Nightscream Beast Machines Novels & Stories

He unleashed his thermal energy, not as a blast, but as a blinding cloak of light that confused the Scrappers' heat-seekers. "Rhea, the harpoons! They’re connected to cables!" Elias shouted. Rhea saw it then—the thin, carbon-fiber lines trailing back into the mist. The Scrappers weren't trying to kill them; they were trying to reel them in. They were literally "fishing" for the Apex. She lunged at the nearest machine, her white claws striking the rusted iron. The metal was cold—so cold it burned her paws. These machines weren't powered by steam or coal; they were powered by "Endothermic Sinks." They ate heat.

The green one on the left side of the machine caught his eye. “Okay, this one is kind of a scam,” he explained to Nocturne who was watching with keen interest. “You have to get this claw to hook onto the prize you want and bring it over to the chute over here. When it’s in, it will drop out this door here.” “That sounds simple enough, why is it a scam?” Leo put some coins into the machine and started maneuvering the claw. He moved it into place above the green toy he wanted and let it drop down. The claw picked up the toy for a millisecond and dropped it back down.

And then the trap sprung. A low hum filled the chamber, rising rapidly in pitch until it became a piercing, high-frequency shriek. It was a sound designed not for the ears, but for the soul. The [Wailer's Beacon], a Night Market artifact, activated. To a human, it would be a mild headache. To a werewolf, it was psychic agony. It was a drill boring directly into their instincts, flooding their minds with terror, rage, and paranoia.

Fifteen minutes later, a rugged Nightclaw Rover with pitch-black windows comes tearing through the pine trees. I lean my mouth directly to his ear. "Is this machine acceptable to your wolf? If not, speak the word, darling. My beast will cycle through every rover in the territory all night. Zero fucks given." "It is completely perfect," he says with a soft laugh, his stress completely vanishing. We slowly force our matching bodies apart.

I could smell the blood, the taste of the sweet metallic taste against my mouth. “Stop. Please, make it stop,” I chanted in the dark. When the throb flared out, overflowing and overwhelming my senses, my entire body began to shake. My knees buckled. A wave of dizziness and nausea made white spots dance in my vision. The monster’s head rotates unnaturally, narrowed eyes glaring down at me. “Tell me who’s hurting you? And it will all be over.” “It’s S-Sean. Please, make this stop.” I sucked in deep breaths, heaving uncontrollably, and shivering in the cold.

The witches closed in, their laughter echoing like a chorus of nightmares. Something inside Aqua snapped. A surge of dark energy, unfamiliar and terrifying, welled up within her. She felt her pendant grow hot against her skin, the clear crystal turning black as smoke. The air around her crackled with raw power as she turned back towards the attackers, her fear morphing into a blinding rage.

That is the strangest thing I have ever thought in my life. That familiar itch starts to spread across my neck, down my chest to my stomach. It itches so bad, I pull up my shirt and when I do, I scream out into the empty dark room that is lit only by the moonlight and a single nightlight over by the entrance. Daring to look down again, I see that where I had just scratched, is a gaping wound and there is a maggot crawling out of it. I hear a noise from behind me and when I turn on my heels, I watch as the same man from before stands about a foot taller than I am and is staring right into my eyes. He opens his mouth and states, “You have finally awakened. Good.”

I turned off the safety of my gun, adrenaline coursing through my veins. Silvia turned to me, her hazel eyes filled with concern. "You okay, boss?" She reached out, her slim fingers brushing against my right cheek, wiping away a smear of blood. "We need to get out of here. Now. Everyone in the intelligence team is dead, and so is the security team. It's just the two of us against the world." "What do you suggest I do?" I questioned. Her eyes burned with a violent loyalty. "You…you need to unleash the beast, boss, the killing machine I admire, and get us out of this mess."

"Did you know that dullahans have literal nightmares as steeds? As in the levitating spectral demon horses usually only commanded by the King of Dreams?" I stood up, making a shot for the garbage can with my cup. It bounced off the rim and scared a stray tabby cat. Well if that wasn't a metaphor for this conversation, I don't know what was. "Because I sure as hell didn't when I'd asked him to take me home!" Fun fact: Nightmares are actually very sweet once you get past the teeth. Not so fun fact: They like sudden drops when flying. "Promise. Details," Noelle threatened with a current of magenta magic sparking at her fingers. "Now!"

"There are public restrooms, but they are not cleaned, and you will have to do it yourself." I swallowed. Hell. This place is hell. "Four. You have an alpha scent, but you are technically an omega to us." "Is there a way to climb up the ranks?" "You don't know what you are talking about," he said with a laugh. "You will never be able to climb up ranks in here." "Why? I have an alpha scent and..." "Ask your wolf if it can scent mine." I held my breath and focused. She could, but only faintly. I focused harder, and she immediately whimpered. Too strong. My eyes met his, and he gave a small smile.