroke and lick and rub against a second creature’s skin.

Nightmare had only experienced one other physical mating in his life, long ago.

A fight for territory with a young warrior that had turned into a different kind of battle for dominance.

It had been stimulating and not as horrible as it could have been, but Nightmare hadn’t sought out the experience a second time.

Touching Matteo was different. Nightmare craved it the same way he craved tearing apart a wicked mind.

More, even.

But now the little chaos demon was pouting again, and Nightmare let out a sigh. They didn’t have time for this. “Come here, Bracchus.”

Chaos stepped forward—shrewdly keeping his arms to himself—and Nightmare patted his head once. Twice.

“There,” Nightmare told him, withdrawing his hand again. “No more.”

Chaos cackled his delight and bounded back to Cooper. The two of them clasped hands once more.

Cooper turned to Matteo. “He and Nix hugged for like an hour when they were reunited,” he said with a sheepish smile, his cheeks turning pink. “I hated it.”

“You never said, puppy.” Chaos’s lips curled into a sly grin. “But I could feel your jealousy through the soul piece. It was so tasty.”

While it was pleasing that this other human wished to reassure Matteo, none of them were meeting for a social call. “You have information,” Nightmare pressed.

“Right.” Cooper gave his satchel a pat. “Ivan’s been monitoring the Carusos that are left.

We can go through what I have together.” He gave Matteo an apologetic wince.

“Sorry I couldn’t send it by email. Ivan’s really paranoid about that sort of thing.

Something about not going to prison so soon after life finally got interesting. ”

Chaos rolled his eyes. “As if Nix wouldn’t break him out immediately. I might even help. Could be fun.”

“Th-That’s okay,” Matteo said shyly, and Nightmare’s shirt pulled tightly against his skin as Matteo gripped at the hem, seeking reassurance. His nerves were palpable in the air, his soul piece thrumming with them.

It wasn’t because of the other demon in the room. Matteo had been nervous to stand his ground against Chaos, but Nightmare hadn’t scented any abject terror. This fear was due to the satchel and the information that might be contained within it.

Nightmare rested his hand on the back of Matteo’s neck, stroking the soft skin there gently with his thumb. “I will be right beside you, sweet.”

Chaos let out a high-pitched squeak. “Did you hear that?” he whispered quite loudly to Cooper. “ Sweet .”

“My paralysis has not lost its potency, Bracchus. You will behave.”

Chaos gave a salute. “Sir, yes, sir.”

It was tempting to incapacitate him regardless, but then this Cooper might not be so cooperative, and they needed the information he’d brought. Nightmare let it go. For now.

They all ended up on the small sofa in the hotel room’s living area.

Cooper and Matteo sat next to each other, a small, portable computer on Cooper’s lap.

Chaos sat next to his mate, and Nightmare stood behind the sofa, bent low so that he could rest his hand over Matteo’s chest, feeling the steady—if slightly quickened—beat of his heart.

Nightmare had the almost irresistible urge to reach into Matteo’s chest and soothe the organ directly, if such a thing were possible. To take it out and swallow it whole and hold it inside himself, keeping it safe within his own viscera.

The impulse was as foreign to him as the impulse to fuck and touch and press together, groin to mouth. How strange, to feel this way for another creature.

But it couldn’t be helped, even if Nightmare had wanted it to. Ever since he’d tasted Matteo’s soul through the ether, something deep within him had cried out, Mine .

Ours , his shadows had echoed.

It was all wrong, of course. A creature like Nightmare was not meant to have a mate, let alone a human one. The darkness was his companion, human pain his sustenance. He and his shadows had no need for anything else.

And yet here he was.

And now that Chaos had brought the Book, it would be official. Permanent.

Perfect.

Cooper cleared his throat. “So as far as we can tell, Dominico has gone underground. We have reason to believe he’s still in New York, but he doesn’t seem to be trying to take Luca’s place and corral the others.

He still has a small crew following his orders, but they’ve been hard to spot.

We’ve only got a few surveillance photos of one of them entering an occult shop.

We think maybe because of the rumors about Ivan and his new paranormal enforcers. ”

“That’s me!” Chaos crowed. “A paranormal enforcer!”

Cooper squeezed Chaos’s knee. “The only thing we’ve really got that could be useful is that he’s been withdrawing funds from one of Luca’s accounts we’ve been monitoring. I guess he doesn’t have enough money of his own?”

“No,” Matteo said dully, staring at the computer screen. “Money’s not really his vice. He has…other interests.”

“The withdrawals are all over the map though.” Cooper adjusted his glasses. “Some are in different states and—”

“What’s that?” Matteo asked suddenly, pointing at something on the computer. “That transfer. That’s super recent.”

“Yeah.” Cooper nodded. “We followed the account. He transferred it to a man we have reason to believe is still in his employ. Vinnie something. I can look it up.”

“Vinnie,” Matteo repeated. His hand squeezed at Nightmare’s wrist where it lay over his chest, his short fingernails digging into Nightmare’s skin. “We’ve seen him.”

The man Nightmare had killed, then. The intruder who’d met his demise.

Matteo was still staring at the computer screen, but his eyes were unfocused. “That was the day he saw me.”

“Who saw you?” Cooper asked. “This Vinnie guy?”

But Matteo seemed to be worlds away. “Dominico knows I’m in Seacliff,” he said in a horribly blank voice. “He knows .”

His heart was racing under Nightmare’s hand now, his breath coming in short pants.

He was panicking.

Nightmare crossed around the sofa and knelt in front of him. “Matteo. Sweet.”

Matteo’s eyes remained unfocused, and his soul piece thrummed with distress in Nightmare’s chest, like the heart of a hummingbird struggling to stay aloft.

Nightmare gently took Matteo’s hands and placed them on his antlers. Matteo gripped them hard, and Nightmare’s shadows raced up Matteo’s forearms and over his shoulders, settling around Matteo’s neck.

“Look at me, Matteo,” Nightmare commanded.

Matteo’s deep brown eyes met his instantly.

“We will tear him apart,” Nightmare promised. “We will make him hurt. His very last breath will be an anguished scream.”

“Hardcore,” Chaos whispered.

Nightmare ignored him. He repeated the vow until, bit by bit, Matteo’s breathing slowed, his heartbeat following suit.

When Matteo no longer looked or sounded like he was gripped in the throes of unimaginable terror, Cooper cleared his throat. “You think…you think this Dominico is going to come for you?”

“Yes.” Matteo’s eyes were still locked on Nightmare’s. “He will.”

“Well, that’s perfect!” Chaos cried gleefully.

“How is that perfect?” Matteo asked. He was kneading Nightmare’s antlers now, squeezing hard and then releasing the pressure. He seemed to find it soothing.

Chaos laughed. “Little mouse, you have a nightmare demon on his knees for you. What do you think one human creep is going to be able to do? And I bet Ivan would jump at the chance to off another Caruso. I definitely wouldn’t want to miss anything this fun.

” Chaos waved a hand at the laptop. “Let this guy come to Seacliff. We’ll be waiting. ”

It wasn’t often Nightmare revised his opinion of a creature, but perhaps now was the time.

Maybe the little chaos demon wasn’t so bad after all.